The size of the underground floor of Lu Gaoyin's palace was beyond Abel's expectation. When he entered the second floor, he saw the same style of decoration and more artworks, dozens of times larger than the first underground floor.
Thinking of Lu Gaoyin's location, it is on the edge of the desert and the climate is very dry and hot, and this underground building can just avoid the hot weather.
Considering this aspect, it is not difficult to understand why Lu Gaoyin Palace built such a large-scale underground layer.
The wealth of Lu Gaoyin, a port city, once again shocked Abel, because before, whether it was the wealth on the ground or the first floor, it was just the tip of the iceberg of the entire Lu Gaoyin Palace.
In the huge space on the second underground floor, you can see exquisite works of art everywhere. If there were no hell creatures here, it would be like a museum.
Abel carefully cleaned up the hellish creatures here, and did not recklessly use 'teleportation' to advance quickly, because he needed the art here, and everything here was already regarded by him as his own property.
He wants to clean up all the hellish creatures here and take away the art. The art here will become his trophy.
Abel's life seemed to have returned to the days when he rested during the day and entered the dark world to fight at night, carrying artworks while fighting hellish creatures. His life became stable again.
The harvest time of winter wheat in the human world has arrived. This year's harvest time has been delayed by nearly half a month due to the poor growth of winter wheat.
The winter wheat harvest eventually saw a large-scale production reduction, and the magnitude of the reduction was very large, almost reaching a 70% reduction.
In the entire human world of the Holy Continent, all winter wheat harvests were only 30% of previous years, which left many non-agricultural principalities with huge food gaps.
Of course, these principalities have their own food reserves, but such a harvest cannot be sustained for a long time even if they have food reserves.
Grain reserves are generally formulated based on the principality's grain consumption in one season. This grain reserve allows the principality to survive natural disasters by storing grains to survive the disaster year smoothly and to prepare for the next season's harvest.
But the situation is different now. Almost everyone has accepted the arrival of a once-in-a-millennium crop reduction cycle, and the previous year's crop production has already been reduced, which has caused many principalities to consume part of their food reserves.
When there was a huge shortage of food, some conflicts began to arise within humans.
If the strength of the Orc Empire does not decrease, even if there is such internal conflict among humans, it will not be too serious, because the oppression of foreign enemies will make the human world extraordinarily united.
But the current situation is that the Orc Empire has been weakened by a battle at the Miracle Wall, and Abel gave the Orc Empire a heavy blow not long ago, killing six senior Orc priests.
In a short period of time, the Orc Empire lost seven senior Orc priests and a large number of elite warriors, which forced them to build a wall to separate the human world from the Orc Empire.
This was originally a brilliant victory, but now this victory has brought unexpected results to everyone.
Humanity has lost its greatest enemy. At least in the past hundred years, it has been difficult for the Orc Empire to threaten humans.
However, after the external oppression disappeared, the internal contradictions of mankind suddenly became prominent. At present, there are only some small conflicts, and some small conflicts have been triggered between various castles for the harvest of food.
In early June, at the junction of the Principality of Tekos and the Principality of Keen, an army composed entirely of knights was marching towards the city of Deyo in the Principality of Keen.
This is a knight corps consisting of 200 formal knights and 3,000 trainee knights. No noble family can have such a number of knights, and only the principality can command such a large knight corps.
Grand Knight Commander Job is the commander of this knight corps. He is the most powerful among the three Grand Knight Commanders of the Principality of Tekos.
The Principality of Tekos is a mineral principality. The natural mineral resources make the Principality of Tekos rich in iron ore, silver ore, gold mine, and even magic stone ore resources.
With such rich mineral resources, the Principality of Tekos has become the richest principality among the seven principalities belonging to the Kingdom of St. Ellis, and because of its wealth, the principality is also extremely powerful.
The Principality of Keen was originally an extremely powerful principality. Because there was a branch of the Wizards Guild in the Principality of Keen, the proportion of wizards there was very high.
