High Above

For the people of the Imperial City who live in the lower and middle districts of the city, ordinary people would have shortness of breath and dizziness even if they were close to it. The upper city was an unattainable and forbidden place.

Only the sublimated ones, those truly big figures, can walk freely in the area completely enveloped by the Imperial Capital's force field.

As everyone knows, above the upper city, there is still an upper city.

Above the upper city area, where even the visions of fourth-level powerhouses can be suppressed, there is a steep solitary mountain. The force field generated by steel and unknown biological structures forms a crater-like structure, invisible. The force field shield shoots straight into the sky from here, protecting the entire central plain area with the Imperial Capital as the center.

And just around the entrance where the force field occurs, a huge rock-iron palace stands on the edge, but in terms of appearance, it is more like a high platform than a palace.

From this high platform, one can overlook the entire central plain, and behind it is the imperial capital's force field beam that shoots straight into the void.

If His Majesty had not disappeared to carry out his unknown and mysterious plan, he would have stayed here most of the time. The palace in the upper city was just an office, and he had never stayed there for a long time.

He even hated that palace that was too the same.

Mikael walked up to the high platform step by step. The high platform was made of neither metal nor rock. It had the characteristics of some kind of creature, but it was as hard as steel. Its surface was covered with a layer of flowing light liquid, and its color was pure white. , without a trace of impurities.

Although the light liquid covering the high platform seems to be one, it is actually composed of countless independent light strips, which are constantly intertwined and squirming up and down. It seems to be building some extremely complex model, and in the center of each light strip is a human-like figure. The eye-like ball of light rotated and stared in the direction of Mikael.

In the center of the light liquid, at the top of the high platform, stood a tall and burly figure, staring at the sky alone.

The second sun hanging in the sky, sitting on the top of the blazing light, is Axel, the emperor of the Central Empire and the defender of the land.

And...the son of the Black Tyrant, the heir to Inaga II's greatest legacy, and the tyrant of the Yi tribe.

Mikael stared at his father's back. He knew very well that compared to his grandfather's reputation as a tyrant, his father was a murderous tyrant in the true sense.

In my grandfather's life, even when he targeted his biggest rivals and rebels, he only killed himself and exiled his family. When the old Archduke Thorin tried to rebel, he only killed the first culprit, and even took in this generation of Archduke Thorin Spoo. Li Te became his disciple and promised him that 'if this country makes you dissatisfied, you can choose the path of independence again'.

As for his own father, even if he doesn't count the brothers and sisters who were killed before and after he succeeded to the throne, the number of those aristocratic families who were eliminated after he took the throne alone, and the self-righteous people who thought they could get more benefits from the new emperor, were dozens of times greater than that of his own father. grandfather.

The only difference is that my father corrected my grandfather's weakness of being soft-hearted. If he wanted to kill them all, he would kill them all and never leave even a single remnant behind.

In this way, no one will reiterate his father's ruthlessness many years later. All the nobles who were eliminated will be forgotten, leaving only a simple stroke in the history books.

As for the heirs of the inheritance, that is what it is. It seems that each of the laws and regulations in the empire has been changed a lot, but in fact, the implementation is not much different from that of my grandfather's time. At most, it has some Axel's characteristics.

This is the key to the empire gradually growing prosperous again.

Axel didn't pay attention to the person coming behind him. Large tracts of golden-white light particles like clouds flowed beside him. These light particles rotated and danced, and then condensed into human shapes one after another. The human shapes were translucent. He bowed humbly to his father and reported information on many matters.

There was a figure that Mikael was very familiar with, that was Moze, the director of the Academy of Gnosis.

"So, is it theoretically possible?" Mikael heard his father say this.

[Yes, Your Majesty. 】 Dean Moser bowed and he answered seriously: "But the people of the empire need an enemy so that they can unite as one. Just a flying flame is not enough."

