Black clouds cover the entire sky, so low that you can feel it standing on the roof.--./--./
The cold wind in winter blew through the bare treetops, making a sharp whistling sound, like the barking of a jackal, which made people feel very uncomfortable.
There were very few pedestrians on the broad street. Occasionally, a person would run by in a hurry, shrinking his neck and trying his best to avoid the cold wind.
The usual noisy cries and greetings could not be heard on the street, and there was a tense atmosphere in the air.
Most of the shops on both sides of the street were closed, and even those with business signs still had their doors half-open. It was impossible to tell that this was the most famous commercial district in the imperial city of Arkadelin.
The winter coup two months ago not only changed the political landscape of Lingshan, but also changed the lives of all people.
On the second day of the coup, the Lingshan government, which had just formed a cabinet, had not yet begun to get excited, but it had already issued a decree to requisition food, timber, vehicles, horses, steel, kerosene, etc. on a large scale.
Various strategic materials to prepare for future wars.
It must be said that the new government is very effective in selling the country - in order to please the Dark Council, they directly used the army to complete this work.
Due to the intervention of the military, all kinds of materials were mobilized and hoarded very efficiently, which also made the officials of the new government very happy - it seems that the tasks assigned by the Dark Council can be completed in time, and everyone's official positions will be as high as
Saved.
But at the same time, the destructive power of this forced large-scale material requisition gradually became apparent. As materials were forcibly requisitioned, even the horses, vehicles and personnel used to transport the materials were requisitioned. As a result, prices skyrocketed and supplies became acutely scarce.
Moreover, those businessmen who had colluded with the new government officials saw that this was a rare opportunity, so they also hoarded it and used it to make a fortune.
Under this situation, Lingshan's business was hit hard. Almost all cities gradually fell silent. The only exceptions were probably taverns and brothels. Only these two places serving the entertainment industry were still bustling with people.
Lively and lively.
People who have nothing to do and have spare money in their pockets can indulge here and kill the whole day.
A young man walked quickly on this cold and bleak street. He was wearing a beautiful military uniform, and the officer's logo on his shoulder was shining.
As he walked, he looked at the shop signs on the street. He kept muttering: "Black band... black band, grandma, this damn weather."
"Ha, found it." The young man exclaimed excitedly and saw a sign hanging on the door. On it was a black six-stringed piano with several note symbols floating on it, and the line "Black Band" was written underneath.
Character.
The young man rubbed his cold hands and cursed in a low voice: "Joseph, your sister, you set the place so far away. Finally found it."
As he said that, he raised his hand and pushed open the door of the tavern. At this moment, a loud "boom" of thunder suddenly came from the dark clouds in the sky.
The sound of "rumbling" thunder floated between the sky and the earth, spreading throughout Akadelin.
The young man shrank his neck in fear and looked up at the sky in surprise.
Not only him, but all the pedestrians on the street looked up at the sky in surprise.
"Why is there thunder in the winter?" the young man muttered, "It's such an ominous sign~!"
Then he opened the door and walked in.
As the doorbell rang, a wave of heat hit us along with the noise, mixed with the strong and pungent smell of cheap wine.
The atmosphere in the tavern was warm, with the roaring fire burning in the fireplace and the room full of drinkers, raising the temperature here by at least twenty degrees.
The musicians played the tune of "Weng Ba Weng Ba", and people talked and laughed loudly and drank to their heart's content.
Noisy, noisy, and warm, they were two completely different worlds from the cold outside. The young man couldn't help but sigh comfortably, and then closed the door, blocking out the severe cold.
The barmaid with long chestnut hair and orange waiter uniform saw a customer coming and hurriedly walked up.
When she came to the young officer, she glanced at him with her charming eyes and said teasingly: "Hey, handsome guy, you have a strange face. Is this your first time here?"
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and lightly touched the young officer's face.
The young officer obviously had no experience in this area and was not suitable for such teasing. He blushed slightly, smiled shyly, and said, "I have an appointment."
The waitress giggled with her shoulders trembling, and said: "We are not a big hotel, and we don't have reservations.
By the way, who are you looking for?"
"Joseph," the officer said hurriedly, "Joseph, Jonah."
"Hey..." The waitress gave a disapproving look and said angrily: "Look for that bad boy. He has been dominating the innermost room. Go there yourself."
After saying that, the waitress rolled her eyes, ditched the handsome officer and walked away.
The young man blinked, not getting used to the waitress's obsequious attitude. Then he thought about it and squeezed through the lively crowd.
He walked through a corridor and soon came to the place the waitress had mentioned, a single room in a semi-basement. The air inside was not as dirty as in the pub, and there was a faint scent of wine.
He also understood why the waiter in the tavern was so angry, because this was the tavern's wine cellar.
There was a small round table in the middle of the wine cellar, and several young men in the same military uniform as him were sitting around the table, talking quietly together.
Seeing his arrival, one of the tall young men with blond hair stood up, waved to him, and said: "Morgan, you are finally here, I will make a bet with them whether you fool will get lost again.
"
Morgan took off his coat and kept it on the back of the chair. He smiled and said, "Who makes this place so difficult to find?"
