Alien Knights

After the incidents of "Hall of Heroes" and "Distribution of Loot", there was a wave of war in the camp.

The gladiators and barbarians who failed to fight gathered outside the tribal hall every day, hoping that the leader would take them out to plunder again.

Todd has no such plan. Firstly, the population increases, and the camp needs to be expanded again; secondly, the enemy has become alert, and looting will become more difficult; thirdly, the production of snuff has entered a critical stage of preparation, and he needs to sit in the workshop.

On the fifth day after the banquet, Todd was sitting in the seasoning room of the workshop, holding a small bamboo tube, inserting one end into his nasal cavity, and pointing the other end at a handful of powder on the table, and inhaled vigorously.

A pungent smell made him sneeze several times in a row.

"This taste is too strong!" Todd rubbed his nose vigorously: "What did you add?"

Minnie looked at the grinding dish, and said strangely: "They are all common materials, tobacco leaves, peppercorns, cree grass..."

Todd listened for a while, and gave two opinions: "First, reduce the proportion of tobacco leaf powder; second, remove some irritating materials and add some cooling seasonings."

After explaining this, Todd stood up straight and twisted his waist, and saw Rachel standing at the door of the workshop and waving at him.

"What's the matter?" Todd walked out the door, but found that Rachel didn't intend to stop.

The latter came to a remote and uninhabited corner and said to Todd: "We interrogated the captive and learned an important thing."

"whats the matter?"

"Fiocha is dead."

When Rachel opened her mouth, Todd was startled.

"Fiocha is dead?!" Todd asked again in disbelief, "You mean the director of the 'Red Circle'?"

Rachel nodded: "The crown prince of Ulster, the only son of Fergus."

Todd, who had a good impression of the modest and prudent young man who loved martial arts, sighed lightly: "How did he die?"

"Poisoned, although Conchi Urber doesn't admit it, but almost everyone in Ulster thinks he did it."

A disgusted expression appeared on Todd's face: "Because of power?"

"Conchierbo's prestige in the country is declining day by day, and more and more people support Fiocha's supremacy. Therefore, getting rid of Fiocha has become Conchierber's only choice."

"What's the current situation in Ulster's country?"

"Chaos and disorder." Rachel said with a frown. "Arguments and accusations are staged in the chamber every day. Murder and kidnapping have long become daily routines on the streets. After Fiocha's death, another major event happened in the country."

"What?"

"Fiocha's father, Fergus, led five hundred warriors of the family, and left Ulster to join Connaught."

Todd first frowned, and then his eyes lit up: "You mean, Connaught will soon go to war with Ulster?"

"It's not that the war will start soon, but it has already started. Fergus' treason happened a month ago."

Todd listened to Rachel's words, and drew a simple map of the northern region with branches on the soil.

Rachel looked at the "map" and asked, "Are you planning to take this opportunity to launch an offensive?"

Todd nodded and said: "If Ulster and Connaught go to war, then now is our best chance to expand our power."

"We just won the victory in Marozzi, captured enough food for the first half of the year, and nearly 500 prisoners. Then, where do you want to attack next?"

Todd squatted down, fiddling with branches in his hands, and asked Rachel, "Where do you think is the best place to attack?"

The latter placed a stone in the north of the Froststone camp: "How about Coulantry Castle? According to Fogar's confession, there are a lot of gold and silver treasures stored there. Looting there can greatly increase our strength."

"Inappropriate. After taking Marozzi Castle, the Ulster people must be more vigilant against attacks from the south. Their troops are likely to be waiting on our way, ready to fight us at any time."

Rachel thought for a while, and then moved the stone to the south: "How about the Kupul pass? We can open up a land passage to the east, which will benefit our snuff trade."

"Conquering the Kupur pass is indeed an important link in trade. But occupying it now means that we have to divide our forces to guard it, and the development of snuff products is not going well. It will take some time before we want to formally trade."

Rachel looked at the "map" again, rolled her eyes at Todd, and threw the stone at his feet: "I really can't figure it out!"

Todd picked up the stone with a smile, stretched his arms to the longest, and placed the stone at the northernmost end of the entire "map" under Rachel's surprised gaze.

