Quadruple split.

Chapter 2698 'General Ryan'

Game time AM04:36
Blood Barbarian Region, east of Eagle Claw Gorge, in front of the Holy Church Joint Investigation Team's base

"Hoo-ha, hiccup—"

Clara Champs-Élysées, who was walking at the front, yawned lazily, followed by a burp with an alarmingly high alcohol content. Her face flushed, she turned to the two young men behind her and smiled, "Then I'll go back and rest first. Little Hess, you've worked hard. We can talk about anything after I wake up."

Hess bowed respectfully to Clara and said softly, "Thank you for accompanying us on this trip for our safety. The basic framework has been set, and I will handle things properly from now on. Of course, I will summarize our current progress, ideas, and objectives into a report and submit it every day. I hope you won't find it troublesome."

"Not at all, not at all."

Clara chuckled drunkenly, stood on tiptoe, and patted Hess on the shoulder: "You're the one who's taking responsibility for me and Louise. If I can't even be bothered to read the report, that would be a bit unreasonable. Don't worry, aside from anything else, as long as it's something you hand in, little Hess, I'll read it word for word and make sure I don't cause you any trouble!"

Hess smiled gently and nodded, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you, Lady Clara."

"Haha, when we get back to the City of Light, I'll treat you to something delicious, hiccup."

Clara waved her hand casually, and then her whole body gradually faded away, disappearing in just a few seconds.

"Oh haha."

Richard sighed, then turned to Hess beside him and asked, "How long do you think she's been gone?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to know."

Hess's gentle gaze turned cold the moment Clara left, and he asked Richard, who was still wearing a cheerful smile, in a deep voice, "What's wrong with you?"

Richard blinked, asking curiously, "What's wrong with me? What happened?"

"what happened?"

Hess stared intently at Richard and said, word by word, "I went through all the pressure to persuade Lady Clara and Lady Louise to let you, who was so controversial, stay by my side as an 'advisor.' I even brought you with me to the first meeting with the leaders of Eagle Claw Gorge. And what was the result?"

Richard continued blinking, still curious: "And then what happened?"

"But you didn't say anything."

Hess glared at Richard with hostility, his canine teeth clenched as he said, “Listen, Richard Lane, I can make you shine as a strategist, but I can also completely destroy your already precarious image within the Dawn Cult with just a few words, so you understand… don’t test my patience.”

Richard followed Hess's gaze to his right arm, which appeared unharmed but was actually unable to be lifted, and replied in a light tone, "But I didn't say nothing. Think back carefully, wasn't it me who said, 'I am a priest of the Dawn Cult, a staff officer of Hess's standard-bearer, Richard Lane, not a Black Brahma priest of my cult'?"

Hess remained silent, but slowly raised his right hand.

"Wait! Don't be impulsive!"

Richard, who didn't want to suffer any more physical pain tonight, immediately interrupted, then put away his smile and asked in a much more serious tone, "My dear Standard-Bearer Hers, what do you think... what could I have said in that situation?"

All I know is that this is your idea.

Hess clenched his right fist slightly and said in a deep voice, "In any case, you should be responsible for your own thoughts. Even if I am willing to cooperate, you should not have remained inactive as you were just now."

"I don't know what you mean by 'doing nothing'."

Richard shook his head and said seriously, "All I know is that as the temporary commander of our Holy Church Joint Investigation Force, and as the highest-ranking person in charge who took over the authority of Lady Clara and Lady Louise, your performance in front of them was impeccable. Not only that, you also fully developed my perhaps imperfect thoughts and ideas and expressed them in the most mature form. Both the process and the result deserve the word 'perfect'."

"……so what?"

Because of Richard's unexpected yet sincere praise, even Hess, who was completely immune to all kinds of glib talk and whose mental strength was so strong that she was almost invulnerable, paused slightly and her gaze softened a little.

"Therefore, there is absolutely no need for me to add anything unnecessary, or to say something just for the sake of saying something."

