Elder brother's garrison

Page 1574

The runes on this metal plate were all brimming with intense activity, as if they were about to come alive. It was precisely these thousands upon thousands of active runes that emitted such strong energy, which gave the metal plate its hazy glow.

How is this done…

Xiao Bai stretched out his palm and gently stroked the metal plate. Wherever his gaze fell, thousands upon thousands of runes came into view, reflected in his dark golden pupils.

The way these runes are arranged is... a rune string.

It is a way to truly utilize the effectiveness of each rune font and maximize the use of strange functions, which is also the most advanced application of rune fonts in a novice's understanding.

Even though he recognized almost every rune on the metal plate, the novice, who had never studied rune strings, felt a sense of helplessness, as if even knowing the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet or memorizing the entire English dictionary, he could only sigh at the complexities of computer programming.

"...Do you recognize them all?" Just then, a gentle breeze reached Xiaobai's ears.

Xiaobai turned her head.

Frederick the Great had somehow appeared behind him. She leaned over his shoulder and gazed at the glowing metal plate before them.

This was the first time Xiaobai had gotten so close to Frederick the Great's face; at this distance, the details of the bandages wrapped around Frederick the Great's face were clearly visible.

"Where did you find this metal plate, Frederick?" Little White couldn't help but ask Frederick the Great, voicing his doubts.

"Answer my question first."

“…Hmm…” Xiaobai covered her ears and glanced at the metal plate with a complicated look.

While about 10% of the runes on the metal plate are not recorded in Ella's "Great Dictionary of Runes," novices can still recognize the remaining 90%.

"Seventy-seven... eighty-eight," Xiaobai replied earnestly, staring intently at Frederick the Great's face.

Chapter 2123 Mission

Frederick the Great was silent for a short while after Xiaobai's answer, and only then did he react.

"You... know so much?" For the first time, a very subtle hesitation appeared in Frederick the Great's calm voice, but this emotion was very brief and fleeting.

"Hmm... I guess so." Xiaobai smiled awkwardly, then asked Frederick, "However, the runes on this stone tablet are different from the ones I've seen before. I can't guarantee that the runes I know will match the ones on this stone tablet. And most importantly, even if I recognize so many runes, I still don't understand what they mean."

"?"

"In other words, I can understand the meaning of each word individually, but I can't understand them when they are put together."

"..." After listening to Xiaobai's words, Frederick the Great straightened up and stared silently at the metal plate for a while.

Seeing that Frederick the Great remained silent, Xiaobai once again tried to inquire about the origin of the metal plate.

“Frederick, that metal plate…”

"This metal plate has always been here." Before Xiaobai could finish his question, Frederick the Great spoke up, "So it's just that we discovered it; I don't know anything about its origin."

“I see…” Xiaobai stared at Frederick the Great’s face and nodded blankly.

In other words, this metal plate originally belonged to this deep-sea city—or rather, to this ancient city. The current deep-sea deans in the city only discovered it after they moved in.

Ok……

very strange……

As Xiaobai pondered, his brows furrowed again.

Because of the generational gap, it's reasonable that the technology of ancient humans was more advanced than that of modern humans. However, the technology of runic writing should not have belonged to ancient humans. After all, if ancient humans had mastered runic writing, they could have developed sophisticated ship girl technology and wouldn't have been nearly wiped out by the sudden appearance of deep-sea creatures. The subsequent generational gap in civilization would not have occurred.

I always feel that the more you trace the origins of runic fonts, the more mysteries you uncover...

As Xiao Bai pondered, his gaze involuntarily fell back to Frederick the Great.

After recounting the origins of the metal plate, Frederick the Great was now silently gazing at the runes on it. The adorable glow of the runes illuminated Frederick the Great, casting shadows on the bandages covering her face. Although her features were still obscured, Xiaobai could finally make out some of her current expression.

Frederick the Great stared at the metal plate with an expression of awe, like that of a subject looking up at an emperor, and reverence, like that of a lost person gazing at a mirage; he was quiet and lost in thought.

