Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 436 Special Mission - The Lord's Lament

After hearing these words, Li Wei was unmoved and did not take the death of Earl Fengxi seriously. After all, Earl Fengxi may have died four times before and this was the fifth time. So it is no wonder that he has been unambitious for more than two hundred years. He simply cannot afford to die or fight anymore.

Now, after being misled and coerced by the king, he wanted to go further, but little did he know that it would become a thing of the past.

Sad, sigh.

So even professionals have to try their best to avoid death. What good is being able to be resurrected? Everything comes at a price.

Ok?
Suddenly, messages began to appear.

[You have successfully triggered a special humanitarian care quest – Lord's Lament!]

[Mission Description: Earl Windbreath dedicated his life to the Alliance of Lords of the Heavens. His life was glorious, magnificent, and epic. From a sailor in the Age of Exploration in the 17th century, he rose step by step, conquering a rich four-star territory. He is a worthy Lord of the Heavens.]

Now that his soul is shattered and he can no longer be resurrected, according to his last wishes, his body will be returned to his true homeland, his soul returning to the sea. But the traces he left in this world should also be remembered.

[Please rebuild Gale Fortress and the Gale Knights, so that the will of Gale may once again soar in the world where Earl Wind's Breath fought.]

[Mission Rewards: You will become the lord of Gale Keep and the rebuilder of the Gale Knights. In addition, you will receive all the assets of the Gale Knights, thirty-six four-star warhorses, thirty-six sets of four-star enchanted heavy armor, thirty-six sets of Gale Knights weapons, thirty-six sets of four-star enchanted vests, as well as 360,000 standard gold coins and 36,000 campaign points. This reward is tax-deductible.]

[Task duration: One year]

[Task Type: Can be stacked with other tasks]

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Good guy!
The rewards are quite generous.

However, I always feel that this kind of task is a bit of a trap.

It's not because of the mission itself, but because the fighting on the front lines is so intense.

Count Windbringer is dead, and these powerful Gale Paladins have died seventeen times. The Neanderthal army on the other side is really strong.

In this situation, if I accept this mission, will His Majesty the King immediately find out and forcibly conscript me into the army?
Even if you don't know how, after all, this is a humanitarian mission. But a year later, the fortress is built, the Knights are settled, and then what? His Majesty the King issues a decree: Go to the front lines.

Should Li Wei go or not?
This is ridiculous!
Accepting this mission is like binding him to this place. Only a fool would agree. Li Wei doesn't think he's the protagonist and won't die. Bullshit! Hundreds or even thousands of elite Neanderthals are charging over. Both sides' mages are unleashing their ultimate spells. I'm asking you, are you going to die or not?
Especially on that battlefield, even the Five-Star Sky-Covering Card was ineffective.

Therefore, you should never be greedy for small gains.

"I refuse!"

Ignoring everything else, Li Wei simply tossed the sheriff's appointment letter to Teren, then handed him the prestige stone. Teren seemed stunned, sitting blankly on his horse with vacant eyes, suddenly radiating a deathly aura as night fell.

Damn, he's dead?
No, all thirty-six Gale Paladins are dead!
This isn't a horror joke; it's the last thread of their belief that crumbled after Li Wei said "I refuse," and then they died.

Because Li Wei now essentially represents these four hundred-plus free citizens.

Teren and the others were grateful for Earl Wind's nurturing and wanted to leave his mark and rebuild the Swiftwind Knights, but the free people at the bottom didn't care who they were.

Where the hell are you going? What do we have to do with you?

It's that simple.

You could see strands of golden light rising from their bodies—gold coins and battle points, like a golden galaxy, flying up and eventually dissipating, presumably returning to the national treasury.

Since Li Wei is not accepting the Lord's Lament mission, then there is no need for any other obsessions.

They've already exhausted their options once; it's impossible to find a more suitable candidate.

A gust of wind blew by, and even the letter of appointment disintegrated and vanished.

This means that the lordly authority from Earl Windbreak has completely disappeared.

Only the Prestige Stone in Li Wei's hand remained unmoved, because it was given to him by the surviving free people. They acknowledged him, recognized him, and were willing to follow him, which is why the Prestige Stone existed.

So what's going on here?

Li Wei paused for a few seconds, then suddenly took out the six-star settlement card again, but it was still flashing red and could not be settled.

Yes, it's this prestige stone that's at work.

Unless he finds a force willing to take in these four hundred-plus surviving free citizens and settle them down, the Prestige Stones will continue to restrict his settlement.

