novellk Chapter 1429 Listening and Decision
Chapter 1429 Listening and Decision
"As you command, Your Majesty, this is what happened."
Nar took a deep breath, tried to calm himself, and then began to describe.
Just three hours ago, Nar was originally accompanying Dana and Davis as an accompanying general to inspect the Forest Edge Fortress, an important town on the northern border of the Dragonborn.
After arriving at the fortress, several generals including Nar inspected and consolidated the city defenses under Dana's orders, while Dana and Davis went to our scout posts around the fortress to learn about the latest situation.
"According to the plan, Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Zhan Yi should have returned to the fortress two hours ago at the latest. As a result, I and others have been waiting for two hours and a quarter, but still have not seen the figures of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince."
Nar's dragon face was full of anxiety and urgency, and he continued, "Seeing that the time had passed and realizing that something was wrong, I and others immediately used magic communication to contact Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince, but they could not contact Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince at all."
"At this point, I and the others are certain that something must have happened to Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince, because they both have a very strong sense of time, and this has never happened before."
"Then, I and others immediately led the elite fortress forces to search along the road and went to all the surrounding spy bases to verify the situation. The results were chilling."
Nar's voice became more frustrated, and he continued, "Her Majesty the Queen, His Royal Highness the Prince, and their guards seemed to have evaporated into thin air. There was no trace of them on the road they passed, not even a trace of a battle."
Hearing this, Lei Xiao nodded thoughtfully.
Unlike the human race, the dragon race is more accustomed to flying and moving, and it is indeed difficult for them to leave obvious traces on the path, let alone footprints.
In addition, there is one thing that is of great concern, and that is the end of Nar's last sentence.
"There is not even a trace... The Dragonborn Queen and Prince Zhan Yi are both level six warriors, and if I remember correctly, most of the Dragonborn Guards are level five, and there are even level six warriors. The most important thing is that the Guards are well-trained, and if they encounter anything unusual, they will definitely send out a signal immediately."
Fanny's fair face was filled with solemnity. She frowned and said, "This undoubtedly means that if they encountered a strong enemy, the enemy's strength was obviously overwhelming, and they had made careful arrangements, so that they had no time to react at all."
"In other words, is this a carefully planned trap?"
Shult's wooden face was full of contemplation. He said, "The only force that could do this is probably the opposing force. It is definitely not a rampaging monster or a group of monsters."
"Elder Shult is right, but is there another possibility?"
Bruno gently stroked the thick hair on the bull's face and put forward his thoughts: "Just like our minotaur fleet before, could Prince Zhan Yi and his men have also unknowingly entered a barrier area?"
"Although this is theoretically possible, it can actually be ruled out completely."
Nar nodded to Bruno and introduced: "General, you may not know that the Forest Edge Fortress I mentioned just now is actually inherited by us from the ancient Dragonborn Fortress before the blank era."
"Among them, although most of the ancient magic arrays are no longer usable, there is only one ancient magic array that can still function normally, and that is the space fluctuation detection array."
"Although we cannot replicate this extremely sophisticated ancient magic circle, we have thoroughly mastered it through our three thousand years of experience. The detection range of the magic circle completely covers all spy bases and the paths of Her Majesty the Queen and others, and even includes a considerable part of the opposite territory."
"For more than a thousand years, even the Shadow Market, which is known as the place favored by the gods, has appeared near the fortress many times, and it can be detected perfectly. This is enough to prove that its function is powerful and highly sensitive."
Nar sighed and concluded, "This means that whether it is a teleportation spell or the appearance of the entrance to the barrier area, it will be easily sensed by the magic circle, but during the time when the incident happened, the magic circle did not react at all."
"Is the possibility of accidentally entering the enchanted area zero?"
Chris thought for a moment, then asked, "General Nar, when Her Majesty the Dragonborn Queen and His Royal Highness Prince Zhan Yi disappeared, even if there were no traces left, we should be able to infer the approximate time and route of their disappearance based on the feedback from the spy base, right?"
