Chapter 919 — The Howling

What stirred the two former Ansu nobles most was to see a building so emblematic of ancient royal power take on a new face in a new age and become one of the pillars of the empire's Magic Web.

"Once this tower is running, Saint Sunil will be reborn as well..." Count Barlin broke the silence. He looked a little thinner than the year before, his gaze steadier and more concentrated. "The economy and culture should both develop to some degree..."

"This tower is a signal. It will tell those fellows who know nothing but sitting at home drinking their days away to give up their impractical nostalgia, to forget the old times as soon as they can and adapt to this new age," Cohen Loren said with a nod. "As for economy and culture... I'm with you, Count Barlin. I'm optimistic."

A faint smile appeared on both their faces.

Since the founding of the empire, the nation's political and economic center had shifted from Saint Sunil to Xuanyao City in the south, and the former royal capital had inevitably declined to some degree—though the city's normal functions and the basic order of commerce and industry had been restored, one can well imagine the gap between being a capital and suddenly becoming an ordinary directly administered city.

There was a gap in the economy, a gap in cultural standing, and above all a gap in the hearts of the citizens.

To make this once-glorious old city flourish again had always been the foremost concern of the officials of the Saint Sunil administrative hall—indeed, something close to an obsession.

"It's almost time," Count Barlin said quietly, glancing at the mechanical clock on the nearby wall. "Get ready."

Cohen Loren turned and saw the Magic Web terminals in the room running smoothly, lights flickering on console after console of rune-etched panels, magitek technicians and runesmiths standing ready beside the machines like soldiers awaiting the order to march.

He found himself, quite unexpectedly, feeling like a general about to ride to war.

A few minutes later the Magic Web terminal set up in the center of the room started of its own accord, and the figure of Rebecca, Minister of the Imperial Ministry of Magic Energy Technology, surfaced in the holographic projection—never had anyone seen so grave an expression on her face—

"This is the Supreme Dispatch Center. All main hubs will now begin the sequential roll call of secondary hubs. Report progress in fifteen minutes."

……

In the command center on the basement level of the Magitek Research Institute, bright magic-crystal lamps lit the vast hall, where a great many technicians sat beside banks of monitoring equipment, executing procedures they had rehearsed countless times in advance.

Rebecca sat in a chair at the very front of the room, several magic-net terminals running before her, projecting scenes from the main hub control rooms across the Empire, each connected through a dedicated single line.

"Western Region roll call complete, all nodes nominal."

"Eastern Region Tamdul roll call complete, all nodes nominal."

"Eastern Region Changfeng Fortress roll call complete, all nodes nominal."

"Northern Region Winterhold roll call complete..."

Within the scheduled time, every roll call was completed smoothly; the main hubs scattered across the Empire and their subordinate secondary nodes established connections one after another, and a vast network was gradually taking shape.

Gao Yang sat in a chair not far behind Rebecca, his own heart tense and uneasy.

According to his original plan, he had never intended to complete the "grand merger" of the Empire-wide magic net in a single operation. He had planned to divide the Empire into several regions, let each regional network take shape slowly, one at a time, and then connect those branch networks to the main net in sequence. The whole project would have taken many times longer, but everything would have been more certain, with a far greater margin for error.

The problem was simply that he did not have that much time—especially after the divine calamity brought on by the Sleepers, and after realizing that the gods' "countdown" was drawing nearer and nearer, the urgency in his heart had only grown sharper, until he was forced to choose the plan before him now: shorter in duration, and far more difficult.

To be honest, even with the pressure of that urgency, Gao Yang had hesitated a long while before this plan. It was the appearance of "Naretir" that finally settled his resolve—with a former god resident in the network, he had that much more confidence when the nets were joined. Naretir was the most effective "insurance" he could think of, and with that insurance in place, he dared to face the risks of merging the Empire-wide magic net.

Amid the churning of Gao Yang's thoughts, Rebecca's work proceeded methodically.

All the main hubs had passed inspection. Now came the most critical step.

"This is the Supreme Dispatch Center. Issuing instructions now:

"With the exception of the Holy Sunil Main Hub, all main hubs are to execute the power-on standby command 120 seconds after the timer begins;

"The Holy Sunil Main Hub, once powered on, is to enter connection status directly, with the first channel pointing to Cecil;

"With the exception of the Holy Sunil Main Hub, all remaining main hubs are to stand by for 60 seconds, then at 60-second intervals call Holy Sunil in turn and establish connections, in the following order:

"Tenwoods City, Winterhold, Tamdul, Changfeng...

"This order is identical to the document issued previously. I will repeat it once more for your confirmation:

"Tenwoods City, Winterhold..."

Gao Yang looked at Rebecca, who was personally issuing the instructions with meticulous care, and drew a soft breath, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the arm of his chair.

"Attention—the timer begins!"

The crowd in the hall fell especially quiet; there was only the humming and clicking of the various devices, and the sound of Rebecca's commands.

Then, every few dozen seconds, the controller at one console or another would report in a loud voice:

"Signal received from Holy Sunil, strength as expected... connected to the western node cluster of the Holy Spirit Plain."

"Signal received from Tenwoods City..."

Gao Yang looked toward the very front of the hall, where the largest magic-net terminal stood. On its great holographic projection was displayed a map of the entire Cecil Empire as it stood.

Patches of light were lighting up on the map in sequence, and the once-dim land seemed to be illuminated by swarms of stars.

Soon those bright points of light covered the overwhelming majority of the Empire's territory, awaiting only the final closure—

"Signal received from Sorinburg, strength..."

On the projected map, the last patch of light kindled in the Sorin region, and the whole of the Empire was draped in a bright radiance.

Yet all of it lasted less than two seconds.

A shrill, uncanny shriek—one that seemed to make the very soul tremble in answer—suddenly came from every magic-net terminal in the hall, and all the lights in the chamber began to flicker violently with it!