Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 461 Meeting Old Friends: A Useless Bargaining Chip

Putting aside the verbal sparring between the two sides, from the perspective of the Starry World, the Green Pine Kingdom's visit this time can be considered a show of great sincerity.

Although the front lines are in a very passive position, the outcome is still uncertain.

Although Chen Mo firmly believed in his victory, and the military system members throughout Han Hai also firmly believed in their side's victory, from the outside perspective, at least for now, the two sides were still evenly matched, with Han Hai having a slight advantage.

From a completely objective perspective, anything can happen on the battlefield.

Now, Green Pine Foreign Minister Winston is implying that, while the front lines are still manageable, the Green Pine Kingdom has voluntarily relinquished a large amount of resources that could only be obtained through battlefield victory.

For example, Yunwuling.

The so-called name change is, of course, not just a name change. The badges and seals, household registers, official documents, and a former lord are all included. This is equivalent to repackaging this piece of land that was originally Cloud Mist Territory and sending it back to the hands of the Vast Ocean.

From the perspective of the battle lines, what Han Hai actually controls at present is only a small area of ​​Eagle Beak Mountain, which theoretically occupies less than one-thousandth of the original Yunwu territory. Every inch of the remaining land must be fought for with every sword and spear, with the three armies shedding blood.

Now, the Green Pine Kingdom has spoken: if the negotiations go well, you can take over this vast land without shedding a drop of blood.

To put it another way, it's like when the Double-Headed Eagle's offensive against the Trident had just begun, and before they had even taken a single city, the other side offered to take all four eastern counties in exchange for letting their men leave.

This isn't a question of whether Double-Headed Eagle agrees or not, but rather whether Trident can accept this option.

The Kingdom of Green Pine was able to put forward this condition only after a very fierce internal struggle, to the point that it ultimately had to issue the order through the force of King Kruger XI.

"If the entire Glazed Defense Line is wiped out, not only will the enemy territory be unable to be defended, but even the Green Pine homeland will be in grave danger!"

"This matter needs no further discussion!"

“The three cities of Yunwu can all be given to him directly.”

"If they want the area north of the Newper River, that's fine too... we can agree to that directly!"

The Minister of Military Affairs, pale-faced and trembling, asked, "If Han Hai makes exorbitant demands, what about the land north of the Crystal River?"

That means it won't just be Cloud Mist Territory, it will also include the former Emerald Duchy's South Pass Territory.

King Kruger paused, the candlelight casting two deep blue shadows beneath his eyes. His slightly aged hand slowly slid down from his scepter: "Here!"

The Minister of War immediately collapsed to his knees on the floor of the main hall, the sound echoing hollowly.

"His Majesty!"

“Here you go.” Kruger didn’t look at him; his gaze remained fixed on the dragonblood stone at the top of the scepter.

"With troops here, we can always take it back when the time is right!"

"But if the soldiers are gone, we don't even know how much of the land south of the Crystal River will be left!"

With Kluge XI's unwavering stance of risking everything to regain control of the army, the kingdom's high command reluctantly placed Cloud Mist Territory on the negotiating table, while secretly holding onto South Pass Territory, ready to escalate the situation at any moment.

And then there's Rukawa, which is an even greater gift.

Logically speaking, such an important bargaining chip should not have been brought directly into Han Hai's military camp before negotiations even began.

What if they slash you with a knife and then deny everything?
But this time, none of the people at Green Pine had actually considered this issue.

That Lord of the Vast Ocean had such a good reputation that even the gods couldn't make him go back on his word once he made a promise.

And so, Rukawa was simply dragged over.

This former third young master of Cloud Mist Territory and lord of the Enemy Territory has not been doing well these past few years, not at all.

Everyone in the Cloud Mist Territory knows that he betrayed his father, Earl Flowing Cloud.

The Earl ruled Cloud Mist Territory for over thirty years. Although he was by no means a good father to Flowing Frost, he was perfectly competent to his king, his generals, his people, and his male heirs.

Even towards Chen Mo, a greenhorn of unknown origin, he showed him polite respect and arranged for his old clerk to provide some assistance.

Therefore, when the Green Pine Kingdom exposed Rukawa's actions without thinking, he had already become the enemy of the territory.

