The time may not be too long, but to the marching soldiers, it seems like a century has passed.
They braved the night in the confusing mountains, risked falling, endured exhaustion, and kept moving forward, forward, and forward again. In the end, they were like soulless skeletons, moving their limbs mechanically, numbly following the flow of people, or stopping briefly.
Finally, when the sky in the east lit up, the leading team, a group of knights in magic armor, walked out of the Chaotic Mountains and stepped on the flat ground.
In front of them, the outline of a square city was revealed. It was a border trade transfer station in Sarin. There were not many people. There were soldiers stationed, but there were also not many. To be honest, no one thought that enemies could suddenly appear here.
The magic-suited knights looked at the city and began to line up in silence. Behind them, the other soldiers who walked out of the Chaos Mountains one after another joined in.
For a moment, thousands of people silently launched a collective charge.
The reason why he was silent was not because he wanted to remain hidden, but because his throat was dry and hoarse, his strength was almost exhausted, and he was in no mood to shout. He just wanted to use the remaining strength where it should be used.
rush.
Approach the city gate.
The wizard soars into the air, and the magic knight activates the magic pattern.
Fire broke out inside the city.
By the time the flames extinguished, the city had already changed hands - after all, this was just an inconspicuous frontier town in Sarin, with not much resistance.
…
After the small town was captured, Sauron quickly received two pieces of news.
One piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news is that starting from this small border town, you can follow the road paved by the sand forest and head straight into the hinterland. Until the center of Sarin - near Atlan, it is possible to be blocked by the Sarin army based on the terrain.
The bad news is that it is obviously a trade transfer station that stores a lot of goods, but it does not have the thing they need most at the moment - food.
The explanation given by the prisoners in the city was that the grain had been crossed off the trade list more than half a month ago without any reason. The daily food needs are all transported long distances from Atlanta, and there are still three days before the next transportation.
"No food? Three days?" Sauron muttered to himself in the tent of the temporary staff headquarters outside the city. His eyes became a little deeper. He felt that he had guessed something, but he could not be sure yet.
…
Atlanta, top floor office of City Hall.
It was rare for Richard to appear here, and Jasmine, the deputy lord of Salin, was relaying news from various places to him.
"That Sauron is a bit powerful. He found a shortcut in the Chaos Mountains and suddenly arrived at the city of Meath. After conquering it, he used the city of Meath as a stronghold and was heading towards Atlan along the main road.
Because we don't have many troops, most of them are fighting with the opponent's left and right flanks, and a small number are left in the Chaos Mountains to blockade them, so it is difficult to organize new troops to resist the opponent. Just before I reported this to you, eighteen consecutive cities, large and small, had been conquered or surrendered.
There are also several neighboring territories and special garrison areas. After the first wave of offensive forces were defeated by us, we actually organized a second wave of offensive forces. It was really surprising. They have now also entered the Sarin territory and captured five or six small towns. Also because of our military strength, we are unable to organize an effective resistance.
It seems that in a short time, except for the area around Atlan, most of the entire Sarin will be lost. "
Having said this, Jasmine paused and looked at Richard: "Of course, this is all what you expected, isn't it, Lord Richard?"
Richard glanced at Jasmine and asked, "You seem a little moody?"
"How dare I." Jasmine shrugged, "After all, you are the real lord of Sarin, and although I have paid so much for Sarin and planned the construction of almost every city, am I just a laborer?"
"What you're saying is that you want me to take action to solve these current minor troubles?"
"Aren't you ready to take action?" Jasmine looked at Richard strangely and said, "If we don't take action, most of the Sarin will be destroyed. Maybe the area around Atlan is the core, but the rest of the area also has my hard work. Ah, I don’t want to be ruined like this, it will take too much effort to rebuild.”
Richard moved his eyebrows: "I do have the ability to solve problems, but I am waiting for a result. If possible, I want to solve the problem more thoroughly, rather than solve the problem superficially, because then it will still happen in the future. in trouble.
As for the issue of sarin being beaten to pieces, there is no need to consider it now. I know that you have paid a lot for Sarin in recent years, and I promise here that after this war, you can get what you want in advance—become the orthodox member of the Sika royal family—if you still want to at that time. "
Jasmine was stunned for a moment. She had many questions to ask at that moment. After thinking for a while, she selectively asked one: "What result are you waiting for?"
"I..." Richard spoke out. Halfway through, he looked at the office door, and Jasmine followed him.
There were footsteps outside the door, and then the door was pushed open with a "squeak", and a bald head squeezed in first, followed closely by the body. It was Neo Heruvel, the person in charge of Luyuan Castle.
Heruvel held a black metal box in his hand with excitement on his face. He walked quickly to Richard and handed it out, saying loudly: "Lord Richard, in three days, you will do what you say, and I will give you the successful result you want." You brought it, you can check it. If you are not satisfied, you can just kill me here. After all, after I go back, I may be killed by those guys who stayed up for three days."
Richard didn't say anything, just took the box, opened it gently, and took out the contents.
Jasmine cast a curious look and saw what Richard was holding in his hand. It was a green, fist-sized fruit with a moist appearance, as if it was rich in water and very delicious. But other than that, there's nothing special about it.
What's the use
Jasmine was confused.
The next moment, her eyes widened, and she saw Richard suddenly bring the green fruit in his hand to his mouth, take a bite with a "click", chew it and swallow it.
"Crack", take another mouthful, chew and swallow again.
"Click" the third and fourth bite...
It took about a minute for Richard to finish the entire fruit.
Jasmine was a little stunned. To be honest, she had known Richard for so long, and this was the first time she saw him eating like a normal human being. Before, she thought that Richard had no ability to eat. Even if he was hungry, he would drink nutrient solution.
After Richard finished eating the fruit, he looked at Heruvel, thought for a moment and asked: "The Green Source Fruit you delivered now seems to have a conversion rate of about 13%, which is higher than the expected 10%. About three percentage points.”
"Ha." Heruvel smiled, "Indeed, it is indeed three percentage points higher. But this is not my credit, but the credit of the people you temporarily found for me, Lord Richard. Their personalities are not very good. , but in terms of ability, I have to say it is very strong.
After letting them stay up late for three days, they have reached the current point. I suggest that letting them stay up for another half month will probably increase the energy conversion rate of Luyuan Fruit to 20%. "
"Stay up half a month?" Richard shook his head after hearing this, "I'm afraid they will really kill you by then."
He patted his hands lightly and said: "Okay, so far, the Luyuan plan has finally succeeded. It's a bit late, but it's not too late, at least our enemies haven't broken into Atlanta yet. So next, you Luyuan The castle should prepare well, and also notify the Black Sun Castle and let them start executing the Black Sun plan."
"It's going to get dark soon." As he said this, Richard looked at the bright sky outside the window and said.
Heruvel's smiling expression gradually turned serious. After hearing what he said, he took a deep breath and nodded: "Yes." After saying that, he turned around and walked out.
Inside the door, Jasmine looked at Richard with a frown and asked, "It's going to be dark soon. What does that mean?"
"That's what it means literally." Richard replied, "Just wait, you'll understand soon."
"How long?"
"Twelve hours, maybe."
…