007

In Beda City, with the arrival of the Rainbow Moon, even the tense atmosphere in the air was somewhat dispelled.

The once quiet opera house was once again bustling with people. Money, beauty, and power are always the objects of people's pursuit.

More than half a month passed in the blink of an eye. Thanks to the opera house's deliberate publicity, news of the Rainbow Moon's arrival had already spread throughout the entire Southeast Province. Almost all the interested nobles had appeared in Beda City.

As usual, she completed her formulaic performance amidst the fans' frenzy, but Isabelle felt no sense of accomplishment; instead, she felt a surge of disgust.

At this moment, her desire for power surged once more. Reason told her that only by becoming strong could she have the right to leave this place.

"Has the target not appeared?"

A mysterious voice rang out, pulling Isabelle back to reality. She glanced at the suddenly appearing shadow figure and said with annoyance:

"No! I don't know if there's something wrong with that guy, he's been holed up in his territory training his troops, he doesn't understand any romance at all."

Shadow Kill, please let me know in advance next time you come, just in case someone discovers us...

"Don't worry, I checked before I came, and no one is watching me."

In the troupe of singers, everyone knows your habits, Isabelle, and no one will come here to make trouble at this time.

Even if someone does come, I can quietly slip away. Unless it's a top-tier expert, they won't be able to stop me.

Your task now is to deal with that Mountain Territory as quickly as possible and confirm whether he has the Blood Moon Horn. Only then can we decide whether to take the next step.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Shadow Kill remained completely unmoved, as if the beautiful woman before him did not exist.

"Wooden Man!"

After muttering a complaint under her breath, Isabelle slowly said, "Don't worry, I haven't wasted these days. All the information about this Mountain Territory is here."

Strangely, none of the nobles in the Southeast Province had heard of the Blood Moon Horn's arrival in the Mountain Territory. I tried to probe from the side, but they all denied it outright.

After some probing, they surprisingly told me that the Blood Moon Horn had fallen into the hands of the Church after the last great war. They also vaguely mentioned the murder of the King's envoy.

To avoid arousing their suspicion, I couldn't press them further. But the two completely different answers suggested something was amiss.

Just a friendly reminder: don't think that just because you're good at stealth, you're invincible.

The Mountain Territory is not as simple as you make it out to be. In fact, the information I've gathered is completely at the opposite extreme from what you've presented.

"Let alone the uncertainty of whether the Blood Moon Horn is in the Mountain Territory, even if it were confirmed, I don't believe you could manage to bring it out from an army of hundreds of thousands."

The well-intentioned reminder wasn't because Isabelle was soft-hearted. While they appeared to have joined Mysterious Organization, their relationships were actually primarily based on transactions.

They are connected solely by mutual interests and know very little about the Mysterious Organization. Based on the limited information they have, they cannot directly deduce who the "boss" behind the scenes is.

In this context, a sense of belonging is naturally out of the question. The reason for reminding Shadow Kill now is mainly because she's worried that if he rashly rushes in, he might inadvertently expose her.

A songstress is still a songstress. Once her hidden identity is exposed, trouble will come knocking. Rainbow Moon will not stand up for a "traitorous" songstress.

"An army of over 100,000?"

"Isabelle, are you kidding me?"

The Mountain Territory has a population of less than 100,000, so where did the 100,000-strong army come from?

Could it be that she's like some of the idiotic singers in your troupe, so flattered that she's lost her own judgment?

Shadow Kill said excitedly.

It's not that he lacks moral character; for an assassin, the most important basic skill is to have a calm and composed mind.

This news is truly terrifying. If the Dalton Family had amassed an army of hundreds of thousands, perhaps people might believe it.

Whether a Mountain Territory could even muster 10,000 able-bodied men was uncertain. How could it possibly muster an army of hundreds of thousands?

"Your intelligence is too outdated."

A single Mountain Territory may not have that many able-bodied men, but when you add the strength of other minor nobles, it's hard to say.

However, they could only speculate about the exact number of able-bodied men receiving military training. The Mountain Territory had not released any data, but the number was certainly considerable.

Even if you don't care about these serf soldiers, there are also a large number of noble sons who are undergoing military training together.

The exact number remains uncertain. According to these nobles, there are several hundred noble children receiving training in the Mountain Territory.

"With several hundred more knights, and behind them an army of tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of serfs. Are you sure you can forcibly take the Blood Moon Horn from them?"

After hearing Isabelle's explanation, Shadow Kill was completely stunned. What was originally a nightmare-level mission had now escalated to a hellish level.

The Mountain Territory already had a strong military, and the heads of various departments within the Church almost got into a fight over this mission.

Perhaps because everyone felt that forcibly taking it was unreliable, this hot potato unfortunately fell into the hands of the intelligence organization "Sacred Hand," which was preparing to take it by trickery.

