Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 290 The Empire's Great Expedition and the Senator's Invitation

Su Li accepted the invitation from the Lord of Maleburg without any doubt.

It’s definitely not to find an opportunity to catch a glimpse of Miss Bay’s beauty!

The main purpose was to gain greater benefits for the Hesse Territory. Maleburg was the most prosperous city in the entire Border Prince Territory. To put it bluntly, if the city lord could reveal a little wealth from his fingers, it would be enough to make the Hesse Territory soar.

But Su Li's plan didn't last long before it failed.

Because when he arrived at the magnificent City Lord's Mansion, he didn't see the City Lord at all!
He was received by the "legendary" chief administrative officer, Remire Malone, who was once famous for his romantic scandals and was known as the "Minotaur Master" and had hooked up with the senator's administrative officer.

The official's attire and style were in keeping with the southern empire's style. He wore a tailored crimson velvet coat with a large ruby ​​button adorning the lapel. The cuffs and collar of the coat were embroidered with intricate gold patterns, symbolizing his power and wealth.

She wore a white lace shirt underneath, the low-cut neckline revealing a few chest hairs, and a gold belt inlaid with pearls tied around her waist.

The sheer number of pearls alone made Su Li dizzy. The sheer number and value of all the pearls he had brought with him were not as valuable as this belt.

Therefore, a faint sneer appeared on Remiel's deep face. After receiving Su Li, he said directly, "What a coincidence, Bauhinia Knight, our Lord Mayor is away from the city recently. The Hippogriff Knights were unaware of the movements of this high-ranking official, so they invited you here abruptly. But this is definitely not an intentional neglect. All the legendary knights of the Empire have been summoned to Mordheim to attend the Elector's Council. This is an imperial summons, and our Lord Mayor cannot refuse."

What? The city lord is actually a legendary knight?

This made Su Li and everyone behind him excited. It turned out that if the top leaders leaked even a little information, it would become a secret that the lower levels would never be able to access.

With so many caravans passing through, everyone thought the city lord was just an agent put forward by the senators. Unexpectedly, the city lord was truly powerful.

Su Li also secretly took a deep breath. The woman he wanted to rob was the wife of such a powerful legendary knight? Not to mention that he currently had no means, even if he successfully rolled into bed with Sister Bei, if this legendary knight knew about it, his fate would be even more miserable than Shabulin's, right?
Fortunately, he quickly calmed down. Anyway, he came here just to take the opportunity to see what Sister Bei looked like, and he didn't have the strong urge to win over this married woman.

He immediately seized this opportunity to ask, "Why has the Empire summoned so many legendary knights to Mordheim? I heard the Empire is making a big move. Is this related to this?"

"Of course, there's no need to hide it from you. This news will be public soon." Remiel seemed intent on making Su Li's acquaintance, and he took the initiative to explain, "The empire suffered many disastrous defeats last year. Vampires invaded the southwest, the green tide spread to the southeast, and in Araby, a large number of knight strongholds were destroyed by the Tomb King. This caused the northern provinces of the empire to be filled with mockery of the south. In particular, the princes, led by Prince Graf of Middenland, became particularly powerful at the Electoral Conference."

"So, in order to balance the situation in the empire and restore its prestige, His Majesty has decided to launch a great expedition to enhance the empire's reputation."

Another great expedition?

Even Su Li, a time traveler, couldn't help but feel his blood boiling when he heard the three words "Great Expedition", and a grand sense of mission and glorious honor arose spontaneously.

The Great Crusade is one of the most sacred and magnificent undertakings of the Empire. During the reign of each emperor, a large-scale knight crusade will be organized to conquer evil monsters or hostile forces and wage a war of sweeping across the land.

During the Great Crusade, the people of the Empire's sense of honor and cohesion were elevated to their peak. Each Great Crusade was an epic war, producing waves of Chosen Knights and legendary knights.

Of course, from the perspective of the nobility, this great expedition also has another unique value and significance.

It was a well-known fact that the empire was filled with highly trained and educated chivalrous knights who had nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Because of their overwhelming numbers and the oversupply, they could not find the kingdom's knights to pledge allegiance to, nor could they find expeditions to plunder... nor to uphold justice.

Even the job of serving as a stable security guard for the Kingdom Knights was snatched up by a dozen chivalrous knights.

Most of them are like armed thugs, no different from the bandits running around everywhere, except that they have a horse, which makes them even worse than the horse bandits.

Therefore, organizing a sacred great expedition every once in a while is also to help the empire consume the severely overflowing number of ranger knights within the empire, and to find a sacred cause for these knights who can only chop people with a broken iron sword.

