Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

"Rescue team, under attack. Requesting backup."

Chapter 45 The Chaos in the North

Victoria, County Toronto, half an hour after the Duke of Vincent's House received the distress call.

In the mansion's main hall, Earl Vincent paced anxiously back and forth, his gaze constantly shifting to Heidi, who was contacting the Northern garrison not far away. Heidi's expression was grim; her mouth moved rapidly, as if she were arguing about something. After several minutes, she let out a long sigh and put down the receiver.

Earl Vincent eagerly stepped forward and asked:

"What did the military say?"

Heidi shook her head, her brow furrowed. The long argument had left her with an undeniable weariness. She turned her face away from Earl Vincent's expectant gaze and sighed:

"They claimed they had not received orders from Lentinium and refused to send troops."

Count Vincent's expectant expression froze on his face. The next second, he angrily picked up the old-fashioned telephone from the table in the corridor and slammed it hard to the ground.

Amidst the crackling sound of the telephone shattering and Heidi's bewildered gaze, he growled, half angry and half helpless:

"How dare they? This is a rescue order from the royal family, the Aslan royal family!"

He clutched his chest, leaning against the wall in discomfort, and looked at Heidi, his forehead covered in cold sweat, asking:

"Can you get in touch with the General Staff? They issued the rescue order; they should be able to explain it to Lentinium."

Heidi pursed her lips somewhat awkwardly and replied:

“Uncle Vincent, we…we don’t have the necessary authorization to contact the General Staff directly…and the phone is already…”

Heidi pointed to the shards and parts scattered on the ground with a distressed expression, a bitter smile on her face.

Mobile phones using signal antennas for communication had been blocked, and the last usable internal telephone in the entire mansion had just been destroyed by Earl Vincent. Adding to this, the military personnel remained unmoved despite the army's troubles, the receiving officials repeatedly stalled for time, and the old butler, who had gone directly to the military territory to negotiate, had yet to return. She had a premonition of something.

A storm is brewing in the North.

With a deep sigh, Heidi looked at Earl Vincent, whose face was full of sorrow, and as if she had made a great decision, she spoke firmly:

"Uncle Vincent, let me go."

Count Vincent tilted his head in confusion, then after a few seconds suddenly realized what he meant and shook his head firmly:

"No, impossible. You're being asked to go? What makes you think you can go? There must be something wrong with the military. The entire signal in Toronto is being blocked. I don't believe anyone other than the military could do something like this!"

He stepped forward and reached out to pat Heidi's head.

"Trust your uncle, just like before. It was my fault for not protecting your father, but I will never let you be in danger."

But Heidi took a small step back, dodging Vincent's hand, and shook her head:

“It’s different now, Uncle Vincent. This time it’s different. My enemies may be much stronger than you think. They’re after me, and only I can handle this. Please give me your guards. Don’t worry, I won’t go to the army and walk into their trap. I’ll go after the General Staff’s convoy.”

Earl Vincent shook his head again: "If things are really as you say, the moment you walked out, you were putting your head in your hands. Going to the Royal Military Academy's convoy is indeed a way, as there are many future princes and nobles inside, which should make the enemy hesitate to act. But this matter should not be done by you, but by me."

But Heidi's attitude was firm.

She knew, of course, that, normally, it would be far better to entrust the task of contacting nobles to Earl Vincent, who was already adept at it. But this time was different.

As Count Vincent herself said, her enemy... the Duke of Normandy, who murdered her father, might be hesitant to act rashly because of the many noble sons in the Royal Military Academy, but correspondingly, the nobles in the Royal Military Academy had no reason to help her in such a dangerous situation.

To protect herself in this dangerous game, Heidi needed not a eloquent persuader, but a powerful bargaining chip—a chip strong enough to convince the noble scions of Londinium and their families at the Royal Military Academy.

—A diary containing the secrets of the King of the North.

Heidi trusted Earl Vincent, a moderate border lord who, during his reign, truly fulfilled the noble duties that many grand dukes today could only dream of—protecting the weak, leading development, and upholding elegance. He had saved her and her father from near-death experiences on several occasions. But it was precisely because of this trust and respect that Heidi was absolutely unwilling to drag Earl Vincent completely into this vortex.

She couldn't hand the chips over to Earl Vincent; she had to deliver them herself, even at great risk.

Success means survival, failure means the end. In short, we cannot let the innocent be implicated!

“I’m not a child anymore, Uncle Vincent.”

Heidi Thomson looked solemnly at the man before her, whose beard was now streaked with gray, and spoke with a firm tone.

"Leave this to me."

................

Victoria, on the outskirts of Toronto, atop the "Ruins" mountain range.

The Duke of Normandy lowered his binoculars, squinted at the Sarkaz officer beside him, and his expression instantly changed from serious to beaming:

"Wow! What a bunch of high-energy rock explosives! Where did you get all this? You've completely blocked the road!"

The Sarkaz officer's lips twitched beneath his dark mask. He glanced at the ravaged mountains below, then at the detonation button in his hand that he hadn't yet pressed. He swallowed hard, thinking to himself, "I have no idea where this god came from."

Garsen has been a mercenary for decades and is a well-known figure in the mercenary world. His elite Sarkaz mercenary squad recently received a decree from General Kazdel Theresis to return to Kazdel and perform missions for the royal family, giving him the opportunity to go from the underworld to the legitimate world.

Even with all his years of experience surviving countless life-and-death situations, he had never seen such exaggerated firepower. The Duke of Normandy might not have been able to see clearly due to his advanced age, but before the dust and smoke from the collapsing mountain rose, Garsen had personally witnessed the scene of etched bullets raining down like a storm colliding with the thunderous lightning that lit up the sky.

