The Blue Light Mountain Territory was originally the property of the Parkland chaebol. When the parliament decided to fight this war that day, the Parkland chaebol was expelled. As for the final outcome of this marginal noble, no one will pay attention. In front of the behemoth of the Dark Parliament, some influential chaebols on the edge of the coastline were not even called bereaved dogs, and were completely crushed like ants.
As for whether the ants are still alive or have become the nourishment of giant beasts, who cares
Afterwards, the territory of the Parkland chaebol was logically taken over by the Augustus family. The parliament is expanding abroad, and as the top wealthy family that supports the parliament, the Augustus family only gets their share of the benefits. While reaping benefits, wealthy families also have their own responsibilities. For example, if the battle on the front line fails and the enemy goes north, then the Augustus family must face the enemy and resist, and sending the eldest son of the family to serve as the frontline commander is only a small part of the obligations.
Benefits are always relative.
As the Patriarch of Augustus, Leo knew this very well. But when he received the news that Hart was missing and his life was uncertain, he still couldn't help feeling dizzy for a while. Already seen as the future helm of the family, Hart may not be as powerful as Rein in terms of potential for force, but otherwise. For example, strategies are much worse than family management. Of course, in this chaotic era, being the head of the family must also have the force to restrain everyone in the clan.
With the strength that Hart had advanced to the tenth rank not long ago, it was enough, even if his potential was only at the tenth rank.
For such a promising young man, the family's investment in him can only be more or less. And Hart also used his actual actions and front-line achievements to repay the family. In the past year or so, his actions have been recognized by important members of the family. No surprises, after a few years, Leo will be able to retreat to the second line and hand over the family responsibility to this young man.
At that time, with the help of Rein's force and the cooperation of the two brothers, Leo can almost see a brighter future for the Augustus family.
But at this moment, the news of Hart's disappearance came.
The commander of the defenders in Neil City had been executed by Leo for dereliction of duty, but this was far from pacifying the anger and fear caused by the disappearance of his son. Leo knew very well that he didn't have the energy to train another Hart, not to mention that among Hart's brothers and sisters, there was only one Rein who could barely replace him. Klein would definitely not be a good head of the family, and Klein has delicate feelings. This may be the quality of a good poet, but it is precisely not what a patriarch needs.
It has been more than 24 hours since Hart disappeared. For more than a day, every minute and every second was torture for Leo. He didn't roar in anger, but was as quiet as a bottomless abyss, if someone accidentally touched it, he would be smashed to pieces.
Leo stayed in his study for as long as Hart disappeared. Now in his study, even the servants who have no strength can feel the oppressive atmosphere like a big storm. This is undoubtedly a hard job for the butler who needs to report the latest news to Leo from time to time. Even if the butler has served the Augustus family for 30 years, he knows that Leo will never lift a finger against him. But every time he stepped into the study, the housekeeper almost thought he had stepped into a beast's lair.
Every time he has to be careful, he will always be sweating profusely and his legs will be weak after leaving the study.
But this time, his steps were steady and light, and the corners of his mouth even couldn't help showing a smile or two. Pushing open the door, the study was still extremely oppressive, and Leo was looking out the window with his hands behind his back. Just a back view is enough to make people suffocate. The aura unconsciously released from him was like flowing magma. Although the surface is calm, it is already boiling inside!
"If you still can't find Hart, then you don't need to report, just let those trash who are in charge of the search come to see me with their heads up." Leo said without turning his head.
The housekeeper took a deep breath and said, "Master, Major General of the Blood Cavalry, Miss Xiu Ya, and Mr. Zuo Fei from the Law Enforcement Team are asking to see you."
"What are they here for?" Leo frowned, especially the adopted daughter of the chairman and the head of the law enforcement team walked together, no matter how you looked at it, it looked like a strange combination.
"Besides them, there are Mr. Zero from Dawn City... and Master Hart."
"Hart?" Leo turned around like a whirlwind, his eyes brightened and said: "You said that Hart was with them, and they captured Hart. You just said that Zero in Dawn City is right, Lian Kang Even Standing fell under the hands of this young and strong man, and it was easy to capture Hart. Well, how dare they send it to the door by themselves, as if there is no one in the Augustus family?"
"Master..." the butler hurriedly said, "The situation is a bit special. Master Hart doesn't seem to be under any restraint. Apart from looking a little tired, there is nothing wrong with it."
Leo made a sign, obviously things were beyond his expectation. He nodded, put away the oppressive atmosphere entrenched in the study, adjusted his mood, and asked the butler to arrange for the visitor to go to a secret room. Based on Leo's experience, it is not difficult to see that these people must have a lot to say, especially if there is one of them who is regarded as the enemy's zero, then the problem is even more complicated.
Leo believed that even if Xiuya went crazy and cooperated with his enemy, the law enforcement team would never do this, let alone the leader of the law enforcement team. Leo knew about Zuo Fei, he looked lazy like a refugee on the surface, but in fact, he was a guy with amazing skills. Such a man would never walk with Zero for no reason. Aside from Xiuya, Shan Zuofei and Zero together are enough to make Leo be careful.
