An ominous warning
Lu Yuan stepped forward, Blanca turned to the side and pointed to the tall, Robust girl beside her, introducing her to Lu Yuan readily:
"Lu Yuan, this is our team's fourth member. Because you've been busy at the Hanging Tower recently and the Academy is urging us to fill the roster, we found her to join the team. Her name is Karin."
Upon hearing this, the tall girl Karin turned her head and nodded crisply to Lu Yuan as a greeting. Lu Yuan smiled and nodded in response, indicating his understanding of Blanca and the others' arrangements.
Just as the two finished greeting each other, the knight in charge of commanding this expedition, atop the high platform in the forecourt square, loudly began his pre-battle pep talk:
"All members of the Knight Academy, I believe you are all already aware of the recent turmoil in the Northern Territory!"
"Starting today, our Knight Academy will officially be mobilized and fully participate in the mission of maintaining order in the cities of the Northern Territory. Every one of you who goes out represents the face of our Knight Academy!"
"In the following operation, you must not only ensure your own safety but also fulfill your respective tasks without fail, maintaining order throughout the Northern Territory for our Auris Empire. This is our core mission. Now, everyone board the vehicles, let's go!"
With a command from the high platform, the massive procession gathered in the square and Outer Garden immediately set off in a grand procession. This time, the North Campus's preparations were clearly very thorough, with spacious carriages drawn by the thick-haired warhorses unique to the Northern Territory lined up on the Outer Garden's roadway.
The Northern Territory warhorses were covered with a thick coat of fur, even their hooves, as big as bowls, were wrapped in a ring of non-slip, cold-weather down. Their four strong, sturdy legs stood motionless on the snow-covered stone road, pulling heavy wagons steadily down the mountain road.
Lu Yuan, along with Blanca, Harvey, Leon, and new team member Karin, boarded the carriage assigned to them. The carriage was very spacious, and only the five of them sat inside. Outside the carriage, specially assigned Transcendence logistics personnel were responsible for driving the train.
Since there were no outsiders in the carriage, Blanca, who was sitting by the window, no longer needed to lower her voice. Once the carriage started moving smoothly, she began to tell Lu Yuan, Harvey, Leon, and Karin about the dangerous situation in the entire Northern Territory that the Solheim Family had just informed them of.
Blanca didn't set any rules or regulations, but solemnly explained the current situation, telling everyone that the Northern Territory Defense Line were under pressure and a large number of refugees had poured into the major cities of the Northern Territory. After arriving at their destinations, everyone should not only be wary of strangers of unknown origin, but also pay special attention to the daily food and water in the cities.
If possible, try to eat all three meals together with members of our Knight Academy. Avoid eating or drinking alcohol from unknown sources on the street.
As for the area near the west of Watch City, bordering the Northern Territory Tribal Alliance, the alliance has almost turned against each other. While the border isn't quite a death trap, it's not far off. It's teeming with traitors and Heretic, so everyone should stay away from that area as much as possible unless absolutely necessary.
When it came to the most troublesome aspect, Blanca's tone grew even more somber, reminding everyone that the Heretic's infiltration throughout the Northern Territory was far deeper than anticipated, and that many people in the various cities had likely already been Heretic corrupted and converted by the heretics.
Whether it's officials and Deacon from the City Hall, ordinary local residents and merchants, or even native Night Watcher from the local branch, everyone must be cautious and wary when interacting with them. No one can be completely trusted until their background is thoroughly understood, especially places like the refugee Isolation shacks in the north of the city and the underground sewage culverts, which are currently the most dangerous places in the Northern Territory cities.
Lu Yuan sat quietly on one side of the carriage, listening to Blanca's instructions. A slight thought crossed his mind. Blanca's emphasis on being careful about the food in the city was exactly what he had analyzed yesterday about the strange potion's properties: it would be ignored by the senses after purification and would easily mix into food.
After Blanca finished explaining the general situation in the Northern Territory, Harvey, sitting opposite her, reached into his pocket and took out several wooden tokens engraved with the Night Owl's mark. He distributed them to Lu Yuan and the other three people in the carriage, adding:
"My family runs many shops in several major cities in the Northern Territory, with numerous informants and contact points, not just one or two. Keep this token safe. Once you arrive, no matter what your mission is, as long as you see a shop with the same secret mark in the city, showing the token will allow you to obtain information and assistance."
Lu Yuan reached out and took the wooden token from Harvey, putting it into his pocket. He thanked Harvey and Blanca. Although the atmosphere in the carriage was somewhat heavy due to the grim situation in the Northern Territory, the information provided by these two organizations and the presence of their undercover agents made everyone feel a little more at ease.
As the people inside the carriage were talking in hushed tones, the long convoy finally drove out of the stone gate pass shrouded by the Knight Academy's grand formation and plunged into the vast and boundless world outside the mountains.
As soon as they left the protection of the Academy's great formation, the biting Northern Territory storm roared and swept in, with goose-feather-like snowflakes mixed with howling winds, turning the entire road down the mountain into a white expanse.
Fortunately, the thick-haired warhorses from the Northern Territory that pulled the carriages were naturally adapted to the harsh, snowy plains. In addition, all the people accompanying the group, whether they were Academy students or logistics personnel driving the carriages, were Transcendence individuals with certain ranks. Therefore, the howling blizzard outside did not have a significant impact on the group's progress.
The long convoy continued to speed down the winding mountain road, braving the wind and snow.
A howling blizzard swept Northern Territory, whipping up heavy snowflakes and drawing a vast, dark curtain across the land. Dozens of large, heavy wagons, drawn by thick-haired warhorses from the Northern Territory, sped along the winding, rugged main road of the snow-covered Snow Mountain, braving the biting wind.
Although the North Campus of the Knight Academy mobilized this time, the Rock Grand Knight Commander, a Fifth Order powerhouse, did not accompany the army.
After all, the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander had already taken Eli ahead to the Northern Territory Astrology Society, the main base of the North Campus, and a Fifth Order Grand Knight Commander had to stay behind to oversee the situation.
Of course, Lu Yuan didn't actually know how many Grand Knight Commander the Northern Territory Knight Academy had.
Moreover, if Fifth Order expert were to leave the academy and set out, the target would be too great, and it would be easy to alert the enemy. Therefore, this grand expeditionary convoy was jointly commanded by the three Fourth Order knights in the academy and divided into three teams according to the front, middle and rear echelons to advance in sequence.