"Do you still remember the port city we passed through on our way to the Kingdom of Shadows?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and exclaimed in shock: "You want to go to Gugu City?!"

Todd gave her a silent movement, and said in a low voice: "The ancient city has the largest port and the largest slave trading market in the Ulster Kingdom. There are more than 10,000 slaves in the slavery. If you can take it..."

Rachel shook her head vigorously: "Your plan is too whimsical! If it is an army march, it will take ten days to walk from the Froststone Camp to the ancient city! Let alone how to obtain supplies in the enemy's territory, just the enemy troops blocking the road will make it difficult for you to move forward!"

Todd looked at Rachel amusedly: "Did you forget it so quickly? The most convenient route from the Froststone Camp to the ancient city is not land."

Rachel bit her lips: "Okay, even if you go by sea, how do you deal with the disparity in the number of troops? There are two thousand guards in the ancient city, and there are three regiments of slave hunters stationed outside the city, not to mention that the ancient city is only one day away from the Ulster capital Ama city. If the war cannot be resolved quickly, the capital's guard army will rush to the ancient city for reinforcements. At that time, we may have to face tens of thousands of troops."

Todd dropped the branch, and laughed even louder: "Behind the ancient city of Mi, there is the city of Ama to provide support; but behind me, there is an army of the entire kingdom."

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Twilight City, Kingdom Council Hall.

Cabinet Prime Minister Emerson slapped the table and shouted angrily: "I repeat, Muxi Kingdom has no reason and no need to accept refugees from the Holy Acropolis!"

Terrence took off the crystal glasses on the bridge of his nose, and said to each other: "There are more than 5,000 refugees from the Holy Acropolis staying on the border. If we ignore them, this group of people will only slowly rot there!"

Emerson tapped hard on the report in front of him with his knuckles: "Five thousand people! Let me ask you, how do we arrange for so many people to come in?! If they break out in turmoil, how will we suppress them?! Take a step back and say, how do we prepare food for these people?!"

Perhaps because he felt that his tone was a little too aggressive, Emerson slowed down his speech: "Your Majesty's five-year agricultural development plan has not even been completed halfway, and Wayne's bloodworm food breeding has encountered difficulties again. Letting these 5,000 people into the city will bring immeasurable disaster to Muxi City!"

Ulysses, who was sitting next to Terrence, said worriedly: "The current situation in the Holy Acropolis must be clear to everyone, right? The mission of the church entered the city almost at the same time as Dion. Both sides are now competing for the support of as many nobles as possible for their respective factions, and these 5,000 people are the key to gaining support!"

Brother Qiao expressed his opinion at this time: "It's not that we don't want to help the 5,000 people in the Holy Acropolis, but that there is really not enough food! Muxi City, the northern camp, and the Holy Acropolis aid, there are three places that need to consume food at the same time, and the grain trade route from the south was temporarily suspended due to the war between the Abbasid Empire and the Ayub Empire. Therefore, I do not agree to accept these 5,000 refugees!"

Elijah, Terrence's favorite student, also persuaded at this time: "These 5,000 refugees are related to the ownership of the throne of the Holy Acropolis. If the Holy Acropolis is eventually controlled by the church faction, then Muxi City will be controlled by two major military forces at the same time. Therefore, I suggest accepting these 5,000 refugees."

Emerson saw that the cabinet had been completely divided into two factions, and pinched his forehead helplessly: "You guys didn't grasp the point of the matter at all. The idea of ​​asking Muxi City to accept refugees was probably thought up by the church behind the scenes. Even if we accept everything this time, what about the next time? What about the next time?! The church has the unified jurisdiction of the secular kingdom. This is a kind of aboveboard political aggression, but we have no way to deal with it. If we let go this time, the next time the request will only be more excessive..."

In the huge hall, the cabinet of Muxi City was divided into two factions. Emerson, Brother Joe, and Wayne were one faction, and Terrence, Ulysses, and Elijah were the other faction.

While the two factions were arguing endlessly, Huggins, who had been silent all the time, suddenly said, "Your Majesty has sent a message that an emergency meeting will be held in Heaven in five minutes, and everyone must be present."