Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 371 - 370: A New Sport on the Territory

Are there greater secrets hidden within the defied Fortress?

Nobody can say for sure, even those who once worked at the defied Fortress, and even Kamel, who was sealed together with the defied Fortress situated in the shadow realm for a millennium, does not know the entirety of this grand plan and vast structure.

The defied Fortress of those days had very strict permission controls and access systems. Each area in the fortress had its own person in charge, controlled by a Fortress Council with the highest permissions. Although different areas and departments executed various parts of the defied Plan together, they were actually in a semi-isolated state from each other. Without the Supreme Council’s approval and a series of extremely complex checking and "purification" procedures, personnel were strictly forbidden from moving between areas. According to Kamel’s memory, obtaining such permission was very difficult, usually possible only under extremely special circumstances. Ninety percent of the people in the fortress had never entered areas outside their own responsible zones...

From such strict internal control, Gawain could think of only one reason: to prevent contamination by the gods’ power.

Now that a thousand years have passed, according to Kamel’s speculation, aside from the divine samples remaining in the defied Fortress and related facilities, the entire fortress should have been completely evacuated, and nothing related to the gods should remain. But in some areas, less important research materials and "safety samples" should still be sealed. Gawain was very curious about what else he might discover in that gigantic ancient facility if he continued to send people to explore it.

Byron nodded, preparing to take on the task of continuing to explore the defied Fortress, but Soldrin suddenly interrupted him: "Wait a minute—can the task of exploring the defied Fortress be given to me and the ’Steel Cavalry’?"

Gawain looked at Soldrin, who explained: "The Combat Corps is growing larger in scale, and there is also a new round of expansion and training programs recently. As one of the commanders of the Combat Corps, Sir Byron is no longer suitable to personally execute such exploration missions. It would be better to hand it over to the newly established Steel Cavalry—this small-team mission in an unknown environment fits the Steel Cavalry’s role perfectly. I can use it to train my rookies."

"Hmm... indeed," Gawain thought for a moment and agreed with Soldrin’s statement, "Then this task is entrusted to you. Byron, hand over the previous exploration progress and detailed information. Additionally, Soldrin, you should make ample preparations before setting out. This task is not urgent; you can depart within a week. The southern and eastern regions of the defied Fortress are heavily abandoned, with unclear and complex situations. Do not act recklessly."

Faced with Gawain’s advice, Soldrin nodded seriously—even though he was an experienced and powerful High-Ranked Ranger, he would not take an ancient ruin with a thousand-year history lightly.

...

After leaving the meeting at the feudal lord’s mansion, Soldrin did not return to the military district’s station but went to the Cecil Mechanical Manufacturing Facility located in the eastern part of the territory.

The Cecil Mechanical Manufacturing Facility has undergone several expansions and transformations. It is no longer just a simple manufacturing plant but a large facility integrating research, testing, and production. The blueprints, created by Gawain through knowledge derivation and multiple tests in the "simulation test field" of the Eternal Sleepers network, were gradually transformed into industrial products in these laboratories and workshops and spread throughout the territory.

Soldrin went straight to the "Craftsman Hall" of the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility—this is the heart area of the entire Mechanical Manufacturing Facility. This round hall is located where the wooden workshop was when the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility was first established, but its current appearance is vastly different. The spacious hall is orderly distributed with various machine processing tables and research desks, but the most striking is still that circular platform slightly higher than the ground in the center of the hall. The platform is about ten meters in diameter, with a smaller depression in the center, devoid of any facilities or equipment, with only a variety of metal ingots piled around the platform, and sunlight from the overhead skylight currently shining on the center of the platform—where it is empty.

Soldrin did not see the figure of Nicholas Egg on the "Mechanic Circle Platform", only seeing many busy "Mechanical Scholars" (a term some Cecil residents use for Mage Technicians specializing in machines) nearby. He curiously approached a Mechanical Scholar wearing white work clothes: "Is Mr. Egg not here?"

This Mechanical Scholar with a big beard and sturdy limbs paused before responding: "Mr. Egg... Oh, do you mean the director? The director just went out."

Soldrin frowned: "Where did he go?"

"Gear Square over there," the Mechanical Scholar mentioned a place name rich in the industrial district’s characteristics, "If you go now, he’s definitely still there."

Soldrin couldn’t imagine Nicholas Egg, who rarely left the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility except to deal with metal, would go to such a crowded square, but he still thanked him: "Gear Square... Okay, thank you."

After that, he left the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility and headed straight for Gear Square.

Gear Square is not far away; it is located opposite the Mechanical Manufacturing Facility and Steel Foundry, with a special bush wall used to absorb and separate noise between the square and several factory buildings. Beyond the square are several main residential areas where the factory workers and their families live. Every day, workers living in the residential area cross the entire Gear Square and the bush wall to go to work. On weekdays, the square is also an important place for factory district residents to pass the time.

The bush wall separating the factory and residential area was planted and catalyzed by Pittman and his apprentices under Gawain’s suggestion.

Soldrin arrived at Gear Square and immediately discovered that some activity might be taking place here.

