698: Chapter 698: Prival Fla (Long Chapter for Monthly Pass) 698: Chapter 698: Prival Fla (Long Chapter for Monthly Pass) “The Nolanka rcenary Corps has decided to hold a short-term exercise among several cities around Kaye City?”
In the spacious and bright office, as the morning sun rose from the end of the sky outside the window, the man in a military officer’s uniform furrowed his brows intently as he looked at the subordinate who had co to report.
He raised his hand, signaling the subordinate to leave first, then turned on the computer on his desk and accessed the exercise announcent from the Nolanka Group through the link his subordinate had sent him.
“This Nolanka Group…”
He leaned back in the chair of his office, massaging the center of his furrowed brow as he examined the map of the exercise area attached to the announcent.
Under normal circumstances, each of the major conglorates has its own sphere of influence in the wilderness, and their affiliated rcenary corps operate within this range.
But these conglorates couldn’t possibly carve up the entire wilderness for themselves; they neither have the capacity nor the willingness to establish effective defenses and governance over a barren wasteland.
So, theoretically, the conglorates do not have the power to stop other conglorates’ rcenary corps from entering their spheres of influence.
However, one cannot simply let others in without notice.
If a conglorate is conducting a secret research and another’s rcenaries just barge in, it would be quite embarrassing.
To avoid conflicts and information leaks, rcenary corps issue a notice when they may enter soone else’s territory, informing other conglorates, “I’m coming in.”
This is an unspoken rule among conglorates, yet it cannot beco an official rule since the division of power among them is also a vague concept.
It’s impossible for conglorates to reach an agreent to clearly define these spheres of influence because, firstly, such delineation could trigger a severe public opinion crisis, and secondly, even large conglorates can rise and fall suddenly, which is quite normal.
Hence, their territories are always changing and can never be fixed.
At this point, the Nolanka Group was planning an exercise and issuing a notice to other major conglorates about it, which was quite a normal procedure.
But the problem lies in…
The man in the officer’s uniform took his hand from his brow and dialed an internal phone number.
As the image of an elderly man studying a stack of docunts in front of a chessboard appeared on the screen, he said in a asured tone,
“Sir, the Nolanka Group in Kaye City has announced a short-term exercise of their rcenary Corps.”
The elderly man’s actions with the docunts ca to a halt.
However, the man in uniform did not stop and continued to say, “Kaye City and Saint Joen City are both located in the southeast, with Kaye City to the northeast of Saint Joen City, and not far from us.
A forced march could get there in less than two days.
“If you head east from Kaye City, you’ll reach the Storm Sea, and Dawn City lies to the north, so the main ‘exercise’ direction of the Nolanka rcenaries will be to the southwest.”
“Are they passing through Saint Joen City?”
The elderly put down the docunts in his hands and asked in a low voice.
“They will pass through an area about forty kiloters northeast of Saint Joen City, with an expected pass-through ti the day after tomorrow morning; however, if they move quickly, they might arrive tomorrow evening,”
said the man in the officer’s uniform, “At that distance, even with high walls and the wilderness as a barrier, the city’s broadcast towers’ radio signals can already be clearly received.
And with the mobility of a rcenary corps, it would take them no more than an hour to get here directly.
“However, if we close our gates tightly, it would be impossible for them, with the strength of a single rcenary corps, to breach the gates.”
As he spoke, a transparent screen lit up in front of the chessboard, displaying the exercise route published by the Nolanka Group.
The elderly’s gaze shifted from the docunt and rested briefly on these exercise routes before he asked in a calm voice, “Our main defenses are currently at the East City Gate?”
“Indeed,”
nodded the man in the officer’s uniform, “The city hall and most of the Transcendents reside in East City.”
“Pull half of the forces from South City and West City to the North City Gate, and then take a third from the East City Gate, along with chas and mobile vehicles, and arrange them on the trade roads leading to the East and North Gates.
If a large troop cos our way, regardless of whose it is, perform interception and harassnt,”
the elderly slowly said.
“After this is arranged, send a squad to follow the Nolanka rcenary Corps on their exercise route.”
“Yes, sir!”
nodded the man in the officer’s uniform.
At this mont, the elderly man raised his head, looking out the window at the city thoughtfully, and asked, “The South Gate is the one farthest from their exercise route, correct?”
“Yes.”
The officer in military uniform nodded.
“Geographically speaking, coming from the northeast, there are only two trade routes that are relatively close, leading to the East Gate and the North Gate.
“Moreover, the southeast of Saint Joen City is mountainous, with rugged roads and inhabited by various exotic beasts.
