Imperial Crown.

Chapter 124: Absurd Military Camp

"You must be Baron Raven, right? Your knight has already delivered the message." The gatekeeper smiled and said, "Just keep going along the road. Our Viscount Morgan is right there."

Raven's mouth twitched, and he rode his horse slowly into the camp, whispering to Eric beside him: "Find a good place for me, our camp can't be in such a mess!"

Eric nodded and took his men to find a place to set up camp. Raven only brought three personal guards including Volaf, and they dismounted and headed straight for the largest tent.

The strange thing is that although the periphery is so poorly arranged, the camp becomes more and more organized as you go inward, with tents arranged in an orderly manner and many sandbags for firefighting placed at intervals.

Simon had been waiting at the door for a long time. He came up and saluted: "Sir, it has been delivered."

"Thank you for your hard work, but you can't rest yet. Go find Eric first and confirm the location of our camp, then continue to scout the enemy situation. I don't trust the people here." Raven ordered.

Simon took the order and stepped back, and Raven opened the curtain and walked in.

The heat and the smell of alcohol filled Raven's face, giving him an absurd illusion - this was not a military camp, but a military-themed party!

The tent was so lively, with nobles gathered in groups of three or four, chatting and drinking, and they were all wearing formal dresses instead of armor!
Perhaps in order to highlight their "generosity", some nobles grabbed the bacon and took big bites of it. There were even two teams of dancers in the middle of the tent dancing to the beat of the music!

Sitting on the main seat at the end of the tent was a nobleman with white hair and a fat physique. His waist was as thick as if he was pregnant with quintuplets. It was Viscount Morgan.

As soon as he saw Raven coming in, Morgan immediately started to greet him loudly: "Oh, this is Baron Griffith! Please come in, and have a drink from the table! Although it's not as good as Angel's Tears, it's also good stuff!"

This sentence immediately attracted many people's attention to Raven.

Many of the nobles here had attended Raven's press conference before, or at least were familiar with him, so most of them just glanced at him and paid no more attention.

The other nobles did not pay attention for too long. They glanced at him and turned their heads away. Some of them were still secretly criticizing and whispering.

This little bee looks ordinary!

Morgan didn't pay too much attention to this "newcomer" and soon turned his attention to the dancers.

Raven even felt a little at a loss for a moment.

"Here, Raven!" A voice sounded. Raven turned around and saw Viscount John waving at him in the corner.

Raven turned around and told Volaf and the others to wait outside the tent, then he went to Viscount John.

This is an independent space separated by several benches and wine barrels. In addition to Viscount John and Judra, there are two other barons from Snow Maple County here, namely Kate, 37 years old, and Romney, 44 years old.

Their sitting posture caught Raven's attention. Viscount John sat at the innermost position. There was obviously more space on the left, but Kate and Romney were squeezed on the right, and Judra took up the space of nearly three people.

Although there are some disagreements with Judra and the relationship with Viscount John is a bit awkward, these minor issues are no longer a problem now that we are on the battlefield.

The nobles who also came from Xuefeng County were natural allies.

Raven moved a wine barrel and sat down, then began to greet everyone.

"As expected, you are here too." Viscount John smiled. "How does Bloody Heights taste?"

"Fortunately, we went there in winter, so we didn't get much sand." Raven responded with a smile: "It's just that the loss was a bit large, and we didn't bring many people this time."

"Even if there are fewer, they are still better than those bastards here." Judra took a sip of wine with a hint of disdain and dissatisfaction on her face: "I think they have forgotten how to fight!"

Kate also pursed her lips: "If we had known earlier, we shouldn't have come here to meet up."

After saying this, a trace of embarrassment appeared on Viscount John's face. It was obviously he who proposed to come here.

Romney spoke up to help John out: "That's not true. The situation outside is so chaotic and dangerous. It's always good to have more strength. Who would have thought that Morgan, the famous 'Heavy Hammer', would become like this!"