The last great expedition of the Empire was twenty years ago. Under the command of the late Emperor Heinz van Buren the Merciful, the expeditionary force and the Kislev coalition defeated the Chaos army that had been wreaking havoc on the Chaos Snowfields for a long time. The coalition killed more than 40 Dragon Demons, among which the head of the strongest legendary Dragon Demon, Shadow Maxter, was kept in the Imperial Palace.

Now that the army of the southern province of the empire has defeated the vampires and the greenskins, it is actually in its prime.

This can be seen from just looking at the province of Surander. The knights who fought their way out of the sea of ​​blood and corpses were all bathed in a large amount of divine grace, and the chosen ones of God appeared in endlessly.

Keeping them in the territory at this time would be a waste of combat power and would likely lead to serious political infighting. It would be better to continue to utilize their combat power to expand the empire's territory.

Su Li asked curiously, "Has the target of the Great Expedition been chosen? Is it Araby?"

"I'm not sure about that." Remiel spread his hands and said, "This is something that can only be decided by the Electors' Council. I guess summoning so many powerful knights to Mordheim is just to get their opinions. I heard that several targets have been selected, all of which are southern forces, including the wreaking havoc on the Tomb Kings of Araby, Mount Oka in the Border Princes' Territory, and the Tomb Legion in the southwest of the Empire. They are aimed at once and for all eliminating the evil necromancer Heinrich Kemmler, who is threatening the Empire."

Hearing this, Su Li couldn't help but be shocked. The empire's powerful enemies and foreign threats were really everywhere.

Not to mention the Tomb Kings, no one could possibly know the sheer scale of these undead armies in the desert. Furthermore, they not only possessed vast armies of skeletons, but also extremely powerful magical constructs, such as the Holy Titans and Sphinxes. The Holy Titans were said to be over a hundred meters tall and capable of firing terrifying death rays.

The Barrow Legion was the same vampire army that invaded the southwestern provinces of the Empire last year. The powerful necromancer Heinrich single-handedly bolstered this formidable force, arguably the most powerful necromancer ever to have existed in the entire Old World. Over the millennia, the Empire had repeatedly defeated it, but failed to slay it. It repeatedly returned, inflicting countless casualties on the Empire.

Su Li's greatest concern was undoubtedly Mount Oka, located in the middle of the vast plains of the Border Prince Territory. It was the most treacherous and mysterious mountain range, renowned for its wild ecology and dark legends.

The mountains are composed of precipitous limestone peaks, deep canyons, and an intricate network of caves, shrouded in thick fog year-round. Within the mountains lie ancient dwarven mines and abandoned fortresses, though most have become monster lairs.

The mountains are rich in iron ore and rare gems, but due to the Greenskins and Beastmen that inhabit them, the Bretonnians rarely venture into mining. A few Dwarven expeditions have attempted to reclaim the old mines, but all have failed.

Warbands of Chaos-corrupted Beastmen roam the mountains, often gathering places around desecrated Chaos altars. Deep within the mountains are also said to harbor numerous foul creatures, including gargoyles, cave trolls, and cursed undead such as the Tomb Wraith. Legends also suggest that a Chaos Emperor Dragon lurks within the mountains, but this has not been confirmed.

The knights of the Border Princedom often organize "Purification Expeditions" to try to eliminate the threat of Mount Oka, but the terrain of the mountain is complex and the enemy can easily resurface.

The most famous Blood Mist Battle took place around 2010 in the Imperial Calendar. Duke Merus of Iron Wall led his army deep into the Oka Mountains to encircle and suppress the orc warlord "Black Tooth" Grug. In the end, the knights got lost in the thick fog and were ambushed, suffering heavy losses.

Many glory-seeking members of the Blazing Sun Knights will take the initiative to enter Mount Oka, seeing it as a test of their courage and faith from the Sun Goddess, but there are few survivors.

There is no doubt that if the Empire's Great Expedition could choose Mount Oka, it would be extremely beneficial to the Hessian Territory.

Not only is the war closer to Hessen Territory, Su Li can also provide and sell various logistical supplies and equipment to the army. More importantly, Su Li can watch the battle from the sidelines and seize a vast amount of opportunities!
He would never participate in the war.

It is not his style to wander around in such a dangerous forbidden area. His biggest advantage is to develop slowly.

However, he had the support of an intelligence system, and he could undoubtedly obtain a large number of opportunities by providing supplies and trading on the side. When many knights did not know the value of the spoils, he bought up the valuable supplies in one fell swoop.

Even the fourth extraordinary spiritual tree in the Hessen Territory may depend on this great expedition.

Remire smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Which destination to choose for the Great Expedition is a matter for the great men to decide. It's pointless for us small-time characters to pay attention. We can only wait and see the outcome. Our mayor is not in town, but Senator Smith Scott has been very concerned about you and is willing to host a gracious banquet for you. I wonder if you would be willing to come."