[The empire has never been unified in nature. There are too many different races and regional customs within us. Culture and nation cannot be a bridge of unity. Except for having the same emperor and everyone looking up at the same sun, we Never a whole]

Dean Moser said some words that were difficult for Mikael to understand. He knew that the second prince was right next to him, but he said without hesitation: "We need a more distinct, more three-dimensional, and more powerful enemy... Otherwise, we will No consensus can be reached]

"It's still a bit difficult to live. No wonder Split insists on letting people die." The emperor whispered, he raised his hand and motioned for Mikael to sit aside: "A natural disaster should be fine. Just Wanling The one predicted by the temple.”

The emperor's voice was thin and a little tired: "Or should we add the Cangtian Royal Court? It's not impossible to fight on two fronts."

[No, Your Majesty]

Dean Moze shook his head and said: [Those who hate Feiyandi and those who hate Cangtian Royal Court are not a group of people. They cannot reach a consensus. On the contrary, the disaster of light predicted by the Hall of All Souls has potential, but it is a disaster for everyone on the entire continent, and the people of the empire cannot feel that they are special]

[If they are not special, they will not be able to muster the courage]

"...Compared to technology, the most troublesome thing is the people themselves. How can we teach this group of ignorant people how to unite?"

The tall man paused for a moment, then waved his hand: "Step back."

【Yes, Your Majesty】

The hazy translucent human figure made of light particles dissipated, and the emperor turned his head and looked at Mikael.

"Good afternoon, father," said Mikael.

"Be direct." The emperor said, "I never taught you that you need to be polite to me."

"Why sit back and watch Split succeed?" Mikael said: "Or is this still part of your plan?"

"He didn't go to a place I didn't know." The emperor said calmly, he raised his head, turned back and continued to stare at the light pillar, the deepest part of his golden eyes flashed with white light: "It won't take more than two minutes to get to the center of the earth. "

"Just pretend that you were prepared." Mikael thought as expected, and he continued to ask: "My brother didn't repair the atmosphere at all. It was the captain of the guard who did it on his behalf. What on earth did you send him to do?"

"It's a boring question." The emperor said: "Do we still need to repair Terra's atmosphere? The four-story ladder is not broken. You can regenerate even if you lift the entire atmosphere. Carlos has gone to Dragon Island."

"It's just that you weren't here just now, otherwise you would have to go to the Holy Mountain. Shuangwei went there on your behalf."

"What on earth are you going to do?" Mikael asked incomprehensibly. He just couldn't figure out what his father was planning to do during this period of time, so he came over to ask directly.

Axel was his father after all, and he did answer the question.

The tall man moved his eyes away from the imperial force field shield beam. Only then did he really turn his head and look at his son seriously.

"Mikael."

The emperor said: "The immovable city has appeared again."

Mikael's eyes widened.

But before he could say anything, Axel looked away again.

The emperor was now overlooking the lower city of the imperial capital under the high platform and the vast plains in the distance. His tone was calm: "Split has met Hilliard's successor. He is a young knight, probably from the Capital of Knowledge. , or the people of Jin in the Western Region.”

"He calls himself Riven Valley, and his name is Mahdi. His sword is Hilliard's, but it is no longer a sword embryo, but a real sword... He probably already has the third level of strength. . Well, overall, he is almost as talented as Mr. Hilliard back then."

"Mahdi?" There was so much information that Mikael didn't know what to say for a moment: "How could I not have discovered... this name..."

"Of course it's a fake name. Even everything else may be fake, except strength." The emperor shook his head.

He sighed: "The time of change has come. Those who experienced the turmoil of Dark Moon are almost dead, but their successors appear one after another. It is another turbulent era."

"You ask me about my purpose? My purpose has always been simple. In other words, the purpose of those who still have ambitions and dreams on this land is the same."

"I want to change the world."

"Who wouldn't?"

Mikael almost wanted to laugh. This answer cannot be said to be unserious, but it is the same as saying it: "Because of this, none of you can change the world."

"yes."

The emperor did not shy away from this: "When you become the emperor, you will know how unfree you are. There is no difference between sublimates and ordinary people at all, even if they are at the top of the fifth level."

Having said this, he paused for a while, then waved: "Stand down, there will be a big meeting to be held later. I want to continue working."

Mikael retreated.

When he came here this time, what he really wanted to ask was why he allowed Grand Duke Thorin to advance to the fifth level. Already after the Awak Territory incident, he had already determined that Grand Duke Thorin had mastered some special advancement method. , told Axel.

