Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 493 My accent has changed and my hair has turned gray

One by one, warships entered the port and anchored.

The gangway was lowered, and Li Wei was the first to disembark, followed by an extremely beautiful young girl, though a little short, along with Sersney, Mil, Tanis, Paia, and about two hundred militiamen from High Cliff Fortress, including one person completely wrapped in a cloak.

"My God, what a beautiful port! This is the first time I've ever been to such a bustling seaside city." Helena, the swan girl, held a rapier almost as tall as herself in her hands. Looking at this environment, which was completely different from Debe, she was filled with novelty and curiosity, and was extremely excited.

Ever since the swan girl received the mithril longsword "Light Dance" from the lord, she has been holding it in her arms every day, unable to put it down. She originally chose to go to Gonda with her aunt because she had heard the lord's story and admired him. Now that she has obtained the sword she had always dreamed of, she has lost all sense of unfamiliarity with the lord and has become Li Wei's little follower.

“It’s quite beautiful. I’ve always heard that the Persian Gulf Empire was a slave-owning country, and I thought this place would be a hellish sight. I have to take a picture.” The alchemical minotaur, Paya, took out a memory crystal and made a comprehensive record.

They even invited the little swan and the lord to take some separate landscape photos together.

The lord had originally planned to lure the alchemy master, Peya, into High Cliff Castle, but unexpectedly, she took the bait herself and followed Mil to Debe.

One can only marvel that a handsome face can attract not only wealthy women but also young girls.

After nearly two months away, Whale Harbor hadn't changed much, but one could barely see some local civilians from the Persian Gulf Empire coming and going at the city gate.

Regardless, this was the richest port in the Persian Gulf Empire, with a large population. As these civilians discovered that the Debe expeditionary force was not a bunch of thugs who killed and looted, they naturally adapted quickly and started making a living again.

As for national sentiment or national pride?
For the Persian Gulf Empire, a slave-owning state, the whip of the slave owner was more effective.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty Dragon Knight Levi." A powerful greeting interrupted Levi's thoughts.

A cloud of yellow dust billowed as a group of royal knights reined in their horses and came to a stop in unison. These men were all warrior knights trained from childhood, the elite of the royal capital, and Bernard's personal guard knight order.

The opposing knight commander, a middle-aged man carrying a long sword, stepped forward alone, removed his helmet, and respectfully performed a hat-removal salute, the burning desire in his eyes impossible to conceal.

All the knights dismounted in unison, lined up neatly in a row, and saluted their lord.

"Your Majesty, I am Avel, the Grand Master of the First Company of the Storm Howling Knights in the Expeditionary Force. On behalf of Governor Bernard, I welcome Your Majesty and all the brothers who have come to support the Expeditionary Force." Avel pounded his chest and spoke in a deep voice.

"Aiver, there's no need to be so polite. I've witnessed your valiant fighting against those wolves of the Persian Gulf Empire on the battlefield, and we are equally honored to receive your welcome." The lord continued to act as a kind and approachable dragon knight.

For a soldier, the easiest way to build rapport is to praise the other person's bravery.

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty." Avel's face was full of gratitude.

He would have scoffed at praise from an ordinary person, but this was a compliment from Li Wei, the number one warrior under the stars and the Twin Dragon Knight!
With the situation in Debe stabilizing, news of the undead plague in Gonda spread rapidly in all directions thanks to deliberate propaganda, and the expeditionary force of the Persian Gulf Empire naturally learned of it as well.

"Your Majesty, Lord Bernard is currently commanding the battle from Wirtz, but he has already prepared campsites for the support troops at Whale Harbor. Gentlemen, you may rest first before discussing other matters."

"My valiant warrior, could you please show me the way to the camp?" Li Wei's smile remained unchanged.

He never expected that Bernard would go to Wirtz.

Wirtz was the capital of the southern province of the Persian Gulf Empire, and also the place where he killed the demon lord.

Later, because of the incident at High Cliff Fortress, he only hurriedly gave Layton some instructions and left.

