After two days of recuperation, Victoria's condition has obviously recovered a lot, but a trace of weakness and exhaustion still lingers in her eyes that she tried hard to hide. Gawain glanced at the Northern Duchess and reminded her: "Tulip Fort It's one thing for Sonia to fly over there, and quite another to land there, deep in the contaminated area, and not in our next attack plan—without decontaminating the entire area."
"But it's not impossible," Victoria stared into Gawain's eyes without hesitation, her face still lacked expression changes, but her tone revealed a sense of determination, "Those monsters are now in a state of frenzy, and on the other hand Well, that means they're not organized anymore, they don't support each other anymore, they don't have sentries or anything like that, they're not that alert anymore - we can sneak in, as long as we don't make too much noise, don't disturb too much Monster, I might send the message quietly."
"... I admit that this seems to be possible," Gao Wen nodded after thinking for a while, "but are you sure you want to go in person?"
"Not every mage can pass the news to San Sunil with just the increase of a mage tower, which requires profound spellcasting skills and huge magic power," Victoria said in a calm tone stating the facts, "this matter It's safest to let me go."
Then, before Gawain raised more questions, the Duchess continued: "I heard that Berke of the Lauren family lit the first beacon.
"I can no longer achieve his feats, but as the head of the Wilder family, at least I can't avoid what I could have done."
When a noble puts his family's reputation on the table, it usually means that his will has been decided.
"We can give it a try, at least it's a plan," Gao Wen finally nodded, "But there is one thing, we have to find a safer way to send you to Tulip Fort—the weight of the giant eagle is limited, and Sonia can only It can lead the way, but it cannot fly with you, and the flying height and speed of the Griffin are not good, and it is easy to be shot down by the cluster giant after going deep into the polluted area. Generally speaking, it is not safe to pass through the air."
"Then is there a safer way?" Victoria's tone was a little confused - flying over the polluted area and landing in Tulip Castle was the most possible solution she could think of. She really couldn't think of any other way than this. It's safer, you can't go all the way in from the ground full of crystal cluster giants, right
Gao Wen smiled slightly, and his eyes fell on Amber...
The half-elf girl was shocked the moment Gawain started to smile, and then realized that this matter might not be avoided, she curled her lips: "Going to the Shadow Realm is a way-but let me explain in advance, I am here Operations in the Shadow Realm are also costly, depending on whether there will be unstable shadow rifts and fatal "big holes" in the middle. If the loss on the road is too large, I may not be able to take people as far as Tulip Castle —I also have to consider the strength required for the return trip.”
"Of course, as long as you can do your best," Gawain nodded, "I will send an armored assault force to send you as close as possible to Fort Tulip, and then you sneak in to send messages, and at the same time, I A strong force will be sent to the direction of Saint-Sunil City at full speed, and no time must be wasted."
The details of the plan were finalized quickly, and those who received the order left the room one after another. In the end, only Gawain and Victoria were left in the room.
"Frankly speaking, the current situation is very bad," Gawain said unhurriedly after there was only one Northern Duke left in front of him, "I am always pessimistic about whether Saint-Sunil can be held—even though I have always Working towards getting there in time.”
The expression on Victoria's face didn't change, she just asked quietly: "... If Saint-Sunil really can't hold on, you have a follow-up plan, don't you?"
"...It is nothing more than abandoning the entire northern region and the Holy Spirit Plain, keeping the southern and eastern borders, and building the defense line of the western border as much as possible before the pollution enters the western border." Gao Wen did not hide his alternative options, "survival pressure These areas will be subject to the new ruling order, and I am confident that after building a new line of defense, I will stabilize the situation and gradually retake those polluted areas."
Victoria was silent for a moment, and finally couldn't help but said: "It sounds like you basically don't have any expectations for the nobles of the kingdom."
Gao Wen smiled, and asked back, "It sounds like your expectations are quite high?"
"... I admit that my expectations of them are not as high as they were a few years ago," Victoria said slowly, "but I believe that Saint-Sunil City can be held-as long as the news of reinforcements can be sent to the silver in time. Fort."
Gao Wen showed an expression of great interest: "Can I hear the source of your confidence?"
"Duke Baldwin Franklin, and Welsh Moen," Victoria said, looking into Gawain's eyes, with extra seriousness, "They will hold that city—as long as reinforcements are needed, they will hold on."
"...you think more highly of Welsh Moen than I thought."
"My previous mission was to monitor him, so I know him well. The Prince of Wales has never lacked talent. He just chose to back off, but if the kingdom needs him, he will still stand up," Victoria said, "except for him, except Grand Duke Baldwin, there are many reliable people in the capital, we have the Earl of Cromwell White Mountain, the loyal Royal Knights, and Captain Cohen Rollen—perhaps half of the nobles in the king want to abandon escape from the city, but at least half of them will choose to defend until the end."
Gao Wen looked at Victoria quietly, and the latter also looked at him quietly. After two seconds of looking at each other, the "Ice and Snow Grand Princess" exhaled softly.
"I know that our generation has disappointed you, Duke Cecil, perhaps Ansu's contemporary nobles are really rotten, but please believe that not everyone is rotten, and there are still many people who are looking forward to this The kingdom can bounce back and work hard for it."
