Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 410 The Fallen Ice Duke

When the information about the nationwide announcement flooded his screen, Li Wei, who was patrolling in the wilderness, smiled knowingly, not surprised at all.

Inside the territory's main city, Zhao Xuanxuan, who was forging enchanted equipment, laughed three times, but her hammer never stopped.

Inside the one-star mage tower, Second Aunt, who was preparing a four-star magic potion, remained expressionless, focused, and completely absorbed. Nothing could interrupt her operation, not even the collapse of the heavens and the earth.

Inside the Black Mountain Baronate, Hathaway was overjoyed, hugging Li Yue and laughing and crying at the same time. In fact, she had been most worried about Li Wei during this period. It wasn't that she was worried about whether Li Wei could succeed, but that she was afraid that Li Wei would turn into some kind of scumbag. Now it was finally settled. As Li Wei's vassal baron, she would also become a powerful viscount along with Li Wei, automatically losing the qualification to continue to expand and build cities. In other words, she was bound to Li Wei.

And this is simply the best ending.

Yes, although Hathaway kept saying she wanted to come to Li Wei's territory to be a staff member, if she actually did it, she would be unhappy and unwilling. In a sense, she was no different from that sick Anna. They were both pretentious and sick, and they needed to be cured!

In short, the current distance is just right.

Not a staff member, but a vassal. On the one hand, he could cling to Li Wei's coattails, and on the other hand, he still had enough freedom. It was the best of both worlds.

"Alright, it's not over yet. Right now, the only thing that's comfortable is Li Wei's legal territory. You'd better establish the framework of your territory before the mission is settled. What kind of system is it to have nothing like this?"

Li Yue smiled, her gloom lessened considerably, because for her, it was like a phase had ended. As a staff member, she naturally had the right to share in the profits and inherit the territory from the moment the mission was completed. Depending on her performance and contributions during the mission, she might eventually receive 1% to 5% ownership of the territory. However, Li Wei had already stated that the maximum percentage would be applied.

5%, Baron!
It's that simple.

Including Liang Yuzhi, Zhao Xuanxuan, and Thomas, they are all barons, and all account for 5%.

This is also the fundamental reason why Liang Yuzhi and Hathaway secretly drove Qin Yu away and scared Anna away. In fact, this plan had already begun when the flood peak passed through, with Hathaway as the leader, Liang Yuzhi as the cooperator, and Li Yue also participating.

Even the owl cooperated in some ways.

As the garrison commander of Thorn Pass, one of the chief examiners for the pioneering mission, and also the commander-in-chief on the front lines of the war, he truly had the authority to disregard orders from the troops in the field.

Releasing some important information that is not entirely accurate but not entirely wrong, fine-tuning the protective network, and creating a tense atmosphere is incredibly easy.

Ultimately, she had no reason to go head-to-head with this combination of two "good" sisters she had fought with for most of her life, plus Hathaway, whom she practically treated as her personal disciple, and finally, a powerful viscount who was destined to rise to prominence.

What's good?

Of course, Li Wei didn't need to know any of this; this was a woman's war.

In the days that followed, the radiation storm raged on and on, with great power and occasional violent tremors. But that was on the main battlefield of another planet, where spellcasters from both sides were exchanging blows, using chaotic magical particles and ancient magical remnants to fight each other!

The commotion was significant, and the battle was intense.

Sometimes at night, you can even see the firelight burning on that planet with the naked eye... Well, maybe I'm just seeing things, but anyway, it's very pleasant.

Li Yue has already crafted more than a hundred Sequence 2 magic emblems for Hathaway, which are in great need at the front lines. It's unclear how Night Owl and Hathaway made their deal.

Whether to include it in the tax system, or whether the capital's tax authorities are currently facing a major headache?
Haha!

But Li Wei's side reaped huge profits.

In the main city of the territory, and in the riverside fortress, we can earn 50+ standard mana units every day.

It's in Hathaway's Baronie territory that magic consumption is very high.

But these past few days, firstly, all nine Riverside Knights received a Sequence 2 magic emblem, then some high-ranking officials in the territory also received Sequence 2 magic emblems, such as Zhao Qingshan, Nelson, and Lenos, and the rest were some outstanding elite soldiers, which is quite good.

The total number of soldiers who have obtained the Sequence 2 Magic Emblem has reached fifteen.

Therefore, whenever the magic reserves of the three-star magic mine in the riverside fortress are full, some can be transferred over.

All of this was done in tacit agreement. No need to say anything, everyone was racing against time, trying to earn as much profit as possible before the settlement.

As for anything else, I dare not hope for it anymore. Special bosses, final bosses, it's impossible. All I can hope for is that the old man will take pity on me and come over here to amuse everyone.

But the Neanderthals really did not make a sound.