However, due to Abel's devastating blow to the wizarding circle of the Principality of Keen, the principality that was originally considered the top among the seven principalities has now become the weakest principality.
If there was no crisis of crop yield reduction, the Principality of Keen could recover and erect the magic tower again within hundreds of years. However, the occurrence of crop yield reduction has turned the Principality of Keen into a piece of fat.
And around the Principality of Keen, four powerful principalities were eyeing it, but they were afraid of the majesty of the Kingdom of Saint Ellis and did not dare to take action easily.
The Principality of Taikos does not want to be the first to do so, but the crisis of reduced crop production has hit their principality most directly. The food in the principality is no longer enough to last until the next season's crops mature, and there is still a big question mark about how much the next season's crops can be harvested.
In this case, the Principality of Tekos had to take action. In this way, a knight army strong enough to destroy the Principality of Keen was sent out.
Because they were all knights, this legion of more than 3,000 people moved at an extremely fast speed. When the sun was still overhead, they had already arrived at Deyo City in the Principality of Keen.
"Knights, our request to buy food from the Principality of Keen has been rejected. The Principality of Keen would rather watch our citizens starve to death than sell the food to us. If they don't give it to us, we will get it ourselves. The front is Deyo City in the Principality of Keen, I need you to fight for the Principality of Tekos and fight for the people of the principality!" Grand Knight Commander Job shouted.
"Fight for the Principality of Tekos, fight for the people of the Principality!" The words of Grand Knight Commander Job made the blood of more than 3,000 knights boil, and they shouted loudly.
"Honor is my life!" Knight Commander Job drew out his knight's sword from his side. The sword shone golden under the reflection of the sun, and he shouted.
"Honor is my life!" the knights shouted.
Knight Commander Job took the lead, followed closely by more than 3,000 knights. The well-trained knights naturally formed an arrow-shaped battle formation while running.
Although Deyo City is a border town of the Principality of Keen, there are not many troops stationed in this border town. Because there have been no wars between principalities for countless years, the defenders here have forgotten that this is still a dangerous border town.
The garrison stationed here was led by Knight Captain Horatio, with a total of ten knights and 500 warriors. The biggest battle this garrison had ever experienced was to wipe out bandits.
Anellin is a scout, but due to the long period of peace, this scout only stands on the city wall to watch. Since he rested late last night, he is a little sluggish today.
Just as he was dozing off, the vibration on the ground suddenly startled him. When he raised his head and looked outside the city wall, the image in front of him suddenly made him sleepless.
Under the sun, a knightly legion wearing armor was rushing towards the city of Deyo. Thousands of war horses were running, raising a cloud of flying dust behind them, making this knightly legion seem to be carrying the power of heaven and earth. Come to normal.
"Enemy attack!" Anellin shouted, turning back to ring the alarm bell next to him, his voice trembling due to nervousness.
Knight Commander Horatio was sitting in the restaurant, sipping red wine elegantly, and the veal and vegetable salad in front of him exuded an attractive taste.
Just as he picked up the red wine and poured it into his mouth, the alarm bell rang, making his hand shake and the red wine spilled all over him, but he had no time to care about the red wine.
Continuous alarm bells are not to be sounded randomly. If you ring the alarm bell incorrectly, you will be hanged, so no one will joke about the alarm bell.
"Ready your horses!" cried Lord Horatio, and rushed out of the dining-room.
He had no time to put on his armor, so he rushed out of the mansion on horseback in civilian clothes.
On the city wall, the ringing of the alarm bell woke up Captain Nigel from his nap. The place where he slept was the guard room on the city wall, so after he woke up, he just sat up and saw the people rushing towards the city wall outside the window. The coming knight corps.
"Close the city gate!" Captain Naij yelled, putting on his clothes in a panic.