"Your Excellency, Chief of the Wood Fairies, this is exactly what I am going to say next."
Nar held the teacup tightly and responded, "According to the feedback from the spy base, Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince disappeared on their way back to the fortress after completing the mission on time. It was two hours ago. We have also locked the specific path and conducted a comprehensive investigation of the surrounding area, but still have no results."
"In other words, the Dragonborn Queen, Prince Zhan Yi and the others disappeared between two hours ago and two hours and a quarter ago? No, since we have ruled out the possibility of space, it is more accurate to say that they must have been attacked."
Hanershu gently stroked his rough chin and said thoughtfully, "To be able to do all this quietly within half an hour, this is indeed an extremely meticulous operation and requires extremely impressive strength. The most likely mastermind behind this is the Rainforest Fortress Alliance across the way."
Hearing this, Lei Xiao nodded slightly.
The Rainforest Fortress Alliance mentioned by Hanershu is one of the two alliance forces that borders our territory and has sent reinforcements to our side. It is mainly connected to the territories of the Dragonborn and the Flower Fairies.
The forest fortress where the incident occurred was our fortress located on the border between the enemy and us. In other words, the Rainforest Fortress Alliance is indeed the biggest suspect.
"Your Excellency the Troll Chief is right. This is also our opinion."
Nar nodded heavily, and a trace of anger began to emerge on the dragon's face: "Around the path where Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince disappeared, we only found a large number of fresh footprints of Centaurs!"
"Centaurs? As a member of the Rainforest Fortress Alliance, the Centaurs themselves are already very strong, enough to compete with the Flower Fairies. With the cooperation of other strong men in the Rainforest Fortress Alliance, it would be easy to do all this."
Fanny still frowned, and then said, "But Lord Hanershu has already concluded that this was an extremely careful operation. If the attackers were really the Forest Fortress Alliance, how could they leave such obvious footprints?"
“This is indeed somewhat contrary to common sense.”
Broy supported his chin with his hand and frowned, "Is it possible that the Desert Alliance was the real attacker? The reason they left such obvious footprints was actually to frame the Rainforest Fortress Alliance?"
Lei Xiao was still listening carefully to what everyone was saying and was not in a hurry to express his opinion.
The Desert Alliance mentioned by Broy is, like the Rainforest Fortress Alliance, another alliance force close to us. It mainly borders the territories of trolls and tauren, and is also the last of the two alliance forces to reinforce troops.
"This possibility cannot be ignored and is more in line with the current situation."
A hint of approval emerged on Shult's old face, and he echoed, "I also agree that the attackers are from the Desert Alliance."
"But then again, whether it's the Forest Fortress Alliance or the Desert Alliance, why did they attack the Dragonborn Queen and Prince Zhan Yi?"
Bruno obviously hadn't fully understood the current situation, and his face was full of confusion.
"The answer is actually very simple. It is to provoke a dispute between us and one of the parties."
Lei Xiao finally spoke slowly and responded: "As long as we engage in a full-scale war with one of the forces, the other force will naturally benefit. This is exactly the basis for Broy's inference just now."
"Your Majesty is right. For more than a thousand years, the Forest Fortress Alliance and the Desert Alliance have always been incompatible, and disputes between them have occurred frequently."
Han Ershu nodded heavily and agreed: "So, the answer is self-evident."
"I understand now. So, the reason why General Naar and the Troll Chieftain believed that the Forest Fortress Alliance was the attacker was because the footprints were most likely left there intentionally. They wanted to use reverse thinking and focus our suspicion on the Desert Alliance!"
Bruno nodded in sudden enlightenment and said, "It seems that both the Forest Fortress Alliance and the Desert Alliance do have corresponding motives!"
"Who is the real mastermind behind this?"
Ariel obviously understood the current situation completely and said with a frown.
“We don’t know the answer yet.”
Lei Xiao took over the conversation and first looked at the anxious Dragonborn generals such as Nar and others and said, "Since the enemy's target is not Dana, Davis and others, and there are no traces of battle or corpses, they should not have any accidents. This is the only thing we can confirm at the moment."
