Necromancer, What the Heck Is Summoning a 055?

The centaurs were a bunch of stupid natives, but the witch doctor of unknown origins who stayed in the camp year-round... Haisen slapped the table repeatedly. "That old bastard must be a deeply hidden old 'mole'!"

A mole was the sort of fellow who dug deep tunnels and hid underground, never showing himself until a crucial moment.

At that, a look of realization filled Haisen's eyes. He had thought and fretted about Chen Mo's damned affair every single day, and now, at last, everything fit together perfectly into a complete chain of logic!

"Right!" The marquis nodded. "That answers another question. How could an elite crow capable of killing so many people so easily have been injured so easily? So he must have inflicted those injuries on himself!"

"He pretended to need treatment for his injuries, giving him a natural reason to meet the camp's witch doctor. He secretly got supplies from the witch doctor, then pretended to be driven out, giving him an excuse to fool the centaurs into taking him to those people from Emerald for treatment!"

"There's another possibility we can't rule out. He knew from the beginning that the people from the Emerald Duchy were there, and he was after them all along!"

The marquis grew more excited as he spoke and began pacing back and forth. "He didn't just make contact with the Emerald Duchy. He also wanted to approach the Creek Moon Federation, but unfortunately for him, he didn't know we had long since formed a secret alliance with the Creek Moon Federation."

"He even wanted to approach Creek Moon's mages in private! He went so far as to spend a fortune changing his identity to enter the mage tower!"

Haisen waved his arms and hurried to clear himself of blame. "So there was no way the men I sent after him could have succeeded! It wasn't my fault. Our opponent was simply too powerful. He could even disguise every failed attempt to kill him as an accident!"

Marquis Valen nodded with satisfaction. His son wasn't completely stupid after all.

It should be noted that everyone, when speaking to the investigators from Gaoshi Territory, would inevitably exaggerate information favorable to themselves and conceal information unfavorable to them.

These "hazy" truths, combined with a "factual conclusion" that had already been accepted, formed a complete chain of logic.

That was as far as the eldest son's analysis could go. His field of vision was too narrow for him to see anything more.

But the marquis was different.

The marquis's advisers had identified many other factors behind the affair that could potentially destabilize the region, but he saw no need to explain them in detail to his stupid son.

"So, do you know where you went wrong now?"

Haisen shook his head, looking both bewildered and ashamed.

Marquis Valen grabbed a soup basin and smashed it over his son's head. "Idiot! When something is so clearly beyond your control, you should report it to me immediately. You wasted too much time that could have been spent making arrangements, and you may have caused a great many things to spiral completely out of control!"

"Two days ago, a company of heavy infantry Wangshan City had stationed at Green Luo Mountain Pass was wiped out, along with two accompanying mages. They didn't even manage to send a distress signal."

"If you'd told me sooner, I could have made more precise arrangements and spared my men such heavy losses! You ruined my plans too!"

"That's the consequence of an idiot like you thinking he knows best!"

"Stay close to me these next few days!" Marquis Valen raised his foot for a maid to pull on his boot, tapped it lightly against the floor, then strode out. "I'm going to personally oversee the operation to capture that little girl!"

Haisen, the eldest son, hurried after him, still somewhat confused. "Um, isn't that little girl just an heir dozens of places down the line in Cloudmist Territory? Why does everyone seem to think she's so important?"

"Hah. You only know she's an heir dozens of places down the line in Cloudmist Territory. Haven't you ever wondered why the child of a mere count's territory can be called a commandery princess?"

"Why is your sister only called a tower princess? Why is your second uncle's daughter next door only called a pavilion princess?"

Haisen looked baffled. "Huh? Is there a difference? Isn't my sister called a 'tower princess' because she's a bit stupid?"

"Utter nonsense!"

"That little girl's father is distantly related to Emerald's ruler!"

"If you trace it back, the Cloudmist Territory branch is eligible to inherit the Emerald Duchy, six or seven hundred places down the line."

"And..." Marquis Valen stopped and looked up toward the distant south. "That girl called Liushuang can also claim blood ties to leaders among both the elves and the beastmen through her mother's side."

"Used properly, she would make an excellent link!"

"Creek Moon has no use for her, and the beastmen are no good. We can't just let this opportunity go to waste."

Thus began a manhunt personally directed by the marquis.