When Captain Naij rushed to the city gate, there were already more than a dozen city defenders who had heard the sound and were closing the city gate.
The city gate is made of huge solid wood, with a thickness of up to thirty centimeters, covered with iron sheets, and there are iron nails on the iron sheets for reinforcement.
The entire city gate is very heavy. At least twenty soldiers are required to close the city gate together, and it will take several minutes at the fastest to completely close it.
Listening to the tsunami-like sound of horse hooves outside the city, both Captain Nijie and the other soldiers felt a little in a hurry, and the usually familiar movements of closing the city gate became stiff at this moment.
Knight Commander Job, who was leading the knight army forward, saw the gate of Deyo City slowly closing, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.
He did not expect that the defenders of Deyo City would react so quickly and immediately chose to close the city gate. Before the attack, he had learned about the situation in Deyo City. The defenders here had not fought for many years.
If the city gate is closed, the knights he brought will attack the city, and the speed of the attack will be greatly affected.
To attack such a city, you must have siege equipment. Waiting for the siege equipment to arrive, then the blitz plan formulated by the Principality of Taikos will be greatly affected.
Thinking of this, Grand Knight Commander Job's body flashed with fighting spirit. Fighting energy enveloped his whole body and the war horse beneath him. He suddenly launched the Grand Knight Commander's skill 'Charge'.
Like a bolt of lightning, his horse quickly separated from the running legion and rushed towards the city gate.
"Quick, quick, close it hard!" Captain Naij shouted and directed the soldiers who came to close the city gate together.
The city gate in front of them is already two meters away from being closed. As long as the city gate is closed, the legion composed entirely of knights outside will not be able to invade the city in a short time.
But just when Captain Nijie saw hope, a ray of light rushed in from the gap in the city gate that was about to close. He was about to scream, but he felt a ray of light flashing from him.
The power in his body suddenly disappeared, and he was shocked to find that his upper body had left his lower body.
Knight Commander Job, who rushed into the city gate, waved a fighting spirit whip quickly on top of the knight's sword in his hand. In just a moment, there was no one alive behind the entire city gate except him.
"Honor is my life!" Just as Knight Commander Job was about to turn around and push open the city gate, a roar came from behind him, and then Knight Commander Horatio rushed toward him with a knight's sword.
This is a fearless charge, and it is also a fatal charge. A knight commander without armor and shield, with only a knight's sword in his hand, launches an attack on a knight commander who is fully armored, fully equipped, and has activated fighting spirit. , the ending is inevitable.
Like a wave crashing on a boulder, Knight Commander Job just struck casually, while Knight Commander Horatio left his horse and fell heavily to the ground. On Captain Horatio's chest, there was a sword mark. It took away the breath of life from him.
Lord Knight Job's blow was very careful and did not damage Lord Horatio's body. This is a sign of respect for a true knight.
After the city gate was opened, more than 3,000 knights rushed into the city gate. At this time, Deyo City had no ability to fight back. Half an hour later, Deyo City, which had guarded the gate of the Principality of Keen for countless years, Totally lost.
Two hundred knights were left to garrison Deyo City. Knight Commander Job did not stop at Deyo City. He wanted to seize as many cities as possible before the news was transmitted to other cities.
Fufu City and Dunya City, the two cities closest to Deyo City, were also captured in just two days. When the great knight Captain Job was preparing to attack Erluo City, because the news had been passed here, What he saw was a fortified city with full defenses.
The great knight captain Job had to stop his attack. After several days of attacks, the powerful knights were somewhat exhausted. They camped outside the city of Erluo.
"Father, the Principality of Tekos has raided the Principality of Keen and has occupied three cities in the Principality of Keen!" In the main hall of the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of St. Ellis, the eldest prince Alec was reporting the latest information to His Majesty Emperor Ambrose. .
The attack speed of the Principality of Taikos is too fast, and each attack uses lightning tactics without prior notice. This completely violates the knight code.
