The cold wind blows from the direction of the sea, sweeping the imperial flag flying high on the coast. Under the blue-bottomed and gold-patterned swords and plow emblems, soldiers and technical craftsmen are welding today's third fixed pile with the steel frame. The unencapsulated magic net rune shines on the ground not far away with a slight halo. The sparks splashed when the heat beam swept through the steel fell on the ground that had just been hardened not long ago. Inside the metal frame more than ten meters high, some copper pipes and thermal fins have been fixed in a specific position, waiting to be connected to the rest of the heat pipes.

This huge device is part of the "waste heat recovery center" that circulates alchemical solutions through the pipeline. The device will collect the waste heat released by several facilities next to it, including an alchemy reaction tower, a rune casting factory and a sludge monster waste incineration center, and distribute it to the camp's heating system through efficient heat exchangers to heat part of the western coast.

To survive in the cold northern region for a long time, similar technologies are essential. They are much cleaner and more efficient than cutting down the trees in the cold zone at the foot of the mountain to keep warm, and can also avoid affecting the lives of local residents to the greatest extent. One day in the future, these facilities can even be used to heat nearby residents, of course, that will happen a long time later.

In a further distance, on the open and flat ground near the coast of Beigang, simple houses, military tents, towers and some newly built brick and tile houses have been distributed staggered. Materials on the material stacking yard are piled up. Large construction machinery that has arrived at the construction site recently are busy. A temporary trest bridge extending to the sea has been built. Near the trest bridge is planned and will be used to build a large area for dry docks in the future.

The temporary trestle was not fixed on the seabed near the sea, nor was it used for floating bridges. Instead, it was built on several huge ice piles. The ice piles were as thick as bell towers, frozen from the seabed and extended to the sea surface. A large number of branch icicles penetrated deeply into the seabed, making the overall solid and extremely solid.

Byron stood on a big rock near the temporary trestle and smiled happily in the sea breeze. He couldn't help but say to the Great Consul of Victoria beside him: "Your ice spell is amazing. I have heard that the Wilder family has studied the skills of ice magic to the extreme, but I never thought it could be so powerful... When you raise twelve ice 'giant pillars' in the ocean, that scene is almost art."

"You're so awesome. It's just a rough use of magic," Victoria shook her head calmly. In the cold wind, the "Queen of the North" was still wearing a long skirt, and the flying tiny snow protected her like a barrier. "And I never thought that one day I would use these magical skills to...build things. This is a very novel experience. I'm glad I didn't mess it up when I first tried it."

"Magic is a convenient thing. Using it to improve life or promote technological development is much more cost-effective than wasting the power of mages on the battlefield. This is not what I said, it is what Your Majesty said," Byron said with a smile. "Although I don't know much about the field of magic, I have always highly recognized what Your Majesty said, because at least after Princess Rebecca used her strength in the laboratory, the inexplicable explosions and fire accidents in other places have been reduced..."

Victoria thought for a moment and said seriously: "But in my opinion, His Highness Rebecca's magical talent is actually far higher than everyone imagined. Her ability to shape the fireball into a sculpture of His Majesty is the real 'magic art'. But I can't understand the principle... If I have the chance, I really want to study the mystery of the field of energy shaping with her..."

This Ice and Snow Lord will always be serious in strange places. Byron is no longer surprised by this. He did not let the topic of strangeness (and seemingly suspected of slandering the royal family) continue, but instead mentioned another thing casually: "As the ruler of the North, is it really okay for you to stay in the 'North Port' every now and then?"

"The rulers of the North are the Government Affairs Department of the Northern Provinces. The authority of the Grand Consul is only part of the Government Affairs Department," Victoria said lightly. "As for the North Port... North Port is one of the most important projects in the entire northern region at present. The eyes from the imperial capital are always watching here, and I often come here to show the attitude of the Wilder family in this matter."

Byron shook his head: "I hope that the families in the North will one day understand your kindness and you are doing your best to avoid them being put on the 'list'."

Victoria didn't say anything, she just stood there quietly, her cold eyes slowly swept across the entire coastline and the rolling mountains far away from the coastline.

The "Northern Construction Corps" led by Byron has been stationed on this cold coastline for a month. For more than 60 days, engineering equipment has started construction day and night, and a steady stream of materials are being sent from the rear. Driven by magic and modern industry, the prototype of a large-scale harbor is taking shape rapidly, which is undoubtedly exciting.

However, this massive construction activity and the huge construction corps attracted a lot of attention without surprise.

This is the northern border, the cold and stubborn northern border, far away from every civil war in the kingdom, away from every political reshuffle, and away from the northern border of the magic industry. In the depths of this frozen mountain, the ancient families and the brave and stubborn winds of these families were as strong and stubborn as centuries ago, almost no change.

They instinctively refused to "do things" on the land where their ancestors lived for generations. Even if these people came to help them build this land, even if the traditional rulers of this land had publicly expressed their attitude and warned them, many people still secretly resisted the Beigang project.

The people here have not yet developed the concept of "the empire is a whole", and it is useless to tell them what national planning is.

Although Victoria once made a statement to Byron, she clearly stated that she would support the construction of North Port and did not mind "beating" local families who were ignorant of the current affairs, in the final analysis, she did not want to see too many people hanging on the flagpole outside North Port erect too many flagpoles in a port, which would not be "beautiful" to the entire North.

So she, the "Northern Lord", could only choose to come here to show off a few more times in the early stages of the Beigang project, at least... the majesty of the Wilder family is still effective in this land.

