Alien world

Chapter 1834, Section 467: The Messenger of War

I, Annan Reeves, am the beloved daughter of my ancestors, I have a secret rendezvous with the emperor, and I am granted special permission by the court. What's wrong with being a little arrogant?
As for Peterson, his boss was like a beloved daughter to him, allowing him to have secret meetings with the emperor and granting special permission from the court. So what if he was a little arrogant?
Few nobles today know that imperial war envoys were also called "Crow Messengers" or "Death-Announcing Crows," because the arrival of a war envoy meant that the empire would conscript locals to fight and die on the battlefield.

As time has passed, the people of the Central Plains, who have enjoyed too much peace, have mostly forgotten about it. Only the Empire still retains the tradition of special envoys for war, but it is no longer as terrifying as it was hundreds of years ago.

Even the entire city of Liberty lined the streets to welcome them, some offering flowers and others cheering, as if the war had already been won.

The war envoy stood before Annam, bringing with him the Empire's summons: demanding that Free City enter a state of war, and that, according to the Supreme King's decree, the Empire had the right to allocate and use Free City's military and resources.

Annan wasn't surprised, but he was curious about who the Empire would appoint to head Free City: "Who will command me?"

"His Majesty the Emperor personally directed the operation."

"This..." It wasn't flattery, but rather skepticism. "Does he know how to use troops?"

"put--"

Just as the war envoy was about to utter something insolent, he suddenly remembered the rumors circulating in the Huan Shan Palace Gardens that His Majesty was secretly meeting with Annam, and changed his words on the spot: "Don't worry, His Majesty is only nominally in command; in reality, Free City is still under your command."

Annan once again lamented who was spreading rumors about the Empire, saying that they were barbaric, cruel, and inflexible. Even the Emperor's special envoy was so easy to talk to, yet he was still being smeared. Wasn't this just bullying honest people?

"Rest assured, I will defend Free City and not allow the filthy claws of the Skaven to set foot on beautiful Middle-earth!"

Noticing that Gandhi behind him seemed to have something to say to him, Annan asked Peterson to accompany the war envoy on a tour of the military camp.

The war envoy did not refuse; he already possessed the privileges of a military governor, and could report back to the Ministry of Military Affairs upon his return.

Peterson held his head high, like a rooster surveying its territory—that was in front of Annan, in private, when it was just him and the imperial envoy. With each step Peterson took, his back hunched over, his neck bent forward, his back shrunk, looking like a lackey.

He led the war messenger to the Hellfire camp, where soldiers on leave were idly practicing at the firing range, the occasional gunshots familiar to the seagulls.

Peterson proudly declared, "Ninety-nine percent of Hellfire soldiers can hit a leaf from a hundred yards away, and sharpshooter Parker has even connected with the spirit of his gun, able to hit a seagull from three hundred yards away!"

The messenger of war couldn't understand "sharpshooter" or "gun spirit," but he could understand 100 yards and 300 yards.

The former is not a problem for rangers, but it is surprising that a group of commoners who are not even warriors can do it. And 300 yards... that is beyond visual range. Many master-level rangers would not say that they can hit a living thing that far away.

If the War Messenger remembers correctly, the Free City Legion and the Imperial Legion are of the same size, with 5000 men. In other words, these 5,000 men almost all have the precision of a ranger.
"Sergeant Gema, please get a gun for our messenger."

With Annan's permission, Peterson realized this was a good opportunity to showcase Liberty City's military equipment and had Gemma, who was practicing at the firing range, send over a magic musket.

Gemar, who had already enlisted in the Winter Legion, walked over, looked at the War Emissary, handed him his gun, and said, "Three points in a straight line: lift the gun, pull the trigger, pull the bolt to reload, and don't aim the muzzle at your own men."

The war messenger did not refuse. After observing the magical firearm he had heard so much about, he quickly got the hang of it and even tried firing a shot himself in front of the firing range.

He picked up the gun, slipped his finger into the trigger—which was a little too small for his scale-armored gloves—and just as Gemma was about to remind him to rest the butt against his shoulder, the Warbringer pulled the trigger with his magical musket.

boom!
Smoke rose and gunshots rang out.

The three looked in three different directions: Peterson was examining the target, the Warbringer was looking at the gun, and Gemma, who was raising her head to catch the musket that had slipped from her hand, was surprised to see that the magic musket was still firmly held in her hand, with only the muzzle slightly raised. The Warbringer's eyes, hidden beneath his helmet, gleamed slightly.

It felt light when I picked it up, and I thought it would be similar to a rapier, but I didn't expect that the feel of firing it would be very similar to a flail.

This thing is much better than the bows and arrows that those sissy elves love to use!

“Your Excellency, if you wish, this musket may be given to you.”

Even with a helmet on, nothing could stop Peterson's ability to read people.

"No."

Gemma frowned and refused, giving Peterson a fierce glare.

He didn't care about any war envoys or anything like that. This was his magic musket, and he had been polishing it and maintaining it every day, even sleeping with it in his arms, all to please the gun spirit. If the gun spirit knew, it would be very unhappy!

Peterson chuckled dryly and was about to ask the quartermaster to get him a new gun when the messenger of war refused.

The magic musket was just a toy to him; he might find it interesting, but it wasn't worthy of being a collectible.

Gemar, however, felt slighted. He unholstered his gun and held up a shortened magical musket: "Try this."

"My God, it's an orogen firearm that only professionals can use! Legend has it that one shot can kill a dragon!"

Kill the dragon? Shoot it at the eggshell?

The war envoy accepted the orogen musket. The moment he held it, he felt its unusual weight; though half the length of the magic musket, it weighed twice as much.

I don't know whether to call it madness or genius, but someone actually made weapons out of oresite and had soldiers carry them to the battlefield...

However, it did give the war emissaries some anticipation for how orthogonal would perform as a weapon. Peterson had the target moved to a position 10 yards away, and then retreated to a distance and covered his ears.

The war messenger, puzzled by the reason for this action and disdaining to act like a coward, raised his orchard with his right hand, aimed at the nearby target, and pulled the trigger.

boom!
The moment the gun was fired, the Warbringer felt as if he were holding a shrunken orc, its size reduced countless times but its strength undiminished, struggling desperately and almost slipping from his grasp. This force continued to spread from his elbow to his arm and shoulder, neutralized by his armor, but still leaving his hand numb, and a constant buzzing echoing from within the armor.

As the gun fired, the three men looked in three different directions: Peterson stared at the target, Gemma looked up, and the Warbringer looked at the gun.

The bullet, which should have hit the bullseye, struck the neck instead of the target due to the gun barrel being raised. However, it didn't matter where it hit—the target, made of wooden planks wrapped in compacted haystacks, shattered instantly.

strong enough!

The messenger of war laid down his slightly numb palm.

No warrior can resist a weapon with such a clear feedback. What's the difference between this and using a meteor hammer? Plus, it has a longer range and makes a bigger splash!
(End of this chapter)