Chapter 1187: Rebecca’s New Idea

A low, steady hum echoed through the central testing platform. The series of neural interfaces and biomass recycling devices connected to the platform were undergoing their pre-launch “warm-up” procedures. At the heart of the platform, the “main brain” had completed all its checks and calibrations and now rested in a light sleep mode, waiting to be awakened.

Gawain withdrew his gaze from the main brain, a faint, resigned smile playing on his lips. “There are plenty of so-called ‘famous quotes’ attributed to me in the books. Some of them are somewhat accurate, but others—I honestly have no idea when they were pinned on me. This kind of thing happens all the time; it’s nothing surprising.”

Rebecca’s face fell, as if recalling something deeply upsetting. “But when I was little, I really struggled to memorize all those sayings. Auntie even had to change her staff several times…”

Gawain was speechless.

To an outsider, the hardest part of memorizing the ancestor’s famous quotes was apparently the aunt’s staff! That was a reaction no one would expect.

“Ahem, look on the bright side—learning more wisdom can’t hurt,” Gawain coughed lightly, steering the conversation back while reaching out to pat Rebecca’s head in comfort. Though she was no longer a child, habits formed over years aren’t easy to break. “I’ve actually read quite a few of those quotes. Whether they’re true or not, most of the ideas behind them are sound. That’s why I never asked the education officials to ‘debunk’ those long-standing sayings, nor did I demand the academy remove them from the textbooks. I only insisted on clearing out a few that no longer fit our current era…”

Rebecca had to accept this explanation from her ancestor but couldn’t help asking, “Ancestor, all those sayings that have been passed down for hundreds of years and sound so reasonable… you really didn’t say them yourself?”

Gawain looked at Rebecca’s curious face and could only smile helplessly. “Think about it. Collect all the so-called ‘pioneering quotes of Gawain Cecil’ from stories, poems, and books. Now remember when your ancestor died—seven hundred years ago, I was only thirty-five. Fifteen of those years I was unknown, and the remaining twenty were spent entirely at war. How much time do you think I had to ponder life’s philosophies? If I lived by all those scholars’ collected sayings, I’d probably be philosophizing even while eating and sleeping…”

Rebecca nodded thoughtfully, sensing some truth in his words. Then she added, “But honestly, I don’t think it’s impossible. Look at Amber—she’s been diligently compiling the ‘Sacred Words’ series, publishing a huge volume every month…”

Gawain’s expression, calm just moments ago, suddenly turned wide-eyed. “Wait, you actually read that stuff too?!”

Seeing his reaction, Rebecca quickly shrank back and explained, “I sneak a peek at Auntie’s collection…”

Gawain was speechless.

To be honest, at that moment he was reminded of the absurd novel about eighty princesses he’d once heard from Hetty. His feelings were complicated and inexplicable. Hetty, so mature and steady, secretly indulged in collecting such nonsense. But what baffled him even more was Amber—her obsession with a book titled The Sacred Nonsense of Emperor Gawain Cecil was so intense, it was almost like she was more dedicated to it than to lockpicking…

His expression was strange, and for a moment he didn’t know what to say. Meanwhile, Rebecca quietly studied her ancestor and slowly a thoughtful look crossed her face. “Ancestor, I’ve always felt… you actually tacitly approve of Amber’s hobby. Even though you scold her about it and sometimes look annoyed when you see her notes, you’ve never truly forbidden it. If you had, it would have stopped long ago.”

Gawain glanced at Rebecca with some surprise. He hadn’t expected this usually carefree girl—smart mostly in technical matters—to notice and ponder such things. Many thoughts surged through his mind, but after a moment, he said nothing, simply reaching out to ruffle Rebecca’s hair.

Some things were better left unsaid. What secret could there be behind it? Just a person who’s always on edge wanting to keep a little long-term amusement for themselves, and maybe leave a bit of their mark on the world. He didn’t know if Amber, who spent her days recording notes and sparring mentally with him, had already sensed this, but for now, this “unspoken understanding” seemed set to last a long time.

Rebecca looked at her ancestor, suddenly seeming a little different from before, puzzled and about to ask more. But just as she opened her mouth, a sudden itch crept over her scalp—a reflex born of long training made her swallow her words (a rare occurrence for her). Almost simultaneously, a clear ringing sound came from above the platform, drawing everyone’s attention.

Gawain immediately looked up toward the nearby crystal container. He saw a stream of bubbles rising in the main vessel and the transparent tubes beside it. Then, the runes around the container’s base began to light up and flicker in sequence. A stronger hum and faint vibration came from beneath the platform. A technician in a white short robe approached Rebecca. “Minister, the neural system integration is complete. The remote test points are ready.”

“Ah, finally!” Rebecca instantly forgot her earlier conversation with her ancestor, her face lighting up with excitement. She turned to Gawain. “Ancestor! We can wake the main brain now!”

A smile tugged at Gawain’s lips as he nodded gently. “Then let’s wake it.”

Rebecca took a deep breath and stepped to the control panel beside the main container. She personally input the activation command into the rune interface. In the next moment, the dormant “biological processor” inside the container slowly stirred awake. After a brief period of chaotic sluggishness, the massive cognitive organ began to sense the neural systems linked to it, and the remote test points scattered throughout the testing field—

It “stretched,” and hundreds of neural nodes across the platform were infused with life. As lights flickered on at the ends of distant frame structures, a faint smile finally appeared on Gawain’s face.

