The Hawthorn couple finally decided to open a store in the Eagle God's Kingdom for a few years.
The council offered them quite favorable terms:
They were allowed to choose their store location within a certain range, have a dedicated person build the store, set up magic arrays, and promise that the store would always be under the protection of the Mage Tower;
They were promised exclusive purchasing rights for certain types of goods, and exclusive sales rights for some categories of products produced by the Mage Tower;
They were promised to purchase the medicines and services Mr. Hawthorn needed for advancement at a discounted price;
They were promised two years of tax exemption, and then half tax for the next three years;
They were promised that their residence and store in Walsingham would be guarded and maintained by the local Mage Tower, and returned to them exactly as they left it when they returned…
Most importantly, after looking at the map, Mrs. Jasmine hoped that one day she could travel south from the Eagle God's Kingdom. If she was lucky, she could drag her ungrateful, heartless father, who had abandoned her and her mother, out from the southern jungles.
And Uncle Hawthorn, of course, would risk his life to accompany his wife. To accompany his wife, one must take action and have strength. To gather enough strength, this former mercenary, nicknamed "Flint," packed up all the special goods in his store and boarded the airship with his wife.
They traveled west and south. The huge airship soared on the long wind, majestically crossing the vast lands of the New World. It flew over mountains, rivers, and plains.
The verdant plains and sparkling rivers and lakes receded beneath them. The airship spread its light sails, flying high above the New World, breaking through clouds and turbulence at speeds several times faster than Apaches' full speed.
What? You worry about hitting birds? Inside the airship, a dozen Grand Mages took turns releasing their auras, deterring everything around. Any flying magical beasts that approached quickly veered away.
This journey encountered only one obstacle. When they reached the battlefield between various tribes and the Plague Maiden, the Grand Mages disembarked from the airship, frantically investigating. Holding various magical tools, casting various spells, they traversed the entire battlefield step by step...
Especially those at the Black Crow Swamp, who wished they could even dig up the soil!
"Enough already! Stop wasting time here!" Grand Mage Byerbo finally lost his patience:
"Lingering here, if the Radiant Church attacks and destroys the Eagle God's Kingdom, we will gain nothing!"
"Well… we must wait for the Eagle God's Kingdom to ask for help…" Grand Mage Haines stood at the edge of the swamp, his white bone robe fluttering without wind, not even turning his head. If it weren't for the younger generation nearby, he would have stuck his nose into the swamp.
Garrett thought the swamp had been cleaned up and there was no need to bother anymore. But to the eyes of a high-level necromancer, the floating souls, wailing undead, and entangled resentments were incredibly sweet—
Although the souls of the natives were of lower quality, the fact that those who remained had high levels in life made up for it!
The Eagle God's Kingdom hasn't asked for help?
It's best if they don't ask for help, so he can bring his disciples here and clean up!
"Lynn!" he called back:
"Come and see this swamp! How is your practice of the Soul Wall spell?"
Grand Mage Byerbo shrugged and slowly walked away. Speaking of which, why haven't the Golden Eagle Warriors of the Eagle God's Kingdom come yet? Didn't they already ask the Red Hawk Tribe to send a message? Could it be that they were scared away by the airship?
In the distant Eagle God's Kingdom, the Golden Eagle Warriors and White Eagle Warriors soared high, overlooking the ant-like streams of people on the mountain path below, all with grim faces. An older White Eagle Warrior cursed:
"How dare they! Those invaders, how dare they—those who help the invaders have betrayed the glory of the Eagle God. They should all be tied to cacti, left to die under the sun, pecked to death by eagles, bitten by venomous snakes—"
"Enough with the talk!" the leading Golden Eagle Warrior snapped:
"The problem now is that their steel swords can cut through our obsidian blades—don't tell me that high-level warriors' nurtured weapons; even the stone knives of the Black Eagle Warriors are no match for them;
Their spears can easily pierce our leather armor;
Their floating cities and those tall, four-legged demons can emit thunderous sounds, breaking our formations…
When will our allies arrive? It's been a month. Did the Son of Thunder take our gifts and run away?"
The Eagle God's Kingdom was under immense pressure. After being repelled once, the "White Ghosts" returned:
A row of floating cities stopped by the sea, each towering high, with clouds on top that sometimes spread out, sometimes gathered, floating dozens of meters high;
From the cities descended four-legged demons, running like the wind, thundering;
The lights emitted from the "White Ghosts" were like sharp spears. Anyone illuminated by the light, even the most cowardly, despicable native warrior, could immediately muster up the courage to fight fiercely with their warriors…
Such a large number of soldiers, combined with the soldiers of the city-states that had betrayed the Eagle God, would be a costly battle!
