Inglis's Actions

When Li Qi stepped down from the carriage, he immediately saw Mayor Dag waiting for him at the entrance.

Beside him stood Dag's daughter, Claudia, wearing a lady's dress and a sunhat.

Dag was a typical nobleman.

He was called typical because he perfectly matched Li Qi's stereotypical image of a nobleman.

He wore luxurious clothes, had a large belly, a curled handlebar mustache, and held a cane that looked like a little twig next to him.

Li Qi had not met many nobles. He had seen the most at school, followed by on the trains.

However, since they had either been at school or traveling, they had dressed quite appropriately.

Unlike the man before him... whose figure had far too much "weight."

Compared with Dag, his daughter beside him looked much prettier.

Her dark-gold hair had been curled, and beneath the lace-trimmed sunhat, a pair of brown eyes studied the place with curiosity and scrutiny.

Her posture was perfectly proper. She had clearly received an excellent etiquette education and was the most orthodox kind of noble young lady.

The two of them welcomed him one after the other. Behind them, the mayor's guards stood in a line.

Li Qi took in the entire scene before stepping down from the carriage.

The moment he got off, the portly Dag came forward and said excitedly:

"Oh! My adorable Angela, I finally get to see you again!"

As he spoke, Dag took two steps forward as if he intended to hug Li Qi, but he quickly stopped in front of him.

He looked at his own large belly, then at his "young daughter's" petite body. For a moment, he did not dare to reach out and hug her.

Seeing this, Claudia immediately stepped forward and hugged Li Qi, saying excitedly:

"Little sister, it's been so long. You must have had a hard journey."

"It's been a long time, Older Sister."

Hearing Claudia's form of address, Li Qi raised his eyebrows slightly.

At first, he had thought Claudia had been forcibly dragged over by Dag to put on an act, and that she might not know the truth of the matter.

But judging from Claudia's attitude now, the truth might be the opposite.

In the Angulo Family, the person who truly had the final say was probably this Claudia.

Claudia's embrace with Li Qi was brief. Then, quite naturally, she took his hand and led him toward the city.

At the same time, she said:

"You must be exhausted after traveling for so many days, right? Older Sister will take you home. You don't know this, but our family doesn't live in the territory anymore. We live in the city center now."

Claudia introduced the affairs of the city to Li Qi in a soft voice, like an older sister doting on her younger sister.

But although she appeared to be making small talk about family matters, she had actually already explained most of the city's situation to Li Qi.

This included the names of several prestigious noble families in the city, some Reformist Faction officials, and the Traditional Faction officials hiding in the shadows.

In just a few sentences, this intelligent woman had told Li Qi everything about the city through casual conversation.

And she had done so without arousing anyone's suspicion.

This made Li Qi even more certain that his nominal older sister was probably the true person in charge of the Angulo Family.

The city center was some distance from the city gate, so there was no way they could walk back.

Thus, after only a few steps, Claudia led Li Qi onto another carriage that had been waiting for a long time.

The carriage was dark gold, with two brown horses snorting impatiently at the front.

Compared with the carriage Li Qi had taken from the Provincial Capital, this one looked larger and more luxurious. It could accommodate several people.

Claudia held Li Qi's hand as she boarded, and Dag soon climbed in as well.

After that, Generro sat at the front and took charge of driving the carriage.

Once the carriage started moving, the Soundproof Barrier engraved inside activated at the same time. Only then did Dag and Claudia's attitudes change.

"I was disrespectful just now, sir. Please forgive me."

As soon as he entered the carriage, Dag apologized to Li Qi.

Li Qi shook his head. "This is my current identity. Call me whatever you should. Besides, I'm not some official. Right now, I'm just an ordinary person."

The moment Li Qi became a spy, his file in the official records would be sealed completely, accessible only to a select few.

At the same time, his public records would be tampered with, making him disappear entirely from other people's sight.

So Li Qi held no official position now, and Dag did not need to be so respectful toward him.

But Claudia said:

"Basic etiquette is still necessary."

"Enough. There's no need for excessive formalities. Just tell me when I can leave for the Shipu Federation."

Li Qi spoke with slight fatigue.

After several days of travel, even his strong physique and Strategic Rank Mage Master cultivation could not keep him from feeling somewhat exhausted.

The main problem was that he had not been able to take off his clothes for several days. Along with the metal-thread corset and the decorations on his clothes, he had been wearing nearly twenty pounds of weight every day. Anyone would have found it unbearable.

Thus, all Li Qi wanted now was to find somewhere to take off all his clothes, get a good night's rest, and then immediately head to the Inglis Magic Nation to study magic.

He did not want to get involved in any messy affairs.

Li Qi wanted to reach the Shipu Federation quickly, but upon hearing his words, Dag and Claudia's expressions became somewhat awkward.

Seeing their expressions, Li Qi's heart sank.

"What is it? Is there a problem?"

"You only arrived today, sir, so you probably don't know. Three days ago, the Shipu Federation refused entry to citizens of Uno... I was just about to tell you."

Dag replied.

Li Qi's brow furrowed even more deeply, and Claudia immediately added:

"You've been on the road these past few days, so you may not know. Apparently... Inglis has already gone to war with our country."

"I know that. I already knew about it before I left the Royal Capital."

Li Qi naturally knew that Inglis had declared war on Uno.

Otherwise, he would not have been in such a hurry to leave Uno.

Wait... gone to war?

Li Qi soon realized that Claudia had said "gone to war," not "declared war." Could it be...

Sure enough, Claudia quickly explained:

"It's not the declaration from before. It's a formal war. Inglis's warships arrived at the White Rock Strait a few days ago and encountered our fleet."

"The Shipu Federation sealed its border at the same time Inglis went to war with us?"

"Yes."

Claudia nodded.

So that was how it was. In that case, Li Qi had still arrived one step too late.

The reason Bolent had urged Li Qi to depart so urgently was that he wanted Li Qi to enter Inglis by another route through the territory of a neutral country before Inglis officially took action.

But unexpectedly, not long after Li Qi left, Inglis had immediately gone to war with Uno.

How had they acted so quickly?

Li Qi found it difficult to understand Inglis's choice and decision.

Inglis had declared war on Uno one week ago, not even ten days earlier.

And the formal war against Uno had begun three days ago.

From the declaration of war, to assembling the fleet, to reaching the White Rock Strait in Uno's waters, if any one stage had been delayed, they could not possibly have engaged Uno so quickly.

In other words, from the very day it declared war, Inglis had immediately begun mobilizing and launched its war against Uno with lightning speed.

Too fast.

Inglis's actions were far too fast!

They were so fast that it was completely abnormal!

Inglis's movements made Li Qi think of something, and he quickly asked:

"What about the Mien Frontline? How are things over there?"

"The Mien Frontline?" Dag froze. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "You mean the frontline where we're fighting Falor, right? This subordinate doesn't know much about the situation there."

Claudia added:

"We only know about Inglis's actions because we received the information from the Shipu Federation. Falor is too far away from us, so we don't know what's happening there."

At the end, Claudia thought for a moment and asked:

"Do you think Falor may have gone to war with us as well?"

It wasn't a possibility. It was certain.

Li Qi's mood grew heavy.

For Inglis to act so decisively proved that Falor had definitely launched an attack on Uno as well.

Only after confirming that Uno could not mobilize the entire nation's strength to defend the White Rock Strait would Inglis dare make such a major move!

But if that was true, it was absolutely bad news.

Because it meant that Falor and Inglis had probably already formed an alliance!