Richard spread his hands and smiled, "The purpose of my accompanying you is to prevent you from making any unexpected strategic mistakes during the negotiations, not to highlight Richard Lane's presence. As your temporary advisor, I don't think there was anything wrong with your performance just now. In this situation, what do you think I should say? Should I talk eloquently about the core of our plan to those Blood Barbarians? Or should I try to show off my talent in front of Lady Clara and steal the show?"

Hess's slightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and he said softly, "According to you, it's actually a good thing that you didn't say much today?"

"That's natural, because I'm going with you for only one purpose: to fill in any gaps and ensure that the things we decided before we set off are implemented accurately and effectively."

Richard nodded, looked up at the full moon in the sky, which was half-hidden by thin clouds, and said with a wry smile, "Of course, if it were the Richard Lane of the past, that arrogant and ignorant fool who was always immersed in the fantasy that he was a genius and always wanted to become famous overnight, he would probably be showing off his feathers like a stupid male sparrow today."

Hess chuckled jokingly and said in a leisurely tone, "What a pity I didn't get to see that spirited little bird."

“This is my good fortune, madam.”

Richard sighed and shrugged, saying, "If I try to recall today decades from now and all I remember is an idiot showing off in front of a few Blood Barbarian chieftains, Sister Clara, and you, the Standard-Bearer Hess, doing a lot of stupid things, I'll want to dig a hole and crawl into it."

Hess smiled noncommittally and asked, "So, what about now?"

"Now~"

Richard smiled and said cheerfully, "Thanks to your excellence, I don't need to say a word. I only need to focus on admiring that clever, delicate, and generous lady. So if I am fortunate enough to live for decades and still remember this memorable night, my memory will only include the confident and beautiful profile of Hers as the flag bearer."

"Ah."

Hess glanced at Richard and asked casually, "I'm curious, were you acting like this a few months ago when you were trying to woo Princess Wangyu?"

Richard shook his head and said with a wry smile, "It's a pity. A few months ago, when I tried to pursue Princess Wangyu, I only wanted to ask her out for a drink and try to take her back to her residence. As for anything else... before I could do anything else, I was beaten half to death by a friend who was probably a friend of Pastor Hei Fan, and I was forced to recuperate in my dormitory."

"it's a pity."

Hess smirked, a playful smile on his face. "If I were to give you a chance to really show your skills, that Prince Wangyu..."

"That Prince Wangyu would definitely not even glance at me, madam."

Richard calmly interrupted Hess, saying in a gentle tone, "In terms of divine magic, Your Highness, although you have only been a member of the church for less than a year, your progress is indeed rapid, far beyond what someone like me can achieve; in terms of appearance, although I am not bad-looking, there are many who are more handsome than me; and my only 'talent' that I can boast about, in front of the Black Brahma Priest... ha, I feel that no matter how you describe it, it seems too pathetic."

Hess glanced deeply at the young man in front of him, who was smiling bitterly and whose disappointment was genuine, and said calmly, "But your talent has done me a great favor today, and I will remember this kindness."

"It is my pleasure, my lady."

Richard gave Hess a graceful bow, then coughed lightly and hesitated before saying, "So, well, although I didn't really play any role just now, but..."

“If nothing unexpected happens, you will work as a ‘temporary’ staff officer until I step down as the interim commander of the investigation force.” Hess interrupted Richard, saying calmly, “This is not a suggestion, nor an invitation, but an order.”

"Yes, General!"

Richard took a deep breath, stood as straight as a javelin, and gave Hess a knightly salute that wasn't quite standard, but undeniably handsome: "Yes, General!"

Hess raised an eyebrow and said expressionlessly, "I am not a general, Mr. Richard. Even if you want to flatter me, you should address me as commander or knight commander beforehand."

"But I like the title 'General'."

