Chapter 611 — The Situation Wavers
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 5
Those plains nobles who had been watching the southern realm so hungrily all this time would get what they wished for: a look at what lay behind the gates.
"Yes," Byron acknowledged in a low voice. But after that brief solemnity he could not help grinning. "I daresay the plains nobles along the Dolgon will panic — if they are still alive, that is. More likely they will not even recognize our advanced warships..."
"This is a serious occasion," Philip cut in at once, face stern, then turned to Gao Yang. "My lord, what of the army combat corps?"
"Hold for now."
Intelligence was still insufficient. Gao Yang did not yet dare judge how severe the corruption or "curse" in the eastern plains truly was, nor how that uncanny "crystal cluster" spread, nor what had become of the royal army or the Eastern Marches forces in those regions. Severely short on information, it would be unwise to rashly commit ground troops.
On the other hand, the mighty arcane warships possessed a power that was all but unanswerable in this age, along with exceptional survivability; and a warship sailing the water could largely evade the "plague" threat from the land, and even if it did meet trouble, it could quickly withdraw.
Weighing both factors, he had decided to first send the arcane warships into the Dolgon River — to sail north along the river and confirm the state of the Holy Spirit Plains, while establishing reliable naval gun support along the channel and preparing the way for ground forces to enter. Only afterward, once Solinborg had gathered more intelligence, would he consider sending the following war machines and infantry into what might already be a very dangerous "corrupted zone"...
— The area where the royal army and the Eastern Marches faced off lay at the Giantwood Pass, somewhat east in the Holy Spirit Plains; though it counted as the eastern plains, it was in fact already close to the central region, and the Dolgon River ran right past that stretch. Thus the guns in the channel could provide effective support to ground forces on the eastern bank.
The meeting ended. Most of those present left the chamber, but Gao Yang kept Camille and Pi Yun behind.
"About those 'crystal-infected' Solinborg mentioned — what do you make of them?" Gao Yang's gaze swept between the two masters (though one of them, it seemed, was rather watered down), and settled at last on Camille. "It does sound very much like the 'godspawn' of those years, and yet the details seem different?"
"Quite right. Not quite the same as the godspawn in my memory," Camille nodded, his voice buzzing. "The godspawn we made back then — even the worst-crystallized batch — only grew crystal at the major joints, accompanied by swelling and distortion of the body. But by Solinborg's account, the 'infected' he saw had crystal covering more than half the surface of their bodies, almost a kind of creature compounded of crystal and organic matter..."
He paused there, then went on: "It gives me a very strange feeling. Our godspawn research back then was an effort to reduce the carriers' tendency toward 'alienation,' to make them more human even as they carried the godspawn factor. But what Solinborg saw... goes to the opposite extreme. It is working to make people... inhuman."
"Perhaps this is what they call the 'Great Evolution' — casting off the human body and embracing the new forms that mutation brings," Gao Yang shook his head, then turned his gaze to Pi Yun. "From what you know, by what routes do you think this 'infection' might spread? Or rather, what preventive measures would be most effective?"