Moreover, the intelligence system of the Principality of Tekos also interfered with the attack process. Even the intelligence system of the Kingdom of St. Ellis only received accurate information two days later.
"Your Majesty, the Principality of Tekos is a challenge to the Kingdom of St. Ellis, and troops should be sent out immediately to severely punish it!" a minister said in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, I think that the Principality of Tekos has no choice but to do this. All it takes is a rebuke to make it repent and give up the occupied land!" Another minister took a step forward and said.
"Have you accepted the property of the Principality of Taikos, and you are still defending it at this time!" The previous minister glared at the minister who just spoke, and said loudly.
"Can't there be voices in the empire that are different from yours? Are the ministers who have other opinions received their property?" The questioned minister was not angry, but asked rhetorically.
However, he really accepted a gift from the Principality of Taikos. He could get so much wealth just by excusing it in the main hall, so how could he not be tempted.
"Okay, no need to argue anymore!" His Majesty Ambrose waved his hand to stop the debate among the ministers.
In fact, he knew in his heart that sending out the army at this time was the most unacceptable thing. To use the army, it must be supported by a large amount of food. The empire's current food reserves could no longer launch wars.
The empire's original food reserves were much larger than those of the principalities, enough to last for several years. However, a war against the Orc Empire mobilized too many resources of the empire, and the same was true for food.
A large number of knights are mobilized, and the food eaten by these knights and war horses needs to be transported, and transportation also consumes food. In addition, during the war preparations, the feed for the war horses must be consumed the most to ensure the training of the knights.
It can be said that a war with the Orc Empire caused the three empires to consume nearly half of their food reserves.
The amount of food reserves in the empire is a secret, and several ministers present do not know it, but His Majesty Ambrose, as the emperor of the empire, knows everything.
"Send an envoy to the Principality of Tekos and ask it to abide by the principles of the Principality and withdraw from the occupied areas!" His Majesty Ambrose said solemnly.
The envoy from the Kingdom of St. Ellis received a warm welcome in the Principality of Techos, but the Principality of Techos did not immediately implement the empire's order. Instead, it delayed on the excuse that the army was too scattered and the retreat would take time.
This is the Principality of Tekos testing the bottom line of the Kingdom of St. Ellis. His Majesty Ambrose's attitude is unexpectedly weak. He has only sent out coordinating envoys many times and is not as tough as the empire should be.
The actions of the Principality of Tekos and the attitude of the Kingdom of St. Ellis were like igniting an oil barrel. When the Principality of Tekos was arguing with the Kingdom of St. Ellis, the Principality of Larvi, the Principality of Laca and the Principality of Koror were also involved. Their troops were dispatched within a short time.
This is a feast, a feast to carve up the Principality of Keen. If the Principality of Taikos invades alone, the Principality of Keen can resist for a period of time without sending out wizards from the Principality of Tekos.
But when the four principalities attacked at the same time, the already weak military strength of the Principality of Keen could not support the battle on all sides. In just a few days, only the capital Bili City of the Principality of Keen remained, and this city had become an isolated city. .
In the palace of the Principality of Keen, King Kenneth looked at the map in front of him with a gloomy face. The large area of land that was originally the Principality of Keen has now become the land of other principalities.
The principality that had been inherited for countless years, in his hands, only the capital city of Bili remained.
But he knew that there was still a glimmer of hope. The Kingdom of St. Ellis had been mediating, and he needed to give the empire enough time. In addition, the possible intervention of the Wizards Guild would also allow the Principality of Keen to tide over the danger.
There is a premise for all this, that is, the Principality of Keen can defend Bili City.
At this time, in the city of Bili, the nobles who escaped from the lost land brought a large number of knights and warriors. Originally, such war nobles would not flee, because although the war had an impact on the nobles, normally Said that no matter which side wins, it will not have much impact on the nobles.
But this time it was different. What the four principalities needed was food, and they did not need the local nobles.
