Mandela roared furiously as she pushed her Originium Arts to the limit, raising stone pillars to create cover for her subordinates. But there was no way she could withstand the concentrated fire of the Victoria soldiers alone.
She had thought of retreating as soon as they were exposed, but considering that she was escorting Deepcolor's machinery, she had tried to withdraw slowly with the cargo.
Then one of the Victoria soldiers' fireballs blasted a cargo crate to pieces. All that appeared before Mandela's eyes were heavy stones.
She immediately realized that she had been used as a decoy. But she did not get angry. She knew tonight's deal was extremely important. If she had drawn the Victoria soldiers' attention, that meant the real transaction was proceeding normally. Terra's cause of independence had not suffered a setback!
But by then, Mandela had already missed the best opportunity to retreat. The Victoria soldiers were moving far faster than she had imagined.
"Chief, the Victorians have surrounded us!"
Her subordinate's shout made Mandela frantic. She could definitely break out alone, but what about these Terra people? What about her fellow tribesmen?
"Surrender! You have nowhere left to run!"
Captain Hamilton, who was in command, stepped forward and shouted. He wanted to capture the leader alive. That way, he might be able to draw out an even bigger fish.
But the only response he received was the Terra people's curses.
"Go to hell, you Victoria bastards!"
At the colonel's roar, the Victoria soldiers increased the pace of their attack, suppressing the Terra people so thoroughly that they could not counterattack.
"Sir, these Deepcolor soldiers are all Terra people."
"Oh? Is that so..."
Theresica, who was observing from the darkness, genuinely did not know what expression to wear as he watched the scene before him. These were clearly not Terra's armed forces, yet the Terra people had truly treated Deepcolor as their lifeline and were fighting with such dedication.
After listening to the Shapeshifter, he looked toward Shining and Salus.
"Are you confident you can kill all these Victoria soldiers?"
"Yes."
"Then... Deepcolor has sent us a gift. We should return the favor."
Upon receiving the order, Shining and Salus drew their weapons. They put on masks, concealing their faces.
The Victoria soldiers suddenly noticed two indistinct figures before them. Hidden beneath cloaks, the women's blades began sweeping through the crowd, cutting through it like hot knives through butter.
In the dim desert, many soldiers still did not know what was happening. They merely felt warm liquid inexplicably spray across their faces before their comrades collapsed beside them.
Mandela and the remaining Deepcolor soldiers, who were under siege, were equally bewildered. The Victoria soldiers who had kept them suppressed were actually dwindling! Although the Victoria soldiers still held the advantage in combat strength, the pressure on them had already disappeared.
"Chief, who are those people?"
"I don't know. Those aren't Deepcolor's uniforms."
Mandela studied the mysterious people who had suddenly appeared. Finally, she ordered her subordinates, "Since they're helping us, they must be allies! Forward! Fight alongside them."
At the Victoria command post, the officers sensed something wrong from the messenger's report. Another group seemed to have appeared on the battlefield, and their side was also frequently suffering friendly-fire casualties.
The situation seemed to be slipping out of their control!
"Order the casters to withdraw from the battle and focus on maintaining battlefield illumination. Also, immediately notify the remaining garrison. Have them all come here. Today, we must capture—ah!"
Captain Hamilton was just about to send in more troops when a sharp blade suddenly burst through his body from behind.
The colonel turned his head in shock and discovered that the person who had attacked him was Vice Captain Leto. Moreover, the soldiers in the command post were staring at them expressionlessly, with no intention of intervening.
"You..."
"Deepcolor has been active so often that if I wanted to arrest them, I would have done so long ago. But whoever they are, as long as they oppose Victoria, I will lend them a hand. Consider yourselves honored. This is a standard Gaul officer's dagger."
Leto slit Hamilton's throat. After pushing his corpse aside, he ordered his soldiers,
"Cease all combat operations. I want to hold peace talks with Deepcolor and that unidentified faction."
"Yes!"
The soldiers nearby answered their commander in Gaulish.
The chaotic battlefield suddenly fell silent. The Victoria forces withdrew from the front line and began regrouping. Many Feline soldiers hurriedly slipped away into the darkness while the formation was still disorganized.
