Star Forge Titan

Hearing her answer, Ivan nodded and cast an inquiring look at Bryant.

"Bryant, what about you? Now that we've opened up, I won't hide it from you. This game does involve considerable risk."

As he said this, behind him stood Khayon, who was smirking with narrowed eyes.

Compared to the former's calmness, although the latter was also smiling, it was a pure threatening expression.

So you weren't actually going to tell me that? Bryant's face darkened, and then he shuddered. He saw a certain necromancer staring at him with a kind and (death) good (death) look.

Unable to help swallowing, the young druid's shoulders slumped, and he replied in a tone that sounded like he had completely given up resistance:

"Me? I'm just a hired adventurer. As long as I'm paid enough, I'll do whatever my employer says."

"I'm glad we can reach a consensus so quickly." Alvin clapped his hands immediately, his movements so fast as if he didn't want to leave any room for regret.

Then, he glanced at Khayon out of the corner of his eye. The fake smile on the other's face was now flawless. If an outsider who was not familiar with this guy saw it, they might even mistakenly think that he was a warm and naive kind person.

"Then let's get started." The black-haired boy stood up and clapped his hands beside the dining table.

So, just like that, Khayon, who was good at necromancy, and Bryant, who was good at nature spells and druid transformations (especially the transformation into a dog and a skunk last time), formed a team on the spot.

They will be responsible for gathering intelligence about other participating teams. In addition to investigating detailed data about the vehicles used by the other team, they will also be tasked with finding hidden cultists.

The other team is composed of Alvin and Diana, who are mainly responsible for solving the budget and various materials needed to manufacture the new car.

Ivan had already anticipated this.

First of all, in addition to transferring some assets whose origins are inconvenient to disclose to outsiders, another kind of alchemical conversion is carried out through the leader of the new and dynamic group in the downtown area, the dear 'Tang'.

Secondly, most of the common materials needed to manufacture new cars can be ordered from the dwarves. With their mature supply channels, they can be delivered in a timely manner as long as the funds are in place.

Then, considering that everyone owed each other favors, or that Khayon had a "hold on their hands", and most importantly, that some resources had already been invested and constituted sunk costs, a half-elf lady who worked in the Genoa Chamber of Commerce, who wrote about being an outstanding young businessman and read as a novice female spy, would probably be happy to help them with a "small" favor.

Finally, according to the agreement, a certain salted fish that should have been semi-confined to Swan Castle since the last incident should be paid and provided with corresponding assistance in due time.

This is also the main reason why Ivin did not go out immediately after Kayon and Bryant left.

Sure enough, before he had finished brewing a pot of tea, three rhythmic knocks were heard outside the small courtyard door. This knocking method was in full accordance with the etiquette of the Linde nobility, indicating that the visitor must be related to the nobility.

When the door was opened, the square face of Galar, the captain of the Emperor's Guard, confirmed my previous guess.

This outstanding young man who had already reached the third level at such a young age was currently holding a casually folded note in his hands, with an embarrassed yet polite expression on his face.

"Respected..." Galar considered his tone, but found that he didn't know how to address the other party.

Sir? He didn't seem to have any noble status. Sir? Given the man's age, such an old-fashioned title wasn't appropriate.

"No need to be so polite." While he was hesitating, Alvin had already reached out and took the note.

Then, the black-haired boy glanced at the short line of small words on the note.

"Those with notes can enter."

Such a brief message made it impossible to understand what the other party was trying to say at first glance. However, the bright red Carolingian royal seal on the note showed that this incoherent note had real legal effect.

"What's he talking about?" Ivan asked helplessly:

"The Linde National Library, including the restricted books section." Galar suppressed the complaints in his heart, took a long breath, and simply answered the other party's question in a very tired tone.

It was clearly just a trivial task of passing a note, but he now felt even more tired than participating in a whole day of high-intensity knight training.

"Oh? This is indeed a good help." Ivan said with some surprise:

The restricted books area is not a place where the books are completely prohibited from reading, but it is an area that is off-limits to ordinary readers who enter the Linde National Library or the Carolingian Royal Library.

It houses a large collection of rare books and the original manuscripts of the latest papers written by great scholars and masters. It can be said to be an extremely advanced database and information exchange platform in Linde.

Conrad allowed Ivan to enter this place, obviously hoping that he could take the opportunity to narrow the technical gap with other participating teams.

"If it's appropriate, I suggest we set off now. With me accompanying you, we might be able to avoid some unnecessary trouble."

Although he was mentally exhausted by the unreliability of the people he served, out of a sense of responsibility, Galar took the initiative to offer to accompany the two to the National Library.

As for the 'unnecessary troubles' he mentioned, they were naturally the obstructions from some stubborn old men in the Royal Society.

