Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 665 The Poisoning Strategy
"Your Excellency, His Majesty invited you to the front lines to oversee the battle, hoping you would offer us more advice... Please do provide us with your guidance."

Although Vaughn was the frontline commander-in-chief of this "Frozen" operation and the nominal supreme commander of the army, he still gave the legendary mage a lot of face, appearing to be sincere and attentive.

Dawson touched his nose, finding the rugged-looking orc quite pleasing to the eye, and chuckled, "It's simple. These days, haven't the Ice Fortress outposts near the base, as well as the reconnaissance airships that patrol daily, captured many live lizardmen prisoners?"

Seeing everyone listening intently in a daze, the old master chuckled and continued, "As far as I know, no matter what methods we use to torture or test them, we have never been able to decipher their internal communication methods. These ghostly things do not utter a word, and in essence, they are most likely communicating using mental power or something similar to swarm consciousness, through a flow state that is incomprehensible to ordinary people."

Flow? Vaughn looked bewildered, when suddenly the deep voice of the Son of Flame echoed in his mind, "What I'm using on you now is telepathy, a pure form of mental communication between spellcasters. High-ranking warriors like you who have awakened their bloodline power can also sense it through their own senses. Heh... Your bloodline lord, His Majesty the Emperor, can also use this silent communication to communicate with you one-on-one, can't he?"

Vaughn looked around and realized that, apart from the legendary chief Dawson and the fire mage Holden standing opposite the sand table, no one else had heard the words that had echoed in his mind. He suddenly understood.

“I understand, but even if we figure out their communication methods, we won’t be able to decipher their essential content in a short time. It will always be difficult to obtain first-hand information.”

Dawson smiled and shook his head, saying calmly, "No, I don't intend to decipher their language. I just want to make a small attempt... If I successfully invade their mental bodies and use a unique method to bypass their anti-magic skin, I can release some ferocious plagues into their independent consciousness... and then release them in batches. Once they return to the interior of the floating island, these freed prisoners will be eager to communicate with their respective leaders. At that time, the plagues can spread rapidly through the flow of consciousness, directly detonating the entire floating island."

To release a plague into the mind and consciousness?
The officers present were completely dumbfounded. How could something as intangible and insubstantial as the soul become a carrier and breeding ground for disease, let alone cause widespread infection?

The Son of Flame immediately understood and explained for Dawson with a smile: "You have probably all heard of the Soul-Draining Technique that made His Excellency famous. I won't go into too much detail about the caster's methods. Just think of it as a special kind of invisible curse. The only difference is that this thing is contagious."

"And how damaging is this cursed plague?" Dickinson asked cautiously.

"If you want to spread it on a large scale, there is no way to directly kill the infected targets, but... it can make them unconsciously become confused and sluggish, and over time they may even develop hallucinations. If it is deployed before the start of the battle, I believe that after the two sides clash, you will see many mindless enemies on the battlefield, suddenly turning on their own people in a ridiculous way."

It was said to have limited power, but it sounded incredibly sinister... Dickinson and Ross exchanged a glance and both noticed the hidden fear in each other's eyes.

The spellcaster's methods are truly bizarre, and legendary spellcasters are even more unapproachable.

Vaughn, however, hadn't thought that far ahead. He bowed to Dawson excitedly and said, "This is absolutely brilliant in disrupting the enemy's offensive! Your Excellency, we don't need to ask His Majesty for permission. Please give it a try!"

……

After finalizing the first phase of the operational plan, Vaughn, along with a group of staff officers, hurriedly traveled through the base's mid-range teleportation array to the snow mountain base three hundred miles away.

The Snow Valley Highlands, once a haven for refugees from the wasteland, has undergone a dramatic transformation thanks to the engineering team's work. Dozens of long-range teleportation arrays have been installed in massive tunnels dug into the mountainside to guard against potential attacks from winged beings. Concrete fortifications have been erected throughout the flat valley, completely enclosing the central airship landing pad.

The snow mountain base did not station too many army troops, but instead housed nearly a thousand various combat airships, as well as a large number of air combat mages directly dispatched from the capital.

In a sense, this place is more like an "air force base" or a mage's stronghold similar to Blackrock City. It was built entirely to meet the dual needs of air combat and multi-point support, and its geographical location and field of vision are perfect.

Led by the Son of Flame, Vaughn arrived at the Beacon Tower ruins atop the snow-capped mountain by airship. Following the mission assigned by His Majesty Harvey, he and a group of officers paid their respects to this ancient building that represented the protection of their people by their ancestors. Afterward, he returned to the camp below and gathered the spellcaster officers of the Independent Aerial Mage Regiment to begin tactical deployment in earnest.

"Based on our current search area, after the battle to counterattack Floating Island No. 2 breaks out... which sea outlets are most likely to see the enemy?"

The Sons of Flame filled the map with chess pieces representing airships, but added a blank, deep red square on the northeast side of the Thirteenth Sea Mouth, where the second floating island is located. The square was empty, indicating that their aerial reconnaissance had not yet reached this area.

Vaughn narrowed his eyes, somewhat uncertainly asking, "This is the Seventeenth Sea Surge Estuary? It's about a hundred miles away from the Second Floating Island. Why didn't you complete the reconnaissance and mapping work along the way?"

Stormwalker Matthews Willie shook his head helplessly and sighed, "The situation near the Seventeenth Sea Surge is extremely unusual. It seems to be due to the intense activity of the hot lava springs on the bottom of the icy seabed. They erupt frequently every fifteen minutes. As soon as the scorching hot springs leave the sea surface, they are immediately condensed into thick white mist by the cold air. With the airship completely out of sight, it dares not approach the surrounding area to conduct reconnaissance."

"So our first suspect is this place, which is close to the second floating island... Once the enemy's new floating island appears here, it can form a pincer attack on our Ice Sea base from two sides."

After a moment's thought, the Son of Flame suggested, "Given the inability to detect from the air, I recommend sending high-level battle mages to fly directly there and explore the area from the ground, at least to deploy some early warning devices..."

"Too dangerous!" The staff officers shook their heads in unison. High-level battle mages were indeed powerful and swift, but if they faced thousands of well-prepared ambushers, and were caught in the enemy tide and countered by their magic-resistant shells, it would be difficult for them to retreat unscathed.

His Majesty has always treated these high-ranking mages, who voluntarily broke away from the old alliance and family organizations and joined the United Kingdom as individuals to fight alongside mortals against alien races, with the highest level of respect and treatment. If he knew that the command had sent them out at great risk just to complete the most basic reconnaissance work, he would probably be severely reprimanded.

“Activate the alchemical beast force… Let these little guys sneak into the foggy sea at the mouth of the sea and complete the reconnaissance without disturbing anything.”

After pondering for a long time, Vaughn finally decided to activate the "Soul Crystal" that His Majesty had entrusted to him before his departure. According to His Majesty, the number of miniature alchemical beasts he brought with him this time was only a little over 100,000. Deploying them to large-scale battles would not play a significant role in turning the tide of the war. It would be better to use them in other places, where they could have a greater effect of surprise.

(End of this chapter)