Chapter 580: Advance and Deploy

Amber’s first impression of the wasteland was that it felt utterly alien.

The pale gray sky churned overhead like a viscous liquid, thick clouds roiling and swirling. Visible to the naked eye, torrents of chaotic magical energy surged erratically between the heavy cloud layers. The wind whipped unpredictably across the barren, twisted earth below—a land coated in a strange purple-black substance that looked like a mixture of molten volcanic slag and sludge. It was as if the world itself bore a festering wound, spreading endlessly, stretching all the way to the horizon and into the vast energy barrier looming in the distance.

She had never seen anything like this anywhere else.

Only now did she truly understand what High Lord said about the wasteland being “beyond the borders of civilized lands.”

The Black Forest might be corrupted and twisted, but at least the trees were still trees, the monsters still monsters, and even on the gloomiest days, the sky glimpsed through the clouds remained clear. But here, at the edge of the Black Forest, beneath the towering wall, the entire world was utterly different from anything she had known.

She even felt that the shadowy forces here had become strange and unfamiliar.

“According to the sea witch, the magical tide is the world’s way of ‘reshuffling the deck.’ The magical tide seven hundred years ago was only a partial eruption—a kind of prelude to the real thing…” High Lord gazed out at the wasteland stretching before them, recalling what Tyr had told him. He muttered softly to himself, “So the changes here… could be seen as a harbinger of a ‘new world.’”

Amber stared at him in horror. “You’re saying this rotten land… is what the ‘new world’ looks like after the real magical tide hits?”

High Lord nodded gently. “More or less.”

“…The new world sounds terrifying,” Amber stuck out her tongue. “What kind of life could possibly survive in a place like that?”

“Terrifying only from our perspective,” High Lord glanced at her. “Perhaps to the creatures of the new world, this twisted, corrupted land is a paradise filled with birdsong and flowers. And the blue skies, white clouds, green waters, and mountains we cherish… might seem like hell to them.”

Sonia approached, overhearing their conversation. She couldn’t help but comment, “Seven hundred years of sleep has made you more sentimental than before.”

High Lord replied casually, “Well, there’s not much else to do when you’re sleeping in a coffin.”

“If you get the chance, introduce us to that sea witch. We elves have always been fascinated by the ancient knowledge sea witches possess.”

“I will, once she wakes up next time,” High Lord nodded, then looked around. “But for now… let’s establish our final forward base here.”

Though the sentinel tower they needed to build was still some distance away, the corrupted plains were fraught with danger. To ensure the safety of the frontline personnel and secure the road through the Black Forest, High Lord ordered the establishment of the last forward base at the southern edge of the forest.

Counting the first base in the northern Black Forest and the second deep within it, this was the third.

Transport vehicles carrying vital supplies rolled out of the woods and formed a loose ring on the open ground at the forest’s edge. Multifunctional combat vehicles parked smoothly and precisely in the gaps between the large transports, filling in the circle’s gaps.

The steel armor and vehicle bodies formed a temporary defensive barrier, while artillery pieces mounted on tractor chassis were positioned inside the barrier, providing the base’s initial self-defense firepower.

Once the defenses were roughly in place, the pathfinders and guards began unloading supplies and setting up the base.

The cornerstone of Cecil Arcane Industries was the magical network, so laying down the network was the first priority.

Prefabricated magical network units were unloaded from two trucks. These were large metal plates over two meters wide and long, preassembled with numerous magical network modules. The units were clipped onto the edges of the multifunctional combat vehicles’ chassis, connecting to the vehicles’ power spines. Using these vehicles as nodes, a large, continuous magical network formed inside the protective barrier. As more units connected, the vehicles began to take on a new role—as magical energy obelisks.

“External energy on Combat Vehicle One has reached threshold—crystal activation!” “Combat Vehicle Two external energy threshold reached—crystal activation!” “Combat Vehicle Three…”

With the mechanical sergeants’ loud reports, the crystals atop the vehicles lit up one by one. A surge of magical energy spread rapidly through the network’s energy field, instantly covering the entire open area.

High Lord casually picked up a magical terminal and saw the glowing runes on its side indicating full charge. He nodded slightly.

These lightweight “multifunctional combat vehicles” were designed after the “Warhammer I” main battle tank was finalized. They weren’t highly advanced technically but were specifically created for this mission—and would undoubtedly prove invaluable in the foreseeable future.

The wasteland’s edge was harsh, with countless uncontrollable threats constantly endangering the frontline personnel. How to handle these threats was a problem High Lord had to solve. The Warhammer I was powerful and durable, capable of handling most challenges on the wasteland, but it couldn’t solve the survival problems of the entire construction team. To address this, designers from the Mechanical Manufacturing Institute and the Arcane Technology Research Institute developed this lightweight multifunctional combat vehicle based on the Warhammer I chassis.

High Lord named it—the Steel Ambassador.

From its inception, the Steel Ambassador was intended as a powerful support platform, not an attacker. To help teams far from stable rear areas establish themselves quickly in the wasteland or on the frontlines, the Steel Ambassador was equipped with a larger array of magical network units and a more robust power spine. A magical energy crystal—the core component of the magical network obelisk—was mounted atop the vehicle. This crystal, combined with the Steel Ambassador’s specially designed “turret,” formed a complete magical energy obelisk.

