The battle between Pella and Manlin ended quickly. Although one of them was imprisoned for many days and the other was injured several times, the gap in fighting spirit was too great. Manlin could face An Fei directly. , but could not face Xinpera directly, after all, he felt guilty in his heart. Under Xinpera's ferocious attack, Manlin struggled for a moment, and was finally pierced through the chest by Xinpera's giant sword.
Maybe it was to atone for his sins, or maybe he was completely desperate. From the beginning to the end, Manlin never counterattacked, even though he had the ability to counterattack, and even though Ximpella's attack didn't take defense into consideration at all, and although it was fierce, it was full of flaws. Before he died, he glanced at Ximpera with an apologetic look, and then looked for Alice blankly, but unfortunately he could not find her.
As soon as Man Lin died, the town of Moramachi quickly became calm. Except for those who had been killed and a few mercenaries who resisted, almost half of the mercenaries of the Iron-Blooded Rose Mercenary Group chose to surrender. In fact, this was also the case for mercenaries. It is a custom of soldiers. There is no irreconcilable conflict between them, and it is not hatred between the country and the family. When the overall situation has been decided, there is really no need to choose to sacrifice.
An Fei took over all the power as a matter of course. In the past, he managed a few hundred people at most, but now the number has expanded nearly ten times. He cleans the battlefield, orders people to move and bury corpses, treat the injured, screen surrendered soldiers, and issue rewards. After handling the chores such as calming people's hearts and rearranging alerts, An Fei felt dizzy. Even with the help of Chris and Bravi, he was busy until late at night before finishing everything.
I overheard Ozgucci mention that in the past, when Alice was managing the town of Mora March, I didn’t see her being very busy, but the town of Mora March was always running very regularly, even with the addition of Manlin, an unstable factor. It wasn't much affected. Ozguch's words reminded An Fei. He should go see Alice. When he first met Manlin, Alice asked him to kill Manlin immediately, but he responded with suspicion. If it were anyone else, he could explain it with lies, but what kind of lie could hide it from Alice? Moreover, An Fei has been hesitant about where to place Alice in the future, whether to continue to trust Alice or to gradually weaken Alice's influence. Even if you want to treat Alice as an object in exchange for benefits for yourself, you must at least understand what Alice has been doing and thinking during this period before making a decision.
Led by Ozguch, An Fei came to the courtyard where Alice lived. There were only two guards in such a large courtyard. Judging from their demeanor, they should be the subordinates of Kumarajiva. When he saw An Fei coming in , they did not step forward to stop him. Instead, he quietly stepped aside.
An Fei pondered for a moment, knocked on the door, and then waved his hand to Özguch. Özgqi nodded his head knowingly and slowly retreated.
"Come in." Alice's clear voice came from inside.
An Fei opened the door. Stepping into the room and closing the door behind her, Alice's boudoir was decorated very simply. There was a bed, a table, a chair, and a rough bookshelf with a few scattered books on it. Apart from that, there was nothing. An Fei was a little surprised. He felt that there should be at least a dressing table.
"You're here." Alice said softly, her expression very indifferent. It stands to reason that An Fei entered the door out of basic courtesy. Or the defense between men and women, she should not continue to lie in bed, even though her tone of voice was very polite. But compared with when An Fei first appeared, her expression lacked a bit of respect.
"You know I'm coming?" An Fei said naturally. He pulled the chair over casually and sat down on it.
Alice was stunned, thinking for a moment, and then nodded silently.
"Do you have to think about this kind of question before you can answer it?" An Fei laughed.
"I just realized a truth, disaster comes from the mouth."
"It seems...you are not a person who is afraid of causing trouble, otherwise you would not have issued the announcement to call in mercenaries."
"I made it very clear. I just understood this truth. If I were given another chance to choose, I might not do it." Alice replied lukewarmly.
An Fei crossed his arms across his chest, paused, and said slowly: "Alice, I know you, and you know me. We are not people who act on their own initiative, so there is no need to be like this."
"I do not understand what you mean."
"You understand." An Fei said with a smile: "What do you want to prove with such angry words? Prove that you are naive and impulsive? Or remind me that I have to feel guilty for misunderstanding?"
Alice fell silent.
"I think we need to talk openly and honestly, otherwise we will have more and more misunderstandings in the future and even become enemies. Tell me, why do we need to issue an announcement?"