The battle below is between gods, and has nothing to do with his bomb. If he had this bomb, why would he travel all the way from Kazdel to Victoria to take on a mission? He would have sold the formula to Colombian arms dealers or simply handed it over to the state, made a fortune, obtained a title, and enjoyed a life of leisure at home.

Who would want to risk their life on the battlefield every day if they could have enough to eat and wear and live a peaceful life?

Although the situation below was none of his concern, that didn't stop Garsen from using it as an opportunity to show off and, incidentally, raise the price. He looked at the Duke of Normandy, coughed lightly, and said:

"It is powerful, but it's all for the sake of the employer's mission. You know that Sarkaz mercenaries are always the most trustworthy. I just don't know if Your Excellency will be able to..."

"Sure, but I'll charge extra."

The Duke of Normandy waved his hand generously and said...

"As long as we get the goods, money is not an issue at all. That's why I like mercenaries; you don't care about anything except money."

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his binoculars and looked toward the end of the mountain path not far away.

A car adorned with the Victorian coat of arms was slowly making its way up the mountain road, escorted by dozens of noble guards on horseback. Adjusting his binoculars, the Duke of Normandy could clearly see Heidi's serious face inside the car.

"coming!"

He sneered, turned around, and gave an order to the special forces messengers behind him who were carrying out signal jamming:

"Prepare to strike, hijack the vehicle, and take the goods."

“No, Your Grace,” Garsen interjected, brandishing the bomb detonator in his hand. “Since it’s such a troublesome thing, wouldn’t it be better to just make it disappear from this world completely?”

"You still have bombs?" The Duke of Normandy's impression of the Sarkaz mercenary in front of him changed. He originally thought that all Sarkaz mercenary captains were the type who liked to rush up and chop people with big swords, but it turned out that there was a special kind of bomb maniac.

However, recalling the earth-shattering explosion just now, he still nodded.

Garson is right. That kind of thing is only bad for us and has no benefits. Rather than letting it continue to exist in this world and increase variables, it is better to let it disappear in the explosion to avoid any unforeseen complications.

"Then it's up to you."

The Duke of Normandy raised his hand to stop the special courier from sending the message. The special courier nodded and went into standby mode.

Garsen stood atop the cliff, his dark pupils beneath his mask flashing with a merciless, cold light. Just before the car drove past the mountain road beneath their feet, he pressed the button to detonate the bomb.

“BOOM—”

An explosion that was much smaller than the epic battle that had just taken place.

But blowing up an unsuspecting car and a few mounted guards would be enough.

.........

One minute before the explosion.

Heidi looked at the driver and asked:

"How far is it from the location where we last received a communication from the military academy?"

Driver: "It's not far, just ahead in the landslide area."

He pointed to the mountain road that was blocked off not far away, turned his head slightly, and said to Heidi:

"Miss, look, we've arrived at the landslide area."

Heidi nodded, lowered her head, and the walkie-talkie that had been trying to connect suddenly regained communication—the special communications soldier on the cliff had now entered standby mode.

Excitedly, she picked up the walkie-talkie, and without even bothering to adjust it, turned the power up to maximum to ensure that no nearby unit would be unable to receive communication due to poor signal again. Then, as if afraid the signal would drop again, she put the walkie-talkie to her lips and called out at top speed:

"This is the Vincent Earl's Rescue Team, calling the Royal Military Academy. Can you hear me?"

The next second, an explosion occurred.

Chapter Forty-Six: You dare kill my horse?!

"Ah, is that all?"

The Duke of Normandy surveyed the collapsed mountain path beneath his feet and breathed a sigh of relief. With the evidence gone, the chances of Lentinium discovering them were significantly reduced, allowing them more time to lie in wait and gather strength. To resolve this so easily was truly a good thing for him.

But even now, one threat remains unresolved.

He beckoned to the waiting special forces messenger and gave the order:

"The time has come. Let's make our move on Vincent."

This was a life-or-death struggle. Heidi was ultimately too naive. The moment she appeared in Count Vincent's mansion seeking refuge, in the eyes of the Duke of Normandy, who had already played the role of the murderer, Vincent's fate was already sealed—he had to disappear from this land along with Heidi.

Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free. The Duke of Normandy wouldn't gamble his life on whether Heidi Thomson had revealed the existence of the evidence to Count Vincent. For him, whether Heidi revealed it or not, eliminating her was the best option. If she had indeed revealed it, eliminating Vincent would prevent the matter from being exposed or blackmailed. If she hadn't revealed it...

In the North, it's not uncommon for a duke to eliminate a mediocre earl, but it's not unusual either; Vincent was just unlucky.

“Actually, employer, I suggest you wait a bit,” the mercenary Garson said. “If you attack Vincent’s manor now… you risk offending someone you shouldn’t. So many of your nobles are trapped in the North right now; it’s hard to imagine that Lentinium won’t react.”

The Duke of Normandy nodded, acknowledging Garsen's words, but he still stuck to his own plan.

He couldn't guarantee that Vincent hadn't made an agreement with Heidi, such as "if there's no contact within ten minutes, the evidence will be made public immediately." They had already gone this far, so he couldn't hesitate at this point and let the whole plan fall apart.

At this point, there's no time to waste.

He glanced at Garsen, his eyes darting around, and said:

“You are right, so I plan to let you go.”

Garsen glared at him and replied with great principle:

"I'm sorry, Your Grace, but that's a genuine nobleman from Victoria!"

"Just say it."

"You'll have to pay more."

.............