But before long, both Gaoshi Territory and the Green Pine Kingdom discovered a frustrating and absurd reality: their opponents were simply too good at hiding.

Mountains, forests, and wetlands were all excellent places to hide. Even on modern-day Blue Star, when someone went missing in the mountains, swarms of rescue teams, search dogs, and drones often failed to find them, let alone on the Starry Continent.

Large forces couldn't pick up their opponents' trail, while small squads were easily wiped out. It was as though the other side had planted eyes in their army, knowing every move each unit made.

As more and more squads went missing or were killed, Marquis Valen finally ordered an end to the futile search.

"Let them cross the river!"

"We'll put on a grand show on Emerald's land. I'll make them jump out themselves and land right in my net!"

Chapter 74: The clash of fire and iron

When it came to manipulating human nature, the kingdom's nobles were in no way inferior to the old officials of Eastern Xia on Blue Star.

"Green Pine keeps detailed records on every professional in the Emerald Duchy who has completed their first advancement. I had my clerks and several advisers study Peiwen's file carefully. He's smart, decisive, and resolute, but he has one fatal flaw."

"He came from a poor family and started with too little, so he's overly petty and too fond of seizing opportunities on the battlefield."

"As long as he sees a chance to gain an advantage, he'll show himself!"

The Cloudmist Territory squad had crossed mountains and traversed the entire territory of an enemy kingdom by relying on the information gap created by the drone, but that was only a local information advantage.

Overall, it was the Marquis of Gaoshi who held the information advantage.

Although South Pass Territory was still resisting, some of its factions had already surrendered to Green Pine.

Marquis Valen deliberately loosened his control along the river. At the same time, he scattered numerous hunting squads across the vast plains of the north bank, made up of Green Pine elites and "Emerald" puppet troops, to create the illusion of localized battles and skirmishes.

As reconnaissance intensified, new clues continued to come in.

Traces of people entering the water to swim across were found on the south bank. An expanded search uncovered horse carcasses in a dense forest several kilometers away.

At a bend downstream, they intercepted rough logs that had been pushed into the water and abandoned.

A blanket search of the north bank uncovered scattered but unmistakable traces of movement.

After determining where the Cloudmist Territory team had crossed the river, Marquis Valen increased the number and scale of the actors in that area once more.

According to the marquis's plan, these arrangements would leave the Cloudmist Territory squad unable to move. If an opening presented itself, Peiwen, the Golden Scale swordsman, would very likely risk taking action.

Then they would capture him, find out where the little commandery princess was, and catch them all in one sweep.

While they were at it, they would pluck and roast the "crow" from Firmament, see what goodies they could shake out of him, and finally hand him over to Mist Moon as an achievement.

There was no possibility of colluding with him. Green Pine had already sold itself to the Mist Moon Divine Court.

The plan and its execution were both flawless. Although Captain Peiwen was cautious enough, after the other side kept creating opportunities and raising the stakes, he finally fell into the enemy's trap.

Gaoshi's side, however, had underestimated Peiwen's beastlike battlefield instincts and reaction speed. The moment the trap was sprung, before they could get a single word out of him, both sides had drawn their weapons.

It couldn't be helped. A performance needed actors, and where could they find enough high-level professionals across such a vast area? That was how they ended up staging a scene of small fry chasing a grand knight.

Of course, the marquis had also prepared to move straight from the "drama" to the "action" if the former failed: he had planted a high-level Green Pine combatant among the fleeing group.

By now, Gaoshi Territory's fifth knight was certain that the Cloudmist Territory team was nearby. After several loud whistles, a number of magical beacons shot into the sky and burst into conspicuous orbs of light.

Before long, the main Cloudmist Territory forces in the surrounding area would swiftly converge and turn the area upside down.

"Captain Peiwen," the fifth knight said, his voice full of regret. He stepped forward, his heavy boot crushing the loose dust beneath it. "Before I came, the lord gave me repeated instructions. He greatly admires your talents and hopes for a chance to meet you. Might you do him the honor of coming with me?"

Seeing that Peiwen said nothing, the fifth knight smiled faintly and took another step forward. "Captain Peiwen, with your knowledge and ability, even in our marquisate you would deserve the esteemed position of a major city's garrison commander or the territory's defense chief. Yet in Emerald's Cloudmist, a mere count's territory, you can only serve as a little child's attendant."

"Doesn't it gall you to watch those idiots strut around above you?"