There is a large open space next to the square, where many people are gathered now. From time to time, bursts of cheers and shouts emerge from the crowd, as if some competition is going on in the open space. Soldrin easily passed through the crowd due to his skills and immediately saw the bustling scenes of a match: two teams were running on the rectangular open space, with cloth strips in two colors tied to their heads to divide into two teams, and some kind of ball made of animal leather was the object of their struggle. They strived to kick it to the two crude wooden goalposts at the edge of the open space.

The scene was chaotic, with little order or cooperation among the two competing teams. The person standing at the edge of the open space serving as the "referee" seemed unclear about the rules themselves, spending most of their time shouting alongside the surrounding audience. Yet these people played enthusiastically, full of excitement, and the spectators were also extraordinarily excited, with cheers never ceasing - they weren’t often cheering for goals, but simply for a sudden funny face or a spectacular fall by someone on the court.

Despite having lived in human society for seven hundred years, Soldrin rarely saw such a scene, especially among commoners—they might gather together, they might cheer and shout for some reason, but they would never indulge in such a fervent sport for a simple reason: commoners and even serfs who couldn’t get enough to eat wouldn’t possibly waste their precious energy on such activities?

"""

Moreover, it’s still the cold spring season right now, making physical strength especially precious.

Soldrin watched the activities in the open field with a slight daze, as relevant information slowly emerged in his mind: This... seems to be called soccer, something an old friend invented not long ago. After its promotion, it quickly gained popularity among the people in the territory...

Honestly speaking, Soldrin prefers several board games invented by his old friend, yet he can still feel some inexplicable attraction from this seemingly wild and crude sport. This activity... might interest those energetic dwarves on the western continent.

At that moment, a bright metal reflection in the crowd interrupted the High-Ranked Ranger’s thoughts. He looked up and finally found his real target for coming here—Nicholas Egg was floating among the people, his huge and amusing glowing smile visible from far away.

After a period of adjustment, the citizens of Cecil seem to have completely adapted to this uniquely shaped "master craftsman." In fact, they’ve recently even gotten used to Kamel, who always comes accompanied by sparks and lightning; the only one they haven’t fully adapted to is the sea demon lady with the swaggering gait—after all, Tiel doesn’t come out often.

Soldrin quickly made his way through the crowd and approached Nicholas Egg, loudly greeting him (since the cheers around them were too noisy): "Mr. Egg, Mr. Egg!"

It took several calls before Nicholas Egg shook as if waking from a big dream, then the giant metal ball turned slowly, buzzing from within: "Wow... that was intense..."

"Mr. Egg, what was so intense?" Soldrin asked loudly, "By the way, can we find a quieter place? I have something to discuss with you..."

"Alright, alright, let’s get out of here..." Nicholas Egg buzzed, but his floating was noticeably unstable, "You... hold me a bit, I’m a little shaky..."

Soldrin looked at Nicholas Egg’s round and smooth body, utterly puzzled—where the heck do I hold this?

But Nicholas Egg didn’t care about the details. Once Soldrin awkwardly placed his hand on him, the metal ball followed the High-Ranked Ranger away from the crowd.

Once outside the crowd, the metal-ball alien seemed slightly better, and sighed again: "Wow... that was intense..."

Soldrin turned to look at him: "So what exactly was so intense?"

"Twenty-two people scrambling to kick a ball—even the referee sometimes joins in for a kick, it’s so intense..." Nicholas Egg’s tone carried a hint of lingering fear, "Soccer is originally such a brutal sport, huh..."

Despite Soldrin’s seven centuries of travel and accumulated knowledge and insight, it took him a while to guess what Mr. Egg meant, the High-Ranked Ranger’s expression was unprecedentedly odd: "You... watching this should feel similar to witnessing a street murder for us, right?"

"More severe—even when you guys murder on the street, there aren’t more than twenty people each taking a stab..."

Soldrin’s eye twitched: "I understand how you feel... So did you come to watch soccer for the thrill?"

"No way!" Nicholas Egg’s tone was nearly frantic, "I just heard a ball sport became popular on the territory and thought it was prepared for me, so I wanted to come and register—fortunately I didn’t! They don’t lack people at all; almost every team is missing a ball..."

Soldrin’s eye twitch intensified as he sized up Nicholas Egg, thinking there’s no need for him to be so anxious, given his size and actual weight, only ancient legends’ giants could kick him on the field...

But considering the immense shock the metal-ball alien just endured, Soldrin decided against voicing his thoughts and hurriedly changed the subject: "Actually, I came to you for a favor."

"Ah... a favor?" Nicholas Egg responded, "What kind of favor?"

"You should already be aware that I’m forming the ’Steel Cavalry,’ and the leader tasked me with designing or improving new magic infantry based on ranger combat experience," Soldrin said, becoming serious, "I approached you with several ’orders’ I want you to help design."

"Oh? You can design magic infantry?" Speaking of his specialty, Nicholas Egg immediately perked up, the previous emotional trauma seemed to heal instantly, "Do you have concept drawings or target requirement lists?"

Soldrin slightly smiled: "I can’t provide concept drawings, but I do have some targets."