The Golden Eagle Warriors were tense, silent, waiting for allies. Meanwhile, riding a fine horse on the mountain path, Alfonso Cortes frowned deeply, pounding his shoulder hard:
He was the Deputy Governor of one of the four major governorates of the New World, the Storm Islands District. Although nominally the deputy governor, the actual power was with the governor, so he was essentially exiled here to retire.
No choice, since he flirted with the wrong person and got caught—
Ugh! Who wants to retire in the New World! It's stifling hot, full of mosquitoes, no operas, balls, gourmet food, or beautiful women to discuss literature and philosophy with, nothing!
Looking around, it's all wilderness, apart from a few attendants, there are those bare-chested natives whose language he doesn't understand!
If he had to retire, he'd rather go back to the Brolin Kingdom to retire!
But to go back to the Brolin Kingdom, he needed a lot of money; to get a lot of money, he needed to make a lot of money. The problem was, all the mining and tax rights in the Storm Islands were in the governor's hands.
He could only manage a city not on the main route and its surrounding churches and plantations… Helplessly watching a few years ago as the governor mysteriously made a fortune, he couldn't get a hand in! Damn it!
Luckily, last year, he got news of the Eagle God's Kingdom from adventurers and merchants. A nation, a native nation, a country with golden temples and silver-flowing streets, wasn't it made for him!
Deputy Governor Alfonso gathered a group—his trusted knights, bishops from the churches, mercenaries from the city, hired a batch of merchant ships, and set off grandly for the Eagle God's Kingdom. Of course, among the so-called merchant ships, how many were actually pirates…
Deputy Governor Alfonso turned a blind eye, deciding to pretend not to see.
Eleven ships, 550 people, 16 warhorses. The first attack was unstoppable and achieved considerable success. The natives scattered upon seeing them. However, upon reaching the lower plateau, they encountered strong resistance.
Those warriors!
Those flying warriors!
A dense mass of them descended from the high cliffs, their wings blocking out the sky!
Deputy Governor Alfonso was chilled to the bone. So many warriors, so many Sky Knights of level 15 and above? Just five Sky Knights working together could annihilate his troops at the base of the cliffs!
Fortunately, those warriors seemed to rely on the power of an evil god to fly, lacking the mountain-crushing strength of Sky Knights. Even so, the javelins and spears they threw caused great harm to the brave warriors!
Deputy Governor Alfonso retreated in panic. Returning to the ship, he found over a hundred men dead, with nearly everyone else injured. Though they had looted some gold and silver, it was not enough! Far from enough!
What should he do, how could he conquer this country and swallow this fat piece of meat?
Deputy Governor Alfonso was at a loss. Just then, a tattered, ragged-robed clergyman quietly entered his governor's mansion.
"Honorable Governor, I have a way to spread the Lord's glory on that land…"
The clergyman proposed a plan. Cooperate with the Plague Maiden to spread disease in the Eagle God's Kingdom—just recently, smallpox had spread through the Storm Islands—weakening the natives and the power of the evil god.
Meanwhile, the governorate could send clergy to treat the locals, win them over, unite them, and eventually turn them into a weapon against the Eagle God's Kingdom:
"I have traveled this land for a long time. The natives are composed of city-states and do not fully submit to the Eagle God's Kingdom."
The eyes under the visitor's hood shone brightly:
"And the Eagle God's Kingdom continuously demands human sacrifices for the evil god, even directly destroying city-states. The locals are very resentful. If we can win over a few city-states, we can smoothly enter this country, reach their capital…"
"That makes some sense." Deputy Governor Alfonso stroked his curled mustache, nodding solemnly:
"But who will handle the cooperation with that evil god—the Plague Maiden
, as you call her?"
"I will." The white-robed clergyman lifted his head proudly:
"To spread the Lord's glory, I am willing to temporarily taint myself with filth… as long as, when it's done, the governor shelters me and grants me a place in the city."
He wrapped himself in a blanket and strode out. Two months later, Deputy Governor Alfonso heard from adventurers and merchants about a smallpox outbreak near the Eagle God's Kingdom.
"It should be soon… soon we can go to war…"
Deputy Governor Alfonso prayed constantly. However, the good news of a widespread smallpox epidemic in the Eagle God's Kingdom never came. The only confirmed news was that tribes and city-states near the coast were falling to the white-robed clergyman one by one…
"Mobilize the troops!"
He finally made up his mind. He personally sought the governor, using his power and future ten-year earnings as collateral, and borrowed a powerful army, including an 18th-level archbishop stationed in the governorate.
Additionally, he gathered a large number of elite soldiers and hired ten times as many pirates. The ships filled the sky and set off for the Eagle God's Kingdom—
This time, he would achieve victory in one stroke!
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