When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 658: Conversation at Moonlight Palace

"I don't like the whining of you monks." Solan asked bluntly, "What can we gain? What will we lose?"

Although he stood on Horn's side at the Witch Council, it did not mean that Solan would surrender to him.

She needed to evaluate Horn for the secret organization behind her. In the words of the Black Snake Bay people themselves, she needed to weigh Horn's weight.

Let’s see whether this “holy grandson” is an ally, a big brother, or a hypocrite with malicious intentions.

Of course, Horn is quite familiar with such a scenario. He often used this method to persuade others in the early days of his career, that is, empty promises.

Since Miss Solan's culture was not even in sync with Jeanne's, Horn stroked his chin, organized his words, and then slowly said, "Miss Solan, I admire your pragmatism. Let's not beat around the bush. Ms. Lulos, can you provide me with a map?"

Snorting, Lulos snapped her fingers and asked someone to close the door of the cool and elegant room. She and Jeanne sat down next to Solan and Horn respectively.

Pulling out a map from her bosom, the little girl with white hair held a cigarette in her mouth and slapped it on the low table in front of her: "Here."

Compared to the chairs commonly used in the Empire, Black Snake Bay prefers to sit on the ground and use low tables because it is easier to carry and escape.

Sitting cross-legged on a cattail cushion, the parchment map in front of Horn was mottled with shadows by the dim sunlight outside the window.

Drawing a circle around the Black Snake Bay with his finger, Horn said simply and clearly: "You can get the Black Snake Bay, food and money, but you will lose some of your disorderly freedom, privileges and control over the army."

"We got Black Snake Bay?" Solan repeated Horn's words, "Don't we have Black Snake Bay now?"

"At least a quarter of the Black Snake Bay's territory, most of the main water and land transportation routes and the land suitable for farming are occupied by the secret party of traitors, demon hunters and the Knights." Horn looked directly into Solan's eyes, "You can only be regarded as occupying the Black Snake Bay, but it is far from being owned by you."

Lulos blew out a smoke ring out of boredom. She had heard this stuff so many times that she naturally found it boring.

But it made Solan fall into deep thought, and she had to admit that Horn's words were what the people of Black Snake Bay had always been unwilling to face.

The people of Black Snake Bay have always been proud of their opposition to the church, but even now a large amount of land is still occupied by the church. On the contrary, the Thousand River Valley in the north has almost expelled all church forces.

Whenever the secret parties showed some signs of improvement, the church would launch a new round of clearing wars, eliminating a large number of secret parties that had become powerful, but would not completely destroy them.

These demon hunters and knights can do this mostly because they occupy important transportation routes and fertile soil, which they can use as bases to quickly strike the secret party wizards.

The Copper Fortress is a vivid example, where a large number of knights like Nigsal carried out rounds of cleansing and enslaving of wizards and secret parties.

"If it were you, would you be able to get Black Snake Bay?"

"It's not that I can get Black Snake Bay, but I help you get Black Snake Bay." Horn stretched out a finger and said slowly, "So the first and most important thing is the Sacred Axis Alliance Mutual Defense Treaty."

Seeing Solan's gradually focused eyes, Horn smiled. It turned out that matters related to military and security touched Solan's heart.

After all, she had personally experienced the grain trade at the border of Qianhe Valley and had some understanding of its current situation and prospects.

The Shadow Society is instead more concerned with unfamiliar military fields, because that determines whether they can protect their wealth.

The content of this treaty is very simple. First, anyone attacking an allied country is equivalent to an invasion of all allied countries. Second, Horn will train a new army for Black Snake Bay and completely expel the church stronghold in Black Snake Bay.

"On this basis, we will provide clockwork guns, infantry plate armor, officers and instructors, and recruit a group of local officers from Black Snake Bay to study at the Sacred Axis Central Military Academy." Horn handed a roll of mountain copper clockwork to Solan, "Our clockwork guns defeated Prince Kongdai and the Imperial Order Company. I believe this is enough to prove something."

Stroking the cold copper spring, Solan continued to ask: "But we will also lose some military control, right? How much will we lose?"