Joseph waved his hand boldly, pointed to the thick wine barrels stacked in the wine cellar, and said: "You can take whatever you want to drink and treat this place as your own home."
Morgan picked up a cup casually, then took a glass of ale and said, "Why do you have such a good place?"
Joseph lit a cigar, took a deep breath, held it between his fingertips, and said, "My uncle opened this place. I have liked to stay here and steal wine since I was eight years old."
"I really envy you for being such a lazy guy," Morgan said in admiration: "By the way, you won't believe it. I heard a thunder when I entered the door."
Joseph and the other two people next to him looked at each other and said, "We were talking about this just now. That was not thunder."
"What's going on?"
An officer in his thirties next to him sneered and said: "The humans have a weapon called artillery, which is very powerful.
Each strike can match the full strength of an intermediate magician, and it can also fire continuously. It is extremely lethal. It is not much more powerful than the magic cannon. What's even more frightening is that it can be manufactured in large quantities.
Note, this is a large batch. Not one door, not ten doors, but hundreds or thousands of doors~!"
Having said this, he paused for a moment, and then said: "Think about it, if three thousand such cannons were placed on a ten-kilometer-wide frontal battlefield at a time..."
Everyone couldn't help but take a breath of air and fell silent.
They are all Semitic elites, and they have all seen the power of the magic cannon - any flesh and blood body is vulnerable to that terrifying power that destroys almost everything.
If this news is true, then the heroic bravery that the Semitic people are proud of will become a laughing stock. The line of charge will become an act of collective death.
If this is true, it will rewrite the way war will be fought in the future~!
The middle-aged man seemed to have told this matter to many people and was used to seeing people's surprised expressions. Therefore, he didn't care and continued: "After hearing that humans have that thing,
, we are not idle here either. We have been imitating it all the time, and I heard that now we have some clues, at least we know the principle."
Joseph pointed to the speaker and said, "This is Lieutenant Colonel Langley of the Ordnance Department. My senior."
Morgan nodded to him in a friendly manner and said with a forced smile: "This is a good thing."
"What a fart~!" Lieutenant Colonel Langley yelled, "Do you know what they are using as raw materials? Exploding crystal~!
There have been three bombings this month alone. Four people in our Ordnance Department were killed and seven disabled. But those damn bone sticks are still experimenting, and I'm afraid it will be my turn to be unlucky next month."
Morgan was so embarrassed that he had nothing to say. Joseph patted Langley on the shoulder sympathetically and said, "I'll give you another place in your home."
Langley sighed and said, "Where can I go? The headquarters is in chaos like a doghouse. The big guys are busy fighting for power and profit, and they don't care at all.
The only way to go is to join the army, which is even worse. I heard that a war is about to begin, and soldiers are deserting all over the place. Those who can't escape will kill themselves. His grandma even gave me a fart."
"The navy is about the same," a naval officer spread out on a chair, blowing smoke rings with his face toward the ceiling, and said: "Some time ago, I didn't know that the grandson had a brain attack and wanted to conduct a sea route exploration and go deep into the Sea of Death.
Of course no one wants to go, but for his grandma's leg, supervisors were directly sent to draw lots of life and death, and each of the four fleets sent out three main battleships. Now none of them have come back."
"Uh..." Morgan pondered for a moment and said, "It's not necessarily that something unexpected happened, right?"
The naval officer shook his head, with an angry expression on his face, and said: "A few days ago, the fishing boat returned several pieces of wreckage, and it was determined to be from the Fourth Fleet.
Besides, that is the Sea of Death. If we could pass through it, someone would have known about it a thousand years ago."
Morgan remembered the rumors about the Sea of Death and the Eye of the Storm, and nodded helplessly.
The naval officer said fiercely: "The brothers below have all said that if there is such a stupid and pig-headed order from above again, everyone can just pull the ship out of the port and fly the flag and become pirates. At least there is still a way to survive.
Those were twelve main battleships and more than two thousand experienced veterans.
Let them go on a death mission and let me know that it was that idiot who came up with the idea, and I will strangle him to death."
Morgan rolled his eyes, hesitated, and said, "I really know this."
"Who is it?" Several people stared at him fiercely.
Morgan sighed and said: "The new Minister of Military Command, Feir."
"Damn, that fat pig captain who got here by flattering. The bastard whose hands are stained with the blood of his own people. Wait, I'm going to kill him tonight."
Joseph shook his head and said: "Forget it, Harrison, that guy knows that he has too many enemies and is very vigilant. Before you can get close, his bodyguards will chop you into pieces.
"Silverfish~!" Naval officer Harrison was so angry that he slammed the table.
The pretty figure of the waitress appeared at the door, glared at them dissatisfied, and shouted: "Hey, Joseph, please keep your voice down, can't you make spies fly all over the street now? Auntie, I don't feel like I'm being raped now.
Dogs are watching.”
Joseph coveted his face and smiled flatteringly. He said: "Okay, aunt, we understand. Brothers, please keep your voice down."
Morgan nodded and said: "That's right, it's okay to say something behind closed doors, but if others hear it, it will be a big trouble. Those guys in the Intelligence Department are like mad dogs now, biting whoever they catch. There have been several
A director and deputy director were fired because of inappropriate remarks."