Then, in order to capture the group of people from Cloudmist City who had escaped, Zircon Territory hung Count Flowing Cloud's body on the top of Cloudmist City, leaving it to be exposed to the wind, frost, sun, and rain.

The task was carried out by Green Pine, but the orders were issued through his hands.

This is his greatest value as a puppet.

He pleaded and cried, he wailed and cried, he beat his chest and stamped his feet, he was in a state of impotent rage!
Then, the Marquis of Green Pine ordered his guards to hang him up as well, right next to his "father".

His once strong and robust father was now just a frail, lifeless body. The completely desiccated corpse didn't smell bad, but the suffocating feeling constantly enveloped Rukawa, making him tremble all over.

When the wind picked up, the light, desiccated corpse was lifted high into the air, like a kite that had been tethered, swaying back and forth in front of him. Occasionally, it would turn over, and two dark, hollow eye sockets would sweep across Rukawa's face, causing the young Rukawa to lose control of his sphincter and drench the faces and heads of pedestrians below the city gate.

This was met with a burst of unrestrained and wild laughter from the guards.

Rukawa quickly resigned himself to his fate.

For the next period of time, he stayed in the lord's palace that he had longed for for more than ten years, killing his subjects by day and ravaging his maids by night.

Or they might abuse their maids by day and slaughter their subjects by night.

He used this extreme, bloody stimulation to cover up his completely shattered and empty spiritual world.

Just two days later, the Marquis of Monroe, upon hearing the news, had him tied up again.

“Young man, as a lord, what you should do most is to contribute to Green Pine, not to squander Green Pine’s wealth like this.”

“Every single person you killed is now Zircon’s property. Zircon has already put it on your books, and you need to pay compensation!”

Rukawa resigned himself to his fate once again.

He began to diligently patrol the city, review documents, train soldiers, and greet everyone he passed with a smile.

Those are not people, but the property of the Zircon Territory, including himself.

He thought his life was over, and then one inexplicable message after another came his way.

His own younger sister, that little brat with slightly pointed ears, didn't stay obediently in the safe haven of the Qiyue Dynasty that her father had arranged for her, marrying just any baron or baron's son. Instead, she took up her spear, mounted her horse, and fought her way back to Yunwu.

For a fleeting moment, he felt a touch of schadenfreude.

Whether it was Frost who killed Zircon or Zircon who killed Frost, it seemed to be good news for him.

However, things gradually got out of control.

Liushuang killed the fifth knight of Zircon Territory. The enraged Marquis Monroe, having nowhere to vent his anger, came over and whipped Liuchuan.

Liushuang broke through the defenses of the 12th Infantry Regiment. The enraged Marquis Monroe, with nowhere to vent his anger, came over and whipped Liuchuan.

Liu Chuan single-handedly defeated Connor, the former Grand Knight of the Southern Pass. The enraged Marquis Monroe, having nowhere to vent his anger, came over and whipped Liu Chuan.

Liu Shuang set fire to the pontoon bridge over the Xinpo River, and corpses and supplies floated on the water. The enraged Marquis Monroe had nowhere to vent his anger. When he went out with his whip, he found that Liu Chuan had already knelt down at the door, swaying his buttocks like a wild cat in heat.

So... the Marquis casually gave Rukawa a good whipping.

Days passed by, and the young Lord Rukawa visibly gained a lot of weight.

Until the Zircon army pressed in and drove that damned little girl out of the clouds.

Later, the orcs came and then left.

The marquis went to war and died.

The vast army of Han Hai has arrived.

Upon hearing the news, he began a period of anxious waiting.

When the soldiers of Green Pine appeared at the lord's mansion, swords drawn and armored, Rukawa could no longer suppress his fear.

He knelt on the ground and wailed loudly.

"I... I've done a great service for Green Pine! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have won so quickly... My father... he's very capable!"

"I am a hero of the Green Pine, you can't treat me like this!"

"I...I...I do whatever you say, I serve you like a dog, you can't do this!"

Rukawa's face was covered in tears and snot, and his body twisted helplessly. The guards grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out, the long sword and accessories hanging on his body scraping against the bluestone floor with a harsh sound.