"If you hadn't been given so few resources and spent years rushing from place to place, run ragged, you should have advanced long ago. Why else would you have remained a Golden Scale swordsman for so many years?"

"Can't you see it yet?" The knight spread his hands. "The little commandery princess you serve is nothing more than merchandise Cloudmist Territory is holding out for a good price. Once she's been sold, where will that leave you? Will you be a watchdog for the next little master?"

The fifth knight pressed him step by step, his words as cruel as they were true. Peiwen seemed somewhat unsettled by the naked truth. His hand tightened and loosened on his sword hilt, loosened and tightened, until it finally fell to his side, trembling slightly.

"Come to Gaoshi!" The fifth knight raised his voice, trying to strike while the iron was hot!

"Gaoshi Territory will give you resources and help you advance. Until you reach the fifth tier, the lord will let you choose the post of garrison captain in any major city you want. Pick whichever you like from Gaoshi's seven cities and the territory's future major cities! Once you reach the fifth tier, I'll give you my position..."

It was an offer of extraordinary sincerity!

Faced with such a fierce psychological assault, Peiwen finally moved.

He moved like thunder!

The Golden Scale swordsman's lowered hands darted into the weapon pouch at his waist. When they came out again, each palm held a No. 4 grenade, the thermobaric grenade with the greatest close-range destructive power.

Peiwen used both thumbs to flip off the safeties and pulled the pins. As he threw them toward the knight in front of him, he rolled sideways and drew his sword, shouting an order at the same time: "Defensive stance! Prepare to charge!!"

The latest thermobaric grenades Eastern Xia had sent over this time had both delayed and impact detonation modes, primarily to prevent the agile warriors of Starry from throwing or kicking them away before the fuses went off.

At such close range, the impact detonation triggered instantly.

"Boom!!! Boom-!!"

Two horrifying, deafening explosions rang out almost simultaneously! Orange-red fireballs burst open in two places, one in front of the fifth knight and one behind him! Scorching, violent flames swept outward, swallowing the knight in an instant.

The shock waves whipped sand, stones, and dust into the air, as though a small sandstorm had erupted!

When Peiwen gave the order, the repeatedly drilled Cloudmist Territory warriors quickly ducked low, circulated their qi throughout their bodies, assumed defensive stances, and opened their mouths.

Eastern Xia had taught them to do that to keep the sound waves from directly shattering their eardrums.

Although the blast also sent their qi and blood surging and left their ears ringing, they were ultimately only pushed back a few staggering steps by the blast wave and suffered no serious injuries.

Gaoshi's side fared somewhat worse. Several Green Pine warriors who had followed the fifth knight and approached in a semicircle took the full force of one of Peiwen's carefully positioned thermobaric grenades.

Those close by were swallowed directly by the flames. Those farther away were also caught completely off guard and struck full-on by the sound and shock waves. Blood instantly gushed from their eyes, noses, mouths, and ears, and they fell to the ground.

Having launched his attack, Peiwen timed his next move to the aftermath of the explosion. Before Gaoshi's knight could emerge from the smoke and dust, he roared, "Charge! Choose your own targets!" Then he became a fierce arc of light, tearing through the air as he charged out.

His target was Kangna, the former commander of South Pass Territory's knights, who had stood motionless in the back the whole time, looking somewhat downcast.

Peiwen's plan was clear: use the thermobaric grenades to kill or seriously injure Gaoshi's so-called fifth knight, while he himself disabled Knight Kangna at any cost.

Then he would look for a chance to withdraw from the battlefield.

If he made it back in time, he would take the team and flee.

If he couldn't make it back in time, then at the very least he would draw the enemy's hunting force as far as possible in another direction, covering the commandery princess, Chen Mo, and the others in the hideout.

Unfortunately, he didn't even accomplish the first step.

The main target of his attack, Gaoshi Territory's fifth knight, shook his head regretfully at Peiwen in that split second.

Chapter 75: A desperate charge

When the explosions occurred, the fifth knight raised his arms, his left arm shielding his chest and his right protecting his head. A faint silvery-white gleam appeared over him, covering his entire body like a layer of liquid mercury.

Gaoshi Territory had long since equipped the knight with an instantly activated magical protection scroll.

A few breaths after being swallowed by the fiery blasts, the fifth knight reappeared. His entire body looked charred black, especially his hair, which looked as though something had bitten a large chunk out of it, exposing nearly half his scalp.