Imperial Crown.

Chapter 316 Conspiracy is useless
The story begins 8 days ago.

Before that, because he had two flying monsters in his hands, although he could not get too close, Earl Duduo was always able to confirm Raven's marching direction and speed.

But things started to change eight days ago when Raven's troops left the Tiehua District and officially entered the Bolan District.

The flying monsters sent out were driven away by Raven's Wind King and could not get close; and there was no response at all from the ground scouts.

The news reported from various places was a mixture of truth and falsehood.

Raven's troops appeared in a small town today, and in another village 40 miles away tomorrow. On the third day, he suddenly turned back, as if the entire army knew the magic of teleportation.

Therefore, at present, Earl Tudor only knew that Raven was marching in the southwest of the Bolan Region, but he had no clear judgment on where exactly he was.

However, what really worried Tuduo was not this, but the pressure from the cabinet and the Grand Duke.

Since a month ago, the cabinet has been sending people to urge him to fight a field battle with Raven.

After all, the Bolan Gold Mine cannot be lost, and Tuduo has transferred back the three magicians stationed there from the Bolan Gold Mine under the pretext of "preparing for war."

Although Tuduo bribed the officials who came to deliver the message with money, he was unable to influence the attitudes of the cabinet and the Grand Duke, and the wording became increasingly harsh.

Du Duo also knew that his inaction had pushed him close to the bottom line of the Grand Duke and the Cabinet.

But he had to wait.

Just then, the door opened.

Only Quilly would do such rude behavior.

Just as Duduo judged, Quilly came to Duduo and saluted casually:
"My Lord, there is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear?"

The corners of Du Duo's mouth twitched.

Is now the time to play this trick?

Why don’t you cover my eyes and let me guess who you are!

He suppressed his anger and said calmly, "Good news."

"Oh, typical optimist." Quilly made a frivolous judgment, his fingers brushing over the earrings. "The good news is that what you want is ready."

Du Duo raised his eyebrows, still a little angry: "Bad news, this thing can't be used for the time being?"

"No, no, no, that would be too much of an underestimation of me." Quilly shook his finger. "The bad news is that when I was building that thing, I was careless and something went wrong, causing a small number of casualties."

"Given that war is about to begin..."

"So, I'm afraid you will have to miss the funerals of your three extraordinary men and 3 soldiers."

Tudor's eyes instantly locked onto Quilly, his lips twitching constantly.

Every extraordinary person is a rare asset, which means the consumption of a large amount of gold coins, time and even effort.

Among them was even the fiancé that Tuduo chose for his daughter.

But now it was consumed so easily by Quilly.

Now he finally understood why Quarley was wanted by the Mages Guild.

Holding the dice tightly in his palm, Du Duo's lips curled into a smile:

"Haha, it's their honor to be able to sacrifice themselves for Master Quarry."

"I am very curious now, does this thing really work?"

"You will be thankful for your composure at this moment, Lord Earl." Quilly turned and walked out:
"When the war begins, Raven will know how powerless he will be in front of my creations!"

Staring at Quilly until he disappeared, Du Duo gathered his emotions, took a deep breath, and then said loudly: "Pass my order, make final preparations tonight, and set out tomorrow morning!"

His eyes were fixed on the map again.

Du Duo didn’t know where Raven was exactly, but a team of 4 people would not disappear out of thin air.

Whether he wanted to attack Bolan City or go to the Bolan Gold Mine, Raven had only one choice -

Misty wilderness.

……

The foggy wilderness is also called the "Man-eating Trade Road".

In ancient times, there used to be a giant lake next to this place. Every morning, thick fog like clouds would rise up, and magical beasts would frequently appear here, hence the name.

But now, the lake has dried up and turned into farmland, and magical beasts are hard to find. This wilderness is somewhat unworthy of its name.

After more than 10 days of marching, Earl Duduo led his army to the foggy wilderness.

As far as the eye can see, there are endless plains and farmlands, with only scattered hills in the distance.