Ironically, this was just an ordinary guard with a mere second-tier iron badge, while the one being dragged along and wailing was a fourth-tier golden-scaled warrior.

Earl Liuyun's genes are still pretty good; he was able to reincarnate even such a useless person.

But it was no use. He never thought he could fight back. From that night by the Crystal River, beneath Violet City, his last backbone had been removed.

A foul, fishy smell wafted over, and the young and handsome lord lost control of his bladder once again. But no matter how much he pleaded or cried, he was ultimately brought here, to his sister.

Liu Shuang is wearing a full suit of armor today.

She hadn't dressed like this in a long time. Except when accompanying Chen Mo on trips or in special circumstances where security was required, she usually wore a narrow-necked hunting outfit, prioritizing ease of movement.

Even when it came time to go to the front lines, she would usually only wear a military green uniform or camouflage uniform, at most with a stab-proof inner armor.

Now, she is unusually clad in a suit of scales.

The young deputy commander, a sixth-tier swordsman, removed his helmet and casually draped it over his left arm. His long hair was tied up with a soft ribbon and styled into a loose bun at the back of his head, but a strand of hair accidentally fell across his forehead, probably blown away by the wind while he was hurrying on his way.

She didn't try to gather her hair, nor did she ask the servants to help her fix it. She simply let that stray strand of hair fall beside her brow bone, swaying back and forth with the slight tilt of her head.

Her body was covered in fine, dense scales, and her shoulder guards were cast in bronze tiger heads, or rather, "big cats." Each scale was polished to a shine, but the scratches from long-term friction were still clearly visible on her elbows and sides—marks left from countless swings of the sword, pulling of the reins, pounces, and rolls.

The armor plates pressed down on her not-so-strong body, clearly the heavy weight of steel, yet her small frame stood out remarkably upright, as if her thin skeleton was more solid than the outer armor, like a high mountain ridge supporting the snow.

She was a little taller than when she left Cloud Mist. The training armor that had accompanied her all the way from Cloud Mist Territory was now with her again, as she came to see her old "friends".

Rukawa used both hands and feet, almost tumbling and crawling as he fell to the ground, his forehead slamming heavily onto the ground.

"Sister, save me!"

“Sister…do you…do you remember? When Father took us to the training ground, I was the one who led your horse, and I didn’t let go the whole way…”

"I also gave you a sword before, do you remember? The long one, with a red scabbard and tassels!"

He kowtowed repeatedly, occasionally raising his head slightly, trying to find a trace of wavering on Liushuang's face.

Liu Shuang remained expressionless and silent.

Rukawa immediately changed his story.

He was a good actor; for decades, he consistently played the roles of a good son, a good subject, and a good younger brother.

He played every role earnestly and vividly, until the moment the script reached the point where he had the chance to step over his two older brothers and become the lord of the territory.

He simply couldn't resist.

He succeeded, and then returned to his profession as an actor.

Playing the role of a servant, a loyal dog, and... a pitiful wretch at this moment.

His hands were already deeply embedded in the soil.

“They forced me to do this…they forced me to do this! They beat me every day, poked me with spurs, they didn’t give me food, and they even hung me with my father’s bones…”

"I can't take it anymore, I'm not human, I'm a bastard, I'm an animal, I have no way..."

"I can't hold on, I really can't hold on..."

A fourth-tier golden-scaled warrior lay on the ground, like a worm whose spine had been removed, crying and convulsing.

No one in the room spoke.

Foreign Secretary Winston from Green Pine smiled and clasped his hands together, while his entourage wore mocking expressions, though they forcibly suppressed their laughter in this setting.

As for Han Hai's side, they all had serious expressions.

They certainly despised this scene, but they didn't know what their deputy commander-in-chief thought.

Liu Shuang stood there, staring intently at this lump of "elder brother," without saying a word for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, a wisp of hair on her forehead swayed again.

This time, she took a soft breath.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Unfortunately, the Green Pine Kingdom offered what they considered to be their most valuable assets, but Frostflow was not interested at all.

The girl casually tossed the seals and badges representing clouds and mist toward Green Pine, decisively rejecting Green Pine's offer.

"Cloud Mist Territory was originally mine, what are you offering to trade with me for?"