"Frederick the Great, why do you study runic script?" Little White asked, looking at Frederick the Great's face.

"I?"

"Ah."

“…Because.” Frederick the Great stretched out his hand and gently touched the metal plate with his slender fingertips, his voice calm and ethereal, “This is my mission.”

"Mission? What's that?" Xiaobai was taken aback by Frederick the Great's new term.

“It is something that must be done,” Frederick the Great replied.

"...Something that must be done...? But..." Xiaobai was confused again. She opened her mouth, wanting to remind Frederick the Great that the runes were actually useless to deep-sea creatures, but seeing Frederick the Great's devout posture as he gazed at the metal plate, she thought for a moment and swallowed what she was about to say, instead asking, "Then, Frederick the Great, how many of the runes on this metal plate can you understand?"

“Not even a tenth,” Frederick the Great replied, lowering his hand.

"Ah..." Xiaobai pursed her lips and smiled awkwardly, "Well then, if you don't mind, since we still have some time, as a way of thanking you for bringing me here, I'll teach you to recognize some rune characters, how about that?"

Xiao Bai had barely finished speaking.

Frederick the Great then turned his head to look at Little White.

"Are you willing to share?" Frederick the Great's aura fluctuated slightly before he asked.

“No problem… But Frederick, what I teach you may not be correct, do you mind?” Little White smiled at Frederick the Great.

"..." Frederick the Great stared blankly at Little White for a moment, then turned around, reached out and took the metal plate off the shelf. He pointed to a rune in the corner of the plate and asked, "This rune has troubled me for a long time. I've pondered its meaning for decades but still can't figure it out—"

"Ah, this... the meaning of this rune is rather abstract. It means aiming, but it also has the meaning of correction..."

"...Then this one."

"This one, this one is even simpler, it represents..."

that's it.

Frederick the Great humbly sought clarification on the unfamiliar runes on the metal plate, and most of the novices provided accurate answers.

Xiaobai wasn't afraid to teach Frederick the Great runic script. After all, as someone who had memorized an entire runic dictionary, Xiaobai knew that the most important knowledge of runic language lay in rune strings. Simply understanding the meaning of runic words was far from enough. Moreover, even if Frederick the Great knew about rune strings, she would never be able to develop runic technology on the resource-free sea. At most, she could learn a foreign language to alleviate the monotony of life at sea.

Time passes minute by minute.

The number of runes on the metal plate was quite large, and most of them were unique. Unlike Xiaobai, Frederick the Great did not have a strong memory. Even if Xiaobai explained the meaning of the runes to him, Frederick the Great could not remember so many at once. He would easily forget what he had learned earlier if he explained too much. In the end, after memorizing them over and over again, by noon, Frederick the Great had only managed to memorize about thirty runes through Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai estimated that at Frederick the Great's pace of memorizing, it would take her about a year to memorize all the tens of thousands of runes on the stone slab.

After reviewing the thirty rune fonts taught by Xiaobai for a while, Frederick the Great slowly placed the metal plate back on the shelf.

"Aren't you going to continue?" Xiaobai asked from the side.

“I can’t memorize too many, I’ll take them back and review these thirty.” Frederick the Great nodded, then turned to look at Little White, “You’re very good at this.”

"It's not that amazing," Xiaobai said with an embarrassed smile.

"..." Frederick the Great silently looked at Little White without saying a word.

Xiao Bai felt that Frederick the Great's gaze was constantly sweeping over him.

Although he couldn't see Frederick the Great's eyes, Xiao Bai felt that Frederick the Great's gaze at him at this moment didn't seem like he was looking at him, but rather like he was admiring some kind of work of art.

"Um... Frederick? What's wrong?" Xiaobai blinked.

"Let's go," Frederick the Great said, withdrawing his gaze. "It's time for the meeting."

"Oh! Right, we have a meeting." Xiaobai nodded.

Frederick the Great walked downstairs, and Xiaobai quickly followed in his footsteps.

After leaving the top of the tower, Frederick spoke to Little White as he walked down the stairs.

"You can come to these rooms whenever you want."