What terrible things have they done?!
Li Wei could only take out a Five-Star Heaven-Covering Card and reapply the garbled code buff to himself!

Because the current situation is very dangerous.

Teren and the others returned home with their last lingering attachment, which was not a problem in itself. If they hadn't met Li Wei, their attachment might have allowed them to live for a few more months.

However, after Li Wei rejected their obsession, even their final judgment on Earl Fengxi became meaningless.

This is not Li Wei's fault. He has not received any favors from you, Earl of Wind's Breath. Why should I give you a final judgment? Even your boss, Duke Kader, doesn't care.

So when a person dies, they are ashes, and that's it.

However, this means that even the warrant of appointment for the sheriff would lack a legal basis.

Earl Windrise is dead, and the rebuilding of the Gale Knights has become a pipe dream. Sheriff? Whose sheriff? I think you're a bandit.

Yes, now if Baron Cadell finds him, or if His Majesty the King finds him, he will be charged with several crimes.

Although his crime did not warrant death, he was conscripted into hard labor, forcibly appointed as a vanguard officer, and then given provincial missions, which would allow him to lead his Riverside Knights in a desperate charge against the Neanderthal army.

This is absolutely unacceptable; it's a loss-making venture, and in short, it's not worthwhile.

In fact, we shouldn't even stay here anymore.

With this in mind, Li Wei returned to the fortress and handed the Prestige Stone to the soldier captain Chris.

The latter stared blankly at his empty hands, completely bewildered.

Little did he know that from this moment on, they were all a group of wild, native monsters.

"Lord Sheriff..."

Chris asked hesitantly, "What's wrong with those Swiftwind Knights outside? They're all sitting motionless on their horses. It looks so eerie and frightening!"

"Grass!"

Li Wei looked at the prestige stone that was stuck to his hand. He couldn't shake it off. In short, this thing would remain until these four hundred people completely lost faith in him.

But why disappoint them? Kill them all? Unbelievable! Li Wei, who prided himself on being clever and cautious for half his life, ended up being thoroughly humiliated!

Serves you right for being so arrogant!

"Chris, and you too, you, you, come out here!"

Li Wei stretched out his fingers and pointed out twelve people in one go. These were all highly respected soldiers or foremen of craftsmen.

Talking to them is more effective than talking to those numb and timid old farmers.

Then, Li Wei pointed to the thirty-six knights still sitting upright below the fortress and said loudly, "Count Windbreak is dead. These thirty-six knights only had their last breath left and wanted to return to their hometown, but I'm sorry, they are dead too. They just died. So I am no longer the sheriff of Gale Fortress. Listen carefully, the count is dead, the knights are dead, the Gale Knights no longer exist, and Gale Fortress no longer exists either."

"You have now become a group of refugees again. Perhaps one day a nobleman will take you all back as free citizens, but at this moment, you are truly free. So I am leaving, gentlemen. I am an outsider. I am leaving. Winter is coming, in fact, it has already come. I know you want to rebuild Gale Fortress. I thought about it before, but it is not realistic."

"For various reasons, I have to leave. Can we let each other go and say goodbye forever?"

Li Wei was met only with silence and blank stares. Even the twelve relatively intelligent guys were at a loss, not understanding what he meant.

The prestige stone remained obediently still.

day!
It doesn't make sense; there's no logic to it.

"Alright, I guess I'm out of luck. Gentlemen, let's take a step back. Those who want to come with me, take what you can and come with me tonight. Those who don't want to leave, stay, okay?"

Upon hearing this, a middle-aged craftsman finally asked cautiously, "Sir, why should we leave? Winter has come, but there's still a city wall, well-built wooden houses, and food. It shouldn't be difficult to survive this winter..."

"Because I'm wanted by His Majesty the King, and if I'm caught, I'll be beheaded. Of course, you won't be, so I have to leave, but you can choose to stay, understand?"

Li Wei described it in an exaggerated tone as much as possible, but it was actually a fact. It was certain that the King and Duke Kader had found out. Count Fengxi was a local, right? And look how he had been treated.

He himself died in battle, and the Swiftwind Knights died seventeen times in a row!
What a brutal battle this was! Damn it, why did Li Wei dare to gamble that His Majesty the King would marry the princess to him just because he's handsome?

In other words, he had always been using the Five-Star Heaven-Covering Card, which means he was suspected of being blown up in Gale Fortress, and he was a nobody. But once a nobody enters the eyes of a big shot, he becomes a qualified cannon fodder. Moreover, he was a four-star lord and a viscount, which perfectly replaced Earl Wind's niche.