Su Li did not comment on Remiel's words. They might not be able to influence the choice of target, but Su Li was indeed capable of interfering.

Once Phyllis successfully moves into the Avilan Palace, she will have a vote in the Elector's Conference.

As long as she insisted on choosing this kind of expedition target, the other territories probably wouldn't fight her. After all, this goal didn't involve the core interests of the various territories.

The army of the Surander province will undoubtedly be one of the main forces of the Great Crusade. Their territory has been severely damaged and they do not have sufficient financial resources to support a large number of knights. Using the Great Crusade to waive maintenance fees is obviously something that everyone, from the electors to the dukes and nobles, would welcome.

Therefore, few people would offend the Surander Province over such matters and fight with them to the end.

However, the outcome of Phyllis's political struggle had not yet come out, and Su Li could not think too much about it. He could only quickly refocus his attention on the present and said, "Thank you, Senator Smith, for your kindness, but I am short on time and my strength is weak..."

"Hey, Bauhinia Knight, don't be so hasty to refuse." Remiel quickly interrupted Su Li and said, "You can first learn about Senator Smith's situation before making a decision. Senator Smith is one of the most powerful senators in Maleburg. He is mainly responsible for the Equipment Production and Manufacturing Committee and is the chairman of the committee. He is responsible for managing the production and sales of weapons, armor, and other military equipment in the city, and providing equipment supplies for the Maleburg Third Legion."

“He is also a member of the Commerce and Trade Committee, the Auction and Luxury Goods Committee, and the Finance and Monetary Committee.”

"I think there must be a lot of areas for us to cooperate." He deliberately emphasized the word "our", obviously hinting at the close relationship between him and Senator Smith, as well as him and the forces behind him.

Su Li originally didn't want to meet this senator. If it was normal for the city lord to win over the lords of various territories at the beginning, it was to maintain the status of Maleburg and enhance his influence.

Then how come he, a senator, also invites heroes?

Under normal circumstances, only other people can meet such an important person by giving gifts!

Considering what was suggested in the previous intelligence, a senator's scandal was widely circulated, causing a lot of hatred and political struggles.

Su Li had reason to believe that beneath the calm surface of the city of Maleburg, undercurrents had already been surging and turbulent.

It is understandable if you think about it. Maleburg was originally the bridgehead for the Empire to interfere in the border princes' territories. How could there be no interference from the imperial aristocratic forces in this prosperous city?
Even a small clerk like Shablin can trace his background back to Terrabheim. There may be many forces behind these big figures.

With such a complicated situation and such a huge cake, can those bigwigs resist taking a bite?
Their political struggle would have been a life-and-death struggle long ago.

Su Li didn't know much about this place, and if he rushed in rashly, he might be smashed to pieces by a wave.

What if, by chance, he and the city lord are not in the same faction, then Su Li will be forced to stand against the city lord, and it will be even more difficult to get close to Sister Bei.

But when he heard that Senator Smith controlled so many committees and had a significant influence on them, Su Li knew that he had no choice.

Senator Smith's [Equipment Production and Manufacturing Committee] and [Auction and Luxury Goods Committee] have a huge impact on Su Li's industry.

So Su Li decisively smiled and said, "It is such an honor to be able to work with the Senator."

Remire's lips curled up slightly, his face filled with pride. "Of course, Senator Smith has always greatly admired the equipment and resources produced by your Hesse Territory, and has long wanted to meet you, a hero."

Su Li nodded and said, "Then I will ask my subordinates to settle them down first, and then I will go with the Chief Steward to meet Senator Smith."

Remiel immediately waved his hand and said, "There's absolutely no need to go to all that trouble. The senator has a large manor in the South Coast area in the center of the city, which I can lend you as a place to stay during your stay in Maleburg."

Su Li had heard from the halfling that the South Coast District was a famous wealthy area in Maleburg. It was located on the banks of the canal, and the manors and mansions of the nobles were the core of this community.

An astonishing number of birds live here, and the beautifully landscaped gardens and woods make it a truly charming place.

And right next to it is the famous [Rich Land], a private vegetable and fruit garden owned by the Emerald Academy. It is run by a large number of non-Emerald mages and provides the freshest and most nutritious vegetables to the wealthy and powerful people in Maleburg.

So Su Li did not refuse, and gave Fandral the opportunity to visit here, learn from him, and even buy a batch of extraordinary vegetable seeds.

Under the leadership of Remire, Su Li and his party soon arrived at Smith's Mar-a-Lago Manor in the South Coast area. Fastrick first took the others to rest and place their mounts, while Su Li and Hildreth came to the reception room of the manor under the leadership of Remire.