No one knew that Blu-ray Mountain brought a few special guests today, and Zuo Fei directly informed the Augustus family of their arrival through the secret channel of the law enforcement team. So when the four of them followed the butler to a small, windowless secret room, no one else in the Augustus family, including Lein, knew that Hart had returned to the hinterland of the family.
As soon as the butler left, Leo walked in. He and Hart hugged tightly when the door closed. Then he said, "It's good to be back."
Letting go of Hart, Leo's eyes flicked over Xiu Ya and Zuo Fei, and finally landed on Zero's face. He said directly: "It's good that you let Hart go. Except for me to withdraw the troops, you can ask for anything, young man."
Hart looked at Ling in embarrassment, and Ling said calmly: "Tian Hao, I have nothing else to ask except for you to withdraw."
Leo suddenly became fierce: "Now you are in the territory of Augustus, do you really think that our family can't compete with you with an eleventh-level powerhouse?"
"If I'm here for the war, do you think Hart can stand here?" Zero asked, his momentum no less than Leo's.
Leo narrowed his eyes: "Maybe you just can't kill my son."
Hart coughed dryly beside him and said, "Father, it's easy for Zero to kill me."
Leo looked at his son unexpectedly, and Hart spread his hands and said, "Okay, Mr. Zuo Fei. If you don't speak up again, I don't care if Father and Zero fight."
Zuo Fei smiled wryly, and said to Leo: "Mr. Leo, our law enforcement team, and several members of the council suspect that the speaker is leading the council into the abyss."
Leo asked calmly: "Which members are they?"
Zuo Fei answered one by one, but every name he said made Leo's eyelids twitch. His eyelids twitched seven times. Even though these seven names were slightly inferior to his, Leo's, they were still very important names in the parliament. If Zuo Fei does not talk nonsense, then the biggest crisis of trust in the history of parliament is about to erupt.
At the center of the storm is Speaker Oglock. If this kind of thing is not handled well, it is not surprising that the parliament will collapse immediately.
Leo said in a deep voice, "What's going on?"
They talked in detail for two full hours in the secret room, and the butler also stood outside the door for two full hours. When the door opened, Hart walked out with a smile and said to the butler, "Please bring us some coffee, father and guests need to refresh themselves."
The butler glanced at the door, and Leo was frowning. Judging from his experience of serving the Patriarch for nearly thirty years, Leo is encountering a difficult situation. He has always acted decisively, even if Hart disappeared, Leo would react immediately. It can be said that it is very rare for him to show hesitation and indecision like he is now.
Hart closed the door again, and Leo snorted, "Proseus? I find it hard to believe that there is such a...existence in the world?"
"You can ask my father about this, he will give you the same answer as us." Xiuya said proudly.
Leo looked at her and said with a complicated expression: "Major General, do you know what you are doing?"
"Of course I know that in terms of nature, I am betraying my father." Xiu Ya's eyes softened: "But in terms of emotion, I am very clear that I am saving him. I don't want him to go to the point where everyone betrays his relatives. So even if it hurts him, I'm willing to do it."
After watching her for a full minute, Leo sighed: "It seems that there really is such a thing."
"If you don't believe me, I can ask Douglas to testify. He is also one of the few people who feel the world has changed." Zero said.
Leo shook his head: "No need, I know what kind of person Major General Xiu Ya is. Since even she jumped out and said that, there are nine out of ten things that are true."
"What's more, you brought Hart back and didn't choose to kill him." Leo looked at Zero and said: "Although in the short term, killing a Hart can't change the overall situation. But in the long run, it will make the Ten years later, our family began to fall into a crisis of no successors. Whether it is for our family or the council, this is definitely a gold medal. Since you have shown your sincerity, I have no reason not to believe it."
"There is a more serious problem." Zuo Fei sighed, and said: "According to the information we have, the speaker has transferred a large amount of war resources in the parliament in the name of war, but where did these resources go? It’s still an unknown.”
Hart also said: "The speaker's recent actions are really strange. Father, do you still remember my request for high-level combat power from the parliament? Even though the coalition forces of the Hall of Valor and Dawn City have already pushed into the front line, the speaker has been reluctant to send The abyss black knight is transferred, so where did this part of the combat power go?"
Leo's eyes moved, and he suddenly gritted his teeth and spit out two words: "Dark Nest!"
"Dark nest?"
A few people looked at each other in blank dismay, even Xiu Ya and Zuo Fei had never heard of this word.
Leo said in a deep voice, "Damn it, Ogg, you still did this all the time."
"Father, what is a dark nest?" Hart asked for everyone.
"That was a plan, a plan shortly after the Abyss Black Knight came out." Leo said softly.
After the Abyss Black Knight was successfully prepared, Oglock proposed a bolder and crazier idea. The genetic blueprint of the Abyss Black Knight came from the Disorder, but in order to preserve its will, the council spent a lot of resources in this regard. It can be said that the cost of each abyssal black knight is astonishing, and success determines the number. The huge resource consumption determines that the Abyss Black Knight cannot mass-produce it.