Historically speaking, there has never been a war like this one. All the resources in the occupied land were looted, the nobles were driven away, the city residents were also driven away, and everyone who could consume food was driven away .
Only the farmers who could grow food remained. Because of this, Pili City was already full of nobles. Many knights and warriors could be seen everywhere. There were so many driven out residents that even Pili City could not contain them.
Outside the city of Bili, many residents driven from other cities had no choice but to build temporary sheds. Fortunately, the weather is hot now, so long as they can provide shade.
But the food problem has become increasingly serious. Everything edible has been eaten by hungry people. There are no edible resources within a few miles of Bili City.
The atmosphere in the main hall of St. Ellis Kingdom was somewhat depressing.
"Father, please send troops. If you don't send troops, the majesty of our empire will be completely lost!" The eldest prince Alec said to His Majesty Ambrose in a pleading voice.
His Majesty Ambrose glanced at the eldest prince Alec. He didn't know that if this continued, the entire empire's vassal states would be separated.
As long as the Principality of Keen disappears, it means that the Kingdom of St. Ellis has lost control of its vassal country. This will be a huge blow and will cause a heavy loss to the Kingdom of St. Ellis.
Once the vassal states lose control, the war between the vassal states may continue and may eventually develop into a war.
The Kingdom of St. Alice is not without its enemies. Whether it is the Kingdom of St. Paul or the Kingdom of St. Anval, once the strength of the Kingdom of St. Alice is greatly damaged, these two empires will attack them mercilessly.
The only problem now is food. As long as there is enough food, the army can be sent to suppress the four principalities and make them withdraw their troops.
Not a single minister in the hall spoke up at this time. This period of mediation without sending troops made them all understand one thing, that is, the empire could no longer afford a war.
Regardless of the previous ministers' tendencies, under such a severe situation, they no longer had any other ideas. All ministers knew that if this matter could not be handled well, the Principality of St. Ellis would be in big trouble.
"Alec, I remember you said that the principality of Camai has a sufficient food supply. Is this true?" His Majesty Ambrose turned to the eldest prince Alec and asked.
"Yes, Father, the information from the intelligence office is that all the grain stores in the Principality of Kamai have been directly supplied by the Principality of Kamai. Although there are limited requirements for buyers, the food supply has always been very sufficient. From Kamai to According to intelligence from the major grain stores in the Mai Kingdom, the inventory of the grain stores is no less than in previous years!" Eldest Prince Alec bowed and replied.
"Is it feasible to purchase a batch of grain from the Principality of Camai?" His Majesty Ambrose asked with some uncertainty.
As the emperor of the empire, although His Majesty Ambrose has supreme power, he does not have much to do with the Principality of Kamai and Abel. The only way is to negotiate.
Because he knew better than anyone else the role Abel played in the war with the Orc Empire. In that war, Abel alone killed a terrifying number of elite Orc warriors.
Thinking about the massive military exploits still frightened him. Such a strong man could never use power to suppress him.
"The Principality of Kamai has always been an important producer of food. After Grandmaster Abel became the king, even though there was a large-scale reduction in production last year, the Principality of Kamai did not reduce the food that should be handed over to the empire, nor did it use gold coins like other principalities. Or other supplies can be used instead, so there is no shortage of food when coming to the Principality of Camai," the eldest prince Alec analyzed.
The eldest prince Alec controls the intelligence system of the Kingdom of St. Ellis, and his analysis is the most convincing.
"Alec, please go to the Principality of Camai on my behalf to purchase a batch of grain. You can tell Grandmaster Abel the truth!" His Majesty Ambrose commanded in a deep voice.
"Father, I'm leaving right away!" The eldest prince Alec knew that time was urgent and bowed out of the hall.
In Gamba City, Kamai Principality, Abel met with the eldest prince Alec in the side hall of the palace. This was a private meeting, so except for Butler Burbage, there was no one else here.