"My lord, I am willing to follow you!"

Chris suddenly shouted that he was a scout recruit trained by Li Wei. Although he wasn't particularly loyal, Li Wei didn't care about his loyalty. But what could he do?

"My lord, we are willing to follow you."

Several more scout recruits shouted, and then several other soldier captains quickly echoed their agreement.

Now that's settled, the remaining leaders all expressed their willingness to follow. Nobody's stupid. Although they didn't understand or comprehend it, this sheriff's fighting prowess was no joke. He was afraid of being beheaded by the king, so how could we common folk be unafraid?

In the blink of an eye, all four hundred-plus people had made their decisions.

day!
You can't even get rid of some small pieces of trash.

More than four hundred little trash items!

Venture deep into the wilderness this winter for survival? Or perhaps experience the steampunk era?
Holy crap, that's exciting!

"Don't touch the warhorses, and don't disturb the knights. Let them bid their final farewell to this fortress!"

"Everyone, immediately form two lines. Chris, you lead your team eastward. Panson and Judd, you two teams will provide cover on the left and right. The rest of you, adults, take care of the children, support the elderly, the weak, and the wounded. Carry only your personal tools, clothing, and other simple items. Hurry up! Don't worry about anything else, I'll cover the rear! Don't worry, I'll take care of the food!"

Li Wei shouted, spurred, and directed the more than four hundred refugees to hurry out of the fortress. At the same time, he also released twelve armed guards to patrol the area, and could also make dozens of torches in the shortest amount of time.

After driving all the refugees out of the fortress and onto their escape journey, Li Wei quickly returned and used the resource card to pack up all the necessary supplies, including various foods, utensils, and even dismantled the small wooden houses that had been built.

Finally, he even went to a small village in the mountains and packed up some undiscovered supplies as well.

In the end, he used up fifty of his three-star resource cards, resulting in a huge loss.

But there was no other way; more than four hundred people needed to get through the winter!
In short, they spent an hour looting almost the entire Gale Fortress, even taking large blocks of stone from the collapsed half of the city wall.

However, those city walls that hadn't collapsed or crumbled couldn't be touched; they were too sturdy, and he wasn't Zhao Xuanxuan, so he didn't have the ability to dismantle them.

That's all for now, bye-bye!

Li Wei took one last look at the thirty-six Swiftwind Knights who were still sitting upright on their horses. They were really dead, but it seemed as if some mysterious obsession was keeping their bodies here, buying Li Wei and the more than four hundred refugees some limited time.

Yes, that feeling is definitely true.

Li Wei bowed from afar in the darkness, and then began to erase the traces, not completely, but only to a limited extent, creating some traces of refugees fleeing in different places.

Anyway, call him overly cautious or say he's having a persecution complex, he really can't stay here any longer.

After working through most of the night, Li Wei finally caught up with the group. In reality, the entire refugee group had only managed to walk about twenty miles, and that was only because these old farmers were quite familiar with the surrounding environment and the terrain was relatively open.

At this moment, a river several tens of meters wide blocked their path.

Li Wei immediately ordered them to set up camp; they couldn't move any further, these refugees couldn't hold on.

So, he had no choice but to bleed himself out, taking out several doses of the three-star stamina potion, diluting it with water, and distributing a bowl to each person. The effect was not bad.

After resting for a few hours, as dawn broke, Li Wei took out food and cooked several large pots, ensuring everyone was full before continuing on their journey to the other side of the river.

As for how to cross the river, of course, it was the wooden bridge that Li Wei had hastily built himself last night while the refugees were resting.

We have to cross the river.

With the bridge, crossing the river would be much faster. After daybreak, all the refugees had crossed the river, and Li Wei removed the wooden bridge and continued leading the refugees eastward.

Since the Neanderthals' bridgehead was in the west, and the front line was also in the west, although they didn't know how the war had progressed, heading east was the right thing to do.

Just as Li Wei dismantled the wooden bridge and stepped onto the east bank of the river, a sudden thought struck him, as if he had noticed something.

The next second, a ray of sunlight shone on me, warm and cozy.

Meanwhile, more than twenty miles away, beneath the walls of Gale Fortress, the thirty-six Gale Paladins who had been dead for some time but were still seated on their warhorses finally fell to the ground, returning to dust.

The warhorses and armor transformed into streaks of golden light once more and vanished into the void.

In addition, there seemed to be a phantom figure that wandered around the ruins of Gale Fortress, and after finding nothing, it left.

The territory of Earl of Wind's Breath probably no longer exists.

(End of this chapter)