On December 29, it was dawn.
The citizens of Beyeland, who had been hiding in bed in fear throughout the first half of the night, finally found the courage to leave their homes. In the past night, except for necessary municipal work and the vigilant city defense troops, all civilians had their doors closed.
This doesn't seem to make them any safer.
A city wall in the north of the city was damaged, and half a block was missing in the south. The last terrifying sound came from the city center. Earth-shaking explosions came one after another. Finally, according to those who dared to poke their heads out, there was a The sun has risen.
Griffith walked through the rubble with one foot deep and one foot shallow. He had no disguise and showed his true colors openly.
The chosen ones retreated after being intervened and stopped by the demigods. Investigators, military police and city defense troops quickly arrived from various places to establish a blockade and survey the damage. For some investigators, this kind of thing has happened before and has long been commonplace. They will sort out the losses, then gather the people together with ease, comfort them, and quickly resettle them. Once the homeless refugees, tension and fear are removed, Beyeland will once again be a scene of prosperity, harmony, singing and dancing.
Griffiths stood at a cordon and presented documents to the investigating officer in charge, demanding access to the scene.
From the end of the battle last night to now, he has walked through the entire scene. The area in front of him is managed by an official team of investigators called "Natural Disaster Response Management Bureau 1, Section 3".
Seeing the investigators clearing the razed neighborhoods bit by bit and digging out the buried victims, Griffith couldn't help but feel that the term "natural disaster" was quite appropriate.
The squad leader leading the team is Alice's trainee inspector, who is young but comes from a noble family. She and her men were in disgrace, and the volunteers who came to help were also exhausted, but not many victims were recovered from under the rubble.
"Miss Trainee Inspector," Griffith came to the squad leader and showed a letter of introduction that the earl had obtained from the reserve army headquarters, "Young Guards, Second Assault Squadron Leader, Griffith... De Ravenel, I have obtained permission to investigate this area, please grant me access and necessary assistance."
"Good morning, sir." Alice saluted the knight seriously. It can be seen that not long after she started her internship, it was the time when she did not slack off at all. After checking Griffith's letter of introduction, she said to a tall sergeant beside her:
"Captain Orlando, I'll leave this to you. Get some shovels!" Trainee Inspector Alice gave the order with dignity, "Also, put the kitten down. It's healthy and will take care of itself."
Captain Orlando, who received the order, was an astonishingly burly man, no less impressive than a mountain monster. There were several scars on his dull face, and he looked very fierce. He hurriedly stuffed the cat in his arms into his coat and ran away in a hurry.
"Please take me to the place where the remains of the monster were found."
"Please follow me, Mr. Knight." Alice dusted herself off and led Griffith towards the ruins.
Although the collision of energy was distorted by the position of the demigod, it did not occur in the residential area. However, a large block below the center of the explosion was still reduced to rubble in the shock wave.
During the battle, Galadia encountered an equally matched opponent. Together with the prince, she entered a state of selflessness in the violent collision. Even Griffith could not stop her from activating the Noble Phantasm of mass destruction. .
When Galadia came back to her senses and knew how much casualties and pain she had caused, could she bear it... Griffith walked silently, thinking in his mind that he should meet the elf lady as soon as possible, and after meeting, he How to get along.
"Knight, when you came from the headquarters, did you hear what they said about the curfew this time?" Alice's words interrupted his reverie.
I have never been to the headquarters... Griffith shook his head: "What did you say?"
Alice said: "Some people say this is a declaration, a demonstration to those who have tried hard at the beginning of this year and are ready to try again in a few days."
The two came to a pool of dark green debris. This was the remains of the son of Domon that was destroyed by Erza. It was later buried by the ruins that collapsed in the explosion. It took a lot of time to find it.
Griffith leaned down and extracted tissue fluid and fragments from the wreckage, while letting Minos absorb the source of matter. Hearing what the trainee inspector said, he couldn't help but ask: "Will the veterans still launch a riot?"
"It's not the veterans this time," said Alice, "it's the inhabitants of the new provinces of the East and South."
Seeing that the knight did not understand the situation, Alice, who had nothing to do, watched him take samples and said to herself: "Over the years, Beyeland's investment has bought many farms and mines in the new provinces. , food, clothing and supplies are many times more abundant than in the past.
"But I met quite a few residents of the new province. They said their hometowns were going bankrupt."
"Bankruptcy? Why?" Griffith also encountered a blind spot, "Didn't they get the investment?"