But after hearing what Minister Moser said, he understood that there would be no answer even if he asked this question.

Because his father just wanted to create a rival.

Feiyandi and Cangtian Royal Court are not enough, let alone a mere Grand Duke Thorin?

He doesn't care about these trivial matters at all.

"The fifth level is full of lunatics."

Walking down from the high platform, Mikael slowly walked back to the upper city.

Axel almost never hides his actions from his children, including himself, but no one can understand what he is going to do.

For example, taking advantage of the momentum of Grand Duke Thorin's advancement to the fifth level, calling all the leaders and main members of the empire's major mountain forces to the imperial capital... This is not a concerted effort at all. These guys get together. , even if they obey Axel's authority on the surface, they will never really join forces.

Mikael didn't understand this. Separating these sublimated people in different places is a way to ensure order. Otherwise, these guys who are firm-willed, stubborn, and have real power can cause as much trouble as they want.

A group of guys who have different opinions and cannot be convinced with words is itself a source of unrest.

If they stay in the imperial capital for a few days, the imperial capital will fall into chaos for a few days. Mikael can already think of the chaos in the upper city of the imperial capital in a while - just the group of Governor Bai Ji and the Grand Duke Dong will fight openly and secretly to their brains. Not to mention the countless years of entanglement in the northwest.

They themselves will not take action, but their descendants, the forces under their command, will start dueling in the streets, suppressing each other, and using their own political power to attack the enemy.

Damn quagmire, these people are good at fighting in the mud, it makes my brain hurt just thinking about it.

At this moment, Mikael couldn't help but think of Ian again. That kid ran really fast. He probably wanted to leave when he saw the nobles and bigwigs from all walks of life gathered in the imperial capital, right? He must have guessed how troublesome it would be to have so many big figures in the imperial capital. With his genius, if several nobles from different powers attended the banquet, which one should he go to? Who do you want to offend for no reason?

Smart people who think they are self-righteous will think they can have both sides. Real smart people will have run away long ago.

It's really the right choice.

If Mikael was not the second prince and had a goal that he could not escape if he wanted to achieve it, he would also want to run.

"It comes down to it."

Closing his eyes, the blond prince smiled bitterly: "I'm not a person suitable to stand on the top of a mountain."

No matter what Mikael thinks, time is passing and things are developing.

At the Imperial Capital Conference that took place on October 8, 773, all participants thought that the focus was on how to deal with Archduke Thorin’s advancement to the fifth level, and how to deal with the core area of ​​the Grand Duke’s domain that has now become foggy, but they did not. I think this issue was only briefly mentioned in a few words at first, and then no one mentioned it again.

With the official full-scale confrontation between the Empire and Feiyandi, and King Tianhong being forced to accept the sanctions of the four orthodox religions and being banned from participating in the war, the Empire has gained considerable advantages in terms of public opinion and strength. According to this At this point, under the guidance of Emperor Axel, all the nobles of the empire will work together to support the Southwest Military Region and cooperate with the next major operation in the direction of the Flaming Land.

In this regard, many nobles felt confused. They thought that the ambitious emperor wanted to open two fronts and fight against the two major bloodlines of Nemathras and Absalom at the same time. This guess is not wrong, but the reality will definitely be beyond their expectations.

The subsequent appearance of Canaan Moore's special envoy pushed the meeting to a climax.

[The Setar Empire and the Canaanite Moorish Federation will form a strategic alliance, respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will reach more than twelve strategic cooperation projects]

[The first of these is that the Ascendants from both sides join forces to open an opening in the Fafut Mountains, allowing the sea breeze from the Southern Everlasting Ocean to pass directly to the wilderness in the southeast of the empire. The empire is also about to launch a large-scale wasteland afforestation movement and open up a new residential area and open up a land trade route directly to Canaan Moore]

This is the largest terrain transformation project on Terra since the 1960s.

In addition, on the first day of the great meeting, Emperor Axel also determined the empire's development strategy during the war against the Flying Fire Land.

