Steel Steam and Flame

　　 The winter of this year is extremely cold.

　　 It is a cold winter in the Manoma area. The cold-season air current from the right-phase continent passes through the central ocean current zone and is brought here by more magnificent natural forces, eroding the vegetation and ground of the entire area.

　　 The cold wind has blown for a whole month, but there is still no sign of wanting to stop. The boiler plant on the west side of the city worked overtime, and billowing black smoke rose up, obscuring the sky, making the world under this cold winter seem like there is no daylight. The gray-skinned iron-clad trains carrying black coal came more frequently than in previous years.

　　 Old Roma was sitting in the duty room, holding a hot water bag in his arms and tightening his arms, his heating supply was maximized. He stared blankly at the white-gray mottled glass window embedded in the copper-skinned wall, covered with ice, and he couldn't see the outside of the house.

　　 There is a low temperature thermometer beside the window, which shows the indoor temperature is 10 degrees and the outdoor temperature is minus 14 degrees.

　　 "It's really not a life for people. May the Holy Emperor hear our prayers and let this **** weather go to **** as soon as possible!" Old Roma cursed, and his hands shrank unconsciously.

　　 Then the bright red indicator light was on without warning, and it was not until the iron door was knocked hard that the old Roma knew that a train had entered the station.

　　 The cold wind outside made the dilapidated sheds of the railway station rustle. The bitter wind carried ice scum as if to cut people's cheeks.

　　 Old Roma's face was a hundred reluctance, and there was a lot of panic. Had it not been for being framed by a rock-hard man, he would not be willing to come out of the duty room. But no one would have imagined that it was almost night time when an army would come to this dilapidated railway station in a weather of minus 14 degrees. And without saying a word, he was dragged out by two people.

　　 Surrounded by a group of giant soldiers, he shivered and opened the three-locked iron door.

　　 On the rails is a huge black train without any markings. Old Roma has worked here for decades, and this is the first time he has seen such a huge train. The body is four meters high, and the whole body is welded with hard iron skin, like a black scale python walking on the ground. The rails also groaned overwhelmedly under it. The front of the car not far ahead was still gushing with strong scorching steam, and the light of three giant car lights broke through the wind and snow and shot into the distance.

　　 The first few carriages and the next few sections are all soldiers, and the cargo is closely guarded in the middle of the train. The soldiers were standing by the window looking at Old Roma. On the side of the unloading platform, the cargo seemed to be a huge machine. Several layers of dark green rain-proof cloth wrapped it tightly. It was fastened tightly to the iron frame of the train by steel cables and nails, bulging high, as if There are three piles of rain-proof cloths to be broken at any time.

　　Walking into the platform, Old Roma lights up the gas lamps one by one. By the light, all the soldiers behind them were wearing thick military cotton-padded clothes. Except for the leader, all the others wore face masks like crow's beak. The raised spectacle lenses were also covered with a layer of hoarfrost, but they did not hinder the inside. The sharp gaze that appeared like a beast. They were carrying long-handled muskets, with sharp military stabbing swords on their waists, and black rubber boots on the soles of their feet, wrapping all their ankles and lower legs. The leader was wearing gold-rimmed glasses. In addition to the stabbing sword at his waist, Old Roma also saw a short-style fire system.

　　 are all elites in the army. Old Roma whispered to himself while taking out the password card and inserting it into the differential machine. According to their requirements, the record of this train entry was eliminated.

　　 It’s not a matter of encountering the army to receive equipment, but in Old Roma’s intuition, the standard this time is definitely much higher than the previous few times.

　　 There was no sound except the wind on the entire platform. Everyone was waiting for the old Roma to clear the record and leave, and then started to unload the goods.

　　 Of course the old Roma knew about it. He also wanted to finish his work as soon as possible and go back to the duty room to drink a few cheap wines to warm up his body. However, being stared at by a hundred pairs of wild wolf eyes, in this cold winter and the temperature of minus 54 degrees, a layer of sweat oozes from his back.

　　 Really kills. Old Roma trembled.

　　 After finally seeing the differential machine spit out the code card, the old Roma pulled it out, nodded to the leading officer, and immediately raised his foot to leave.

I don’t know if it’s because of the temperature. The iron nail that nailed the rainproof cloth suddenly broke at this moment. The crisp gold and iron percussive sound spread rapidly in the wind, and the rainproof cloth was immediately blown away by the violent cold wind. .

At almost the same moment, the few soldiers closest to the old Roma immediately rioted all over the body, sending information from the white matter of the brain, and then converting the information into electrical signals, which were transmitted to various muscles and joints of the body through nerves, and moved to him. Behind him, its speed is so fast that it seems to be in sync with the knocking sound. It also seemed that at the moment when the rain-proof cloth was blown away by the wind, when the scenery below seemed to be reflected in the eyes of Old Roma, the soldier stood behind Old Roma, and a hand knife had already hit him. At the back of the neck.

　　、、、、、、

　　 Old Roma woke up in the duty room. At that time, he was lying on a chair, the water bag in his hand had already become cold, and the duty room had only the whirring of heating pipes and the ticking of mechanical copper bells on the wall. The bronze bell indicated that it was 11 o'clock at night. There was no sound of wind from outside the window, and the winter wind finally died down.

"Why am I here?" Old Roma vigorously rubbed the still aching back of his neck, then took a sip of the wine bottle beside him, then took the gas lamp, turned off the heating valve, and hurried out of the duty room. But it was pitch black over the platform, the huge train that had stopped there had long since disappeared, the iron gate was locked tightly, and the key was hanging on his waist.

　　 The army has left.

　　 "Hey, what a hell."

　　 Old Roma only felt a headache when he thought about it, but he had only a vague impression about what happened in the first few hours. He opened the door to the soldier and erased the record on the differential machine according to the rules, and then..., came back to the duty room and fell asleep?

　　 He always felt that there was something missing in this, but he couldn't remember it. When I thought about it, I got confused in my head, as if it was about to explode, the pain of tarsus. But the alcohol played a role at the right time. When he returned home, he slumped his head and fell asleep. When he got up early the next morning, he had forgotten about it.

　　 Until one day after half a year, it was already early summer.

　　 is still the duty room, the heating supply has changed to air-conditioning, and outside the window are travelers coming and going.

　　 Old Roma is still sitting in that chair. The postman passed by and handed a newspaper through the window. He moved to pick it up and unfolded it with one hand. The font of several important events was bolded:

　　 "The current holy emperor Nico Flier has passed away, and the new holy emperor is Elro Astus."

　　 "The Kingdom of Manor officially changed its name to the Empire of Saint Dorag."

　　 "The king of the Saint Dorag Empire, Yato? Astus, announced the abolition of the Lunar Calendar and the Holy Calendar. The year 1879 of the Lunar Calendar this year is the 0 year of the Holy Calendar.

　　、、、、、、

　　 Saint Dorag’s Empire?

　　Dorag?

　　 Old Roma looked at the black words imprinted on the newspaper, and whispered these three words that seemed to have some strange magical power.

In a sudden bang, the old Roma felt that the scenery in front of him had changed, as if he had gone back to the night half a year ago. At that time, he took out the password card, and when he turned around, he heard a knock of gold and iron, and then the rainproof cloth was covered. A corner of the cold wind blew away, and the soldier beside him was so fast that his body turned into an afterimage.

Under the rainproof cloth, the old Roma really saw a giant claw covered with black iron-like fine scales. It reflected dim light under the gas lamp, like a fine craftwork, lying quietly on the iron plate of the train. On the shelf,,,,,,

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