Chapter 1029 — Tacit Understanding

He looked toward the sound and saw Palin Winterhold and several high-ranking battle mages running into the hall. These people rushed toward him with tense faces, and on the Count of Winterhold's face, besides tension, there was a trace of apology.

"I am very sorry — I disobeyed your orders," the Count of Winterhold said rapidly the moment he reached Luo Yan. "You ordered that no one approach the Arcane Hall — but we just saw a flying machine suddenly smash through the hall's wall, and fearing you were in danger, we..."

"It's fine," Luo Yan cut him off. "This matter will not be pursued."

As he spoke he raised his eyes and looked around the vast hall, yet his gaze found no figure other than the Count of Winterhold and the few battle mages — the Eye of God had vanished, the enormous spider limbs were nowhere to be seen, and the "brain flying machine" that had smashed through the wall was gone as well. Only a scene of wreckage remained in the hall: broken bricks and shattered tiles scattered across the ground ahead, a great hole torn in the wall not far away, and the howling cold wind blowing in through the opening, a reminder that everything that had just happened was no illusion.

"Where did that flying machine go?" he asked casually.

"It just flew out and away again in front of everyone," the Count of Winterhold said with a trace of embarrassment and chagrin. "We meant to intercept it, but every mage tower was either drained of energy or badly damaged and could not launch an attack, and some of the battle mages who tried to rise into the air to block it were entangled by those bizarre flying soldiers — they fought with mental attacks that are hard to defend against, and on top of that there seemed to be a powerful interference field around those flying machines, so the exhausted battle mages were quickly defeated..."

As he spoke, this loyal border count hastily added, "But please rest assured, I have already notified several nearby battle mage companies still able to move, and we are preparing to take off and intercept..."

"No need," Luo Yan immediately cut him off. "The Cecil people are not our enemies at this moment."

"...They just smashed straight into the floor where you were," the Count of Winterhold could not help reminding him. "Was this a misunderstanding?"

Luo Yan was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "...This was a Cecil-style rescue. In any case, pay no more attention to those flying machines. Let them leave as they please."

...

Gao Yang slowly opened his eyes, and the busy scene inside the Winterwolf Fortress command post came into view.

Philip quickly came to his side. "Your Majesty, the psionic singers and the wetware servers have begun their return journey — the Typhonians did not intercept them."

Gao Yang nodded slightly. "Mm. As expected."

He believed that even the Typhon army, at this moment虚弱 and exhausted to the extreme, if they truly intended to intercept, could always scrape together a few mage formations to take to the air and block those "psionic choirs" whose movements had already been exposed. Since they now chose to stand still, it must be that they had received Luo Yan's orders... which was only natural.

After all, those wetware servers' "seniority" might well be many generations above Luo Yan's own...

"For now, pay the Typhon movements no mind," Gao Yang glanced at the operational map hanging not far to the side, then turned to Philip. "The battle may be over, but there is no shortage of things for us to do. Send a few more search units to the crash sites of those God of War wreckages — whatever it is, if it looks off in any way, haul it back first and ask questions later. And remind the soldiers to take proper precautions."

At that he paused, then added: "You may run into Typhon search teams — they lack our level of mental-defense technology, but they do have the basic siren runes, so they will certainly be trying to recover God of War debris as well. Pass the order down the line: where the debris lies near our control zone, recovery takes priority; in their control zone... if no one is encountered, recovery still takes priority; if someone is encountered, say we are searching for pilots who ejected during the air battle. In short, avoid conflict with the Typhon forces wherever possible."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Gao Yang thought a moment longer, then asked casually: "Is Tyr awake?"

"Miss Tyr woke half an hour ago. When she learned that everything has been settled, she seemed somewhat disappointed. She is probably still awake now."

"The main debris field lies to the south, toward the Shadow Marsh. Have her move with the search units in that direction," Gao Yang said unhurriedly. "She may be able to help us find more valuable God of War specimens... but put someone to watch her closely, and keep her from snacking on too much of it."

After Philip had left, Amber's figure gradually emerged from the air.

"Where did you get to just now?" Gao Yang asked without raising his head.

"I have been keeping an eye on that 'Lady Dailan' the whole time. She seems quiet enough, no movement so far," Amber said offhandedly, then glanced at Gao Yang. "You had a word with the 'other side'?"

"A rare opportunity," Gao Yang nodded. "I did not want to waste what Beiyila created."

Amber looked at Gao Yang very seriously, and only after a long while did she speak slowly: "The way you look... we are not going to attack Aldenan, are we."

"That plan was never high on the list to begin with; it was only a possibility for after the war situation spun out of control," Gao Yang said, his expression somewhat grave. "Typhon... in the end, it is not the old Anseth beyond saving. An attack on Aldenan would benefit neither country."

"Ah — I understand what you mean. You are thinking of the demon tide and the divine calamity, of the odds that mortals as a whole can survive in the face of disaster," Amber shrugged. She had spent the longest time at Gao Yang's side, and clearly understood his thinking best of anyone. "Then why still have Philip send more search units, competing with the Typhon to lay claim to the scattered 'relics of gods' on the battlefield?"

"I want to build an order in which mortals advance and retreat together, but that does not mean we will halt our steps and wait for anyone," Gao Yang glanced at Amber. "And besides, Typhon is still far from qualifying as Cecil's 'ally' — what has happened on this battlefield is only a good beginning, but we still have a long road ahead before the order I envision becomes reality."