Deepcolor did not understand why the Victoria forces had stopped attacking, but they had not withdrawn either. As a result, Mandela and the others did not dare make a move, and the two sides remained locked in a standoff.
Meanwhile, a soldier carrying a white flag approached Shining. He handed her a letter, saying it had been personally written by the Victoria commander, who hoped she would pass it to someone with authority among the Sarkaz and facilitate talks between the three parties.
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A Great Harvest
"Gaul?"
Seeing the word mentioned in the letter, Theresica pondered briefly before finding it in a corner of his memory.
It had been a powerful nation a century ago, once the owner of Terra's central continent. Later, it had gone to war with Ursus, Leithanien, and Victoria at the same time, ultimately suffering defeat.
Most of its legacy had become nourishment for Victoria. But he had never expected that, a hundred years later, someone would still claim to be from Gaul.
"Let's go take a look."
Theresica entered the battlefield. Mandela and Leto were already waiting there. The Victoria soldiers had moved away, leaving only a handful of guards beside each of them.
"One of Deepcolor's leaders, Mandela."
"A remnant of Gaul."
"Proxy of the Sarkaz royal court."
After introducing themselves, Leto spoke first.
"My name is Leto. I am a former Gaul. I believe we can reach an understanding when it comes to taking revenge on Victoria."
"You killed quite a few of our people!"
Mandela glared angrily at Leto, the Feline ears atop her head standing straight up in agitation.
Leto said nothing. He merely had his men carry out a corpse. "He planned tonight's operation. You have acted with impunity in Little Hill County for so long that you would have been finished if I hadn't pretended not to see you. Let me remind you of one more thing: I will soon be transferred to Londinium and will no longer be responsible for security here. You had better be careful."
"Hmph!"
Mandela snorted unwillingly and ordered her subordinates to drag away Hamilton's corpse. But as she passed Theresica, she murmured softly,
"Thank you."
"It was only right."
Theresica responded with a polite smile.
The people of Deepcolor soon vanished into the night. Theresica turned toward the middle-aged officer before him and asked curiously, "Citizen of Gaul, may I ask why you sought me out?"
In the letter he had delivered earlier, the vice captain had proposed a trade but had not explained the details.
"Greetings, proxy of the royal court. From the standpoint of our past positions, our two nations were actually enemies centuries ago."
"But now, Victoria is our common enemy," Theresica said. "The enemy of my enemy can be a friend."
"Yes, you are quite right. That is also why I came to find you."
Leto thought for a moment before saying, "My soldiers caught Deepcolor collecting Originium testing equipment. The crates they disguised tonight were all industrial shipping crates used to transport machinery... You are trading Originium for machinery."
"You guessed correctly."
Theresica nodded.
"Then I would like to use the same method of trade."
Leto handed over a document. "Victoria is about to begin producing a brand-new Originium crossbow, replacing the military-issue individual crossbows currently in use. As a result, the entire military production line and its workers are being reorganized."
"There is a military-standard individual crossbow factory that has been operating for many years. The machines are old, but they still work. It has now been assigned to me for disposal, but I have not touched it yet. I can sell you everything inside, including the design blueprints, technical documents, and production-process documents for this equipment."
"Hmm... That is certainly tempting. What would you like in return?"
Theresica asked. Such excellent goods would undoubtedly come at a steep price.
"I want refined Originium ingots. They must be one hundred percent pure. Ten tons."
What Leto said surprised Theresica. "Originium detectors won't react to them. Do you intend to take them into the city? Ten tons is a huge amount. Are you planning to assassinate someone?"
"No. I merely intend to take advantage of Victoria's current Originium prices and earn the greatest possible difference from you. I need a great many things. There are goals my position as a vice captain cannot accomplish, and half my life has already been spent."
"I understand. For now, I can only give you two tons."
"That will do. Before I leave Little Hill County, I will hand everything over to you in one go. I trust you won't play any tricks."
"Of course not. You may be able to provide us with even more in the future, and we will do our best to meet your price."