After all, apart from the various libraries built by the Temple of Knowledge, libraries of this scale are extremely rare in the entire continent.

Therefore, some individuals in the Royal Society regarded the National Library as their own private winery, which outsiders were not allowed to enter easily. Even the relatively open-minded ones among them mostly believed that the lower class who had not received higher education were not worthy of entering such a noble palace of knowledge.

In general, if ordinary people want to enter the National Library, there is a high probability that they will encounter difficulties from all sides even if they obtain permission.

In reality, Alvin had already known this. After all, in the early days of gaming forums, players stumped by the numerous questions they had to answer before entering the library dungeon would practically resort to hacking and starting a group fight in advance.

Fortunately, an expert later posted a special guide, which was a timely relief for the majority of players who were troubled by the hassle of having to do exercises while playing games.

By the way, that big shot was a member of the guild that Alvin used to be in.

Of course, it is better to have less trouble than more. Since Galar is willing to help him reduce the trouble, Alvin is happy to save time arguing with others.

Diana looked left and right but didn't understand what the two were talking about, but she was naturally indifferent and didn't care much about things that had nothing to do with her.

However, when the car-building team finally set off, the intelligence team composed of Kayon and Bryant had completed the first phase of information collection.

Looking at the densely packed information on the notebook, a certain Death Mage, whose hands were ruthless and whose heart was even ruthless, couldn't help but smack his lips:

"Dark! Really (Elrond curse) dark! Are these guys really building a racing car?!?"

Khayang, who has changed his identity many times and is now dressed as a cleaner, said this. Standing next to him is Bryant, who is also dressed as a cleaner but has an expression of uncontrollable astonishment on his face.

At this moment, in the spacious racetrack below them, a racing car that had crashed through nine walls in a row was rushing towards the tenth wall with an extremely terrifying momentum.

That look is simply unstoppable!

Chapter 147: Knowledge is Priceless

“This is the Linde National Library.”

After arriving at the destination in a carriage printed with royal documents, Galar took the initiative to signal Ivan and Diana to look into the distance.

Following the direction he pointed, Alvin's eyes immediately saw the ancient building in the distance, which was different from the various new houses and was full of the atmosphere of time.

Since this was originally an archive built by the Carolingian royal family to preserve various extraordinary knowledge and secret materials, the exterior of this building looks like a heavily guarded castle.

The square National Library is grayish-white in color, similar to rock. The tall exterior walls are completely devoid of the large floor-to-ceiling windows that have become popular in recent years. There are only rows of small windows similar to shooting holes for ventilation.

In addition, a standard moat surrounds the entire library, leaving the only way in and out of the National Library to be the heavy iron gate with hinges and the drawbridge directly in front of the iron gate.

Putting aside the metal frame and magic-reinforced suspension bridge, even with the help of a winch, the gate, whose mass was measured in tons, would require more than a dozen strong men to pull.

Of course, after the Magic Revolution, this purely physical work has been transferred to the Magic Steam Engine.

By the way, the boiler connected to the steam engine also provides visiting readers and library staff with enough hot water to make tea.

In fact, this building, which is equivalent to a large castle, still has two companies of soldiers guarding it, including a small group of royal knights.

You know, the minimum standard to become a Lind Royal Knight is at least one promotion ceremony, which means that all members of this small team of knights are extraordinary people.

In addition to the outer walls that the guards patrolled regularly, with Alvin's better eyesight after being blessed by Odin, he could also see the figures of guards on duty on the tall towers at the four corners of the library.

This strict guarding shows the importance of the entire National Library.

The Royal Library, the predecessor of the Linde National Library, was completed as early as 1753 in the new calendar, but it was not open to the public until 1759.

Of course, the so-called public at that time actually only included the aristocracy and extraordinary people.

Considering the clear understanding of extraordinary people by normal intellectual rulers throughout the Palladio world, these two identities can be directly equated in many eras.

After its opening, the Royal Library had the additional function of collecting and disseminating public papers from various schools of thought, and thus gradually became the center of communication and discussion among the extraordinary forces in Linde.

Moreover, as the library's collections continued to grow, scholars and wizards began to swear allegiance to the Carolingian royal family in order to gain the right to reside there for a long time. These small groups of extraordinary people dedicated to the study of knowledge became the prototype of the Royal Society.

Strolling through the neatly manicured lawns and gardens outside the library, the three soon arrived at the entrance of the ancient Linde National Library.

"This is really..."

Unlike the curiosity Diana showed, a hint of nostalgia appeared on Ivan's face.

As an old player who had been in Lind's camp in the early stages of the game, he came here often.

Of course, although most people walk in through the main gate, this is not necessarily the case when they come out. Occasionally, they will be greeted by the sound of gunfire.

