Quadruple split.

Chapter 2829 Interlude: Guessing the Next Move

Game time: 00:49 AM
Blood Barbarian Region, Eagle Claw Gorge, near the outskirts of [Tonglu Fortress], the temporary base of the [Black Brahma Independent Army].

"Um……"

Inside the largest tent, Mino Paladin, a priest of the Melody Cult, was half-lying in front of a long table, his eyes fixed on the tactical map that was covered with messy markings that looked like scribbled characters, almost taking up most of the table. Every few minutes, he would let out an unconscious mutter.

Something's not right...

He rubbed his stiff cheeks, his gaze gradually becoming vacant.

"Not necessarily, probably."

He took a bottle of medicine from his sleeve and put two drops into his dry eyes.

"We don't have enough people..."

He awkwardly shoved the medicine back in, shaking his head repeatedly.

"And the location is wrong, it's too far away."

He scratched his head in frustration, looking very anxious and restless.

"Did I miss something?"

He fell into self-doubt and immediately became convinced that the doubt was highly likely to be true.

"Ah... Ah!"

His increasingly heavy head slammed against the table with a thud.

"Oh my god!"

The next moment, Avery Davidson, the Holy Son from the Church of Justice, whom the Cliff of Headless, Bloodfeather Plateau, and Steelmane Tribe would dig up three feet into the ground for, quickly circled behind Mino, grabbed his shoulder and helped him up, exclaiming, "Dude, don't go that far! If you can't figure it out, you can't figure it out, there's no need to kill yourself here!"

"I……"

Mino slowly raised his hand, covered his head, and explained, "I didn't mean to crash and die here."

"Really?"

Avery looked at Mino with suspicion, then said seriously, "But in my opinion, you were clearly preparing to commit suicide because you couldn't figure out Black Van's tactical arrangements!"

Mino sighed, slowly turned to look at Avery, and continued to explain, "I'm just feeling very heavy because the side effects of the petrifying poison haven't worn off yet, and I easily lose my balance if I'm not paying attention, Your Highness."

"Oh, we're all on the same side, and we're out here, so don't call me Your Highness. Just call me Avery."

His Highness the Holy Son patted Mino on the shoulder and said with a hint of helplessness, "So, you're clearly not in good health, why did you insist on coming to the front lines? And if you're going to the front lines, why do you have to get up early and work late every day to plan tactics and give orders on the spot? Giving orders on the spot is one thing, since Black Vane is away for a period of time every day, but what kind of nonsense is it to use your rest time to figure out his tactical intentions?"

The taciturn Mino stared intently at Avery for a long while before slowly saying, "I need to share the burden."

"Share the burden? To whom? Black Van?"

Avery bombarded him with questions, then frowned and said, "Do you think he needs your help to share the burden? Besides, you and Raymond have been coordinating things here these past two days; aren't you helping him share the burden?"

“That’s not enough, Avery. I need to share more of the burden.”

Mino, who was very obedient to advice, first addressed His Highness the Holy Son by his full name, and then took a sip of the specially prepared mineral water that Luna had made. The taste was very subtle, and to put it simply, it was a nutritious mineral water that could bypass the taste buds and go straight to the soul. She shuddered violently and subconsciously exclaimed, "It tastes terrible."

Avery, who had long been a tight-lipped person about Luna's health products (including but not limited to enhancement potions, energizing tonics, and portable military rations) and would never put any of these products in his mouth unless absolutely necessary, shuddered and cautiously asked, "What exactly does this stuff taste like?"

"It tastes awful."

Mino replied without thinking, then realized that she might have been too vague, so she added, "It tastes terrible."

"Uh, I can imagine it would taste awful."

Avery glanced at the colorless and odorless glass in front of Mino, which looked no different from ordinary water. Luna herself claimed that it was 'mineral water' with no side effects other than providing nutrition, and simply helped to speed up Mino's detoxification process. He asked nervously, "But exactly... what does it taste like?"

"It has no taste."

Mino smacked his lips, savored it carefully, and then gave a serious answer: "It has no taste, just like ordinary water. It's just very unpleasant to drink, but after drinking it, you can't remember exactly why it tastes bad."

"No taste? And it tastes awful?"

Avery blinked, staring at the glass of water with great curiosity: "Really?"

"real."

Mino nodded firmly and said, "As for the taste, it's similar to the 'soft drinks' that the Wealth Cult supplies us with."

"what?"

Although he didn't know where Fialy got such a good thing as 'soda', he really liked this drink and even spent a lot of money to buy himself a case. Avery stared wide-eyed: "The taste is similar to that 'soda'? Are you sure? How could that stuff taste bad?"

Mino shook her head and said honestly, "I don't know, it just tastes really bad."

"hiss……"

Completely piqued by his curiosity, the Holy Son of Justice couldn't sit still any longer and asked in a low voice, "Um, Brother Mino, would you mind sharing some of this water with me?"

"do not mind."

Mino immediately shook his head like a rattle-drum (this was the fastest he could do after being poisoned by the petrification), then reached under the table and pulled up a large kettle, saying decisively, "It's all yours."

Avery: "...Uh, it's not that bad."

After saying that, he casually took out a cup from his storage ornaments, carefully poured himself half a cup using the kettle, and then brought it up to smell it.

It has absolutely no taste; it's just like ordinary water.

His Highness smacked his lips, then took a deep breath and downed the glass of mineral water, which was said to taste like 'soda', in one gulp.

And then—

【！？！？！？！】

A strong, indescribable, mixed feeling—a combination of sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy sensations—exploded in his mouth, causing Avery to tremble. In the next instant, he used his incredibly accurate intuition to swallow the 'water' in his mouth.

grunt.

【Huh?!】

As his Adam's apple bobbed, Avery's eyes widened once more. The reason was simple: in that instant, the extremely difficult feeling he had just experienced vanished like a hallucination, leaving not even a trace of its aftertaste.

"This thing..."

Avery stared blankly at the empty glass in his hand, muttering, "What did it taste like?"

“It has no taste.” Mino, standing next to him, smiled slightly and said in a flat tone, “It’s just awful.”

"I know, I know, I remember this stuff being really hard to drink, but... it really doesn't seem to have any flavor."

Avery said something rather awkwardly, and then did something that seemed very strange, but Mino completely understood.

He poured himself another half glass!

I understand how you feel.

Mino, who had a good impression of this just saint, sighed and said helplessly, "But I suggest you don't act impulsively."

"I wasn't acting impulsively, I was just... a little curious."

Avery stared at the glass in his hand, hesitatingly saying, "I really don't remember what it tasted like, it's like a hallucination, so..."

"So you want to try another bite to confirm?"

Mino casually chimed in, saying quietly, "Sure, I did the same thing back then. Anyway, it won't do any harm to your health, so go ahead and drink it."

“In the name of my Lord, I swear I have no masochistic tendencies.”

Avery's gaze sharpened, and he took a deep breath before putting the remaining half-cup of nutrient solution into his mouth.

【！？！？！？！？】

The exact same feeling returned, that tasteless yet soul-shaking pain tormented His Highness before he could swallow the saliva, then vanished without a trace, leaving him to keep his achievements hidden.

"This thing is terrifying!"

Avery looked at the jug of water with a mixture of fear and apprehension, then immediately pulled out a water pouch and said seriously, "I'll take some!"

After saying that, he picked up the kettle and started pouring water into it without even asking Mino if it was okay.

After all, he had already drunk this stuff, so he knew very well that no matter how much Mino was upset, she would never stop him.

"Please go ahead."

Mino nodded slightly, then couldn't help but ask, "So you really have a masochistic tendency?"

"Did you see me being struck dead by my lord?"

Avery smiled smugly, filling his water pouch as he said in a very cheerful tone, "There's a saying among those otherworldly people: 'Sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone.' So I plan to bring back some 'wartime special souvenirs' for our rich lady to try. She'll definitely love them, hehe, hehehehehehehehe."

Mino remained silent for a long time before finally managing to say, "...That's terrible."

In short, after receiving this bag of drinks that tasted almost exactly like the [Wudalianchi Nutritional Sparkling Water] outside the game—colorless, tasteless, and so bad it was soul-crushing and made you question your existence (PS: I have absolutely no intention of advising you to buy some online and try it; the author is not responsible for any problems that may arise)—Avery steered the conversation back on track and said seriously, "In short, I don't recommend that you put so much pressure on yourself."

"I want to make more."

Mino's gaze sharpened slightly, and he said in a serious tone, "I couldn't see any hope before, but now I can. I don't want any more of my comrades to die."

Avery looked at Mino with exasperation and reminded her, "And what about Black Vane!"

"Lord Black Van has limited energy. We have similar strengths, so I know how hard he works."

Mino looked down at the tactical map and said softly, "So, I need to do more."

"You can just ask him directly!"

Avery scratched his head, puzzled. "If I remember correctly, Black Vane should have assigned you a liaison officer from another world, right? He's just standing outside the tent getting some fresh air. Can't you just go out and ask him directly?"

"can."

Mino nodded, then shook her head: "But in that case, I won't improve."

"...You're amazing."

Avery looked convinced and then asked, "So what exactly are you struggling with? I've also studied a lot of military theory and watched a lot of battles with the instructors. Discuss it with me; it might be helpful."

"it is good."

Mino nodded slightly, then stood up and pointed to an area in the southern part of Eagle Claw Gorge on the topographic map, saying calmly, "Black Vanguard has deployed twelve elite units of twenty men each here. Why do you think that is?"

Avery peeked out, thought for a few seconds, and then confidently replied, "It's probably used to intercept the Steelmane Tribe's supply lines, right?"

"That's right, his intention is to cut off their logistics."

Mino affirmed Avery's answer, then frowned and said, "But that will cause problems very soon."

Avery immediately pressed, "What's the problem?"

"If it's just a short-term supply cut-off, and the strategy is a blitzkrieg to strike and disengage, then there's naturally no problem."

Mino instinctively reached for his water glass (then recoiled as if electrocuted), and said seriously, "But what we're interfering with is the supply line from the Steelmane Tribe to the Tonglu Fortress... Do you know what the problem is?"

"question?"

Avery paused for a moment, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "Is there a problem? Attacking the enemy's supply lines during wartime is a fairly standard tactic, isn't it? And Black Vane timed it exceptionally well. What's wrong?"

"Attack on the enemy's supply lines is certainly no problem..."

Mino breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, "But the problem is that the other side has more than one supply line."

"what!"

Realizing his mistake, Avery immediately rushed to the topographical map, staring intently at the location of the [Same Slaughter] fortress. He said in a deep voice, "That's right, the enemy is a combined force of three elite Blood Barbarian armies. Besides the [Steelmane Tribe], there are [Headless Cliff] and [Bloodfeather Plateau]. Even if we can temporarily cut off the supply line in the south, Bloodfeather Plateau and Headless Cliff, located directly north and northwest of the fortress respectively, can still continuously transport supplies. If we tighten our grip, we should be able to hold out for a long time..."

"It won't last long."

Mino interrupted Avery, shaking his head and saying, "This is your first time in the Blood Barbarian Region, so you don't know just how much those boar people can eat. Unlike the coarse rations of the Steelmane Tribe, the supplies from Headless Cliff and Bloodfeather Plateau are of much higher quality and in much smaller quantities. So if we can really cut off the southern supplies, it won't be long before there are problems in the fortress."

"Then let's just wait for them to run into trouble!"

"Of course, but the Steelmane Tribe will not stand idly by until they run into trouble."

"what do you mean……"

"Their subsequent counterattack is not something our elite squad of less than three hundred men can withstand head-on. And once we stop fighting head-on, the threat to our supply lines will immediately decrease by several levels."

"so--"

"That's why I want to know what backup plan Lord Black Brahma has left behind."

Chapter 2820: The End