Byron's eyes looked at the distant sea. On this clear and cloudless day, an extraordinary person could look into a very far place. His gaze crossed the slightly undulating sea and the bubbles shining in the sun. The "Sea Peninsula" of the Duchy of the Holy Dragon and part of the border of the Violet Kingdom were vaguely visible, but further away, there was only a vast white area.

That is a distance that even the extraordinary person's eyesight is difficult to reach. It requires relying on powerful magic props or additional magical effects to see that far.

"Is the direction of the storm circle..." Victoria noticed the direction of Byron's viewing. She nodded slightly. "On rare days, the weather is clear enough, and the storm just expanded, so you can observe it visually. However, during this period, it should be invisible to the storm circle on the northern coast will shrink in summer, and the outermost cloud wall is farther away from land than usual. Under normal circumstances, it cannot be observed with the naked eye. However, Winter Fort has a large Eye of the Wizard, which can be seen opposite the peninsula into the sea in any season. I occasionally use it to observe the storm."

Byron glanced at Victoria curiously: "Have you observed what's the point?"

"Nothing was found except to confirm that it would not really dissipate and confirm its change cycle," Victoria shook her head. "The ocean was not calm and had reached an area that humans could not enter. The legendary powerhouse would also be buried outside the storm circle and the sea. No one knew how that storm was formed, let alone confirm its internal structure."

"Your Majesty seems to think that it is one of the defense systems of the dragon kingdom of 'Tallond'. Crossing the storm is the dragon's territory," Byron said casually, "I want me to tell you that he can directly contact the Miss Dragon who often visits...it seems to be called Meli or something. Talking to the Miss Dragon, maybe you can find out something."

Victoria spoke expressionlessly: "...There are many legends about the dragon clan in the northern region, most of which come from the Holy Dragon Principality. In our opinion, the dragon clan is not a good character to deal with."

Byron said unquestionably, then looked at the sea and said slowly thoughtfully: "It's hard to deal with... But according to this trend, when we step out of this land and send ships to the far sea, sooner or later all races will deal with..."

Victoria glanced at Byron and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but before she spoke, a faint commotion came from the south of the camp, interrupting what she wanted to say.

Looking in the sound, she saw that a large group of people had gathered near the checkpoint in the south of the camp at some point. People outside the isolation line were all wearing civilian clothes, and soldiers at the checkpoint had already gone to maintain order. Noisy sounds came from there from time to time, mixed with thick northern dialects in the middle.

Victoria's brows immediately frowned. She vaguely guessed what was happening there. The ice and snow surrounding her instantly condensed, circling and flying in the air like a cold ice skate. Her tone was also as cold as winter: "I'm here, there are still people..."

Before the Duchess finished speaking, Byron suddenly raised his hand and interrupted her. The mercenary general of the Empire just looked over there and knew what was going on. He had a strange smile on his face: "Don't be too excited, the great consul, those are just civilians, and some familiar faces. You have missed something recently, but I know what the situation is, not as you imagine, it's a small problem."

As he said, Byron jumped to the ground and walked towards the checkpoint, while saying to Victoria who was following him: "Don't show up later, they may just watch me too nervously."

Victoria nodded in confusion and released the Quguang force field to cover her body. She and Byron came to the checkpoint south of the camp, and the nearly 100 civilians gathered here were clearly standing in two rows with the soldiers at the checkpoint.

"The general is here...the general is here..."

Someone saw Byron in the crowd, and the sounds of low reminders came one after another. The soldiers made way for a passage, while the gathered civilians took two steps back neatly.

Victoria, who used the Quguang Power Field to hide her figure, immediately looked at the common people wearing old cotton shirts, but their clothes were clean and warm. Judging from their expressions, these people lived nearby and worked all year round. What is most interesting is that among these people, not only are strong men, but also women and children, who are completely brought by their families.

When Victoria was guessing in her mind that the gathering civilians were incited by which family, Byron had already come to the crowd a few steps.

Those in coarse linen looked at the fully armed, tall and majestic imperial general in front of him in awe, but did not retreat.

Byron glanced at them and said casually, "What are you trying to do when you gather here?"

The tone is plain and natural, as if it has been used to it.

Several men stood up in the crowd. They first looked back subconsciously, and then came to Byron with the courage to say: "General, we have something to say..."

Byron raised his eyebrows: "Or it's the same as before?"

"Yes," the men nodded one after another, then took a breath and shouted with a broken gong-like voice, "Southerns don't touch our land! You are digging our mine veins and water sources!!"

The civilians gathered behind them also shouted, and the sparse shouts lasted for a few seconds before they all stopped.

The leading man looked at Byron with a hint of expectation, and the latter curled his lips and waved his hands: "I heard it, arrest these people, send them to the West District to dig drainage ditch, the woman went to handle potatoes and jerky, and the child also went to the kitchen to help, and then he had to have an hour of literacy class... Who brought this person who looked less than five years old!?"

A tall and thin man came out of the crowd with an awkward smile: "I am my son... he is so smart! And he is actually almost seven years old, he looks thin..."

"I'm not blind yet. If he is five and a half years old, I'll be your son!" Byron glared at the tall and thin man, then waved his hand unhappily, "Go in and watch out for the child, I'm not allowed to bring it tomorrow."

A group of civilians in front of the checkpoint immediately walked forward happily, and cooperated with the soldiers to inspect and search. Then, led by several soldiers, walked into the camp. The man who was leading the lead stopped when passing by Byron and smiled flatteringly: "General, is it better to have a day-to-day marriage?"

"Otherwise?" Byron glared at the other party, "The soldiers of the empire will never deceive the people, saying that the Japanese knot is the Japanese knot!"

"Okay, that's fine..."

The man nodded happily, quickly followed the team that was about to go away, and entered the camp.
Chapter completed!