“This is just the beginning—but we’ve finally taken a substantial step forward,” he said to Rebecca, not sparing praise. “We’ve found a viable control center. Well done, Rebecca.”

Rebecca beamed—a smile so pure and bright it almost looked silly to Gawain. She scratched her head, then suddenly remembered something. “By the way, Ancestor, speaking of the Sky Fortress, I’ve recently had some new ideas…”

“New ideas?” Gawain raised an eyebrow. Though Rebecca’s ideas often caused confusion and chaos, when it came to technology, her insights were genuinely promising. “Go on.”

“We’ve been discussing with Typhon’s side about advancing into the wasteland. The main surface approach is settled: armored trains combined with ground troop clusters, pushing forward step by step along the mana-powered railways. Technically, that’s straightforward—just a matter of production capacity. But as for the skies… our Sky Fortress is still just an empty shell. Progress there might lag behind.”

Gawain frowned slightly. “You mean…”

“We might need a compromise—a solution somewhere between the Dragon Rider fighters and the Sky Fortress. Something that can carry powerful shields and armor like the Sky Fortress, operate for long periods in the wasteland environment, but can be produced faster. Ideally, it could be deployed in the airspace near the Grant Wall shortly after the mana railways to the wasteland are completed. You know, we already have the technology to manufacture large anti-gravity rings. The elves’ data helped us solve the stability bottleneck for these massive devices. Now that we have a usable control center, theoretically, the only remaining challenge to building a flying facility slightly smaller than the Sky Fortress is factory output…”

“A solution between the Dragon Riders and the Sky Fortress…” Gawain pondered, then slowly nodded. “Makes sense. Project 115 is important, but considering actual progress, we do need a device that can be deployed before Project 115 is finished. Do you already have a plan?”

Rebecca thought for a moment, organizing her thoughts as she gestured. “The inspiration is similar to the first-generation universal chassis for magic-powered vehicles. We can now build high-power anti-gravity rings and install them within the coverage of a single power spine. With a way to control these rings simultaneously and prevent interference, we can create a universal large anti-gravity chassis. It’s theoretically feasible.

“The chassis structure can be simple, with manufacturing difficulty far below that of a Sky Fortress, which is almost the size of a medium castle. Once built, we can deliver it to various military branches or departments, letting them design or order the superstructure to mount on the chassis. Aside from basic armor and shield generators, as long as it doesn’t exceed the platform’s load limit, they can build whatever they want—barracks, medical stations, small factories, water purification units. We could even break down an entire forward camp and distribute it across a dozen such universal platforms…

“I don’t know much about military strategy or your vision for the wasteland counterattack bases, but I believe these platforms would be very useful. Their biggest advantage is versatility. While they won’t match the Sky Fortress in survival or combat capability, nor the Dragon Riders in agility, they’re like frontline engineering vehicles—foundations for many things. Hey, Ancestor, why aren’t you saying anything?”

The stubborn little girl called out several times before Gawain snapped out of his near-daze. He looked at his great-great-(plus one)-granddaughter in surprise, then reached out to pat the top of her head. “Where did you get a brain like that…”

Rebecca blinked uncertainly. “Ancestor, is that a compliment?”

Gawain tousled her hair with a smile. “Of course it is. You’ve come up with an idea even I hadn’t thought of! Anti-gravity technology… so convenient, and it can be used this way… cheap, high-powered, universal aerial platforms? How did I never think of this before…”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but lightly tap his forehead, a bit frustrated with the narrowness of his earlier thinking. Even after encountering anti-gravity technology so many times, his mind had remained stuck—either fixated on small flying vehicles or obsessed with the sci-fi notion of massive airborne fortresses. He had never once considered a more practical, more fitting application for the current situation… It was only when Rebecca’s mind suddenly sparked that this brilliant idea came to light.

Build a large number of versatile aerial platforms, then dismantle the entire forward base and reconstruct it atop those platforms, deploying them directly into the wasteland under the cover of ground forces…

After a brief moment of self-reproach, Gawain suddenly chuckled and sighed, feeling a sense of relief. After all, he had only been living in this era for a short time. His impressions of anti-gravity technology were inevitably colored by memories and worldviews from his past life. On the other hand, since the weight of the entire empire rested on his shoulders, he hadn’t been directly involved in technical matters for quite a while, so it was only natural that he’d fallen behind the pace.

In this regard, Rebecca—who had always been at the forefront of cutting-edge technology—had clearly pulled ahead of him.

There was no need to feel frustrated; in fact, it was something to be grateful for.

Rebecca had no idea how many thoughts had flashed through her ancestor’s mind in those few seconds. She only looked at Gawain with concern, waiting until his expression softened before quietly asking, “Ancestor… are you alright?”

“Of course,” Gawain smiled. “I’m genuinely pleased—your plan is excellent. I think we can start immediately. Thanks to the wealth of results from Project 115 and the factories already producing components, the universal aerial platform you’ve designed actually has a very solid foundation. When you get back, put together a report and draft an initial budget. I’ll give Hetty a heads-up.”

Rebecca’s excited expression instantly froze at the mention of “Hetty.” Her face twitched noticeably, and her voice dropped several tones. “Uh… Ancestor, are you sure Auntie won’t get angry when she sees the new budget?”

“That’s exactly why I’m giving her a heads-up,” Gawain said with a helpless smile. “Mainly so she’s mentally prepared…”

(End of chapter)