Richard grinned and said cheerfully, "Although I'm just a priest who's at most called a high priest, an archbishop, or Your Majesty... cough cough, that last part is a joke, but to be honest, I've always dreamed of being called a general. Seriously, if it weren't for Chief of Staff Ramorlock's terrifying style, I probably would have gone with him to the Dream Kingdom for an 'internship' back then."

"a wise decision."

Hess chuckled lightly, showing little curiosity about Chief of Staff Ramorlock's invitation to Richard. She simply walked past Richard, patting his fractured shoulder as she did so without turning back, saying, "Get some rest, General Ryan. There's work to do tomorrow."

"Eh?"

Richard was stunned for a moment, staring fixedly at Hess's retreating figure. It took him a while to react before he exclaimed in surprise, "What did you say?"

"nothing."

"What did you call me just now?"

"Were you deaf just now?"

"No, no, I just want to hear it one more time."

"Go away."

Just once, just once!

"Want to hear more?"

"I want to hear it! I really want to hear it!"

"Then try your best to become a general, and then let me be your direct subordinate. You can call me that as many times as you want."

"No way! I'm a priest! Even if I switch to paladin, I'd only be a raid leader at most! Where would I find a general to be my guild leader!"

"Nothing to do with me."

……

ten minutes later
"Yo."

In front of a tent in the southeast corner of the investigation team's camp, Brad, who was looking around with his arms crossed, suddenly brightened up and waved to a tall figure walking slowly towards him in the distance: "You're back?"

"Still not asleep?"

Richard raised his hand in greeting and smiled at Brad and Kevin, who had just crawled out of the tent, saying, "Aren't you two afraid you won't be able to get up for your morning exercise?"

Brad sighed and said helplessly, "I'm scared, but you've been called to those barbarian strongholds. Even if it's just to get the firsthand news, I can't sleep."

"Your curiosity is as boundless as that of a cat-like half-orc girl."

Richard rolled his eyes at Brad, then turned to Kevin: "What about you? You're curious too?"

Kevin smiled proudly and said, "No, but I'm from another world, so I don't need to sleep."

"..."

So the two natives, who needed to sleep, each gave Kevin a middle finger to show their indignation.

"Come in and talk."

Richard was the first to crawl into the tent. After inviting the two in, he shrugged and said, "Actually, there's not much to talk about. It's just that after the three parties—Headed Cliff, Bloodfeather Plateau, and Steelmane Tribe—were attacked by enemies suspected to be under Prince Avery's command, they each sent an elite force to garrison the 'Together' fortress. So, to maintain balance, we went over and gave them a brief greeting."

Brad stroked his stubble-covered chin and asked, "Three elite units? What's their quality?"

"The combined strength is enough to completely wipe out any Blood Barbarian tribe except for 'Headless Cliff'."

Richard remained calm and composed, saying, "The team is led by two Epic-level experts and one half-Epic-level expert. If it comes to a tough battle, even our survey team, which already has a high average quality, would probably be wiped out by them."

Brad: "...Holy shit?"

Even the relatively calm Kevin frowned and asked in surprise, "Making it this big?"

"There's no way around it, mainly because the geographical location of Eagle Claw Gorge is too unique."

Richard took off his long robe, lay on his side on his mat in his single garment, and said lazily, “The east is practically the frontier of the Blood Barbarians, and the south is the territory of the Steelmane Tribe. In addition, there are main roads in the northwest and northeast that can lead straight into Headless Cliff and Bloodfeather Plateau. If they are breached, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

“I’ve heard of that ‘Tonglu’ fortress.”

Brad, who had done a lot of research before coming, nodded and said in a deep voice, "I heard that no matter how fiercely the Blood Barbarians fight each other, they always maintain relative restraint and peace. The only place that is close to a peace zone seems to be due to its special geographical location."

"Well, that's probably it."

"So, what brought you there this time?"

"Put some pressure on those barbarians."

"Be specific?"

"Military secret".

Chapter 2689: The End