After hearing Lei Xiao's words, Nar and others nodded in agreement, and the anxiety and urgency on Zhang Long's face were obviously relieved a lot.
"But no matter what, we must find Dana and Davis as soon as possible, and make the mastermind pay a price he cannot afford."
Lei Xiao's eyes were as sharp as torches, and he spoke again.
In fact, Lei Xiao knew clearly in his heart that the missing strong men this time were not only Dana and Davis, but also a squadron-sized guard. Even if the attackers would spare the lives of Dana and others, those guards would probably be in danger.
What I just said to Nar and others was more of a consolation.
Besides this, there is one thing that I care about extremely.
That is the reason why the Rainforest Fortress Alliance and the Desert Alliance increased their troops at the same time. Even if one of them intends to provoke a dispute between us and the other, they will never increase their troops at the same time without any prior agreement. There must be another reason.
Perhaps only by finding this answer can we find the real mastermind behind the scenes.
"Your Majesty, what should we do next?"
There was still a trace of anxiety on Nar's dragon face, and he asked again.
"Since someone attacked our people and tried to manipulate us, we will naturally not act the same way as before. We must show our attitude."
Lei Xiao stood up from his seat without any hesitation and ordered: "All troops must assemble immediately and be transported by Bingshi City to the major border areas to be ready for battle. Once the mastermind is identified, they will be killed everywhere."
After that, Lei Xiao changed the subject and added: "However, we also cannot fall into the trap set by the other party. Before finding out the mastermind, there is no need to take the initiative to enter the other party's territory. But if there are invading enemies who attempt to covet our territory, there is no need to hold back and beat them to death, so that they can't return."
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
Everyone touched their chests and saluted, saying in unison.
Seeing that everyone was eager to fight, Lei Xiao took out the sand table and began to make detailed deployment.
It goes without saying that the Dragonborn, Flower Elves, Trolls, and Tauren who are already on the border can gather at their respective border fortresses. The Dwarf Elves, Wood Elves, and Tree Men who are at the back will also move into the fortresses in the front, while the human army will be on standby in Icestone City as a mobile force.
At present, although the fourth-level legion of the human army is still in the process of upgrading, after all, it takes some time for the third-level soldiers to reach the fourth-level threshold, but the third-level legions have successfully reached 50, and the overall strength is no less than any of our foreign forces.
After everything was deployed, Shult saluted again and asked, "Your Majesty, how should we find the mastermind behind this?"
After Shulter finished speaking, everyone else had puzzled expressions on their faces and turned their attention to him.
You know, the two opposing forces have been fighting for many years and have extremely complete defense measures. It is undoubtedly an extremely difficult task for us to enter the other party's territory for investigation, let alone meet the other party's core figures. After all, the opponent's defense means are so powerful that even those hostile second-rate forces can't do anything about it.
Among the crowd, even Fanny, Hanershu, Bruno and others who were connected to the other party's territory all looked helpless.
Even they don't have much interaction with these two alliance forces. To be more precise, the other side, which is much stronger, simply disdains to communicate.
"It's very simple. We can directly negotiate with the leaders of the Rainforest Fortress Alliance and the Desert Sand Alliance face to face. As long as we gather both parties together, we may be able to easily find the flaws of the mastermind behind the scenes."
Lei Xiao smiled faintly and responded calmly: "At worst, we can also use this to crush the conspiracy of the mastermind behind the scenes."
"But Lord, the other side has no close relationship with us, and the top leaders will definitely not come forward easily, otherwise they would not directly choose to increase the troops. Moreover, the two sides are incompatible with each other. Even if they agree to meet with us, we will never bring the two together."
A trace of doubt appeared on Ariel's fair face, and she asked, "How can we do this?"
Hearing this, everyone else also looked confused. To achieve this was indeed an impossible task.
"The mountain man has his own clever plan."
Looking at the puzzled expressions of the crowd, Lei Xiao was calm and smiled mysteriously. (End of this chapter)