Winston's smile froze instantly, and an extremely ominous premonition rose in his heart.

He opened his mouth wide, momentarily at a loss for words. Having served as Foreign Minister for over thirty years, he had encountered those who overturned tables, made exorbitant demands, feigned madness, and refused to yield an inch. But the little girl before him offered a seemingly innocent and naive excuse, one that suggested she was completely ignorant of worldly affairs.

The other party simply did not acknowledge that the item "belonged" to turquoise.

But isn't it truly in Green Pine's hands?
Before the old man could think of what to say, Liu Shuang pointed at Liu Chuan, who was slumped over, with her toe.

"And this guy too."

"You expect me to bid for this kind of trash?"

He doesn't deserve it.

"I would consider it an insult to even ask for a copper coin!"

Winston swallowed hard and tried to explain, "Your Highness...Princess, you can't say that. Green Pine came here precisely to end this pointless war!"

"The current enemy... Cloud Mist Territory is ultimately under my Green Pine's control. This Lord Liuchuan is a lord recognized by everyone in the territory. If it weren't for my Green Pine's cooperation, you would have had to expend a lot of effort to take it down..."

Liu Shuang interrupted the old Foreign Minister without hesitation: "I'm strong!"

That's somewhat unreasonable.

Winston grew anxious: "This...this is, after all, a clash between great powers, a bloody battlefield. Even if you manage to defeat our gatekeepers, you can't do so without paying a price."

"Moreover, the lands of the two rivers and the Crystal Wilderness will require countless warriors from the vast seas to exchange for. Shouldn't we consult that lord about such a momentous matter?"

In the Foreign Minister's mind, this little girl must be completely out of her mind.

I was so confident and reluctant to give up such a heavy bargaining chip, so why is it nothing in the eyes of the other party?

Women are indeed unreasonable; I still have to talk to Lord Chen Mo, who is said to be "kind-hearted."

"Princess Liushuang!"

Winston's tone grew increasingly urgent: "Your Highness... even if you don't consider yourself, please consider the young warriors of the Vast Ocean. The Crystal Plains are so vast; even if you sweep through everything in your path, how much blood will you have to shed to conquer them all?"

"Are you going to throw these bright young people around you into this wasteland and leave them with their lives?"

"Your Highness could have easily taken it down with just a nod, so why get caught up in this moment of anger? I doubt Lord Chen Mo would want to see the Crystal Plains devastated..."

"Your Highness, continuing the war will only lead to more bloodshed—"

"Then let it bleed!!!"

The curtain was lifted, and Chen Yuanfeng strode in, decisively interrupting the old minister of Green Pine.

When the enemy delegation arrived, they offered a series of seemingly generous terms. The frontline command would report to Liushuang and simultaneously send the information remotely to Lord Hanhai's desk.

Chen Mo has been very busy lately, and this intelligence wasn't exactly urgent, so he was delayed a little while in Han Hai.

Just now, the lord's reply has been sent back to the front lines.

The young human commander first gave Liu Shuang a standard Han Hai salute. The old man's eyes paused. The other party was not using the traditional aristocratic gesture at all, but a military salute inherited from Dongxia—the five fingers of the right hand were held together like a knife, the fingertips touching the eyebrows, and then paused without moving.

Liu Shuang nodded, and Chen Yuanfeng then turned to the Green Pine Mission.

"The lord just sent a letter stating that all matters at the front are to be handled under the orders of Prince Liushuang, and he has full authority to make decisions."

Within the Han Hai Army, there is no title like "Your Highness"; the only title is "Deputy Commander-in-Chief." However, in front of outsiders, Chen Yuanfeng cleverly uses a different title.

"The lord also asked me to pass on a message to you."

“From the year 1427 of the Heavenly Vault, the year of the storm of the Qiyue Dynasty, and the year of the eternal Wuyue Divine Court, you Green Pine chose to wage war against the Vast Sea.”

"Gangs, spies, legions, assassins—they never stop!"

"Now that you can't win, you want 'peace'?"

"How could such a thing happen?"

"You have the right to choose when to start the war, but when will this war end—"

"But that's not up to you to decide!"

(End of this chapter)