"That's what it is," said the trainee inspector, shaking her head, "but investment is concentrated in agricultural products and minerals. Other industries are in depression, and even the original farms and mines are in depression.
"The wheat, cotton, and phosphates of the southern province of Emon met the eastern province of Anatolia, where farms and plantations went bankrupt one after another; when Anatolia's copper, iron ore, and dust When Jing is sent to Emon, the latter's miners will have no choice but to give up digging for poor ores and leave the work they have been doing for generations to find another way to survive."
"After maritime shipping is stabilized, trade will allow areas with more efficient industries to squeeze out the living space of inefficient areas," Griffiths said, defending the kingdom's policy. "Looking on the bright side, the south has received better quality products." Iron ore and a lot of grain were sold, and Dongfang also had its own profits."
Although he understood what the trainee inspector meant, as a member of the Eastern Legion who had paid a huge price to open up shipping, Griffith couldn't help but defend it.
"That's what you say~" Miss Alice had Sonia's seriousness and discussed with the knight who met for the first time, "But the farms in the south and the mines in the east are all controlled by Beyeland's investment, aren't they? In the end The money you earn will still come back here!”
The trainee inspector stamped the ground with her boots: "Moreover, cotton is also made into clothes through the textile mills in Xicheng District and distributed to the world. Various products produced from the world capital, such as Solingen's knife and fork ironware, Rein Metal's No one could compete with them anywhere for glass, Farben’s fuel and medicinal materials, and Urban’s fertilizers. In the end, all money-making was monopolized by the nobles and wealthy people of Bijelland.”
She raised her hands and shouted with a loud voice: "Even if you think about it with a general economics, the common people in each province will become poor. The rich people in Beyeland are getting richer and the prices are higher. Here The poor will also have a more difficult life!"
"What you said makes sense," Griffith nodded. "Are there any signs of instability in the city?"
If conflicts accumulate to a certain extent, they can only be resolved through riots and suppression. Griffith was extremely disgusted with the suppression mission he had performed. If it were to happen again, he would not accept the order.
"Yes! I heard that many people went directly to Verona to join the rebels, and most of the rest, well~" Alice said with a worried face, "Originally, the plan of the city hall and the nobles was to hold a party A lively winter competition, increasing the quota of free bread, letting everyone have fun, lest they come back to have fun with us. As a result, the Arcane Council actually fast-forwarded to open everyone's eyes with the Sacrifice of the Chosen One, yes Isn’t it serious enough?”
…
The trainee inspector chatted with Griffith for a while, vented her dissatisfaction and worries, and then went back to help.
Griffith has extracted the essence of the Son of Domon and given it to Minos for testing.
In successive battles, he already has a troop combination of living zombies, ghouls, suture monsters, self-destructing balls and undead dragonhawks. This army of undead creatures is tough, thick, and powerful, but lacks effective long-range attack methods.
The battle between Domon's son and Erza opened a window for him. Minos lived up to his expectations and quickly responded:
"The son of Domeng, the source material is highly complex and chaotic. It takes time to analyze, is difficult to copy, and consumes too much energy. It is recommended to give up.
"Minos extracted some fragments of sefirot, integrated them with existing units, dismantled them, and formed new combat units."
The new unit Griffith received is called the "Wild Beast", which is a very slow and large ranged unit that requires more biomass, psionic energy or extraordinary characteristic crystals to be generated than Ghouls and Stitches.
It is difficult to see the similarities between wild beasts and humans. They have six thick jointed limbs to support a huge body, like giant crabs and cockroaches. They can heal incomplete or damaged organs by absorbing nutrients from the soil, and can even overdraw their own vitality for healing. other creatures.
The Wild Beast is derived from the powerful Son of Domon, but cannot replicate its amazing combat power and mobility. It has an extremely thick carapace created by extracting compounds from the soil. The special secretory tubes in the mouthparts can secrete corrosive saliva, which, combined with the proliferated bone spikes, can be sprayed out through the expansion and contraction of the surrounding muscles, which is enough to threaten and destroy heavy armored troops.
This terrifying monster will be the artillery and heavily armored sniper unit of the undead army. In a battle with it, the fragile archers and musketeers will be unable to fight back.
The wild beast filled a gap in the undead army, gradually giving it the ability to fight regular troops; its disadvantage was that it was very slow and could only keep up with the walking speed of ordinary people when moving on the black mud.
Under the constraints of limited resources, undead creatures always have many problems. However, the process of making and adjusting them gives people an almost divine experience.
Griffith has already thought of a solution to the problem of slow movement.