To ensure the mission went smoothly, Pope Pius VII even went to the Cenobites camp and invited several of the strongest Cenobites to come and assist him.

Unfortunately, no matter how strong the Cenobites are, they can only run away when faced with a massive army.

Moreover, if they were to cause trouble on enemy territory, their identities would be exposed at any time, and they could be attacked by the powerful natives of the Alpha Kingdom.

You only have one chance to make a move. Regardless of success or failure, you must run away immediately after you make your move.

For safety reasons, the Church went so far as to employ its key informant Isabelle, attempting to use her beauty to aid in achieving its goals.

Unfortunately, the result was destined to disappoint them. Hudson had seen plenty of song and dance performances in his previous life, and they held little appeal for him.

Abandoning his important work and traveling hundreds of miles just to see a show that has no real purpose, Hudson isn't out of his mind.

"Isabelle, you understand men best. Is there any way to get close to that Mountain Viscount, or perhaps find a way to lure him out?"

What I mean is to shake off that Earth Bear, find an opportunity to be alone with him, and wait for the right moment...

Before Shadow Kill could finish speaking, Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Things aren't as simple as you make them out to be."

Even with our obvious propaganda, that guy was able to stay in his territory and train his troops, which clearly shows he has a strong will.

Considering the legendary history of this Mountain Territory viscount, there has never been a single scandal, and he may never have experienced the pleasures of love.

He doesn't want to leave his territory, so I can't exactly go to the Mountain Territory to seduce him and teach him how to "get it," can I?

It's very easy for you to get close to this person; you might meet him when you place the next huge military order.

However, the situation is somewhat special now, with preparations underway in various regions. The Mountain Territory are overwhelmed with orders, so even if you place an order, they might not accept it.

To be honest, I'd rather not bother with all that and just send someone over to negotiate the price. The Blood Moon Horn is meaningless to this person; it's not an item that's impossible to transfer.

For such an ambitious man, nothing is off-limits if the price is high enough. The prerequisite is that the Blood Moon Horn is truly in his possession.

After speaking, Isabelle didn't forget to throw in a flirtatious wink. Unfortunately, Shadow Kill's heart was already as still as water, and he had absolutely no interest in the beauty before him, whose every smile and gesture was captivating.

"I will report the intelligence you gather truthfully! If the higher-ups agree, you will be rewarded."

Let me remind you, don't play with fire. Beauty is a woman's most powerful weapon, but it can also be the source of her misfortune.

Not every nobleman is so law-abiding. The organization has already solved a lot of trouble for you; otherwise, Rainbow Moon alone wouldn't be able to protect you.

It's one thing for ordinary noblemen's sons, but if a powerful nobleman becomes completely infatuated with you, it could very well be the beginning of disaster.

After issuing the warning, Shadow Kill vanished from the room without leaving a trace, as if no one had ever been there.

Left alone in her room, Isabelle was secretly troubled. Sometimes, being too charming is a sin.

A group of noblemen flocked into the city to eat, drink, and have fun, and naturally, jealousy and rivalry ensued. The resulting conflicts quickly alarmed the Governor's Mansion.

"What's going on? Instead of training their troops at home, they've come to Beda City to cause trouble. Have all these nobles lost their minds?"

Count Pierce asked the sheriff angrily.

This is a critical time; every province is preparing for war. Anyone who stops will face the harsh realities of society!

He, as the boss, was extremely anxious, and his underlings dared to disregard the situation, which was like adding fuel to the fire.

"The Rainbow Moon Songstress Group caused trouble; ever since they arrived in Beda City, things have been far from peaceful."

Nobles from all over flocked to the city, and the fights among their sons were mostly due to jealousy and rivalry.

"Guccioni said dejectedly."

As the city's sheriff, he's been having a tough time lately. A group of noble children have nothing better to do than cause trouble, greatly increasing the pressure on the city's security.

"Waste!

The list of noble children who entered the city to eat, drink, and have fun was compiled and sent to each prefecture so that their families could come and pick them up.

By the way, I would like to remind them that once the war breaks out in the Northern Frontier, all of these people must be included in the first batch of officers and soldiers to participate in the war.

Any absence for any reason would be considered desertion. Even if someone died, they could only be buried after the Governor's Mansion sent someone to verify their identity.

Make sure all county governors take this seriously. If they don't know how to discipline their subordinates, they should learn from Hudson and gather the sons of nobles together for training.

Count Pierce said, almost roaring.

The more information one knows, the greater the pressure becomes. The increasingly tense situation on the continent is extremely unfavorable for the Alpha Kingdom.

The major human powers' resources were tied up for various reasons. This meant that once war broke out, the support that human nations could provide would be very limited.

In this critical moment, Count Pierce didn't even have time to suppress his dissidents.