"Don't you think this is a rare opportunity?" Alice smiled: "Undead creatures threaten the entire continent, but the four major mercenary groups refuse to lend a helping hand to other mercenaries in order to protect themselves, and we The announcement is enough to become a bright light in the dark night! If you call it normal, let alone owning one town of Mora March, even if you own ten towns of the same size, you will always be a second-rate player.
"It doesn't matter whether it's first-rate or second-rate." An Fei shrugged: "You should know the reason why the four major mercenary groups refuse to assist other mercenaries. If there is enough food, they will fight to win people's hearts!"
"I know."
"But what do we have? Where can you get food in this environment?" An Fei's expression turned cold: "Besides, how many mercenaries are there in the mercenary country? Tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands? If all these mercenaries flock to Mora March Town, what should you do? If I didn’t know your details, I really doubt whether you are a necromancer. With so many mercenaries flocking to Mora March Town, those necromancers don’t need to attack, they just need to After being surrounded for a period of time, we will start killing each other due to lack of supplies. By doing this, you are doing the Necromancer a big favor!"
Alice opened her small mouth in surprise, looked at An Fei for a moment, and suddenly smiled: "In some places, your ability is undoubted, and no one can compare with you, but in other places, I am indeed better than you." powerful."
An Fei was a little embarrassed. In fact, he was so afraid of Alice precisely because he knew Alice's ability: "Don't interrupt, tell me, what do you think?"
"You think too highly of yourself. Don't forget, until now, you are only a second-rate character. How many mercenaries do you think our declaration will attract? In your hypothesis, do even the four major super mercenary groups do the same? Are you coming here?"
"Alice, watch your tone!" An Fei felt very unhappy.
Alice was not afraid, and said slowly: "There are only four super mercenary groups in the mercenary country, and there are dozens of first-class mercenary groups. Among them, there is only one Iron-Blooded Rose who is willing to come to Mora March Town. The mercenary group, and the rest are second-rate mercenary groups that are really desperate."
"These people are enough to cause trouble. If more refugees come over, how will you feed them?"
"The town of Moramachi is not a place for losers, have you forgotten? We have examiners!"
"Examiner? What do you mean?"
"The undead creatures have taken control of the Hengduan Valley and have begun to penetrate into the interior of the mercenary country. If you want to reach the town of Moramachi, you must conflict with the undead creatures. Survival of the fittest. The mercenaries who can make it here alive are all experienced The soldiers who are not qualified are almost dead. As for the refugees you mentioned, there is no way they can get here." Alice said lightly: "Use the minimum price to gain the maximum reputation for us, and It also enhances our strength, is it wrong to do so?"
An Fei felt chills in his heart. He seemed to see groups of hopeful mercenaries being besieged by undead creatures. He didn't know what Alice's behavior was like before. Since she suffered that tragedy, Her personality also changed, but An Fei had to admit that in this troubled world, only people like Alice can survive well.
"I just calculated that there are almost two thousand mercenaries in the town. Where does their food come from?"
"I'm prepared enough to handle it."
An Fei raised his eyebrows and looked at Alice seriously, and Alice looked at An Fei equally seriously. After a while, An Fei sighed: "Okay, let's talk about this later. Let's talk about Manlin. I'm very surprised that a person like Manlin shouldn't fall into the trap so easily. Why would he trust you so much? He would even abandon his partner!"
"He knows who I am."
"What?" An Fei was stunned.
"Manlin has been to the Shansha Empire before."
"Have you known each other before?"
"He knows me, but I don't remember him."
"Yes, how could a majestic imperial princess be interested in a small mercenary group leader?" An Fei smiled: "Then what?"
Alice didn't seem to understand the sarcasm in An Fei's words, and kept her expression calm: "Then Manlin often deliberately looked for opportunities to contact me. He respected me very much, even more than Ozgucci and others. In order not to disappoint him, I gradually gave him some power."
"Don't you realize his ambition?"
"Manlin is a person who doesn't know how to hide himself. Many people know what he wants to do." Alice sighed slightly: "His ambition is just to expand his power to increase his bargaining chip in pursuing me. This pair of As far as I'm concerned, there's no harm in it."
"But it's bad for me. Don't forget that I gave the town of Moramachi to you!"
"I thought you already understood, that's why you came to me, but who would have thought that you still didn't understand." Alice smiled bitterly for the first time.
"I'm waiting for your explanation." An Fei smiled nonchalantly. He is good at understanding people's hearts, but this is limited to one or a few people. Once things are raised to a political perspective, he seems to be a little stretched. After all, he is just an assassin, not a politician, so his purpose is to have a relationship with Ellie. Si had a candid and in-depth conversation and fully understood Alice's thoughts.