On the frontline, far from rear supply, the Steel Ambassador’s obelisk provided crucial energy coverage, ensuring base facilities could start operating quickly. Its powerful power spine supported a stronger shield system with two modes: “Standfast Mode,” which prioritized the vehicle’s own survival with a strong but limited shield protecting only itself; and “Peacekeeper Mode,” activated by special super magical runes, which expanded the shield’s projection to cover dozens of meters around. Though the shield’s strength dropped significantly in this mode, it protected a large area, offering powerful battlefield support.

Besides providing energy and shield support, the Steel Ambassador’s magical crystal also served as a relay point for magical network communications. While its power was far less than fixed relay towers, it was enough to maintain battlefield communications. Just as the new arcane warship “Pathfinder” provided communication coverage for the entire fleet, the Steel Ambassador ensured a land force on the frontline wouldn’t lose contact with allies.

Beyond these fixed functions, as a “multifunctional support” vehicle, the Steel Ambassador was designed with expansion modules in mind. Slots and rune chains around its chassis connected directly to the power spine, allowing additional magical network units to boost energy output or providing rapid charging to heavily armored units like the White Knight.

Of course, these conveniences came at a cost. To install the massive crystal and support the energy-hungry shield system, the vehicle’s main cannon was removed, leaving only a few thermal ray guns and a single infantry-grade grenade launcher at the front for self-defense. Crew capacity was reduced from six to three, freeing space for extra magical network units and the oversized power spine. These modifications nearly eliminated its offensive capability—but High Lord knew that on a complex battlefield, a highly capable support vehicle could be far more valuable than a main cannon.

Especially here, in the wasteland.

On the open ground where the forward base stood, soldiers formed a temporary defensive line using vehicle compartments as cover atop the ring of transports and multifunctional vehicles. Inside the ring, pathfinders unloaded prefabricated tents and simple panel houses from the large trucks, hurriedly setting up camp. The Steel Ambassadors at various points lit up their magical crystals, and as the crystals glowed, a shimmering shield layer closed over the entire convoy.

“Arcane technology, huh…” Sonia watched the base’s defenses take shape, whispering in admiration. “At first, I thought this was just a modification or reorganization of Gondor’s magical techniques, but now it seems they’ve taken a completely different path.”

“The fall of the Gondor Empire taught us a lesson,” High Lord smiled. “No matter how advanced the technology, if it’s confined to a few elite individuals, limited in scope and unable to be widely disseminated, it will inevitably lack reliability and disaster resilience, and will struggle to break through its own development bottlenecks. Of course, one reason we took this path with arcane technology was necessity—we don’t have a Deep Blue mana well.”

“Deep Blue mana well…” Sonia murmured, her gaze fixed on the glowing crystals atop the Steel Ambassadors. “Perhaps… these things are just as valuable as another Deep Blue…”

That was undoubtedly high praise.

And coming from an elf of the Silver Empire who had witnessed Gondor’s glory days, it carried even more weight.

High Lord simply nodded, then lifted his gaze to the towering sentinel tower dominating the horizon.

The massive sentinel tower stood at the border of the former human empire, its hexagonal shaft soaring hundreds of meters into the sky. It hovered above a mountain-like base made of special alloys and rune stones, held aloft by powerful anti-gravity devices. Countless intricate runes and streams of energy flickered and flowed across the tower and its base. Driven by these runes, potent magical energy was projected into the air, forming an energy barrier thousands of meters high at the edge of the wasteland.

“The glory of the ancient empire…” Rosetta Augustus lowered her eyes from the tower’s peak, sighing softly.

Behind her, a bustling construction site was in full swing. Numerous low-level mages from the Royal Mage Association used telekinetic hands and various shaping and summoning spells to build the camp’s walls. Massive stone ramparts grew visibly from the corrupted, polluted earth. The great shield emblem of the Typhon Empire was raised atop a flagpole, its golden-red banner fluttering proudly in the chaotic winds of the wasteland.

The sound of galloping hooves approached from nearby, and a striking gray-haired female knight soon arrived before Emperor Typhon. Rosetta Augustus lifted her head and gave a slight nod to the gifted “Little Wolf” from the Wendel family. On her usually stern and rigid face, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared. “Looks like we have news.”

Andersa Wendel swung down from her horse and bowed respectfully. “Yes, Your Majesty. The eagle-eyed scouts have confirmed a group appearing at the edge of the Black Forest to the northwest. They’re flying the Cecil family banner.”

“Just as we expected,” Rosetta nodded. “The eastern border of Ansu is at odds with the crown, and in the end, they have no choice but to send that ancestor of theirs who rose from the grave.” Her gaze shifted northwest, toward the hazy silhouette of another distant tower. “They’re surprisingly close…”

(Many of you probably already know… the little one has been born safely, mother and child are both well =.= And this is the last chapter I have prepared in advance. Wish me steady updates…)

(End of chapter)