It's not his fault, it's the National Library staff who lack a sense of information sharing, which forces players to occasionally play the role of Robinson, a fantasy version of Robinson who specializes in extraordinary materials and classics.

Of course, today Alvin walked into the National Library through the main entrance.

Not long after passing through the door and entering the building, they arrived at a spacious hall fully illuminated by magic lights.

Even before the Magical Revolution, the Carolingian royal family had invested heavily in the construction of this library. Therefore, even the then-valuable magic was used extensively for the library's lighting.

"This is the Ancient Museum, which is dedicated to displaying artifacts from the ancient empire."

Pointing to the collections that had an ancient appearance and a style that was obviously different from those of the Lind Empire, Galar, who was walking in front and leading the way, took the initiative to introduce them.

In addition to various books and materials, the National Library also contains many works of art and cultural relics. In recent years, it has shown a trend of transforming from an ordinary library into a comprehensive museum.

As a guardian knight who grew up with Emperor (then still a prince) Conrad, Galar's cultural education was also handled by senior scholars of the Royal Society, so he was naturally familiar with these collections.

Although he continued to comment briefly on the various exhibits in a casual tone, the young knight's attention was actually focused on the two people traveling with him.

Galar has a square face that looks very old-fashioned, but he is actually a cautious person with a very meticulous mind.

Therefore, Galar quickly noticed the 'abnormality' shown by Ivan.

In his opinion, although Diana's performance was also excellent, it was at least within his understanding.

As an orphan from an orphanage, the short-haired girl hesitated a bit when she entered the door, obviously she had never been to such an occasion before. But after she passed through the heavy gate, her words and actions seemed very natural in every aspect.

At this moment, even when faced with a cultural relic made of pure gold, she just glanced at it casually and no longer paid any attention to it.

From this we can see that Diana has a very firm will and will not be easily moved by external things.

If the short-haired girl was relatively easy to understand, the other person's performance made Galar a little unpredictable.

After entering the library, Alvin's movements immediately became very erratic.

From time to time, he would stand in front of the broken utensils left over from the ancient empire and shake his head and sigh; from time to time, he would come to the large, exotic hand-woven tapestries and express his admiration.

Occasionally, Alvin would look at some wooden plaques engraved with ancient inscriptions that could no longer be deciphered, and look as if he wanted to laugh but was too embarrassed to do so.

Relying on the knowledge in the game, he was able to simply identify the meaning of some ancient inscriptions.

Therefore, in Alvin's opinion, the Linde people's careful preservation of some cultural relics is just like foreigners solemnly placing plaques engraved with words such as "restroom" and "emergency exit", or the black stones used for pickling pickles in the countryside into museums.

To be honest, it was quite difficult not to laugh.

This strange reaction made Galar, who was accompanying him, even more confused.

Although the black-haired boy looked like a tourist who had just arrived, he didn't pay much attention to the introductions that Galar said, and occasionally he would say a few words about some strange collections that even the other party didn't understand.

Moreover, in addition to appreciation, there was also a strange nostalgia on Alvin's face, as if it was not the first time he saw these things.

At this moment, the three of them were standing in front of a peculiarly shaped bronze instrument, listening to Alvin explain the specific use of this thing.

"See the curved lines on the surface of these fragments? If you connect them together, you'll see that they're actually spiral bronze blades winding upward along an invisible pillar."

"So, what are they used for?" Galar's tone inadvertently became as humble as an apprentice seeking knowledge.

"Pump water." Ivan said simply and directly:

Before he finished speaking, an old voice suddenly came from behind him.

"You mean, these things aren't fragments of ancient weapons?"

Galar looked back and saw that the person who spoke was an old man with white hair and beard, wearing an old-fashioned robe.

Now, he also stared with wide eyes at the pile of bronze fragments covered by the glass display case.

"Ah..." Galar's expression changed and he was about to say something when the old man raised his hand to stop him.

"Because this thing is incomplete." As he said that, Alvin turned around.

After seeing the appearance of the person coming, he raised his eyebrows slightly, obviously recognizing the other person's identity.

"If you put a log in the middle and fasten these spiral blades to it, and completely cover the whole thing with wood on the outside, you will find that as the log rotates, you can draw water from one place to another."

"It does sound feasible, and seems more plausible than what those guys in the Equipment Department said: 'This thing must be a blade installed on the wheel hub of a tank.'" The old man muttered a few words with a strange expression.

Then he coughed lightly and looked at Alvin.

"It seems that the note that Conrad casually wrote didn't fall into the hands of someone as uneducated as that kid."

"Well then." The old man shook his long white beard and seemed to be smiling.

"Welcome to the Linde National Library."