Originally, he thought he was the only one who was dissatisfied, but now it seems that all the nobles from Xuefeng County have a similar attitude. Raven breathed a sigh of relief.

There are still normal people out there!

But at the same time, he also had more doubts in his mind: "Didn't you set out two months ago? How come you've only arrived here now?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the four people started talking at once, and then slowly Viscount John began to narrate the whole thing, with the other three checking for omissions and filling in the gaps.

According to Viscount John, a dozen nobles from Snow Maple County also acted together at the beginning. Due to the large number of people and the fact that most of them were infantry, it took nearly a month from the start to the time they passed through Hippok County.

But when they were about to leave Hippok County, Viscount John had an argument with another Viscount "Fisher" from Snowmaple County.

Viscount John believed that in order to ensure the smooth flow of logistics routes, it would be best to continue along the main road, through Derbyshire and Haroldshire directly to the outskirts of Monn City.

Fisher insisted on taking a detour to the east, passing through Wiltshire and heading directly to Hodges County. This way, he could quickly penetrate into the center of the battlefield and gain the first wave of merit. As for supplies, the main force of the Hand of Death Cult was various undead creatures, who had no demand for food. They could easily collect the necessary supplies on the destroyed land.

The two refused to give in to each other and finally split into two halves. Judra, Kate and Romney chose to follow Viscount John, while more people followed Fisher and left.

“This is the best decision I have ever made in my life.”

Kate said so, and Romney agreed.

Because they soon encountered the first wave of attacks from the Death Hand Cult.

When Kate mentioned it now, there was still a hint of fear in her eyes.

The Death Hand Cult is mainly composed of undead creatures. The largest and most common skeleton soldiers are not even as strong as peasants, but their numbers are simply too many.

Viscount John and his entourage had a total of about 1,800 soldiers, but they were facing more than 5,000 skeleton soldiers!

Although the combat power of the skeleton is weak, due to its special structure, the crossbows that were originally equipped in large quantities by various armies are basically useless.

Skeletons have no flesh, so a considerable number of crossbow arrows will pass through the gaps between their bones. Only by hitting the skull or spine can they be truly eliminated.

Similarly, this caused great trouble to the soldiers.

What's even more frustrating is that the Hand of Death Cult will also mix in some elite skeletons among the skeleton soldiers. They are able to use fighting spirit, and although they are not as good as the real first-level transcendents, they can still have an overwhelming advantage against ordinary soldiers.

The ones driving these undead creatures are the necromancers of the Death Hand Cult. They usually wear black robes and smell like the dead. They are protected by elite undead creatures and warriors of the Death Cult. They are very difficult to approach.

In that battle, the coalition forces composed of four nobles lost more than 300 people. If Viscount John had not seized the opportunity and led his personal soldiers into the enemy camp, killing a necromancer and driving away the remaining enemies, the losses would have been even more serious.

Afterwards, in order to prevent the bodies from being used, the bodies of the fallen soldiers had to be burned together.

"Luckily I followed Viscount John." Romney took a sip of wine. "I can't imagine what kind of pressure I would face if I went straight to Hodges County, where the Hand of Death is most active. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to rest in peace even if I died!"

"That battle took place about twenty days ago. After that, we rested for four days and then slowly began to move forward, with our scouts spreading further and further." Viscount John continued, "During that time, we also encountered two small-scale undead armies. Due to our previous experience, we did not suffer much loss."

"It was not until three days ago that our scouts discovered this place and saw the flag of Viscount Morgan..."

Hearing this, Raven was stunned for a moment: "Excuse me, was the military camp here three days ago?"

"Yes, and for more than three days." Judela said with a hint of sarcasm: "We only found out after we arrived that Viscount Morgan has been here for eight days. Today is already the eleventh day!"

Raven looked incomprehensible.

He originally thought that setting up camp and holding a party in such a dangerous environment was outrageous enough, but who would have thought that Viscount Morgan would stay here and refuse to leave, and after ten days the camp would become such a mess. It was simply unbelievable!
"Viscount Morgan..." Raven rubbed his temples. "Oh, I remember now. Wasn't Viscount Morgan the hero who defended an isolated city with half a legion of troops for a whole month in the 'Border Battle' thirty years ago?"