Because the main resource consumption of the black knight lies in retaining the will, Oglock proposes to eliminate this requirement and use a method similar to intelligent AI to control it, so as to achieve the goal of reducing success and mass producing tenth-order biological weapons. This approach is actually similar to that of Asmo, the difference is that Asmo is still unable to produce tenth-tier weapons.
At that time, there were only three people who knew about this plan, except for Oglock and Dr. Shawna, the original host of the Abyss project, only Leo knew about it. When Leo learned that Oglok had this idea, he tried his best to stop it. Leo believes that a tenth-tier weapon without will is a hundred times more dangerous than an abyssal black knight. With will, then like the black knights of the abyss, their behavior can also be regulated by a series of emotions such as morality and loyalty.
Without will, it is like a ferocious beast that has opened its shackles. Even if it is controlled by an AI system, no one can guarantee whether these weapons will go out of control one day. And once the mass-produced Tier 10 weapons get out of control, it will definitely be a devastating blow.
Because of Leo's strong opposition, Oglok promised to abandon the dark nest project.
"But now, he has obviously restarted." Leo shook his head and said, "Ogg has always been a stubborn old man. Back then, he turned against Douglas because of their fundamental differences in principles. Over the years, Ogg has proved to Douglas that Myself, but I didn't expect that his obsession has now become completely crazy."
After hearing this, Zuo Fei sighed, "That's why I'm most afraid of dealing with paranoid people, they are only one step away from lunatics."
Xiu Ya immediately gave him a hard look, and the latter smiled wryly and spread his hands, "I don't mean to offend, it's just the truth."
"Father, based on your familiarity with the Speaker, what stage do you think the plan has reached?" Hart asked.
Leo walked back and forth in the secret room a few times, and said, "Ogg, this guy, I'm afraid that when this war started, he secretly prepared to restart the Dark Nest Project."
"Wait, what do you mean. This war, and everything else, is just a cover for the chairman to activate the dark nest?" Hart lost his voice.
Leo sighed: "I'm afraid so, because only war will distract the attention of all councilors including me. Because only war, the speaker has the greatest right to allocate resources. It is also only war. When the dark nest plan is exposed, He can also use the war as an excuse to prevaricate. Ogg intends to clean up the world, a purge based on his ideas."
"Where is the base of Dark Nest?" Zero asked directly.
"Death Ridge."
"Death Ridge?" The people present gasped again.
Reaper Ridge Zero is very familiar, whether it was when he was a mercenary in the wilderness, or later he salvaged the Destiny from Reaper Ridge in order to go to other continents. The environment on that mountain is complicated, and there are abyss lords like the Filth Devourer, it is indeed not a good place to set up a research base. But because of this, no one thought that the base of Dark Nest would be set up on that mountain collar.
Death God Ridge is very close to Phoenix City. Once the Dark Nest fighters are mass-produced and put on the battlefield, Phoenix City will definitely be the first to suffer disaster. Zero couldn't help being glad that he discovered it early, otherwise he thought everything was under control, and it would be too late when the Dark Nest Warriors appeared.
"At that time, Oglok had already made a detailed plan, and even the personnel arrangement and resource preparations were completed. In the end, it was stranded because of my objection. If he restarted this plan, then the Dark Nest Base must still be on Death Ridge. There is only one point , I don’t know the exact location of the base.”
"It's not bad to know that it's on Death God Ridge." Ling Shen said: "I have to go back immediately, and then organize an operation. This base must be destroyed."
Leo nodded: "I can lend two tenth-rank powerhouses here, no more, and any more will leak out."
"In this way, the battle on the front line must continue." Hart pondered: "At least, we have to make a show for the Speaker to see."
"That's right, I will notify Saul when I go back and ask him to cooperate with you to make a good show." Zero said.
Hart shrugged: "Fate is really wonderful. Two days ago, I was thinking about how to kill Saul, but now I want to cooperate with him."
Leo smiled and said, "Let's do it, I'll talk to those old guys too. Let's see how we can prevent Ogg from continuing to make mistakes after you take away the dark nest."
Several people came secretly and left secretly. A few days later, Hart's family returned to Neil City. As for how he disappeared and returned, he had naturally thought of a set of explanations. Zero secretly went to Thor and told him about the Dark Nest Project and the cooperation with Augustus.
The war is still going on, and the main battlefield that the two sides are fighting for is still full of artillery fire. However, under the deliberate mobilization of the commanders of both sides, the war seems to be fierce, but the number of casualties has plummeted. Of course, the officers of the council could only attribute this to Hart's dispatch.
Just when the war attracted most people's attention, a secret team set out from Phoenix City and quietly headed for Death Ridge. This team is presided over by Ling, and the team members include his own subordinates Yeliu and Haiwei. Su and Feng continued to stay on the battlefield, appearing occasionally, giving people the illusion that Dawn City was still participating in the war. Maybe it will be seen through, but that is after the dark nest is taken away.
Finally, there are Starley and Nero, the two strong men from the Hall of Valor, and the two strong men from the Augustus family, Naxi and Van Zhelis.