Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 1319 - 1317: Hibernation?

Have you noticed any changes in the streets these days?

Silently repeating Soron’s last words in his mind, Richard felt a mix of confusion and curiosity. After pondering for a while, he decided to step out of the courtyard and onto the street.

The streets of Kasha City were as usual, not much different from before.

Many laborers came and went, heading to various locations within the city to work—the repair works of Kasha City had been completed more than half a month ago, and ongoing now was the transformation work. The plan was to gradually turn Kasha City into a military city; even if it couldn’t become as impregnable as Reef Rock Castle, it shouldn’t be as easily conquered as it was before.

Besides that, groups of soldiers were patrolling the streets, maintaining law and order.

Ever since Kasha City was occupied, its order had changed significantly, shifting from stable to chaotic. The Sika people in the city, fearing force, dared not openly resist the Alliance’s control but engaged in constant acts of sabotage in secret—some were spontaneous, while others were incited and directed by Sika spies.

If it was the former, it wasn’t much of a concern, merely small disturbances—a squad of soldiers was enough to suppress them. However, if it was the latter, it posed more problems, as the spies were mostly well-trained and would strike at weak points. If not careful, the water supply might get poisoned, or the army’s food might get tainted. Thus, the Alliance deployed plenty of troops to maintain order in and around the city, searching for suspicious individuals.

The main force maintaining order initially comprised frontline combat units, which affected combat strength to some extent. Later, because Soron insisted that the army halt its offensive and conduct restorations continuously, over the month, second-line units gradually replenished and completed the replacements.

The combat ability of the second-line units was weaker than that of the frontline units, but for maintaining order, the difference wasn’t much.

At that moment, Richard saw a new second-line unit entering the city, heading northward, likely to report in. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The troop composition of this second-line unit was rather mixed; leading them was a burly man, the second in command was a petite woman, followed closely by a cold-faced man and a sullen middle-aged man, trailed by a row of soldiers with mundane appearances, as if they greatly detested being transferred here.

Richard watched as the second-line unit disappeared in the distance, and soon after, saw another new second-line unit pass by, almost a thousand soldiers entering the city intermittently.

The continuous reinforcement of second-line units was a change, but its impact on the whole of Kasha City wasn’t as significant as imagined; this probably wasn’t what Soron was referring to... Richard squinted, pondering... So the question arose, what exactly was Soron hinting at?

Looking around, Richard could feel the temperature in the air had noticeably dropped—but that was due to entering Frost Month in October, unrelated to anything else.

Surely Soron wasn’t suggesting it would frost over in a few days, was he?

Unable to help himself, Richard shook his head. After contemplating for several minutes without finding any clues, he decided not to waste any more time.

Whatever it is, if it’s going to happen, he will know eventually. No need to trouble himself now; it’s better to return to his research path.

Speaking of which, during this month in Kasha City, thanks to the spare time and the support from the Alliance’s logistics, his research progress had been remarkably swift. Not only had there been breakthroughs in "Extraordinary Cohesion" and "Blood Power Extraordinary Factor Binding Effect," but the cracking of the Balta text and the improvements to the Second Generation Energy Furnace had also delivered pleasant surprises, reaching a gratifying level—awaiting the harvest of results.

Barring any accidents, within two days, there would be a comprehensive phase success, and it wouldn’t be too late then to see what Soron Street’s changes were about.

Having made up his mind, Richard turned back to the courtyard to find Bi Bi roaming idly and earnestly instructed, "For the next two days, I need to be intensely busy with some things. Behave yourself and don’t cause trouble. Of course, it’d be great if you could watch over the courtyard and not let anyone disturb me at random."

"Sure." Bi Bi quickly agreed, then thought of something and earnestly asked, "By the way, since this counts as work, asking for some compensation wouldn’t be too much, right? Like before, I don’t want money, just some food, okay?"

"As long as you don’t make trouble, you can eat whatever you want in the kitchen."

"Deal, it’s a promise." Bi Bi quickly replied, fearing Richard might go back on his word.

"Then take good care of the place, I’m off to work." Richard said as he walked away.

Bi Bi loudly proclaimed their determination from behind, "Don’t worry, as long as I’ve got food to eat, no one will disturb you."

"Ahem, it doesn’t have to be so absolute. If there’s something urgent, you should still tell me. If unsure whether it’s important, go ask Pandora."

"Alright, I got it."

"Good then."

...

Soon, night fell.

Outside Kasha City, in the wilderness, a field of scattered rocks.

In the howling cold night wind, a black shadow appeared, crouched on the surface of a rock, squinting toward Kasha City’s direction, seemingly awaiting someone.

Having waited for a long time without spotting the target, the black shadow was somewhat frustrated, clenching a fist and cursing under breath, "Untrustworthy thing!"

Just as the shadow was about to leave, they caught a glimpse of a man in a gray robe standing quietly to the side watching, not knowing how long he had been there.

"You..." The black shadow couldn’t help but call out.

With a hint of mockery, the gray-robed man spoke, "Ha, you must be wondering when I got here, right? Actually, I’ve been here for quite some time. After arriving, I wanted to test your skill, seeing how long it would take for you to notice me. I guessed at least a minute, with the most being possibly three minutes."

"Turns out, I was wrong. Your perception is duller than I imagined. If not for your patience wearing out, you might not have noticed me even if you waited all night."

The black shadow’s face flushed, unable to tell if it was out of embarrassment or anger, or perhaps both.

He opened his mouth, wanting to argue with the gray-robed man, but realized it wasn’t a wise choice. Additionally, if he really wanted to argue, there was a big chance the gray-robed man would successfully divert the topic.

He wasn’t going to be fooled, clearly knowing the purpose of meeting the gray-robed man this time.

"Hmph!" The black shadow snorted coldly, speaking up, "Fine, maybe my perception is indeed a bit dull, but no duller than yours."

"Hm?"

"You said before that within a week or so, you’d create an opportunity for us to turn the tide of the war. But now it’s been over a month and nothing’s changed. Is it that without my reminder, a whole year would have passed? If that’s not dull, is it hibernation?"