Hodge was left dumbfounded.
After staring blankly for a while, he suddenly asked, "Is your lord related to Duke Alvaray?"
This time, it was the young man's turn to be surprised. "You know about that? They really are distant relatives."
"I could tell." Hodge's face twitched. Duke Alvaray had left him with a bit of psychological trauma.
Back then, despite pushing forward with everything he had, he still failed to capture the ducal territory before Alvaray surrendered.
Now, the way Hodge looked at the distant city turned dangerous. He feared that if he did not attack soon, he would lose his chance.
There really was no chance.
News of the Expeditionary Force and Blood Port spread ever more widely through the city. Just then, old Vance was discharged from the hospital. After returning to the city, he became something of a celebrity. Countless people sought him out to ask questions, and every time, a crowd would gather around him, asking him to talk about his injuries, about... Blood Port.
Blood Port had become a hot topic of conversation as well.
Quite a few hired laborers had followed old Vance south. Though they had only caught a fleeting glimpse of it, the city had nevertheless been deeply imprinted on their minds.
What was interesting was that everyone described Blood Port differently.
"It's a city of giants. Steel behemoths walk through its streets, and forests of cement grow there... What's cement? I don't know either. That's what I heard those adults say."
"Blood Port is a city in the sky! Huge smokestacks stretch into the heavens, and giant whales swim through the air!"
"I heard Blood Port has an underground city. No, I didn't just hear about it—I saw with my own eyes countless people pass through a gate and head down