The meeting passed a bill on the reorganization of the Air and Space Force, which will be based on air and space armor and supplemented by mobile fortresses. From then on, the Setar Air and Space Force will be independent of the Imperial Ministry of Defense, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Air and Space Force will be concurrently served by the Imperial Emperor. At the same time, the low-altitude flight modification of part of the Army armor was confirmed. The Army is not just a simple land army, but a comprehensive comprehensive armored force.

There are still six days left in the big conference room, but the news on just the first day has already shocked the imperial capital and even the entire empire. In particular, the strategic alliance between the empire and the Canaanite Moorish Federation shocked the allies even more.

at the same time.

At the foot of the mountain.

Downtown area.

The white-haired boy did not take the alchemy train or the car, but rode an ordinary white horse, humming a small tune, and rode in the sunset and wind.

Naturally, the supply fleet loaded with armor and food and the hired manpower cannot be prepared within two days. The Platinum Iridium Workshop has taken care of these things. Nearly fifty skilled craftsmen and a fleet of various construction tools will be there. Ian arrived in Nauman City within a week or two of his arrival at South Ridge.

Hua An and Shuangdie took the channel of Fairy Township. After all, fairies must not go too fast if they want to go all out. This was inconsistent with Ian's purpose - he needed to observe the Nanling Township area after the war between Feiyan Land and the Empire. changes, so we went separately.

According to information from Platinum Iridium Workshop, the current situation in Nanling is not good. Although the main pressure of Feiyan Land is in the west, there are no fortresses here in Nanling. As long as the enemy is willing to pay the price, they can definitely kill people. Send it to Nanling.

They inspired many indigenous and mountain people to resist the rule of the empire. Although the trading nodes centered on Nauman City, Three Rivers City and Harrison Port were not disturbed, the large autonomous region in the west of Nanling has fallen into chaos.

There is obviously something wrong with the Dragon Worshiping Sect. Since the King of the Mountain took Xiou away, Ian has not received any news from the South Ridge Dragon Worshiping Sect, including Elder Manya - or they have encountered someone. When it comes to big troubles, or they are so troubled and busy that they have no time to communicate with the outside world.

In general, I am afraid that Ian will not be able to get help from the Dragon Worship Cult so quickly.

But these are small things.

Although it sounds a bit cruel, the more chaotic Nanling is, the more room there is for Ian to play.

If everyone lives happily, without enemies and without turmoil, then who can change the world, and who will change the world?

What's more, if there is no chaos, how can he hide his actions?

It was like when the imperial capital was in chaos, no one cared that a mere white alchemist had left this ancient city.

The rumble of the train sounded, and the bright lights came on from the distance, then quickly sped over and returned behind the young man.

There, the towering fortified city was still shrouded in light, as if burning. Almost all the noble leaders in the largest country on the Terra continent have come here, and the curtain of the era is slowly opening here.

But this is not his stage.

The boy was about to go to his stage.

It's sunset now, and then it's night, but dawn will come eventually.

Ian is now in the dark, but he is looking forward to the moment when the morning light comes.

The moonlight had begun to slowly light up on the other side of the sky, and a few inconspicuous stars appeared in the half-white night.

——The Star Prison imprisons the sky and the stars, creating boundaries for the distance and limits for the unknown.

——But this is not despair.

Raising his head and looking up at the dark sky high above, Ian was no longer afraid.

The young man smiled: "At least I already know the problem. I already know what exactly took away the stars."

——The next thing to do is to solve it.

With this in mind, Ian drove his horse and sang a light tune softly: "Ride my horse and gallop on the old roads of this old city~"

"Never give up until you're exhausted~"

As night falls, the cool autumn night wind blows, making the long grass on both sides of the road sway endlessly.

The clouds covered the moonlight, and the figure of the boy from the White People disappeared into the darkness.

But the sound of horse hooves can still be clearly heard as we move forward.

He is still moving forward, walking on the only path he has to take.

He is Ian.

Those who break the old world, reshape the new world, and eventually go to the sky.

He wants to gallop forward into the future.

Even if you are exhausted, never give up.

——Above the Sky·Part 1·Prison of the Stars·End

The first volume, Prison Star Prison, is over. I will post a single chapter during the day and prepare the outline for the next volume!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone!