Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 366 Plan
"Let me go to the capital to take charge?" Lakkad was stunned for a moment. "Isn't it enough to have Priest Ful there?"

He picked up the report again and flipped through it. "Now that Xiaboli has both Godwin and Radagon backing it up, and it's cooperating well with your Ancient Dragon Temple, it looks like it will take less than a month to eradicate the plague. Why bother doing this?"

"Full's strength and status are sufficient, but his identity is not enough. I need someone who can represent the interests of the three major dynasties at the same time to stay in Rodel until this storm is completely settled."

"Let's not talk about Radagon. You still don't seem to trust Godwin? Isn't it said that you two have a very good personal relationship?"

"I have always kept my public and private affairs separate, just like I can't possibly share my feelings for Lani with you."

"Are you still human?"

Lucia shook her head, sighing, "Call it a hunch or just to be thorough, but I still need you to make this trip. If it turns out to be the case of 'both', you are the only one in the capital who can investigate it."

"Well, you can still speak a few human words," Lacard finally breathed a sigh of relief, "Go on, I'll go if you like it."

"We can work on the trade between Gaelid, Lienia and the Far Eastern Islands slowly, but we can't just ignore the division of territory, right? Plus the Ministry of Justice. Oh, and the dancer you liked in Dominula last time, I checked it out for you a long time ago. Her name is Tanis, and she is the niece of the leader of one of the Ahara caravans."

"No need to say more," Lacard waved his hand and said righteously, "At this time of turmoil, I have no choice but to take on the task of finding out the truth and stabilizing the situation!"

After some nonsensical chatter, the vaguely tense atmosphere when the change of the Supreme Will was mentioned just now was relieved a lot.

Lucia knocked on the table, stood up and walked to the other side of the map, staring at the tortuous outlines of Yatan, Gemir, and the Arctic Ice Field. After a long silence, she said, "This time is different from the time we killed Esti. Last time we sealed her for a thousand years and made full preparations months before the war broke out. But this time, it is difficult for us to predict what will happen next."

Lacard came to his side, also looking at the map and asked: "Are you worried that a sudden disturbance in the North will cause a chain reaction with the chaos in the capital?"

"Yes," Lucia finally revealed some worries that she couldn't show in front of her subordinates when facing her most trusted friend. "Looking at the Golden Dynasty's actions against the North in the past 20 years, it's only a matter of time before a major turmoil breaks out. However, we lack eyes and ears there, so we can't determine the form and time of the turmoil."

"These days, many people have advised me to return home and inherit the throne as soon as possible, but I know very well that it is not the right time yet. There are too many things that have not been completed. For example, the Arctic Ice Field, ordinary people only think it is a deserted and barren dead land isolated from the world. How many people can see how deeply it is tied to the Ancient Dragon Dynasty?"

"Five hundred years ago, Storm King Odysseus sailed across the ocean and established nine border cities headed by Thor City, and sent 150,000 Storm Dynasty soldiers to guard the northern border for generations. They could maintain the trade route and transport the animal skins, herbs, and minerals unique to the ice field to the southern border. They could also contact the islands on the sea and even cross the foggy sea to establish contact with foreign countries." Rakade responded. "The most important thing is that the Storm Dynasty can use this to form a horn with the ice dragon Borelios and his family, the Samir people, to compete with the fire giants who occupy most of the ice field, and to threaten Asia from a high position, ensuring that the Storm Dynasty is invincible in the war of the gods."

"Yes," Lucia's icy blue eyes reflected the vast territory, but her thoughts seemed to travel through the long river of history, echoing the heart of the Storm King when he made this decision. "The Storm Dynasty is the foundation of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty, and the North is the foundation of the Storm Dynasty. That's why the Golden Dynasty chose to attack the North first during the Unification War, instead of leaving the Giant King's Court to be dealt with last."

"In other words, only those who occupy this 30,000-mile ice field are qualified to sit back and watch the world," Lacard narrowed his eyes slightly, "Even if we only consider the strategic position, we must advance to the North after occupying the East. Otherwise, Asiatan will have the natural barrier of Dikedas, which stretches between the north and the south, and will always maintain a commanding offensive against us. We are completely powerless to fight back, and the end result is that we will only occupy a corner until death, and even the East will be lost sooner or later."

"What's more, there are more than 100,000 survivors of the Storm Dynasty in Sol City, plus the sixteen clans of Samir and the ice dragon. If you want to revive the Ancient Dragon Dynasty, the North will have to fight for it. Don't the elders of Fam Yazra see this?"

"There may be many people who saw this, but some of them don't want to see me retake the northern border. Some are willing, but think this is a fantasy. It's inevitable that I'm too impatient to invade the northern border before the eastern border is stable and the southern border is pacified."

"It's just a mediocre opinion!" Lacard sneered, "The Storm Dynasty expanded from south to north, while the Golden Dynasty conquered from north to south. This is because the former faced a chaotic world with many gods swarming in and countless tribes restraining each other. Odysseus only needed to hold on to the south and send elite soldiers to the north to achieve victory. The latter faced a unified and powerful Storm Dynasty. Only by gradually destroying the Storm Dynasty's five hundred years of management in the north and defeating Thor City and the Giant King's Court head-on could he gain an advantage in the subsequent Dragon Tree Battle."

"The current situation is essentially the same except that the Ancient Dragon Dynasty and the Golden Dynasty have switched places. After twenty years of management by Godwin, the southern border is almost a solid block. Why are they getting such a big advantage for free when they reach out to the southern border instead of the northern border?"

At this point, Lacard crossed his arms and said bluntly: "I think your Senate and Council of Elders have been almost rotten for more than a thousand years. Sooner or later, you have to clean it up!"

Lucia naturally understood that today's Senate and Council of Elders were no longer as prosperous as they were a thousand years ago. If all of them were truly pillars of the country, how could the dynasty have relied on Lance Shanks alone to support it over the years?
"It's time to clean it up, but now is not the time." Lucia stared at the North for a while, and finally her gaze returned to the center of the map, to the golden tree standing in the middle of the Asian Altar.

"The North is likely in chaos. Once the news gets out, Godwin will have to lead the army himself. No matter what we plan to do at that time, we need someone to go to the capital first to take charge."

There was a cold flash in his eyes. "In short, the North can be in chaos, and the capital can be in chaos, but if someone intends to link the two and destroy our plan for several years, it is absolutely not allowed."

Lacadem stood there, his mind flashing through many possible changes and responses. After a while, he nodded deeply and said, "Okay, I'll leave tonight."

(End of this chapter)