"Hilliard, I have just succeeded to the throne and I am lacking some team members. You have a clean background and excellent talents. Are you willing to be loyal to me?"
"I am your knight."
"Think clearly, I have just succeeded to the throne and cannot promise anything. With your strength, the Grand Duke of the Northwest can take over your future etheric weapons, drink strong wine every night, and even get a manor as a residence. From now on
Then he has his own property and is no longer a knight in the countryside."
"I am a royal knight, Your Majesty. I am your knight."
"I'm very touched, but I don't believe it. Hilliard, loyalty is not without reason. Less than a day after I succeeded to the throne, you witnessed with your own eyes my two brothers who attempted to kill their father and were burned at the stake, and I was just a bastard.
Tell me why and I am willing to believe you."
"..."
"knight?"
"I support stability. The fight between the two archdukes will bring about civil strife in the empire. No matter who wins or loses, the empire will weaken and split, and Terra will be ignited by flames. Only you can become the true emperor, maintain unity, and maintain continuity.
Only a strong country can prevent my hometown from being invaded by war."
"You have your own wishes...and this is exactly what I want.
On the continent of Hilliad Terra, monsters are rampant, alien ghosts roam the world at night, and the people are poor, with no clothes to cover and no food to eat. You should know all these."
So, if you are loyal to me, there will be no wine beauties, no fief slaves, because I am determined to abolish slavery and ban most wineries until there is plenty of food. But I promise you, I swear prosperity and peace.
In this land, people's status may not be equal, but everyone should have the same human rights, and nobles can never be acquitted after killing civilians."
"His Majesty?!"
"Why, I've never seen an emperor swear an oath to a knight?"
"...No. Moreover, what you said... is too much like a dream. Fairy tales cannot be this beautiful."
"Haha, I am indeed dreaming, but someone has to do it and turn it into reality. Your power is the first step."
"...I am your knight."
…
"The continent of Terra is in dire straits, and the most important things in ruling a country are two things, one is to feed the people, and the other is to give the people hope.
"Hope is too vague, but as long as I am still standing here as an emperor, at least the people know who to scold when they suffer, and who to rebel against when the rebels rebel, then there is hope. What we need to do now is to let everyone eat
full."
"It's difficult."
"There are traces of difficulties. We are short of food, mainly because of the serious lack of arable land. Although it occupies the great plain in the center of Terra, it lacks water conservancy and is harassed by many monsters and alien lairs. There is too little available arable land."
"I don't know how to do water conservancy, but I can lead a team to clear out nests."
"I will also fight in person. Everyone should see the determination of the royal family, and they can also show force to the two Grand Dukes, as well as Yuanyandi and Cangtian Royal Court on the border of Chen Jun."
"Your Majesty, this is too dangerous!"
"And I believe you."
…
"Your Majesty, there are too many assassinations."
"It's only seventeen times, and there will be more and more in the future."
"The strength will become stronger and stronger. There are already third-level sublimators taking action now. It is only a matter of time before the fourth level appears. This is very incredible."
"Wasn't it all blocked by you? How incredible is it?"
"No, Your Majesty, what I mean is, why would anyone hinder our actions? We are just destroying the nests of monsters, building water conservancy, and trying to feed everyone... This will not harm anyone's interests!"
"When a person is full, he will not sell himself to the nobles as slaves."
"Just, that's it?!"
"It's more important than you think. When some people are full, they won't allow others to be like them. They are so despicable."
"How is it possible that such nonsense can actually happen..."
"Too many things in this world are nonsense. Either we adapt or we don't transform. Hilliard, transforming this world is our business."
"...It is my duty to do so, Your Majesty."
…
"Your Majesty, twenty years have passed by so quickly."
"Don't worry, Hilliard, our career will take up our whole life, and we may not be able to finish it in our lifetime, but at least now, with canals and weirs all over the country, we have indeed made the people of the entire empire full.
This is success."
"No, that's not what I meant, Your Majesty. What I meant was, what should we do next?"