"Oh, okay, thank you," Xiaobai smiled.

Xiao Bai didn't need to come to this room a second time, since she had already memorized the runes on the stone slab and couldn't possibly forget them. But in any case, it was Frederick the Great's good intention, and she had no reason not to accept it.

Frederick the Great is the leader of the deep-sea city. If you can get along well with her, it won't be a bad thing for your strategy in Chapter 8.

"Frederick, whenever you want me to teach you runic script, just call me over," Little White said to Frederick the Great with a smile.

"..." Frederick the Great turned his head to the side, his bandaged head nodding slightly.

Xiao Bai and Frederick the Great went downstairs and returned to the previous conference room. It was already past noon, and it was time for the meeting that Frederick the Great and the other Deep Sea Deans had agreed upon. The conference room door was wide open, and several Deep Sea Deans were already in place, chatting idly or rather, making sarcastic remarks to each other.

"Hehehe, so you night owl finally know to go out during the day now? What's wrong, not skipping work this time?" Kamikaze sat on the table on one side of the conference room, hugging one leg, not caring at all about the view under her skirt being exposed, and grinned at Savoy next to her.

"You mean you want me to stay home alone? Well, I'm sorry, but because of someone, my house is still ablaze yesterday." Savoy raised his proud neck, let out a weak snort, and then cast a disdainful gaze at Kamikaze without any fear.

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor. I wasn't the one who burned down your house and beat you up yesterday," Kamikaze said sarcastically.

"I'm just reminding you because I'm afraid you might forget things," Savoy stretched. "But I don't think it's a big deal if the house burns down once. After all, you see, I was treated very well in the tent yesterday."

"Hehehe..."

Savoy and Kamikaze exchanged sarcastic remarks, their auras as deep-sea deans rising from the ground, their eyes gleaming with the sharp light unique to deep-sea creatures.

"Fighting? No way!!" In a flash, a black light appeared between Savoy and Kamikaze. The Abyssal Hindenburg, now powerless from its ship's equipment, pouted, one hand pushing against Savoy's flat chest, the other sinking deep into Kamikaze's alluring cleavage, earnestly advising the two, "The Admiral said! We're not allowed to fight while staying at her house! Otherwise, we'll all be kicked out!"

Having lost her shipboard capabilities, Hindenburg was naturally not qualified to stop the two Abyssal Deans. However, her words carried too much weight, and with Barbarossa and Shiro's loyal dog Super Yamato standing silently behind her, Savoy and Kamikaze merely snorted under the gaze of these two supreme combatants. Savoy slapped Hindenburg's hand away from her chest, while Kamikaze turned her head to the side. The two said in unison, "You're lucky this time," and then swung their legs, looking to the side as if they had won.

Chapter 2124 A Great Responsibility Descended from Heaven

The relationship between these deep-sea deans in the deep-sea city is perhaps as Frederick the Great described: a much closer relationship indeed.

Although Xiaobai wasn't sure whether the close relationship among these Deep Sea Deans had improved or worsened...

Xiao Bai glanced at the group of Deep Sea Deans sitting in a huddle not far away and couldn't help but give a wry smile.

Just then, seemingly drawn by Xiaobai's slight wry smile, all the Deep Sea Deans—whether it was Savoy and Kamikaze, who were sulking, Hindenburg, who was active among the Deep Seas, Barbarossa, who remained silent, or even Zuikaku, who kept a slight distance from the other Deep Sea Deans—raised their heads and looked towards the conference room door.

"Isn't this my good little sister~ What, is your secret conversation with Frederick over?" Kamikaze spoke first, smiling sweetly at Shiro, raising her hand and beckoning, her charm on full display.

"Admiral!!" Chao Yamato clenched his little white fists, looking aggrieved, as if he had finally waited for the return of the Admiral. He thought, "If these Abyssal Deans stay here any longer, they'll start fighting sooner or later, and I won't be able to stop them."

When Shiro wasn't around, Chaoda and Zhenma really had a tough time.

