The clues that Amber found were somewhat beyond Gawain's expectations—he had once guessed that Surrey Randolph might be a down-and-out nobleman, or he might have been deprived of his title due to a crime and had to remain anonymous, but he never thought that he actually It was a defected royal shadow guard, but he defected during the mission of finding Gondor's heritage... This is inevitably reminiscent.
It seems that the Ansu royal family is not really ignorant of the secrets buried in the Dark Mountains. Although most of the relevant inheritance has been lost due to civil strife in the Bruma Moon, they should still have some clues. At least, they know the Dark Mountains There is something in it.
Of course, the premise of this guess is that Surrey Randolph is really looking for the Rebel Fortress, not another Gondor heritage.
"At present, we have not found any other entrances and exits in the Fortress of Disobedience. As for the entrances that have been found, there is no sign of being opened," Gawain said while thinking, "And even if he did enter the Fortress of Disobedience, there is no way to explain it. His defection—it was just an ancient scientific research base, what could be there to make a royal shadow guard betray his king?"
"I can't figure it out... Looking back now, he is really a person who never mentioned his past, and his life was a mess," Amber shook her head, her voice was a little low, "He always took me around, Changing addresses frequently, forging identities, and sneaking around under the noses of the local nobles to make ends meet, most of our energy wasted on this made me have a bad opinion of him for a long time...but now thinking Look, there is a reason for his actions."
"The royal family will not let a defected royal shadow guard go so easily. They must have been looking for him in the southern border for a long time, so he has to hide in Tibet. The business related to the mercenary is monitored by the nobles, so he can only be a thief, or occasionally accept some mercenary missions as a wanderer, and he can't contact other mercenaries for too long, in case those mercenaries are behind the scenes. Identity is the black glove of some nobleman."
Amber flattened her mouth: "Probably that's what happened..."
Gao Wen began to ask some details about that year: "Did Pittman already be with you at that time?"
Amber scratched her hair: "Since I can remember, Pittman and my adoptive father have been friends, but I don't know exactly when they met—half-elves' memory ability in childhood is not as good as that of humans. It seems to be more serious, and my memory of that time is vague."
"A defected royal shadow guard who hid in Tibet, unexpectedly made a friend like Pittman during his hiding, don't you think it's weird?" Gawain raised his eyelids, "A man who is running away from the royal family Pursuers do not under normal circumstances associate with strangers unless there is a reason to do so—did your adoptive father ever mention that reason to you?"
Amber frowned: "He didn't tell me. I only heard that when the two of them were bragging, they would say that they would aspire to become the strongest combination of grand-rogues in the southern border - but the reason is definitely unreliable."
"You don't know, Pittman must know," Gao Wen said, "if given the chance, maybe he would be willing to say it."
Pittman, a druid who is both the eternal sleeper and the priest of the death of all things, hides many secrets behind his seemingly scruffy little old man image, and Gawain knows that he must still hide many things, among which Maybe it's about Surrey Randolph.
In the past, Pittman did not tell anyone these secrets, which may be a protective measure, but now Amber has found clues to her adoptive father, and more importantly, the former Ansu Kingship has ended, and Amber himself has even incorporated All the royal shadow guards should be able to say some things that they couldn't speak back then.
"I'll ask him," Amber nodded, "It's been so many years, it's time for him to tell me what happened back then."
"Well," Gawain thought for a while, and then said, "Another point, can you roughly determine when you were adopted by Surrey Randolph? How long after he arrived in the southern border? After a few years of incognito , or did he have an adopted daughter by his side when he decided to defect?"
"Then I don't even know." Amber grabbed her hair again, her ears were shaking, "Why are you asking this? What did you think of?"
"A very possible hypothesis in my opinion." Gawain looked at Amber in front of him, his associative ability was fully utilized, "Have you ever thought that Surrey... Randolph's defection might have something to do with you?"
"Me?" Amber pointed at herself with wide eyes, with an expression of "you're kidding me", "What did you say! I was a child at that time!"
"What if the task recorded on it is fake? What if he went to the Dark Mountains to find not some Gondor relic, but you?" Gawain pointed to the scroll on the table, "We can make a bold assumption, maybe His real mission is to find a half-blood elf with a special bloodline and hand it over to the royal family of Ansu, or more extreme... The task asks him to kill the half-blood elf, and if he fails to do so at the last minute, everything will be in jeopardy. It can all be explained.”
Amber stared at Gao Wen dumbfounded, as if deeply shocked by the other party's imagination, and then said after a while: "Conjecture is not guesswork, association is not just wishful thinking... You are almost making up a story, isn't it? The royal family, what are you looking for a half-blood elf to do when you are full, and a royal shadow guard for this... "
"So I said, maybe it's because of your special blood. Don't forget that you only know that half of your blood is an elf. It's a mystery who the other half of your blood comes from. You know that your biological father is an elf, and do you know who your mother is? ?" Gawain tapped on the table lightly, "And don't forget a very important point: the Shadow Signet Ring."
