A drizzle began on the shores of Twin Bay at Dawn.

Whether it was a weather phenomenon caused by the test explosion, or a coincidence, Agatha couldn't tell.

The violent explosion sent a spectacular column of water soaring into the sea, clearly visible even from fifteen kilometers away. Unlike the gray-blue backdrop, the rising column of water was pure white, as if it didn't belong to the ocean at all. The column slowly ascended, seemingly weightless – the whole process lasted for dozens of seconds, a spectacle that surpassed the common sense of most observers.

Eventually, it turned into raindrops and returned to the sea, replaced by a twisting white mist, larger and higher than the water column. Even now, that peculiar cloud of smoke could still be seen.

As for the sailboats that had gathered around the test site, they were long gone.

The rain started at this moment.

Not being able to participate in the first snow mountain test explosion had always been her regret, and now it was finally made up for.

Agatha couldn't help but think of the conversation between Roland and Phyllis after the artillery demonstration in Neverwinter two years ago in winter.

The exothermic reaction between chemical raw materials was only the lowest level of explosion.

Reproducing the radiance of the sun was his pursuit.

Putting aside the nonsense about "brilliant radiation," His Majesty was generally quite reliable.

What surprised her slightly was that there was no applause in the audience this time.

The invited nobles sat blankly in their chairs, seemingly forgetting even how to whisper to each other. Many had extremely complex expressions, with a hint of fear flickering in their eyes. As the representative of Graycastle, Agatha had originally prepared a long, impassioned speech according to Roland's wishes, but after seeing this scene, she simply got up and left the audience.

She could completely guess what these people were thinking.

Sometimes silence can say everything.

In any case, His Majesty had fulfilled his promise – the nobles of Dawn present had witnessed the power of mankind with their own eyes.

The subsequent data collection work was naturally the responsibility of specialized personnel from the Industrial Department.

In less than half an hour, the preliminary conclusions were delivered to her: the test explosion had achieved the expected results.

Agatha tied the note "All is well" to a carrier pigeon and tossed it into the sky.

The messenger spread its wings and soon disappeared into the western horizon.

Hopefully, the air raid on the other side is also going smoothly, she thought silently.

...

Inside the castle of Glow City, the General Staff was sorting and integrating the latest intelligence brought by the air raid.

The outcome of this sortie was quite ideal. The demons probably didn't expect humans to launch a new offensive so quickly after their failure in the Impassable Mountain Range. Coupled with the natural flexibility of the Sky Knights, the enemy only reacted when the squadron approached the Divine Construct's airspace.

This situation meant that the demons had the ability to make this land, dozens of kilometers in radius, fly, but lacked the ability to fully monitor the area. This not only gave the First Army's high command a sense of confidence but also gave the Seagull the opportunity to record the take-off positions of all the Terrorbeasts – although they were different from biplanes and didn't require a flat clearing for take-off and landing, they were still centrally raised and uniformly dispatched during wartime. Therefore, the large Black Stone Towers where the Terrorbeasts resided were undoubtedly targets worthy of key attention.

The magic barrier over Mist Lake was the most crucial piece of intelligence from this mission.

The Sky Knights not only discovered its existence but also confirmed through continuous bombing that it could be weakened – although the principle was unknown, this characteristic was almost identical to the barrier ability usually possessed by high-level demons, except that the range was much larger.

If a connection could be established between the two, the General Staff could roughly calculate the firepower required to break through the barrier.

Compared to the above information, the loss of four Skyfire was the least amount of cost.

"Manfred. Karstein..." Roland said with emotion after putting down the battle report, "He is indeed worthy of praise."

Having determination is not difficult.

What is difficult is having the ability to achieve it while making a decision.

Breaking into the demons' city airspace, completing a dive-bombing based on his own understanding, and finally leading his teammates to escape safely, this talent can only be described as outstanding.

"I will pass this praise on to him," Tilly shrugged, then whispered, "I've never seen..."

"What?"

"No, it's nothing. I have things to do, so I'll take my leave," Tilly turned and walked out of the room.

Roland heard Nightingale giggle behind him.

"Uh... did you hear what she said?"

"No," Nightingale pouted, "But I can basically guess."

"Oh? Tell me?"

She held up five fingers.

"That many?" Roland asked in surprise.

"Who told her to be Her Royal Highness the Princess? This is already a discounted price."

"Alright, deal."

Nightingale licked her lips happily, "That Sky Knight's talent is indeed good, but you praised him too much. Among all the Sky Knights, isn't it obvious who has the most outstanding talent? You seem to take the things that ability has done for granted, but it's not like that for the person involved." She paused slightly, "After all, it's not something we can actively choose, right?"

...

Indeed, ability is also a kind of talent...

Roland sat by the window of the Rose Cafe, staring blankly at the bustling street outside.

Although its starting point is high, a lot of hard work is still needed to fully exert it. He had indeed neglected this point recently.

"Hey, what are you spacing out about?"

Roland looked away and saw Valkyrie sitting down opposite him with two cups of coffee in her hands.

"Of course, I'm thinking about how to quickly reach the Bottomless Land," he temporarily put aside the distracting thoughts in his mind and told her the general process of the air raid on the Divine Construct, "Is this magic barrier that can cover a large area related to the abilities of high-level demons? Is it a technology that has only been researched recently?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't use the term 'demon' anymore," Valkyrie said unhappily, "The specific abilities of my clan depend on the type of magic stone. Choosing a shield magic stone is only because of its good compatibility and high practicality, it's not a necessary ability – for example, I haven't fused with this type of magic stone. Besides, no matter what, the range of the magic stone cannot cover an entire Tower of Origin. It should be another research achievement of Mask."

"What is that?"

Valkyrie took a sip of coffee, "Using core instruments to simulate the vortex structure of the magic stone to achieve a significant increase in effect. This idea has been around for a long time, but there are many practical obstacles. I didn't expect it to actually succeed."

This also meant that the barrier that appeared on the Divine Construct was not essentially different from the abilities they themselves were using. Roland silently noted this point. At least it proved that the comparison hypothesis proposed by the General Staff was feasible.

"Was the Symbiont also developed by Mask?"

"Yes, in a sense, it's very similar to Thousand-Faced Systry, almost never using a combat-type magic stone," Valkyrie nodded, "Considering that the Symbiont is not ideal for dealing with the Celestial Realm, it's logical for the King to send it here."

The two chatted about the current situation for a while, then Nightmare got up to say goodbye.

As he escorted it to the door, Roland suddenly said "Thank you."

The latter stopped unexpectedly.

"Hexode didn't appear in the recent two battles – it should have believed the contents of the letter. If it had been present, the First Army would have suffered much greater losses. At least in this regard, I should thank you."

"Don't forget, I'm not helping you, but helping my clan," Valkyrie turned back, "If you can keep your promise, it will be the best reward – other than that, I don't need any thanks."

Then it quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Roland returned to the cafe, and his phone suddenly rang.

It was a courier text message.

This made Roland a little strange – he hadn't bought anything online recently.

Even so, he returned to the dormitory and found the package addressed to him in the self-service box.

The package was about half an arm's length wide, and he could hardly feel its weight when he held it in his hand, which was not at all consistent with the size of the cardboard box.

Roland checked the seals and found that it was indeed addressed to him. He then opened the package in the bedroom of his residence.

The moment the box was opened, he was stunned.

Inside was a solidified Astrolabe.