The gazes of all the Deans of the Deep Sea Academy shifted from Xiaobai to Frederick the Great, observing her aura as if trying to find some changes in Frederick the Great to deduce what she and Xiaobai had done.

"Um... I'm sorry, we just finished over there, sorry to have kept you waiting." Xiaobai apologized to the Deans of the Deep Sea Sect in front of him.

"I'm fine, I have plenty of time anyway." Savoy stretched and leaned against the wall behind him, urging Little White, "Meeting, meeting, hurry up and start, remember to take me home when it's over."

"But these past few days, the frequency of meetings has indeed been a bit high, considering we usually don't even have a meeting for years." Kamikaze rubbed his smooth, white thigh and remarked with a hint of unease. "Friedrich~ what are we going to talk about at this meeting? It's not going to be the same old stuff, is it?"

Barbarossa remained silent.

"I will try to reduce the number of meetings in the future." Facing the words of the Deep Sea Deans, Frederick the Great nodded slightly. She stepped forward, walked to the center of the conference room, and turned to the Deep Sea Deans. "But this meeting does have important matters to discuss. It is not like our usual routine."

"Something important?" Kamikaze asked curiously.

“Yesterday…” came the cold voice of the Deep Sea Zuikaku from the corner.

Everyone looked at the auspicious crane in the deep sea.

The deep-sea crane opened one eye and closed the other, looking like a detached spectator.

Everyone immediately realized what was happening.

"Ah~ it's about what happened yesterday." Kamikaze chuckled a few times, laughing so hard he was shaking, then turned to Savoy. "Savoy, we're going to have a meeting today to discuss the beating you got yesterday. What do you think?"

"Tsk, I'll shut you up sooner or later." A hint of displeasure flashed across Savoy's delicate brows, then he looked up at Frederick the Great and said, "If it's about yesterday's matter, we've already settled things between us."

The first thing Savoy values ​​most in the deep-sea city is the secret of her passive skill that makes her weak during the day and invincible at night. The second thing is her reputation. If Frederick the Great were to have everyone recount how he was brutally beaten yesterday, there's a high chance that these two things Savoy values ​​most would be exposed. Losing face and risking the exposure of her passive skill would not be good news for her.

"Barbarossa has already informed me of the outcome of your dispute." Frederick the Great listened quietly to Savoy's appeal, nodded slightly, and then looked at Little White through his bandages, saying, "She handled it very well. Therefore, I will not interfere with the results of your discussion yesterday."

"So, why did you call us for a meeting today..." Savoy raised an eyebrow.

"I will give you an explanation," Frederick the Great said calmly.

"Explain?" Savoy was taken aback, then turned around thoughtfully to look at Barbarossa, who remained silent behind him.

Barbarossa remained calm, showing no reaction to Frederick the Great's statement, as if everything was within her expectations.

Savoy seemed to be deep in thought.

"Barbarossa," Frederick the Great called out to Barbarossa.

“I am here,” Barbarossa replied.

“I was not present when the conflict between you occurred yesterday, so I learned about this through your account of the whole incident,” Frederick the Great said in a steady voice. “Now that everyone is here, please recount to me yesterday the events exactly as they were.”

“Yes.” Barbarossa nodded, speaking under everyone’s gaze, “Yesterday I stayed at Patina’s house. When I returned home, I discovered Hindenburg was missing. I assumed it was Savoy’s doing, so I stormed into her territory, destroyed her house, and attacked her. Patina arrived at the scene and intervened, stopping me. With her help, I found the missing Hindenburg. After that, I realized I had misunderstood Savoy, so I begged for her forgiveness and asked to be dealt with as she saw fit. But Savoy didn’t take my life; instead—”

“Alright, that’s enough. Stop talking.” Savoy interrupted Barbarossa, then looked at Frederick the Great. “What she said makes no problem.”

"Where are the others?" Frederick the Great looked at the other Deep Sea Deans.

"Hmph... It's pretty much the same as what happened yesterday." Kamikaze blew his bangs on his forehead, looking displeased. "Except for the fact that you guys left me at sea and went home."