The expression on Amber's face froze for a moment, apparently she had already recalled the origin and characteristics of that ring.
Gawain looked at her, and said slowly: "You can also use Francis II's Signet of Shadow, and you also have a ring that is exactly the same and has lost its magic power. This clue... don't you care?"
Amber thought for a while, then suddenly pressed her chest nervously, and took a breath: "Oh my god... I can't really be a remnant of the previous dynasty!!"
Gao Wen was so serious that he almost couldn't maintain his expression now: "The term remnants of the previous dynasty is not used in this way!"
"Don't correct my wording at this time," Amber waved her hand vigorously, "The possibility you mentioned really makes me doubt myself a bit, it's obviously just a guess without any evidence... well, now there is some evidence Yes, but is it possible?"
"I'm just talking about my own thoughts. I'm afraid no one knows about the specific situation except Surrey Randolph himself," Gawain shook his head. It doesn't make much sense now - Anzu Kingship is over, no matter what the king wanted your adoptive father to do in the south, this purpose has disappeared with the end of the dynasty, you are now free, don't think too much .”
After a moment of silence in thinking, Amber finally breathed out and smiled again: "You're right...the old royal family is gone, so why worry so much?"
She seemed to let go of some burden, and in a short time she returned to her usual carefree appearance. After the topic was over, she asked Gawain about his next arrangement: "The current order of Saint-Sunil It has been roughly stabilized, the transfer of power in all aspects and the formation of a new management structure have been completed, should you consider the next step?"
"That's right..." Gawain leaned back, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the seat, "We've stayed in this city long enough."
After knocking on the handrail a few times, he turned to Amber: "How is the situation in the east?"
"The manpower sent by the Grand Duchess Victoria has joined forces with General Maryland, and the local nobles in the eastern region are basically cooperating with the recruitment. They even put together a reserve army and consolidated the defense line of Changfeng Fortress together with the Cecil Army. .”
"As expected," Gao Wen nodded, "The nobles of the Eastern Realm should be the most salvageable group among the many corrupt nobles in the old Ansu Kingdom. The Lun family is effectively governing, and the local nobles are still very clear-headed in the face of war. However, the reserve army they put together should not be of much use... The real elite of the East has been wiped out in the Holy Spirit Plain, and only Chang The garrison of Wind Fortress is reliable, and the reserve troops and leading nobles from other places will not be much stronger than ordinary noble private soldiers. What else?"
Amber sorted out the information she had, and continued: "There seems to be no movement on the border of Typhon, but Maryland is worried that the other side may be secretly accumulating power, and now she is trying to collect information and be on guard against Typhon's invasion at any time.
"White Sands Mining Company has taken over the mine again, and has begun to repair the railway damaged by the giant deer. At the same time, according to your order, the engineering team will continue to extend the previous Eastern Railway, striving to open the Iron Throne to the Near Longwind Fortress—With the armored train, we don't have to worry about Typhon so much.
"As for the maintenance of the Iron Throne... it will take about half a month. It lost two carriages in the arsenal section, and the power ridge and shield group of the car body were also damaged by overload, which was seriously damaged. Two heavy factories are working overtime to try to compress the cycle again."
"In any case, the Iron Throne must restore its combat power as soon as possible, even if only half of the train reaches the border," Gao Wen said in a deep voice, "After the war, we are short of troops, even with advanced weapons and equipment, the current defenders of Changfeng Fortress are not enough It will definitely be able to stop the organized superhuman legion of the Typhon people."
Amber frowned: "Do you think the Typhons will really go to war in this window?"
"They have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, but errors and delays in intelligence may make them miss this opportunity," Gao Wen said, "Rosetta? Augustus must be paying attention to the war on the Holy Spirit Plain, but It was difficult for him to grasp exactly how much we lost in the war - whether we won badly or big, and that directly affected whether he would order an attack."
The people of Typhon were waiting for Ansu to shed their blood. Gawain understood this very early on, and in fact, the plan of the Emperor Rosetta was mostly successful—despite the variable of Cecil's rise, but never In general, all areas of Ansu except the southern border have been severely damaged in this war. Large areas of grain production have been turned into scorched earth, a large amount of grain reserves have been polluted or burned, and a large amount of youth power has been consumed. In this situation, a No matter how elite the thin southern border is, it will be stretched evenly on this huge country.
The Emperor Typhon had indeed waited until Ansu's great decline, and he would attack now, once and for all—but due to the inefficiency and errors in information transmission in this era, he himself may not have had time to realize this.
Gao Wen knew that he was a ruler who was decisive enough, cautious and cunning enough. His determination with iron fist could ensure that as soon as the emperor gave the order, all the war machines of the Typhon Empire would be activated in an instant, and they would attack Changfeng Fortress with all their strength. But his prudence... If he used it properly, he might be able to win Cecil a life-saving respite.