"Grandmaster Abel, you should know the battle situation in the Principality of Keen, right?" The eldest prince Alec asked directly.
"Yes, I have heard about it!" Abel nodded and said.
As he has controlled the Principality of Kamai for longer, the intelligence system has made great progress with the support of a large number of gold coins. Especially the stable and rich Principality of Kamai is what everyone yearns for. This centripetal force allows the intelligence system to Better development.
The relationship between the Principality of Keen and Abel was not good. Because of Abel, the wizard system of the Principality of Keen was basically completely disintegrated. This was also an important reason why the four major principalities dared to take action against the Principality of Keen.
Without the protection of the wizard, the Principality of Keen is like a child walking on the street with gold coins in hand.
"Grandmaster Abel, the Principality of Keen cannot fall. Once it falls, it will disrupt the rules of the entire principality, plunge the human world into chaos, and wars will continue to occur!" The eldest prince Alec Shen said said the voice.
"Your Highness Alec, I am just the king of a principality. I cannot prevent the war between the five principalities with my own national strength. What you said is far from my ability. The empire is the suzerain of the principality and upholds the principles of the principality. It is the duty of the empire!" Abel shook his head and said to the eldest prince Alec.
The suzerain country collects a certain amount of resources from the vassal country every year. This share is related to the national strength of the vassal country. Just like the Principality of Kamai, it must hand over a certain amount of food every year for the protection of the suzerain country.
The Principality of Keen, which was now under protection, was invaded by the other four principalities. This was originally the obligation of the Principality of St. Ellis.
"Grandmaster Abel, for the last war of the Orc Empire, the Kingdom of St. Ellis has consumed too much food, and the remaining food is no longer enough to support another war!" The eldest prince Alec said helplessly.
To suppress the four principalities, the Kingdom of St. Ellis must send an army strong enough to intimidate the four principalities. As long as an army of this size is mobilized, a large amount of food is bound to be consumed.
"Your Highness Alec, what are the empire's requirements?" Abel asked directly.
"Grandmaster Abel, the empire can purchase a batch of grain from you at the market price. Please help the empire, and the empire will give you adequate rewards!" the eldest prince Alec pleaded.
Purchase food at market prices. This market price is not the market price of the Principality of Kamai, but the current market price of the Holy Continent. The price of food in the Principality of Kamai has always been maintained at a low level, which can almost guarantee that all citizens will not go hungry.
Abel also does not want the human world to be in turmoil, and an empire with a good relationship with him is also in his interest. As for food, to be honest, the food in his hands just has no reason to sell it.
Because although there is a lot of food, it is only enough to supply two or three principalities. Once this amount is sold to the outside world, it is likely to attract undue prying eyes.
He is not afraid of war, but the troubles that can be reduced should be minimized, and the strength of the Kamai Principality is still too weak and it will take time to develop and grow.
"Okay, His Highness Alec, you give me a specific amount and I'll ask the minister to prepare it for you!" Abel thought for a while and nodded.
"Grandmaster Abel, your help has gained the empire's friendship!" the eldest prince Alec said excitedly.
In Bili City, the capital of the Principality of Keen, knights, warriors and stronger ordinary civilians have all been arranged on the city wall. Countless city defense materials have also been sent to the city wall. Under the pressure of being robbed of wealth and destroying the country, Under the threat of survival, the nobles in Bili City united like never before.
Outside the city wall, the armies of the four principalities have arrived. Their goal is the last wealth of the Principality of Keen. Due to their drive, the entire wealth of the Principality of Keen has been concentrated in the city of Bili.
Just when a war was inevitable, a super knight army composed of 20,000 knights from the Kingdom of St. Ellis left the empire and came towards the Principality of Keen.
The actions of the Kingdom of St. Ellis surprised the four principalities. Their intelligence systems had confirmed that the empire would not send a large army to suppress it.