industrial lord

Chapter 726 Crack
Last night, Wei Senjun delivered a pack of biscuits, a pack of flour, four eggs, five packs of instant noodles, a sausage, and four packs of candy to each household. This was just the key to unlocking the hearts of the people of Guankang. The gifts of revenge ultimately won them back.

Maria did not ride in the carriage prepared by Larken, but walked into the city, waving to the welcoming crowds along the way.

In a gap in the crowd, a ragged, emaciated little boy, like a nimble eel, suddenly emerged from the crowd and rushed towards Mary without regard for anything else.

Larken's back was instantly drenched in cold sweat. If Count Eltal were assassinated at this moment, turning his skull into a bowl would be a pipe dream; it would probably have to be made into a chamber pot.

Even if it wasn't an assassination attempt, the mere sight of a filthy creature running in front of him would surely enrage Count Eltal.

Just as Larken was about to take action, he noticed a group of people rushing over and taking up positions around the area, all fiddling with a strange black box.

The little boy's dirty little hands held a simple, rough pottery jar containing a few crudely shaped cookies sprinkled with precious icing. His eyes were filled with reckless courage, pure reverence, and a hint of nervousness.

Maria was not furious as Larken had expected. She naturally and gracefully bent down, slightly kneeling to bring her gaze level with the boy's, and accepted the rough but heartfelt gift with utmost seriousness. She held it in her hands as if it were a rare treasure, and gave the boy a bright smile as pure as the winter sun.

Larken, standing to the side, seemed to see an angel descend.

Maria reached out and gently stroked the boy's messy hair.

The boy's face flushed bright red instantly, and his eyes shone with an unbelievable, ecstatic light, as if he had received a divine blessing.

A reporter managed to get a good spot and, while photographing Maria holding a pottery jar in one hand and touching the boy's hair with the other, also captured the skull bowl that Larken was holding next to her.

Soon after, an old woman with gray hair, a hunched back, and tattered clothes that revealed straw used for warmth miraculously broke through the crowd and stumbled to her feet in front of Mary.

Those calloused, dark, and rough hands gripped her delicate riding boots tightly, like a drowning person grasping at a lifeline in a stormy sea.

The old woman looked up, her face streaked with tears and snot, and cried out with all her might, each word filled with the trembling of someone who had survived a calamity and gratitude: "Miss! Merciful Miss! The grace of Duke Weisen! My son... he had malaria, and it was a medicine invented by Lord Weisen that sold so cheaply... he survived! He survived!"

This heart-wrenching cry was like a steel knife piercing through the bean curd cheese, cutting through the clamor of voices and reaching the heart of everyone present.

Without the slightest hesitation, Maria immediately leaned down even deeper, her fair, slender yet strong hand gently but firmly resting on the old woman's weathered hands.

The sunlight outlined the soft curve of her lowered neck and her focused profile as she listened intently; that silent understanding and comfort ignited an even more surging passion around her.

The cheers were deafening, surging like a tsunami, as if to lift the entire harbor up and throw it into the sky.

This boiling, flesh-and-blood cry was like a tangible, massive hammer, violently striking the cold, solid foundation of the terrace, and also crashing into the depths of Rudolf's eardrums and chest, giving him a suffocating, dull feeling.

Maria's purple figure stood out like a pillar of strength amidst the frenzied crowd.

In particular, the cold authority and precise manipulation of people's hearts that she displayed upon landing, revealing the horrific spoils that stirred up the people's deep-seated hatred, and the fact that the old knight personally confirmed their authenticity, as well as her subsequent gentle and warm-heartedness towards the common people, children, and old women, all pierced Rudolf's eyes like the sharpest arrows.

Every smile that Maria exudes, every bend that shows kindness, every focused listening that reveals concern, every subtle gesture of her body language—all seem to have been honed through countless trials, exuding composure and naturalness.

The scenes before his eyes were like incredibly precise steel needles, piercing deeply into the pride of King Rudolf with a burning irony.

The early autumn wind, carrying the saltiness of the sea and a biting chill, penetrated the king's magnificent, heavy silk robes and seeped into his very bones.

He remained standing upright, his jaw clenched, maintaining a kingly posture, his right hand unconsciously and repeatedly stroking the enormous ruby ​​at the top of his power ring, a symbol of bloodline and authority.