"Yes, it's him." Judela's face showed even more sarcasm: "If it weren't for his name, we wouldn't have come to join him."

Viscount John smiled bitterly, "Viscount Morgan is the sheriff of Hippoc County. With his military exploits in the past, he has a high prestige. Not only are there people from our Snow Maple County here, but there are also nobles from Hippoc County, Essex County, Hampshire County, and Savery County. It can be said that more than half of the nobles from the five northwestern counties of Nord Province are here."

Raven still couldn't understand: "But... even if there are so many people, they shouldn't have turned the camp into this state, right?"

"War is the best way to train an army." Viscount John sighed, "We have lived in peace for too long. This is what it is like."

Romney shook his head. "The Iron Legion is now stationed on the Bloody Highlands, blocking the largest bandits there. Those who can slip down are small forces, and we in Snow Maple County can handle them. Most of the nobles in Nord Province don't have any chance to fight in actual combat."

"Before, I was envious of why our fiefdoms were so remote. Not only were we often attacked by bandits, but the cost of buying and selling materials was 30% to 50% higher than that of the nobles in the interior." Judea had a hint of gloating on her face. "Now I'm not envious at all. At least we can still fight!"

A hint of realization appeared on Raven's face, followed by a wry smile.

It is certainly a good thing that the neighbors are weak, but it is not the case when they need to face the enemy together.

Pig teammates are much scarier than god opponents.

The Death Hand Cult was mentioned again, and everyone was worried. Raven turned around, opened the Eye of Truth and scanned the entire audience, his expression becoming more and more solemn.

The stable life affected not only the soldiers, but also the nobles.

There were more than thirty nobles present, and quite a few of them were only at the first-level. Those who reached the second level could be counted on two hands, and there was only one at the third level. This made Viscount John, a fourth-level extraordinary person, even more precious.

And Viscount Morgan...

When Raven's eyes fell on him, he was startled.

This veteran who had achieved his destiny in his prime, his body was empty, without a trace of energy.

Just an ordinary person!

The doubts in Raven's heart melted away like snow poured into boiling soup.

He finally understood why Viscount Morgan stopped his troops here and why he allowed the nobles who came later to mess up the camp like this.

It wasn't that he wanted to do this, but he had to.

As a hero thirty years ago, Morgan's reputation and title came from the war, so he could not escape this war at all.

He gathered so many people here just to cover up the fact that he was already very weak.

The nobles present were his shields, but also his shackles.

The nobles from the five northwestern counties of Snowmaple County, Hippocrates County, Essex County, Hampshire, and Savery County gathered here, and it was impossible for them to be united.

If Morgan had even the third-level strength, he could have temporarily united these people together, but he didn't. He could only spend his time drinking and partying here, and couldn't give orders to other nobles about how to set up camp.

Because he didn't dare, he was afraid that someone would burst his bloated skin.

Raven's brows furrowed more and more - the nobles were not fools, even without the Eye of Truth, someone would probably guess the truth.

But no one spoke first.

Everyone knows the story of the Emperor's new clothes, but no one wants to be the child who tells the truth.

Neither would Raven.

But this doesn't mean he has to accept this fact.

"Viscount John." As soon as Raven opened his mouth, Viscount John shook his head slightly and looked outside.

Raven nodded and walked out of the tent first. After a while, Viscount John also came out.

"Lord John, I don't think we can stay here any longer." Raven said straight to the point:
"It is better for us, the nobles of Xuefeng County, to march alone."

"This camp has been set up for more than ten days. Even if the people of the Death Hand Cult are blind, they should have seen it. There has been no movement for such a long time. It is very likely that they are organizing a large-scale attack."

"If we continue to stay here, we will only become a target for the other side."

Raven stared into Viscount John's eyes, waiting for his response.

……

(End of this chapter)