There was no other way but to bring over the engineering team from within the territory to build the city walls and repair the damaged bridge on Hathaway's side. Her barony couldn't just remain barren, nor could she keep the three-star tavern at Black Mountain Fortress indefinitely. Actually, the radiation storm outside was too intense for large-scale construction; the costs would be too high. So, whenever this happened, Hathaway would go out and cast a spell of light magic, also known as entropy reduction magic. That's roughly the idea. It lasted for twelve hours, during which the chaotic magical particles within a radius of several kilometers would be corrected. The negatives of both sides would equalize, resulting in a bright light—hence the name—light magic.

Each release requires two units of standard magic power, which is too extravagant.

But all of this is necessary. The Dawn Fortress in the north can be abandoned because there is really no support from there and no extra spellcasters.

After being transformed by the Templar Knight Mark, the three half-goat spellcasters could no longer be considered spellcasters. They would have to obtain Scholar Cards again before they could become spellcasters again, a process that could take up to a year.

Because Li Wei no longer has any extra resources for them.

They must learn to be free citizens in a down-to-earth manner, either by joining the engineering group based on their previous knowledge, or by going to the internal affairs group, or by directly enlisting as soldiers like other converted superhumans.

For example, among those who were converted from centaurs, 32 of them directly joined the army and started training as cavalry. Among these 32 people, there are definitely some who can get rare cavalry cards, and the proportion is not small.

However, there were some unlucky ones. The faith points in the temple were depleted again, so the twelve and a half pigmen and five and a half cowmen could not be converted. In the end, they had no choice but to be brought back to the temple. Under the protection of the temple, they did not have to worry about the threat of the radiation storm. Otherwise, if they faced the radiation storm directly, it would be easy to lose control.

In short, Li Wei's territory continued to develop in an orderly manner. The riverside fortress and the northern fortress had already started planting winter wheat, on a small scale of only a thousand acres each. However, after the harvest next year, the highest quality of these thousand acres would not be able to break through the two-star level, so they would have to start to make a steady profit.

And so, the days passed one by one.

Finally, on October 16th, Li Wei and his group received the good news from the Nepalese lords—no, the news that spread throughout the entire territory!

[Nationwide Announcement!]

After lying in wait for several days, a small team of barbarian cross-border invaders, who had been lurking in the current mission world, launched a surprise attack on Zhao Kewu's territory. They successfully destroyed the magical shield within Zhao Kewu's territory and brutally massacred hundreds of civilians and soldiers. At the same time, they killed Zhao Kewu and several important personnel. Zhao Kewu's expansion and city-building mission failed.

[Nationwide Announcement!]

[While attempting to contact Duke Frost, the king's envoy was ambushed and killed by a group of unidentified barbarian invaders! Fortunately, Duke Frost sensed danger and fled beforehand; his whereabouts are currently unknown.]

-

噫！
What the hell!

Is it that explosive?
Li Wei was stunned. What a pity! Why didn't those two teams of Nepalese cross-borderers come for him?

Let go of Zhao Kewu!
Release that royal envoy!

If you've got what it takes, come at me!
Sigh, it should be my turn next, right?
Li Wei was eagerly anticipating what would happen. Two elite Neanderthal squads—would they flank him from both sides, or join forces and attack his vitals? Hathaway's barony didn't even have a proper defense; he was a little worried…

Amidst these anxieties, time passed day by day, and nothing happened. November was fast approaching, the main structure of Hathaway's fortress was completed, and the bridge to the north was built, yet there was still no movement; life was peaceful and serene.

On this day, Li Wei was patrolling the surrounding area. Well, he didn't dare to leave the area within twenty miles of Baron Hathaway's territory, for fear that the elite Neanderthal squad would come to attack.

Suddenly, he saw a tall, savage man appear in the forest. The man charged straight at him without any hesitation.

Li Wei was dumbfounded, because he knew the other person's identity the moment he saw them.

Yes, Duke of Ice!
Holy crap, what's this guy doing here?

Are they going to attack my territory?
But why is he all alone?
Without hesitation, Li Wei summoned his four-star warhorse and prepared for battle.

Even the lone Ice Duke was incredibly powerful, and Li Wei knew perfectly well that he was no match for him. After all, this was a boss close to seven stars.

In fact, at this moment, Hathaway, Li Yue and the others were alarmed. The three-star magic mine had been fully activated, with five enchanted giant crossbows aimed. Even the riverside fortress and the territory's main city had received war warnings.

Just as war was about to break out, the man on the other side suddenly shouted loudly.

"Li Wei, I have no intention of starting a war with you; I've only come here to seek refuge!"

"Why? I mean, you are so powerful, and your legion of superhumans is strong and well-equipped, so why have you fallen to the point of needing to seek refuge here?"

Li Wei was very curious. He had considered many possibilities, but he never expected that the Duke of Frost would come to him for refuge. Why didn't he just find the king's envoy and surrender?

(End of this chapter)