"read."
"read?"
"Let everyone read. We must open up the people's wisdom. If we don't open up the people's wisdom, the subjects will always be subjects. It is impossible to become engineers, philosophers, mathematicians, biologists, alchemists and stargazers. I want to let all
People are literate, learn knowledge, have their own strengths, and understand that they do not exist for survival, but for greater dreams."
"……This is impossible!"
"Twenty years ago, it was impossible to feed everyone."
"But this is different. Knowledge is so precious, but it is spread to civilians... Even if I hope so, the forces that originally supported you will turn against you!"
"It depends on people, Hilliard, I know all this, so please continue to help me, I need your strength."
"I am your knight, always have been."
…
"Hilliard, let's go, take me somewhere."
"Okay. Wait, you're going to the far southern border? Harrison Bay in the coastal mountains... That's too dangerous!"
"With your protection, where is the danger? Let's go."
"...It's no different here. Except that the water is light green and very clear, and there are many large coconut trees and red cedar trees along the coast, there is nothing special about it."
"The ones you mentioned are already very beautiful. Learn to appreciate them. Hilliard, look, are there any huge and deep shadow outlines on the seabed in the distance? With your strength, you should be able to see it more clearly than me.
"
"Yes, there is indeed one. The outline is square and towering, like a toppled sky pillar... Wait, is that a man-made thing? Is that a relic of the civilization of the previous era?!"
"Yes, these are the ruins of the 'Orbital Space Elevator' and the 'Equatorial Orbital Accelerator' that were built on Terra's geostationary orbit by the Terran civilization in the pre-era era. They were the starting point for mankind in the past, but now they are all sunk in the sea.
, only the decaying wreckage remains, becoming the nest of all living beings in the sea.”
"It's unbelievable... Human beings can actually create such a magnificent building, and the tower in the imperial capital is only one ten thousandth of it..."
"Hilliard."
"His Majesty?"
"We want to open up the frontier of mankind again from here... From here, from this barbaric land, we will return!"
"...Is this your true wish? Your Majesty?"
"Rebuilding the space orbital elevator and accelerator requires a complete advanced industrial system, a set of related research institutes, the most advanced materials science laboratories and a big government that can coordinate all departments. It requires countless citizens who have no worries about food and clothing to contribute wealth to this end.
, it requires millions of high-level intellectuals to contribute their brains, and tens of thousands of different supporting manufacturers to supply the best parts."
"It requires too much... In short, only a great civilization can complete it."
"Only such a great civilization can step into the void!"
"Your Majesty, you are crying."
"I'm just happy... Hilliard, finally, finally, we... finally took the first step."
It is also the last step.
"Because we failed."
It is a scorching hot summer night in July, with a full moon hanging high in the sky, but there are not many stars in the sky. Most of the originally bright stars are now missing, and the vast sea of stars is obscured by a layer of dark mist.
But the scorching wind came quickly from the desert of Feiyan Land, igniting this dark night with few stars. Perhaps because there was no starlight, the moonlight was brighter than ever, just like another sun.
The knight, covered in dust and blood, walked out of the jungle, panting from the deep darkness to the lakeside illuminated by the moonlight.
He was exhausted, there were black blood scabs on his chapped lips, and his scarred face was almost desperate.
The man with slightly brown eyes looks very strong, and his long black hair is lush and shows no sign of falling off. This is the symbol of a man's most ambitious and powerful hair.
But he was in a state of despair, and he just managed to hold on for a breath, so he didn't fall to his knees and let others slaughter him.
He fled from the heart of the empire all the way to the mountainous areas along the southern coast. He experienced countless attacks and killings along the way. No matter how strong and muscular a man was, it was impossible for him to withstand it, not to mention that he was also infected by the epidemic poison. He should have been
His life is short.
The breeze blew on the lake surface, causing the sparkling waves to sway. The shadow reflected in the lake had gray eyes, and he smiled dejectedly.