"Including Edmund Moon and Silas Loren?"
"...including them."
"But they still failed, and you also failed. There are many progressives in the capital, and those nobles who are not rotten in your mouth and tried to revitalize the kingdom have all failed. Why do you think they failed? Gawain stared into Victoria's eyes, "Is it just because there is an end of everything that will suddenly come in to disrupt the situation?"
The gaze from the Founding Duke carried an indescribable pressure, those dark brown eyes were deep and sharp, far better than the wind, snow and mountains in the north, Victoria couldn’t help holding her breath—for many years, it was her Shocking others with majesty, she has almost forgotten what it feels like to face such a shock. In a trance, she seems to have returned to many years ago, when she was young, and when she faced the stern eyes of the previous Duke. .
The father in the memory pointed to the poorly growing plants in the garden and asked her a question: "If pruning, fertilizing, watering, and pesticides don't work, what should you do?"
The flashes of memories came and went in a hurry, Victoria came back to her senses, Gawain's deep and sharp eyes were still in front of her eyes.
"Actually, you know the answer," Gao Wen said, "it's just that you can't help yourself."
Victoria was silent.
"We shouldn't be discussing this at this time." Gao Wen retracted his gaze and changed to a more relaxed sitting posture, "Victoria, you are very good, even if you were placed in the pioneer generation, you would be an excellent nobleman. After the war is over, we can slowly consider how to revitalize this country, but before that, our most important task is to end this war."
"As you said," Victoria exhaled softly, then lowered her head solemnly, "In any case, you saved me and the Mountain Army, and I cannot repay this kindness, so no matter what happens in the future, at least I Individuals will be your loyal allies."
After he was the only one left in the room, Gawain couldn't help but leaned back in the chair and let out a silent breath.
"Personal name... It's really not easy for anyone."
After sighing, he sat up straight, and was about to start drawing up a feasible plan for the main force to go north—the situation took a turn for the worse, and it was no longer possible for him to act according to the previous timetable, considering the importance of San Sunil City as a gateway fortress , he must send a batch of battle-ready soldiers to the north faster than originally planned.
It may be a good plan to use those converted civilian cargo ships and use the Gorgon River...
And just when his plan was drawn up, the magic net communication terminal on the desk suddenly made a buzzing sound.
Gawain looked up at the identification characters displayed on the holographic projection—it was a special channel from Cecil City.
The magic net terminal was activated immediately, and after the projection trembled briefly, Gawain saw Heidi's face appear in front of his eyes.
"what happened?"
"Miss Till said that there is an important contact." Hetty said briefly, and then turned to the side - Gawain saw a long snake tail swaying in the background of the screen behind Hetty, and that The snake's tail arched twice, and Tyre's upper body swayed from the side of the screen to the center of the screen.
"I feel it again," Miss Kraken stared at the holographic projection in front of her eyes, "it's the smell of food! It suddenly became very strong!"
Gao Wen's heart tightened suddenly - even though he had already expected and prepared for this, when Tyre suddenly broke out the news, he still felt his nerves tightened: "Azimuth, intensity, can you roughly Determine the condition or state of the target?"
"The location should be deep in the east of the Holy Spirit Plain, but the exact location is still unclear. It seems to be suppressed or blocked by something, or it is deep underground," Tyre said quickly, "As for the intensity... I don't know how to describe it, it feels very subtle. It should be 'alive', which is better than that of the giant squid, but its breath is not stable and pure, it seems to be a lot of chaotic breaths fused together, and Sometimes strong and sometimes weak."
Gawain took a light breath.
Is it the "divine power" in the hands of the Society of the End of All Things? Is it the "energy source" they use to create and activate the gods? Is this energy source out of control? Something like a god is waking up
So the sudden mutation of the crystal cluster legion is related to this out-of-control "divine power"
Various conjectures came to mind, Gawain controlled his thoughts, and asked the sea monster in front of him, "What's your queen's attitude?"
"She is interested in both the biscuits and your arcane energy technology, and is willing to provide assistance. The elemental jump tower is already being prepared there, but how to cooperate with the operation needs to be negotiated," Tire shook the tip of his tail, He said with a serious face, "In addition, I want to convey the words of Her Majesty the Queen - the sea monster can only help you deal with 'inhuman things' and will not intervene in the wars among humans. We hope that this cooperation is pure and restrained , which is the guarantee for the long-term cooperation in the future.”
"That's enough," Gao Wen nodded sincerely, "Thank you very much for your assistance."
"Don't worry, it's mutual benefit," Tire waved his hands and the tip of his tail, then left the communication screen unsteadily, only the voice came from outside the screen, "How do you close this? Oh, then you can close it, I go first."
Two seconds later, Hetty reappeared in front of Gawain: "Ancestor, the engineering team sent to the edge of the wasteland has begun to return, and the supplementary project of the Great Wall has been successfully completed."
"Finally, there is good news," Gawain breathed a sigh of relief, "Very well, let these personnel have a full rest first, and then arrange for them to build the second phase of the tank factory and arsenal, and let the elf magister go to the magic technology research So, assist Rebecca to complete the translation and optimization of anti-gravity runes."
"yes."