Everything I touch is cold, just like my own heart right now.

On the city streets, that purple figure was surrounded by a fervent crowd, moving forward like a star surrounded by the moon. Her purple cloak was like a silent yet most inspiring banner, igniting a flame of heartfelt and unquestionable loyalty wherever she went.

The sun generously bathed the bustling port city, gilding everything, but stingily abandoned Rudolf and the shadow he stood in the high place beneath his feet in the cold.

Rudolf slowly, almost with difficulty, raised his head, his gaze leaving the surging sea of ​​people below and looking down at the entire city and port—countless red flags with gold double-headed eagles stretched straight in the wind, fluttering loudly, each one like a bloodthirsty raptor poised to pounce, arrogantly proclaiming its existence.

In the distance, a few rather shabby royal warships, squeezed into cramped shadows, resembled forgotten wooden stakes about to rot away. Stork Harbor was now completely in Wesson's hands.

Rudolf even wondered if this seemingly easy victory was a move already planned on Frederick's unfathomable chessboard.

Everyone knows that Frederick loved business, and that a port that facilitated trade was worth more than ten times the amount of farmland.

In this light, it's possible that Guankou was a dish he had already planned for; otherwise, it wouldn't have been such a coincidence that he signed the documents to join the Duchy of Weisen before the arrival of the Weisen army.

If we think about it further, who ordered Weisen's army to defend Guankang?

Recalling the events of that day at the military conference, Rudolf suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had become an insect caught in a spider web, surrounded by an invisible yet omnipresent net.

The cold ruby ​​beneath her fingertips seemed to generate a burning illusion amidst the relentless, almost tangible, crashing sound of the waves against the terrace below.

As the sun began to set in the west, the bustling city fell into a deep sleep, with patrolling soldiers occasionally passing by on the dimly lit streets.

The army camp of the Wessen army was brightly lit, where Maria stayed after the dinner.

Franz said apologetically to Maria, "The camp has just been set up and conditions are limited, please forgive us."

The small tent contained only a folding bed, a few wooden coat racks of unknown origin, a folding canvas table commonly used by fishermen, and several stools. In addition to the mattress, the folding bed also contained a bearskin sent by Laken. The tea set would be delivered later.

Maria smiled slightly and said, "It's alright, I was among the first to use these when Frederick made them."

She pointed to the stool and said, "I remember he called this something like Lightweight All-Weather Individual Portable Hip Support System."

Franz laughed, realizing he had been intimidated by the name back then.

Mary asked him, "When does the requiem service at the church begin tomorrow?"

Franz Jr. replied, "We'll depart at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

Maria nodded and said, "Okay, let me know thirty minutes in advance."

She hadn't been here long and her schedule was very tight. If it weren't for the special circumstances in Guankou, the high command of the Duchy of Weisen wouldn't have dared to send her to the war zone overnight.

Night had fallen, and the sounds of snoring rose and fell in the military camp, like a thunderstorm, coming here and there in waves.

Maria gently took off her purple cloak and hung it open on the two coat racks.

That intense, deep purple was an epic of power solidified. The lamplight cast ever-changing rays on the robe, sometimes like the papal ring, sometimes like the king's seal, sometimes like a magician's wand, yet it could never penetrate that profound purple.

Maria gently rubbed her eyes and yawned.

Today was the first time that soul magic had been used on such a large scale to fan the fire into a raging inferno. At the banquet, I also spent too much energy on insincere pleasantries with Rudolf.

She fought off her weariness and gently patted her cloak with her snow-white fingers, brushing away the dust.

Rudolph was burning with rage, and although he tried to hide it, Maria still caught the glimpse of his anger.

This puzzled her. Although many people knew about the deep-seated conflict between Rudolf and Frederick, Frederick had been making superficial amends and even distancing himself from the war recently, which had initially shown some success. Why had things changed now? What had greatly deepened the rift?
Maria thought it over and over and realized that it was probably a matter of ownership of Stork Harbor. Could it be that Rudolf had other ideas from the beginning?
If that's the case, then this contradiction is destined to be unsolvable.

Maria cleaned the dust off her purple cloak, took off her coat, shook it casually, hung it on the coat rack, yawned, and went to sleep.

(End of this chapter)