For ten years, we used our swords to wipe out monsters in the wilderness and deter foreign enemies.
For twenty years, we have used plows to keep people full and to store wealth among them.
In the past thirty years, we have used countless documents and textbooks to revive a country that was on the verge of collapse, and to help the ignorant children in the past grow into pillars.
At this point, civilization and order will once again be restored to the center of Terra, and we have lit the torch.
If this torch that illuminates all living beings needs fuel, then it must contain our bone marrow and blood.
Establishing order and rebuilding the desolate and decayed country into a resurgent country requires many people to give their all and work hard to build and fight for thirty years.
We decline, we suffer, we expend our energy, squeeze all our life and passion from ourselves, and make countless sacrifices.
But after the final achievement, we know that it was all worth it. We finally made the world peaceful, and my children can play and laugh without worrying about whether there will be sand in the food tomorrow.
"But we failed."
The knight whispered to himself, as if laughing at himself.
Such a great achievement.
It only takes a moment of ecstasy to destroy it.
A starless night.
Knights will always remember this day.
During the blood moon, there are no stars in the sky, mist permeates the imperial capital, noisy voices fill the palace, and fluctuations in spiritual energy shake the center of the empire. Everyone knows that a shock that is about to spread to the entire continent will erupt from this point.
Enemies of unknown origin were almost everywhere. They were well-equipped and had astonishing force. They guarded every important road in the palace. The knights fought bloody battles all the way and almost demolished half of the imperial capital before reaching the center of the battlefield.
But it's too late.
Close his eyes, as long as he closes his eyes, he can still think of the scene that defeated all his dreams and strength
"Come on, Hilliard."
On the throne, although the man's appearance was unscathed, the bright eyes that originally contained a halo were completely dim, like a starless night sky. This was the manifestation of the psyker's fatal injury.
His voice was weak, but very strong. There were many corpses with bleeding mouths and noses at his feet. Among them were many faces that were very familiar to the knights, even the Crown Prince of the Empire... was among them.
After seeing the knight rushing into the hall, he used his last strength to stand up straight and yelled: "Get out of here!"
The knight's body was tall and straight, and he raised his sword to protect his lord, like a towering mountain: "I'm not going anywhere, Your Majesty."
"I have been caught in the ashes of the Ice Hell and will undoubtedly die. At this moment, it is the time to die for righteousness."
"Hilliard..." The person on the throne was slightly startled, but still insisted: "You can live and take it with you."
After finishing speaking, he took out a tiny chip from his arms and stared at the palm of his hand. The man's eyes seemed to be staring at hope: "You must have been curious about why I have so much extraordinary knowledge and why I have so much extraordinary knowledge.
Why can I go from a useless bastard to the current emperor..."
"This is the source. Hilliard, you can use it yourself or hide it. It's best to find a successor, but don't let it fall into the hands of these crazy people... let's go!"
A light blue ripple emerged from the fingertips and poured into the knight's forehead. In just a moment, the terrifying poison that had swept through the body was suppressed.
But before the knight could feel excited and surprised by this, the man's head hung down on the throne, but the outstretched hand remained straight.
The silver chip is glowing.
And the emperor died.
Before he could say more, the soul-destroying weight of the psychic battle completely crushed his mind. The body on the throne was still breathing, but it was already a walking corpse.
…
Open your eyes and escape from distant memories.
Standing on the Caotan Cliff, leaning on the wet rocks, the old man raised his right arm, lowered his eyes, and stared at the small silver chip in his palm.
And a young man from the White People who is slowly regaining consciousness and breathing gradually steadily.
The lightless dark night seemed to completely cover everything. In this night without stars and moon, in this night with only the sound of lonely wind, everything was too similar.
There is only one difference...
That was this time, he had no regrets.
Time and space seemed to intersect, and the old man's eyes stared at them as if staring at hope.
"Your Majesty, you have indeed left."
The knight named Hilliard Lacy whispered to himself. He clenched his fists and held hope in his palms: "But I am your knight."