However, with this goblin advisor around, there shouldn't be any problems. Li Wei is quite at ease with the other party.

Along the way, Li Wei did not try to get close to these storm-raging knights again. Being too amiable wouldn't work; he also had to maintain a certain level of mystery.

His gaze swept over the knights behind Avel, who, though travel-worn, still had sharp eyes.

The wear and tear on their armor silently testified to the fierce fighting that had taken place over the past two months.

It's estimated that this retreat to the rear is simply because they've come back to recuperate.

The streets of Whale Harbor were much cleaner than when Livy left. Although traces of the war were still visible, basic order had been restored.

Most of the shops on both sides of the street were open for business, and some local Persian Gulf merchants were even trading with Debai soldiers.

Upon seeing Li Wei and his entourage pass by, many people stopped what they were doing and curiously observed this group that clearly belonged to important figures.

"It seems Bernard has managed things well, restoring trade to Whale Harbor so quickly," Li Wei praised.

Their attack on the Persian Gulf Empire was aimed at expanding their territory and extending their domain here, not at colonization or looting and running away. Therefore, they certainly could not engage in banditry in some important cities.

Avel said, “The governor said that White Whale Harbor should become a stable rear base for the expeditionary force, not just an occupied fortress. We repaired the damaged buildings, opened the market, and let these Gulf people know that the master of the Gulf Empire is Debe, and they can become Debe’s subjects, instead of just slaves as before.”

Mir raised an eyebrow in surprise: "The Gulf people are willing to join Debe?"

“The whip and the honey, my lord,” Avel quoted a De Beers proverb. “The obedient are rewarded, the rebellious are punished. Most commoners only seek a peaceful life and do not care who the rulers are.”

As they talked, they arrived at a spacious camp. The tents were neatly arranged, and the logistics soldiers had already prepared hot food and water. The soldiers, who had traveled a long distance, cheered when they saw this.

Levi turned to Mil and Tannis and instructed, "Arrange for everyone to rest. Officers, assemble at the White Whale Harbor Military Hall."

The two men took the order and left.

Li Wei, along with Helena and Peya, accompanied Aiver to the lord's castle in White Whale Harbor, which had been converted into the military command hall of the expeditionary force.

Inside the military command hall, the officers and staff of the expeditionary force had been waiting for a long time.

A huge map of the Persian Gulf hangs on the wall, densely marked with the positions of friend and foe.

They bowed respectfully to the new king of Debe.

Many people still haven't realized why this dragon knight, after just one trip back to Debe, suddenly became the Hand of the King, and even the new king is his fiancée.

But now that they were far from Gonda, they were powerless to do anything about it, no matter how dissatisfied they were, and could only accept the fact. "Your Majesty, this is the latest battle situation." An aide respectfully handed over a report: "Lord Bernard is commanding the battle at the front of Wirtz. Since you dealt with the demon lord there last time, we have been clearing out the remaining demons in Wirtz."

"But the effect was not good. Even after your cleansing, there were still too many demons inside."

Li Wei was not surprised. The fact that a demon lord had appeared in Wirtz's territory meant that he had quite a few demon vassals.

What he wants to know most right now is the situation in the northern part of the Persian Gulf Empire—whether this country has been taken over by demons.

If that's true, it would be very troublesome even for him.

Soon, the nobles and officers of the support army also arrived. In fact, the expeditionary force was jointly formed by the nobles of the four provinces, so many of them were old acquaintances of the support army.

There was no need for the lord to introduce them; the two sides quickly became acquainted.

After handing over the work, the lord left.

Putting aside the fact that he has been away from the Persian Gulf Empire for quite some time and is no longer aware of the specific situation here, his intervention would only backfire.

Not to mention he had a lot on his plate and no time to train these soldiers or arrange tasks for the newly arrived support troops.

"Ubigail, how's the task I assigned you going?" Li Wei asked the hooded figure beside him on the way back.

The other party was none other than Ubigail, the Lich King of the Salvation Society who had been captured by Livy. If it weren't for the fact that he was still somewhat useful and quite sensible, he would probably have already become a dead soul under the Lord's sword.

