Chapter 1466: Chapter 1464: Twelve Hours
Time may not have been too long, but for the marching soldiers, it felt as if a century had passed.
They braved the night, risked falling, endured exhaustion, and pressed on relentlessly through the Chaotic Mountain Range. In the end, they resembled soulless skulls, mechanically moving their limbs, numbly following the flow of people forward, or pausing briefly.
Finally, when the eastern sky brightened, the leading unit—a fully-equipped Magic Knight Group—emerged from the Chaotic Mountain Range and stepped onto flat ground.
In front of them, the outline of a squared city appeared. It was a border trade hub of Shalin, sparsely populated, with a few soldiers stationed but scarcely anyone expected an enemy to suddenly appear here.
The Magic Knights gazed at the city and began to silently form ranks. Behind them, other soldiers emerged from the Chaotic Mountain Range, joining in.
In an instant, thousands silently launched a collective charge.
The silence was not to maintain stealth but because their throats were parched, their strength nearly exhausted, no mood to shout, only wanting to use their remaining energy where it mattered.
Charge.
Approach the city gate.
The Wizards soar, the Magic Knights activate their Magic Runes.
Flames ignite inside the city.
By the time the flames died down, the city had changed hands—after all, this was just an inconspicuous border town of Shalin, with little resistance force.
...
After the small town was conquered, Soron quickly received two messages.
One good news, one bad news.
The good news is that starting from this border town, one can follow the avenue laid by Shalin for a direct strike into the interior. All the way to near Atlantis, it is possible to be blocked by Shalin’s army depending on the terrain.
The bad news, however, is that although it is a trade hub holding numerous goods, they are currently in desperate need of one thing—food.
The explanation from the captives within the city was that more than half a month ago, food was inexplicably removed from the trade list. The daily needed food was transported from Atlantis over a long distance, and the next shipment was three days away.
"No food? Three days?" In the temporary Staff Department tent outside the city, Soron murmured to himself, his gaze becoming deep, feeling he’d figured something out but couldn’t be sure yet.
...
Atlantis City, at the top floor office of the city hall.
It’s a rare occasion for Richard to appear here, while Shalin’s Vice Lord Moli was conveying messages from various places to him.
"That Soron fellow, somewhat formidable, found a shortcut through the Chaotic Mountain Range and suddenly arrived at Mis City. After conquering it, they used Mis City as a base and are now advancing along the main road towards Atlantis.
Since our forces are limited, most are entangled with the opponent’s left and right flanks, with only a small fraction left in the Chaotic Mountain Range for blockading, making it difficult to organize new forces to resist the opponent. Before reporting to you, eighteen cities of varying sizes have been conquered or surrendered.
Moreover, adjacent territories, especially special guarding zones, after having their first wave of attacking forces defeated by us, have shockingly reorganized a second wave of attacking forces. It’s truly surprising. They’ve now entered Shalin Territory, capturing five or six small towns. Similarly, due to our force limitations, we cannot organize an effective resistance.
At this rate, it won’t take long before most of Shalin is lost, except for the area around Atlantis," she said.
At this point, Moli paused, looking at Richard: "Of course, this is all within your expectations, isn’t it, Lord Richard?"
Richard glanced at Moli and asked: "You seem to have some minor feelings?"
"How dare I," Moli shrugged, "After all, you are the real Lord of Shalin, while I, though having contributed so much to Shalin and planned the construction of nearly every city, am just a laborer, aren’t I?"
"By what you’re saying, you hope I step in to solve these minor problems?"
"Don’t you plan to take action?" Moli looked at Richard curiously, "If you don’t intervene, more than half of Shalin will be ruined. Maybe the area around Atlantis might be core, but the rest also contains my hard work. I wouldn’t want it all destroyed, rebuilding would require too much effort."
Richard moved his eyebrows slightly: "I do have the capability to solve the problem, but I am waiting for a result. If possible, I want a more thorough solution, rather than superficially fixing the problem myself, because that would still lead to trouble in the future.
As for the issue of Shalin being ruined, it’s not a concern now. I know you’ve contributed a lot to Shalin these past years. Here I promise that after this battle, you can prematurely get what you desire—to become the rightful heir of the Sika Royal Family—if you still wish by then."
For a moment, Moli hesitated, wanting to ask many questions but selectively asked one after thinking for a while: "What result are you waiting for?"
"Me..." Richard started speaking, halfway through looking towards the office door, Moli followed suit.
Footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by a creak as the door opened. A bald head squeezed in first, soon followed by a body, it was Neo Hervier, the person in charge of Green Source Castle.
Heruville held a black metal box in his hands, with an excited expression, he quickly walked to Richard and handed it out, loudly saying: "Lord Richard, three days’ time, as promised, I’ve brought you the successful result you wanted for inspection. If unsatisfied, you can directly kill me here, after all, when I return, I might be killed by those folks who stayed up for three days."
Richard said nothing, just took the box and opened it lightly, taking out the contents.
Curiously, Moli peered over and saw that what Richard held was a green, fist-sized fruit, with a watery exterior, seeming abundant in moisture, very appetizing. But besides that, it didn’t look particularly special.
What use does this have?
Moli wondered.
A moment later, her eyes widened as she watched Richard suddenly bring the green fruit to his mouth and took a bite, chewed, and swallowed.
"Crunch" another bite, chewed, swallowed.
"Crunch," bite after bite...
In approximately one minute, Richard had finished the entire fruit.
Somewhat stunned, Moli said, in truth, she’d known Richard for so long, yet seeing him eat like a normal human was a first. She previously thought Richard didn’t even have the capability to eat, even when hungry, he drank nutrient liquid.
Richard, after consuming the fruit, looked at Hervier, contemplated for a moment then asked: "Currently, the Green Source Fruit you delivered seems to have a conversion rate of thirteen percent, three percentage points higher than expected ten percent."
"Ha." Hervier smiled, "Indeed, indeed, three percentage points higher. But this isn’t my accomplishment, it is thanks to the people Lord Richard temporarily found for me, they don’t possess great character but in terms of ability, I must say they are very strong.
Having them work overnight for three days brought about this result. I suggest having them work overnight for half a month, might elevate the Green Source Fruit’s energy conversion rate to twenty percent."
"Overnight half a month?" Richard shook his head, "I fear by then they might indeed kill you."
Richard lightly clapped his hands and said: "Alright, from now, the Green Source plan is finally successful. A bit late, but not too late, at least our enemies haven’t breached Atlantis. Next, your Green Source Castle should prepare well, and also notify Black Sun Castle to commence operation Black Sun."
"It’s soon going to be dark." he commented gazing at the bright sky outside.
Hervier’s smiling expression slowly turned serious, he took a deep breath and nodded: "Understood." Saying that, he turned and left.
Inside, Moli frowned at Richard and asked: "What do you mean it’s soon going to be dark?"
"It’s literal," Richard replied, "Just wait, you’ll see soon enough."
"Wait how long?"
"About twelve hours."
...