To go to the South Gate, one would need to make a detour from the east, reaching farther south before heading north, which would extend the distance to nearly 150 to 160 kiloters.”
Having said that, he looked up at the Elderly on the screen.
“Sir, do you suspect that they might sense our arrangent and deliberately take a long detour to attack?”
Upon hearing his question, the Elderly didn’t respond, but pondered and asked, “Who is the captain of the Nolanka rcenary Corps?”
“It’s the seasoned B-level Fiss,”
the officer in military uniform replied.
“This Fiss is known for his steady command of troops and is good at defensive battles.
His abilities also seem to be inclined towards prolonged combat.”
“Hmm,”
the Elderly nodded lightly and then said slowly, “Transfer so people from the West Gate to the South Gate.
There’s no need to focus on defense at the south, but instead place sentries along the route and prepare so road-blocking devices to cause minor hindrances.”
“If they choose to attack the South Gate after a long march, they will certainly be exhausted.
We just need to learn of their arrival in advance, then dispatch n to secure the South City gates, and they won’t be able to break through,”
the officer in military uniform pondered for a mont, trying to decipher the Elderly’s arrangent.
“The East and North Gates are close to each other, and the enemy might launch a sudden assault; these two gates also see the most rchant traffic in Saint Joen City, and have the highest number of City Defense Army forces.
If the City Defense Army loses control at that ti, it’s possible that they could indeed coordinate with forces inside and outside to breach the city and cause trouble.
“As for the South Gate, where the City Defense Army is limited, as long as we can detect their movents in advance and take control of the City Defense Army, holding the city gates staunchly, they won’t be able to break through in a short ti,”
“Moreover, a typical rcenary Corps of a financial syndicate only works for money; it’s unlikely that they would truly fight desperately for sothing like this.
Once they face a brief failure in their siege, morale will inevitably plumt.
Even if Fiss wants to forcefully attack, he would have to consider the issue of morale.
“If they choose to launch a surprise attack on the South Gate, the mont they make that decision, they have actually already lost.”
A surprise attack on the South Gate might be a very good tactical move.
Choosing to circumvent and strike at the farthest gate unexpectedly can catch the enemy off guard, but if such a move is anticipated, its effectiveness is greatly diminished.
A guessed surprise attack is no longer a surprise.
After clarifying the Elderly’s arrangents, the officer in military uniform hesitated for a mont and asked softly,
“Sir, you seem quite certain that the Nolanka rcenary Corps will co?”
In fact, based on the normal operations of rcenary corps from financial syndicates, even if they heard the distress signal from inside the city, they might just walk away.
The saying goes, “Upon the cannons’ roar, a fortune galore,” and financial syndicates generally don’t engage in transactions that lose their own money for the benefit of others.
“The Nolanka syndicate has been expanding its reach rapidly lately and has had friction with the Group in the grain business,”
the Elderly said calmly while looking down at the chessboard in front of him, then glanced at the chess pieces off the board.
“It’s always good to have sothing in reserve.”
“That’s true.
Our arrangent can deal not only with the Nolanka Group’s rcenary forces but also any threats from the east and north.
Ains and Dawn City are in that direction.”
The officer in military uniform realized the point and slowly nodded, “Even if there are forces from the south and west, we can hold out for so ti relying on the city gates.
Sir, your every move is cautious and impregnable.”
The Elderly neither agreed nor disagreed with the officer’s response; he simply picked up the docunt in his hands again and asked, “Have you arranged your ‘banquet’ with Darn?”
“It’s been arranged, just as you predicted earlier,”
the officer in military uniform said.
“Darn has set the banquet at his headquarters by the West City Gate.”
“Then proceed with everything as planned,”
the Elderly said as he continued to peruse the files in his hands.
“Yes!”
The officer in military uniform quickly nodded and ended the communication.
When the ti ca, he would personally head to the West Gate.
The spacious hall fell silent once again.
The Elderly sitting in the hall then lowered his head and slowly closed the docunt in his hands.
The line of faint text on the docunt’s cover lay in the brilliant light,
[Comprehensive Investigation Report on the “Advent” and “Resurrection” of the Evil God in the Past Three Years]
——
“What did they say over there?”
In the dark and cramped old street, YiXiya, holding Jia Xi’s hand, stepped on the cracked and muddy ground as she moved forward and softly asked.
“He’s still hesitant,” Sienzi calmly replied, “he won’t be willing to switch sides unless he sees a crisis, but I advised him to prepare in advance—it’s better to be safe than sorry,
“However, we also need to prepare for the possibility that he won’t cooperate.
If his side really doesn’t work out, we will have to try more complicated thods.”
“Hmm.”