“My lord, I have stored the remaining hundred thousand or so undead of Gonda into my jade ring, and I have also transformed more than a dozen of the frost trolls that died in the battle of Tiridates.” Ubigail answered respectfully.

As a Lich King, he naturally possessed a spatial ring.

After the frost trolls of Tiridary signed a vassal pact with their leader, they were released by the lord. As for their people who died in the Frost Giant tribe, they were turned into undead by Ubigail and continued to serve the lord.

"Is there a limit to how much you Lich Kings can convert undead?" Li Wei nodded and continued to ask.

A hundred thousand or so undead should be enough to give Wirtz and his abyssal demons a run for their money.

Li Wei had no intention of fighting the demons of the abyss head-on.

The Abyss is known as the Endless Abyss, where demons are endless.

No matter how many you kill, they will never be completely wiped out, but if even one of the warriors of Gaoyabao dies, then they are truly dead.

The most obvious approach is to let the dead wear them down.

Anyway, the warriors from Gaoyabao can also gain experience by being nearby, even if it's less, but at least there's no risk.

“My lord, even the lowest-ranking necromancer apprentice has no limit to converting into undead, provided that you don’t expend mental energy to establish a contract with the undead.” Ubigail couldn’t help but feel a little proud when she said this: “As long as I have enough magic power, I can keep converting creatures into undead. However, high-ranking undead such as undead knights, ghouls, and undead dragons need to be contracted separately, otherwise they will not easily obey commands since they have already developed intelligence.”

This is why no intelligent race welcomes these Lich Kings; given time, even a single one could easily unleash a calamity of the undead.

In those necromancer novels, even necromancers who have limitations when using bone manipulation to summon skeletons were once despised by Ubigail. They were just a bunch of people who had never been necromancers, making up whatever they thought they knew.

Li Wei nodded in satisfaction; sparing the other party's life did indeed have some effect.

However, he soon thought of the Book of the Dead. If he mastered this book, he would be able to use all kinds of powerful necromancy spells at will. But he had to admit that the lord was indeed wary of this evil book.

Now that his strength is already at its peak, there is absolutely no need to rely on an unstable factor to add to his already formidable power. It would be safest to hand it over to the Holy Light Church and let them destroy it.

The lord then thought of his own Starry Sky Twin Shadow Barrier. The more he experienced it, the more he could feel how powerful the evolved barrier was.

Even without Ubigail, he could project himself onto her and even use more powerful necromancy.

……

Wirtz was, as always, shrouded in an opaque black cloud, while a warm, gentle breeze blew the flags fluttering atop the small town on the distant hillside.

Since the expeditionary force was locked in a stalemate with the demons of Wirtzri here, Bernard simply ordered the mages to build a small fortress that could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people.

If Li Wei hadn't annihilated the demon lords and core high-level demons beforehand, they would undoubtedly have been forced to cower in the city and defend it.

However, the military staff now believe that it will take more than a month to take down Wirtz.

If Wirtzri were an ordinary soldier, it wouldn't have taken this long at all. But the enemy was a demon, so they had to be annihilated.

In the material world, however, the difficulty of annihilating the enemy is ridiculously high. In most cases, the commander's goal is to defeat them, which is much easier.

But these demons are no good.

However, what worries Bernard is not Wirtz; acquiring Wirtz is not a big deal.

What he feared was that the entire northern part of the Persian Gulf Empire would become a paradise for demons, which would be a catastrophe not only for the expeditionary force but also for the entire material world.

"Lord Bernard, Li Weimian has come down! And Miss Tennys too."

Just then, a figure rushed into the study without even knocking.

Bernard finally looked away from the map on his desk, his face beaming with undisguised joy, but he frowned when he heard the next name.

"Come on, let's go take a look." He put on his coat and walked out of the simple and plain study.

When the lord saw the governor again, he couldn't help but sigh, "Old man, you've aged quite a bit."

(End of this chapter)