“To be precise, the army is being transferred from the private hands of the secret party to the hands of the Black Snake Bay Federation. From now on, there will only be the federal army and no private army.

I don't deny that you will lose absolute control over the army, but the problem is that under your absolute control, you still can't defeat the church." Horn spread his hands, "It only took us a year and a half to expel the church."

"But that was with the support of Black Snake Bay." Solan couldn't help but refute. "The support of Black Snake Bay is indeed very important, but it is not necessary. What is necessary is the people of Qianhe Valley and the correct guidance. Winning early or late will win sooner or later." Raising a finger, Horn shook his eyes firmly, "I think this is a kind of confidence, and the people of Black Snake Bay are exactly lacking this kind of confidence.

Your resistance is always passive, a roar of despair, which, although inspiring, does not have enough effect.

It's time for a change, Miss Solan. The victory in Thousand Valleys proves that the church is not as terrible as imagined.

The question now is, are you willing to believe in yourself and in me?"

Solan wanted to refute, but seeing Horn's firm eyes and confident aura, he was at a loss for words.

"During the period of confrontation between the north and south of the church and the civil war in the Kingdom of Leia, it was a strategic opportunity period that will never come again for both you and us." Horn supported his hands on the low table, raised his upper body, and stared at Solan almost as if looking down at him. "Thousand River Valley has already gained freedom and victory, but Black Snake Bay is going to continue to crawl under the power of the church?"

After hesitating for a while, Solan continued to speak, but his momentum was not as strong as before: "I have heard Boss Lulos talk about your idea of ​​the Black Snake Bay Federation many times, but I have a question."

"Please say."

"According to your idea, you hope that Black Snake Bay will form a free state or federation, right?"

"Yes."

"Then let me ask you, is it the Secret Party Federation or the City Federation?" Solan sighed, "You know, the Shadow Society has many small secret parties affiliated with it."

"I'm afraid I have to tell you that it's a city federation, and there's only one seat for each region." Horn replied firmly, "The people of Black Snake Bay must realize that if they want to defeat the church, they must pay the price of giving up power. You must learn to share the benefits."

After a brief pause, Horn looked into Solan's eyes and said solemnly:

“Miss Solan, you may be wondering if all this loss is worth it, but I want to tell you this is not a simple transaction, it is a transformation.

Black Snake Bay will be transformed from an oppressed, divided and chaotic area into a respected and powerful union. Every bit of your effort will be rewarded more than tenfold.

Imagine that the people of Black Snake Bay no longer have to bow down to the power of the church, but can control their own destiny.

The land will no longer be occupied, the wealth will no longer be plundered, and people can grow freely without having to live in fear and hunger. Isn't this better than the current hell of reincarnation?

Now, you just need to answer me one question - are you willing to cooperate in all this?"

Biting his lip, Solan frowned, and his fingers subconsciously rubbed the cold copper spring.

Horn's words were like nails that lodged into her mind, and she couldn't shake them off. She raised her head, a hint of complexity flashed across her eyes, which she quickly concealed.

She lowered her head to organize her thoughts, tapped her fingers on the low table, and finally sighed softly: "Black Snake Bay needs to change... I am willing to cooperate with you, but I think I am afraid that I can't satisfy the public with just words, right?"

Before Horne spoke, Lulos had already lazily blown out a smoke ring and tapped the map on the table with her pipe: "Mr. Horne and the Ruoan Party will show their sincerity to you all."

"What sincerity?"

The pipe pointed at an important node on the map, and Lulos sneered: "This is Fort Fraser. If we don't take it down, we won't be able to connect to the Central County of Black Snake Bay."

With a cough, Solan looked at the drunk Horn and said, "Fort Fraser? That's a big fortress. Sir Horn only brought a few hundred people, right?"

"You will see...hiccup...not only you, but all the secret party in the Northern County will see it." Horn's face flushed slightly, and he felt that the wind in Longleaf City was particularly intoxicating.

"Are you ready?"

"I have a suggestion. Let's call all the secret parties in the Northern County. Ahem, let's see how we attack the city. How about that?"

(End of this chapter)