Theresica shook Leto's hand. "The deal is concluded. I wish us a pleasant cooperation, and I wish you a smooth promotion."
Theresica's journey through Victoria was extended. Under Leto's protection, he took Zeppelin to inspect the military factories. With the Little Hill County garrison providing cover, the Shapeshifters disguised as Felines openly moved the machinery right under the noses of Victoria's administrative agencies.
The officials genuinely believed that these people were workers carrying out a demolition assignment, and shouted angrily at them.
"Move faster! Haven't you eaten?"
"Yes, yes, yes..."
The Shapeshifters smiled obsequiously and quickened their pace.
The machine tools were loaded onto the transport ships one by one. In addition, large quantities of finished and semi-finished products left in the factory were taken away as well. The enormous collection of technical documents and blueprints was stuffed into garbage bags and transported out of Little Hill County under the officials' nauseated gazes.
The Originium they had brought out was sold off completely, and the Sarkaz transport convoy began its return journey.
Upon returning to Kazdel, the installation, calibration, disassembly, and imitation of the machine tools began immediately.
The old equipment of the entire Sarkaz army was also gathered at this time and sent for unified repairs.
If ordinary infantrymen looked excited when they saw their repaired armor and weapons, the archers were practically delirious. They had actually received Victoria's military-standard crossbows!
The battered bows and crossbows that had been patched up again and again and treasured like priceless possessions were tossed aside. Every archer in the army was summoned to receive a Victoria individual crossbow.
The archers carefully accepted the individual crossbows, which still carried the fresh scent of the factory. They held them as though they were cradling fragile newborns.
Some even ran out of formation, washed and dried their hands, and then hurried back, afraid that the dust on their bodies might damage the weapons.
The Kazdel Military Committee, whom Theresica had never seen before, now came to him of their own accord and praised him repeatedly.
After all, they had done nothing, yet suddenly received machine tools for repairing equipment as well as new weapons.
"There's no need for all of you to get so excited."
Theresica stopped them. "I have an idea. It may require making some personnel adjustments throughout the army."
"Please give your orders, Your Majesty."
The elderly Sarkaz before him all bowed.
"I want to gather soldiers throughout the army who have some practical ability and know how to repair equipment, and establish an industrial skills school."
Theresica said that Kazdel currently had only the few Sarkaz around Zeppelin who could be considered industrial technicians. Without expanding the ranks, they would never develop!
Given Kazdel's current level of education, the soldiers who could repair equipment with their own hands were also the most suitable people to begin direct machine-tool training.
But this also meant that the army would lose all of its directly deployable craftsmen for a period of time. If any equipment developed a problem, it could only be sent back to the factory for repairs.
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P.S. 2: Brainstorm: Sarkaz archers with upgraded weapons, and various Sarkaz units with enhanced defenses—the Doctors had better be ready! (*^▽^*)
P.S. 3: A big shot's self-promotion: "The Immortals stand atop Arknights."
The members of the Kazdel Military Committee all said they needed to think it over after hearing this. As it happened, several clan chiefs arrived as well, bringing reports on their work during this period.
During the month he had been away from Kazdel, the Sarkaz census had been completed. The report submitted by the Confessors stated that infected people currently made up thirty percent of the entire Sarkaz population. There were also many newborns, but the number of children dropped sharply by the time they reached one or two years old. High birth rates coexisted with high infant mortality.
Seeing Theresica staring at this page of the report, the Confessor explained, "Kazdel's medical system collapsed long ago. Ordinary residents rely on basic knowledge passed down over the years, or on medical casters, to maintain their health and treat illnesses."
Theresica widened his eyes. After that came the Banshee, who submitted the relevant report on the schools.
According to the report, construction of the schools had long since been completed. They had simply renovated unused houses, and all the teachers had been found. Yet there were very few students.
"Why is that? Why are there so few students?"
Theresica asked in surprise. The number did not match the statistics for children between six and twelve at all.
"Many children are needed as simple labor for their families. Their parents probably have no way to... send them to school."
The Banshee clan chief looked troubled. Although everyone understood the importance of education, survival could not be overlooked either.
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