The skeletons fell silent, but the one wearing the Crown continued:
"Next is the second thing--"
Regarding the Graycast Corridor.
The moment the word was uttered, the other councilors around the Crown skull immediately became extremely attentive, not even glancing at their briefings, but waiting for it to begin dictating:
" Suolaer Aoermo's campaign to become the Grand Foundry Master has failed, and our cross-sea plan needs to be revised."
"What?!"
Several gasps of surprise rang out almost simultaneously from various corners of the round table. Then, it was the four-armed, seemingly most irritable senator who spoke first, slamming his hand on the stone table:
"That piece of trash!"
How did he beg us?
"I still remember his confident and assertive face; I never imagined he would be so utterly useless."
The skeleton with the fish tail spoke with a tone full of resentment, flicking its illusory fish tail as it looked at the Crown skeleton:
Who then became the Grand Foundry Master?
"That inventor he called a bookworm? Or that beast in his eyes who only knew how to fight?"
"None of those."
The Crown skull spoke softly:
"According to reports from Suolaer Aoermo and Keen Rizzos, the fourth person was ultimately chosen as the Grand Foundry Master, a merchant who had risen from the dead and successfully returned from the Wilderness of Chaos through the Corpse Tide — Gray Griss."
The six-winged skeleton shrugged.
"Never heard of it."
"Yes, I've never heard of it."
The others, even the Crown skull, echoed this sentiment.
"So, to atone for their sins, they thoughtfully sent you all the information about this Gray Gris. Take a look."
Only then did everyone look at the briefing in their hands, finding a large head sketch that wasn't quite a perfect match. They carefully examined the bearded man on it, the one who had disrupted their entire plan:
"Is this the person?"
"Yes, that's him."
The Crown skull said:
"An absurdly lucky weakling."
The four-armed skeleton flipped through the briefing in its hands, reading it carefully several times before suddenly saying:
"In other words, all of Gray Gris's contributions had an element of luck, and he only managed to ascend to the throne of the Grand Foundry Master with the help of the ' Second Holy See,' without any real talent or ability?"
"It can be used as a reference, but it shouldn't be taken as absolute truth."
The armored skeleton reminded him from the side:
"You'll understand once you see Suolaer's new plans."
Upon hearing this, the four-armed skeleton quickly flipped through the briefing and soon found the new plan jointly signed by the adventurer Suolaer Aoermo and the Grand Artisan Keen Risos.
Although Suolaer Aoermo's campaign was unsuccessful, he still has a chance to recover, as he still has a high number of votes, ranking second among the four.
Among the special regulations formulated and perfected by the Graycast Corridor to ensure the smooth replacement of Grand Foundry Master, there is the following provision:
Grand Foundry Master is unable to continue performing his/her duties due to special reasons during his/her term of office, all his/her powers and obligations will be transferred to the Grand Foundry Master candidate.
"Are the Grand Foundry Master incapacitated?"
The four-armed skeleton freed one hand to stroke its chin:
How can this be done?
A brief, sinister reply followed from the six-winged skeleton:
"Assassination."
"Isn't this a bit too extreme?"
The armored skeleton strongly objected to this plan:
"Although Gray Gris is only a Middle Tier, intelligence indicates that the previous Grand Foundry Master did not leave the Great Labyrinth City. He must have gone into seclusion after the handover."
"With him here, we can't easily carry out the assassination unless... one of the five of us is deployed, or even two, to be absolutely certain of success. After all, this is an assassination mission across the sea to the capital of the Graycast Corridor, and there will be no shortage of unexpected events along the way..."
The four-armed skeleton finished reviewing the intelligence sent by Suolaer, and the anger in its voice was barely contained:
"This good-for-nothing said that the agreement we made before still stands. As long as he becomes the Grand Foundry Master, he will give us all the exploration ships and transport ships in the Graycast Corridor."
"If we don't assassinate Gray Griss, are we supposed to wait another sixty years for our plan? Until he steps down, until the next Grand Foundry Master election?"
The Crown skull gestured for the four-armed skull to stop venting its emotions. After a moment of silence, it said:
"The assassination can be discussed again. With the ships that Keen Risos has secretly sent over the past twenty years, we are already able to transport a certain number of troops. In addition, with the ' Divine Wings ' and the ' Whale Tail ', the plan does not actually need to be drastically modified. It will just take a little longer to get there."
"Even so, we can still get quite a few people across the sea, it will just require several trips. So we must ensure that the first wave of troops landing in the Demon Realm occupies advantageous terrain so that the soldiers following behind can successfully land."
The congressman paused for a moment, then the armored skeleton asked the Crown skeleton:
"' The Crown,' so what are your plans?"
After a moment's thought, the Crown skull finally made up its mind:
"' Hard Armor,' you stay this time."
It looked at the armored skeleton and explained:
"You excel at planning and defense. This is a war of national annihilation for the empire, and so are we. We have no choice but to take risks in order to consolidate our Authority."
"After today's meeting, you shall immediately set off with your men to the west to construct a defensive line."
"When the Empire advances, you retreat, leaving them nothing. Stretch their supply lines and wait for them to collapse on their own."
"All the Alliance's Territory Secret Pact are in Sand Capital, so even if they occupy those places, they won't be able to grow any plants."
"Therefore, for the sake of this momentous event of sending troops across the sea, it doesn't matter if we lose half of our territory."
But I need you to promise me one thing.
The " Crown " looked at the " Hard Armor " who was listening attentively and said earnestly:
"Defeated but not utterly defeated."
" Hard Armor " listened in silence and nodded.
"No problem."
"Oh, I understand your plan."
The four-armed skeleton's tone softened somewhat as it looked at the Crown skeleton:
"Since the ' Hard Armor ' is to remain, then I will be the one to cross the sea?"
"Right."
The Crown skull looked at the four-armed skull:
"The landing of the ' Giant Arms ' in the Demon Realm is not so simple; the vampires are very likely to have laid a large number of Blood Corpse in ambush beforehand."
"We need someone who can contribute and stand firm to do this."
The skeleton known as " Giant Arms " nodded thoughtfully and said:
"' Divine Wings,' ' Whale Tail,' and I crossed the sea to the Demon Realm; ' Hard Armor ' went to the west; and what about ' Crown '?"
"I'll be stationed in Sand Capital. If any problem arises on either side, I'll immediately go to provide support."
The Crown skeleton looked earnestly at the other skeleton councilors:
I believe that with my character, you will have no doubts.
After a brief silence, the " Giant Arms," " Hard Armor," " Whale Tail," and " Divine Wings " all nodded.