As a result, a group of aristocratic sons, instead of being ambitious, ran around vying for his affections, completely seeking thrills.

As it turns out, the boss can't be provoked. So here comes the ruthless one: those looking for thrills are included in the first batch of reinforcements.

If you're tired of living, you can continue to do nothing. After all, it's your own life, so you can do whatever you want with it.

In the Mountain Territory, Hudson, who became a role model, was busy every day like a hardworking little bee.

It's a typical "007" work schedule, and I ended up arranging it myself, so I don't even know where to begin complaining.

He became a role model once again, though Hudson was unaware of it. Ultimately, the time was too short; how could a qualified officer be trained in just one month?

Most people only learned the basics and didn't grasp the essence of the matter. They're fine as rank-and-file military instructors, but commanding a large army...

There's no need to discuss this; Hudson himself lacked the ability to command large-scale military operations. His underlings, who were learning from him, were even less capable.

Apart from a few exceptionally talented generals, most generals develop their military command abilities gradually through leading troops.

For example, organizing a large number of young and strong men for training is a major breakthrough in troop leadership.

Although many problems arose during the process, they were eventually resolved.

Without this experience, Hudson probably would never have dreamed that he would one day be able to command so many soldiers.

"Sir, our supplies are almost gone. The training intensity has been too high lately, and resource consumption has exceeded our expectations. What do you think...?"

Before Tom could finish speaking, Hudson interrupted, "Weren't all the requisitions for logistical supplies signed off by these noble officers?"

An army marches on its stomach.

Logistics is always of paramount importance in war, especially during long-distance expeditions, when the challenges to logistics are even more severe.

This is just a simulation, modeled after the kingdom's logistics supply. Unsurprisingly, an "accident" occurred.

Fortunately, this was just on-site training, and the only issue was overspending on supplies. If it had been during a march, I suspect many more unexpected incidents would have occurred.

As an officer with a background in transporting logistical supplies, Hudson was well aware of the complexities of logistics. The troubles encountered during the last suppression of the Skull and Bones Skull Society alone gave him a lot of headaches.

"Signed! All procedures will be strictly carried out according to your regulations."

Tom answered affirmatively.

There was a time when Hudson hated following procedures. But after he came to power, he had to set up a system for his subordinates to follow.

It's not that I'm worried about whether human nature can withstand the test; it's simply that my subordinates have limited abilities. Without a strict set of procedures for them to follow, they can easily make a mess of things.

"Flexibility and adaptability" is based on the premise that bureaucrats possess certain qualities and are able to make some flexible judgments independently.

Unfortunately, Hudson clearly didn't have that many highly qualified people under his command. Giving them flexible and adaptable authority would likely result in them becoming unrecognizable once they reached the lower levels.

"Give all the bills for supplies to these officers, and you don't need to worry about the rest."

Since logistical supplies are running low, notify all units to return to their territories ahead of schedule to participate in the autumn harvest!

Hudson said calmly.

Whoever's soldiers consume the supplies, that family is responsible for paying for them. He certainly wouldn't put a single copper coin into it.

No training facility fees were charged, all out of consideration for personal relationships. Of course, the huge military procurement orders also played a role.

Making money is nothing to be ashamed of.

However, the way you make money requires some finesse. Not every single coin should be kept for yourself. When it's time to consider personal relationships, you must.

No one can afford to support so many soldiers for full-time training. The entire Alpha Kingdom's Standing Army only maintains around 300,000 troops.

This is still due to the threat from the Orc Empire; otherwise, the kingdom's Standing Army would only number around 100,000 at most.

The army is a money-devouring beast. The Alpha Kingdom's high military spending was all squeezed out of the extravagant spending of the noble lords.

The Alpha Kingdom is one of the few countries on the Aslant Continent that has listed "war tax" as a regular tax.

Other human nations usually levy a fee only temporarily when war breaks out.

Even a nation struggles to cope with such a money-devouring behemoth. The situation is even more dire for minor nobles; just over two months of training has already caused many to feel the pinch.

Participation in the autumn harvest was inevitable; only by having the serf soldiers work to support themselves could everyone persevere.

A long march is also an opportunity to test the results of training. Although the journey is not long, it allows the noble officers to experience in advance the various troubles that may occur during a march.

Hudson was so considerate of his underlings that he was almost moved to tears.

Watching the troops break camp and leave, Hudson felt a pang of reluctance for some reason.

The past two months have been incredibly busy, but my life has been fulfilling. It feels like I've found my purpose in life, and I'm able to dedicate myself fully to it.

"When will I be able to command such an army?"

The moment the idea popped into his head, Hudson was startled and quickly forced himself to dismiss it.

It's easy to extinguish an idea, but once ambition takes root, it's very difficult to eradicate.