YiXiya nodded slightly, holding Jia Xi’s small hand, and sighed softly, “If only the old gentleman were here.”
Even now, a day had passed, and she had still not been able to contact ‘Cito’ the Elderly.
Hearing this, Sienzi also sighed softly.
It was at that mont that Jia Xi stopped in her tracks, staring at a rusty little door in front of her.
It seed to be a shop, but without any sign, and all the windows were curtained while the door was tightly closed.
“We’re here.”
YiXiya followed Jia Xi’s gaze to the small door.
She glanced at the doorplate above it and reached out to ring the doorbell.
Imdiately after, a shuffling sound ca from the doorbell.
This type of doorbell was equipped with a communication function, and the shuffling sound seed to indicate the microphone inside the door had been activated.
YiXiya watched the doorbell and, after a brief mont of thought, said, “We were referred by the funeral ho, we’ve contacted before.”
In response, there was a brief silence.
And after the silence, an ethereal voice that seed devoid of life,
“I only do makeup for the dead.”
——
The blazing sun hung high overhead, bringing with it sweltering heat, but unable to dispel the shadows cast between the towering buildings.
At the base of one such tall building, a figure cloaked in a cape and wearing a bowler hat slowly erged from the shadows.
He looked up at the towering factory building behind him where the sign “Kajet Grain Industry Factory” glead in the sunlight with a faint radiance.
Soft footsteps sounded behind him.
The figure planted his cane into the ground and once again vanished into the shadows.
Two casually dressed young n appeared beneath the shadow.
“I rember we ca here when we were chasing Night Hawk, right?”
The young man on the left looked around at their surroundings, a bit puzzled, and said, “Why did they ask us to stand guard here again?”
“Just stand guard if you’re told to stand guard,” the impatient young man on the right replied, “we’re paid to follow orders, why bother with so many questions.”
“Right.”
The left young man glanced around and nodded slightly.
——
Kaye City·Qming dical Laboratory
“Good day, Doctor.”
In the descending elevator, the intern cast a nervous greeting toward the man standing beside him.
“Hmm,”
Roger nodded casually, waving his hand, “Go on, don’t mind .”
Qming dical Laboratory was affiliated with Qiming Hospital, and he was now the honorary dean of Qiming Hospital; his ‘senior brother’, previously Vian’s personal doctor Ike, was the true executive dean.
But Roger never chased power; he just wanted to quietly focus on his own research.
He had originally been leading research on the Fountain of Youth and the Gene Potion in Lin City, but Vian’s reawakening had brought him urgently back here.
Unfortunately, by the ti he had raced back, Vian had again “fallen asleep”.
Besides so dical reports on Vian’s body, he ca away with nothing.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but sigh.
The intern soon exited the elevator, and Roger smoothly arrived at the bottom floor of the elevator.
There was only one door when this level of the elevator opened.
Roger verified his fingerprint and pushed open the door.
This was a laboratory that Roger had requested for his personal use, filled with pipes and transparent containers, almost a miniature version of the hall where Vian had been asleep.
In the center of this laboratory, there also sat a hibernation pod etched with patterns of the World Tree.
Roger glanced at the hibernation pod and casually closed the door behind him.
Unlike Vian’s lab, next to the hibernation pod was a small worktable.
The table was fitted with various racks, glass containers, and a small monitor.
Roger walked over to the small monitor, fixating on the data it displayed.
The fluctuating patterns on the monitor were slight but suggested a faint sign of life inside the hibernation pod.
Roger’s gaze shifted from the monitor to the shelf behind it.
At the top of the shelf sat a black and white jester mask.
Roger stared at the mask.
Many said that Vian’s resurrection was thanks to the patronage of ‘K’.
He didn’t know if ‘K’ truly was a great Divine Being, all he knew was that the first person to walk the earth under the na ‘K’ lay right beside him in this hibernation pod,
The only one who, in public view, had donned the mask, claiming to be ‘K’.
His gaze shifted from the mask, a wry smile crossing his face, as he turned his attention back to the hibernation pod.
If ‘K’ truly was a mighty Divine Being who could resurrect his followers, then why couldn’t he resurrect this one who first proclaid his na, who ignited the fla?
Bang—
While Roger pondered this, a soft tapping noise rose unhurriedly in the silence of the laboratory,
This sound, like spring thunder cleaving winter’s snow, struck upon all the instrunts in the lab, and upon Roger’s heart.
“Beep beep—”
Countless instrunts in the lab let out piercing alarms as the originally steady waves on the monitor rapidly surged.
But Roger, as if he heard nothing, only watched in front of him, watched that pod which should have been eternally silent,
The quivering lid of the hibernation pod was pushed up gradually from the inside out.
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