He said to Amber: "We must find a way to make the Typhon people confused about Cecil's real situation, and find a way to make Rosetta? down the strength."
Amber thought for a while: "I will help General Maryland formulate a plan, let him display the message of 'Cecile's victory', and try to make Longwind Fortress show a state of abundant military strength..."
"That's not enough. Rosetta? Augustus is a formidable opponent. He won't just focus on Changfeng Fortress," Gao Wen said in a deep voice. The war must be a big victory with minor damage, our food reserves are sufficient, and the young and middle-aged are encouraged by the victory to join the army. The resignation of the Ansu royal family must be publicized more decently. There is no such thing as one out of ten legions in the border.
"So far our propagandists have done a good job in these areas, but the propaganda in the eastern region is far weaker than that in the southern region... this must be made up for immediately.
"In addition, our trade with Typhon must be maintained, not only maintained, but also expanded - Cecil has taken over this vast land, our demand and output can only increase, not decrease, and must be Great increase... Only in this way can Rosetta?? Augustus guess how much we lost.
"Don't worry that Cecil can't handle such a large scale of trade. The throughput capacity of the magic industry is astonishing, and I have arranged for Grand Duke Baldwin Franklin to negotiate with the Ogure Tribal Country. The gray elves over there Both dwarves and dwarves are very interested in our alchemy potions and textiles. By trading with them, we can transfer most of the pressure... "
Gawain talked about his thoughts one by one, and his goal was very clear, which was to mislead the ruler of Typhon.
As long as we grasp the information transmission rules of this era, and identify its backwardness and various loopholes, it is possible to achieve this goal.
Of course, Rosetta? Augustus is by no means lacking in wisdom, and Typhon also has his own intelligence department. Even if this kind of misleading is successful, it should not last for too long, but what Gawain wants is short-term misleading—he All that is needed now is the time to "gasp for blood" after the war. As long as the Iron Throne recovers its combat power and reaches the border, this year's grain harvest will be bumper, and Cecil's next batch of recruits will complete training and deployment, then he will be able to stop Typhon The confidence of the offensive, and if it can be misled for a little longer, it can even survive this winter, so that Emperor Rosetta will not react until next spring... At that time, he will be more at ease.
Amber kept the things Gao Wen explained in her heart one by one, and at the same time, she had already begun to select trustworthy subordinates in her heart—she was not only the leader of the intelligence department, but also a participant and executor of many secret-related plans, especially this time. What Gao Wen has to do will definitely involve the participation of a large number of officers from the Military Intelligence Bureau, so she must make preparations from now on.
After writing down the things one by one, she raised her head and her ears trembled slightly: "Besides these, there are other things that should be put on the agenda, right?"
Gao Wen raised his eyebrows: "Huh?"
"A grand coronation," Amber stretched out her hand and drew a big circle, as if to strengthen the word "grand", "The situation is stable, the transfer of power is completed, and the management organization is formed. Shouldn't the ruler of the Cecil Empire announce Is the new era coming? And this is also a window to release a signal to Typhon... "
Having been by Gawain's side for so long, this half-elf has also learned a lot of new and useful vocabulary, and hearing this guy say such reasonable words, even Gawain couldn't help but nodded: "Yes, this Things should be put on the agenda."
He didn't care about the so-called "coronation ceremony" before, because stabilizing the situation and resuming production is the top priority, but now the "coronation ceremony" has a special role. As a person who grasps value, he also wants to Pay attention to this matter.
"When are you going to be crowned?" Amber blinked and said expectantly.
I don't know what this guy is looking forward to.
"Wait until a certain 'cargo' is transported from the White Sand Hills to San Sunil," Gao Wen said, "but before that, the preparations can already begin."
"Special goods?" Amber responded for a moment, vaguely guessing what Gao Wen meant, "...ah, that's really suitable as a decoration for the coronation of the new emperor... But did you plan to be crowned in Saint-Sunil? "
"Actually, I thought about Cecil City at first, but Hetty's suggestion made me change my mind," Gawain raised a corner of his mouth, and his eyes fell on the wall on the side of the study - there used to be Ansu's painting. The emblem of the sword and shield, but it has now been replaced by a banner of sword and plow, "Ansu's kingship ends here, and the new empire begins here."
The coronation ceremony, to put it bluntly, is for people to see. If so, let it show the best effect—
Gawain wanted to let the old nobles of Saint-Sunil see clearly, let the church, the army, and the old royal courtiers here see clearly, let them see the alternation of the old and new eras with their own eyes, and have a deep enough understanding of this process. Only in this way can the stability of the follow-up process of restructuring be further ensured.
This ancient and young country really can no longer stand the slightest confusion and hesitation.