Several wealthy businessmen in gorgeous attire were already seated in the reception room. Remire introduced them to Su Li one by one, saying, "These are also distinguished guests of the Senator. This beautiful lady is Eli Garfield, the president of Crankenfield Auction House. If you have any rare treasures, you can entrust them to her. Crankenfield Auction House is the most prestigious auction house in Maleburg. They hold a large-scale auction every year, selling everything from dragon eggs to legendary weapons, from precious artworks to antiques from ancient tombs."

Su Li's eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at the middle-aged young woman wearing white gloves. She had a very charming temperament and a signature beauty mole at the corner of her eye. After Remiel finished introducing her, she decisively cast a wink at Su Li, and her tone was so sweet that it was suffocating.

"Oh my! You're the Griffin Knight that made such a splash today, huh? To be so highly regarded by the Senator and invited to Mar-a-Lago, you're truly a young talent. I bet your brother, with so many air cavalrymen, must be dealing with some financial problems in the territory, right? But it doesn't matter, just leave it to me. I'll definitely auction off your treasure for a whopping price."

After she finished speaking, she charmingly placed her finger in front of Su Li's nose and said, "Besides, since you are the senator's distinguished guest, I will only charge you a symbolic 3% handling fee."

Remiel rebuked him disgruntledly, "President Yili, you've already reduced the handling fee from 6% to 3%. Why not just go all the way down? Why not just waive the handling fee for Knight Su Li?"

"That won't do." Guild President Ellie feigned anger, twisting her waist as she looked at Remiel, and said coquettishly, "Reducing it from 6% to 3% is a benefit I provided to my brother by paying my own profits and costs. It doesn't involve any regulations. But if even 3% is eliminated, I will be violating the headquarters' regulations and will be punished. I will no longer be able to provide you with convenience. I don't mind. If I lose this position, the worst that can happen is that I will go to work somewhere in my brother's territory. But my brother is such a kind person, he wouldn't want me to be fired and become lonely and helpless, right?"

Su Li was too lazy to pay attention to her, just smiled faintly and didn't reply. Of course, he could see that they were singing the same tune and deliberately doing him a favor.

He had seen a lot of green tea tricks. Just yesterday, when the elf little green tea Sylvanas was still eating at night, she came to Su Li alone and said, "My lord, my hands are so cold. If you don't believe me, feel them."

Thinking you could win him over with such a small favor was impossible! So after Su Li had taken advantage of her, she waved Sylvanas away. After all, Hildur had avoided a fierce battle yesterday and had plenty of energy. He had no shortage of women, so it was wishful thinking to think you could win him over with Sylvanas's breakthrough.

He was like this towards Sylvanas, so he was completely immune to Guild Master Irri's flirtatious glance.

Seeing Su Li's calm attitude, Remiel knew that he must have the confidence and might be fearless. He was sure that the treasure would be snatched up and would not easily hand it over to an auction house.

He decisively changed the subject, pointing to a gray-bearded wizard in a robe and introducing him, "This is Roger Chris, the president of the Gray Market Trading Company. He is also a powerful Five-Ring Wizard. He has the most gray items in Maraisburg. If Knight Su Li needs to buy any high-end goods, President Roger is definitely your best choice."

This president immediately cheered up Su Li, and he nodded slightly in greeting. It was obvious that his status was really different now.

When I first arrived in Marley Castle and came into contact with the Gray Market Trading Company, I could only get in touch with one of the leaders of one of their affiliated slave-hunting groups.

Now he can actually sit at the same table with the president of their gray market company.

Finally, Remiel pointed at a chubby halfling and introduced him, "This is the president of the Gay Friendship Club, the Greedy Branbrand Splitting Thorns. He's the wealthiest banker, businessman, and investor in Maleburg. I heard you two have some connections. If Knight Suli's territory faces any financial crisis, he might be able to provide you with considerable assistance."

Su Li raised his eyebrows and asked, "You all seem to be certain that there is a small problem in my territory?"

Branbron grinned, his voice carrying the halfling's signature sharpness. "Hahaha, Your Excellency Su Li, there's no need to hide. We've seen this happen a lot in Maleburg. Lords often arrive in a hurry, bringing with them the so-called treasures of their territories. If they don't have acquaintances to help them, the profiteers in the city will use the most friendly smiles to quickly take advantage of them."

"But there are always hospitable nobles in Maraisburg who are willing to donate generously to help those nobles who are short of money to overcome difficulties and grow stronger."

"So what's the price?" Su Li calmly sat down on the chair that President Yi Li pulled out for him.

"That's a good question!" A cold voice called out from outside the door. "Perhaps we could collaborate. I heard your territory has attracted a large number of mountain dwarves, capable of producing countless fine equipment. And as you know, I'm the Chairman of the Maleburg Equipment Production and Manufacturing Committee! This means we could make a fortune."

(End of this chapter)