"The new military chief is a piece of shit. No, I was wrong. Even a piece of shit is better than him." Harrison scolded him mercilessly: "A guy from a poor background has not even become a captain.
He started his career by relying on a coup, and he was able to become the chief executive."
Several young people looked at each other and sighed.
"The future of the great Semitic people is not bright." Morgan thought to himself, then shook his head and said: "I have a little tidbit.
Several people's heads came together. Morgan looked at them and lowered his voice and said: "It is said that a mysterious figure suddenly appeared next to the high priest. No one knows where he came from.
Even the high priest himself calls him sir. This man is like an advisor, always giving advice to the high priest."
"Is this man very powerful?" Joseph asked with concern.
Morgan shook his head and said: "I haven't seen it, but I heard that the high priest obeyed his words, and now he is completely in charge of war preparations."
Langley picked his chin with his thumb and frowned: "Is the news reliable?"
Joseph patted Morgan on the shoulder and said, "Since it was Morgan who said it, it is absolutely reliable. He is the head of the General Office of the headquarters. All information must go through his hands first."
Langli hummed and said: "In this case, it is necessary to find out the details of this person."
Morgan said mysteriously: "I also heard that the high priest has a beautiful and grand plan, specifically targeting the Ruman Empire. If it succeeds, the Ruman Empire will be abolished, and mankind will lose half of it."
"What kind of handwriting?"
Morgan shrugged and said, "I don't know, but it's probably some kind of special warfare."
Joseph first sneered, shook his head and said: "This is impossible. Unless millions of troops are used to exert all their strength to fight the enemy's main force in a decisive battle, an empire like Ruman cannot be defeated by one or two special operations.
.
As for the decisive battle with the main force, we will definitely not be able to defeat the Ruman Empire in such an embarrassing situation as we are now. Among other things, you remember that Leiluona, the Lorraine who abducted Adeline."
Harrison laughed heartily and said, "Why don't you remember? I heard that thousands of lichs died in the hands of that guy alone. It's really a relief."
Joseph spread his hands and said: "I heard from our commander's granddaughter, Rufian, Farains, that she is now the deputy commander-in-chief of the human coalition."
"Rufian? How does he know about human beings?" Langley asked doubtfully.
Joseph spread his hands and said: "I don't know about that. With the chaos we are in now, we are more likely to lose in a decisive battle with humans.
The population of Ruman alone is almost as large as our entire Semitic race, not to mention they have war fortresses and artillery."
Harrison said worriedly: "It seems that this expedition must be fought. If we win, it will be okay. But if we cannot win, what will happen? I think our Semitic race will have no future."
Morgan licked his lips and said mysteriously: "I heard a saying. The reason why the high priest wants to fight is not to expand his power, but to eliminate our Semitic population."
Joseph nodded and said: "Some people in the Imperial Guard said so privately."
Morgan said with a solemn expression: "You see, whenever our Semitic population grows to a certain scale, we will have a big war. The last time was against Urban II a few hundred years ago, and then we fought against Lei Shan.
civil war, and now he is going on an expedition against humanity.
Whenever the Semitic population becomes large and threatens the dark mages, they will come up with bad ideas and let us kill ourselves."
Upon hearing this shocking news, several young officers had gloomy expressions on their faces.
After a while, Harrison muttered: "How come no one killed this immortal old monster?"
Joseph sneered and said: "Do you think there is no such thing? Someone tried it six hundred years ago. Our internal history of the Guards records that once, a guy stuffed a hundred kilograms of explosive material under the throne of the high priest.
crystal.
When he sat on it, it exploded all at once. Boom~!"
Joseph made an explosion gesture with his hand, then sighed regretfully and said: "The surrounding lichs exploded to death, but the high priest came out intact."
"One hundred kilograms of exploding crystals," Morgan curled his lips and said he couldn't believe it, "This is too..."
"It's like a myth, I know," Joseph said, "I think so too, but our commander said it is true."
Langley also shook his head, picked up his clothes and stood up, saying, "I have to go. I'll just stop here today. I have to be on duty at night. I'll introduce you to some friends next time."
Joseph solemnly said: "You know the rules, safety first."
Langley pressed Joseph's shoulder and said firmly: "Don't worry, I understand, I haven't lived enough yet."
Harrison picked up his hat, stood up with a sigh, and walked out.
Only Joseph and Morgan were left in the wine cellar.
Joseph looked around, then carefully closed the door and said solemnly: "Brother, I have an idea..."
Seeing Joseph's solemn expression, Morgan put down his wine glass and said, "You tell me."
Joseph covered his mouth and rubbed it vigorously, then took a deep breath and said, "This war should never have been fought in the first place."
Morgan let out a long sigh and nodded helplessly.
Joseph said: "As a descendant of the Semitic royal family, I feel that we need to stop it."
Morgan's eyes lit up, he stared at Joseph, and exclaimed: "Do you want to die? With us, this is impossible, don't even think about it."
"Of course it's impossible for us alone," Joseph said, "but if there are bigger figures supporting us..."