Sitting upright on his horse, Du Duo could clearly see a camp blocking the road on the horizon, as well as a black square flag flying above the camp. Du Duo was not surprised by this, as he already knew that Raven had been stationed here for three days.

"Pass the order down and set up camp here!" Earl Tudor gave the order loudly.

By that afternoon, the camp was basically established.

With 3 troops and 5 serfs, the camp area was almost as large as a small city.

"My lord, this is not easy."

In the distance, Eric and Raven stood on the top of the camp wall, looking at Duduo's camp with slightly frowned brows.

"This camp is very well organized. It is not something that can be set up by a fool who only knows how to read military books."

"And judging from the speed of construction, Earl Tudor is also very good at training his soldiers."

Raven nodded:

"After all, our opponent is a principality, so it's normal for them to have some talented people."

"Not to mention, if Du Duo didn't have some skills, he would have been squeezed out long ago if he had to guard the Bolan Gold Mine all the time."

Eric said: "It seems that the earl is ready to start a protracted war with us."

He guessed correctly, this was what Du Duo planned.

Although he had been actively preparing for the decisive battle, Du Duo remained quite calm as the war approached.

Scouts were sent out to monitor the movements of Raven's camp to prevent a night attack; at the same time, a magician was arranged to test the food and water sources in case Raven had done anything wrong in advance.

Then, they began to build defensive fortifications, and two flying monsters took turns taking off to ensure that they could provide early warning before Raven's Wind King troops arrived.

Du Duo just wanted Raven to take the initiative to send troops to attack his camp!

Although his camp was not as strong as the Wall of Sighs, the number of soldiers, the number of extraordinary people, the war preparations, and the intelligence preparations were far superior to Wanda on the Wall of Sighs in the past.

And if Raven could keep his composure, Du Duo would be happy to see that.

Indeed, the Duchy of Eivor is only one member of the six-nation alliance of the Fitun city-states, but these six countries are interdependent and have always advanced and retreated together.

Not to mention that once the news spreads, the Alliance will definitely put enough diplomatic pressure on the Keynes Empire, and Raven will withdraw his troops sooner or later.

Even if the order to withdraw does not come, this is still the territory of the Principality of Eivor.

In terms of logistics, Raven would never be his opponent; and in terms of reinforcements - Duduo has the entire principality behind him.

Time is on Duduo's side.

Night falls.

Quilly found Tudor again. The magician who had been staying in the carriage and claimed to be conducting "magic research" had an amused look on his face.

Du Duo's brow twitched slightly: "Isn't it good news and bad news again?"

"I don't play the same trick twice." Quilly said with a smile, "And there's no good news this time."

Seeing that Du Duo did not respond clearly, Quilly felt a little bored and took the initiative to say, "Well, the fact is that there is news from the Bolan Gold Mine Array that the gold mine has been breached and occupied by Raven's troops."

Du Duo frowned slightly: "When did it happen?"

"Just five days ago." Quilly said, "It is said that there were 5 people attacking the mine, all of them elite soldiers wearing armor, and it seems that there was a spy inside the gold mine who cut off the connection with the magic circle in advance."

"This message was sent by the mine supervisor at the risk of his life."

"What a good move..." Du Duo threw the dice in his hand high up, then gently caught it: "No wonder Raven blocked my scouts and spread the news everywhere. It turns out that it was to cover this army."

"Attack the enemy's weakest point. Raven is indeed a good commander."

At this point, Du Duo smiled coldly: "But if he thinks that I will panic and retreat hastily because of this; or take the initiative to go out and fight him, then he is too naive."

"As long as Raven is killed, I will be able to take back the gold mine sooner or later."

Du Duo knew very well that the more Raven wanted him to do something, the less he could do it.

Once he realizes this, conspiracies will be of no use to him.

At this moment, a knight came in a hurry to report:
"My Lord Earl, someone is attacking the camp!"

"Why are you panicking?" Du Duo scolded, "How many people are there? How far are they from the camp? What is the composition of the troops?"

The knight said, "There should be... only one."

"The people are in our camp!"

……

(End of this chapter)