It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Lid felt like he was watching a bomb, watching it slowly become red hot from a static state, and he didn't know when it would explode in front of his eyes. He had neither the ability to stop the bomb from exploding nor the time to escape to a safe place. He could only watch the bomb slowly expand and silently pray in his heart that it would stop soon.

Please, please stop! !

The Lingwu Lord spoke calmly, his voice was ethereal and cold, with a suffocating majesty:

"Your first mistake was to incite the core members of our secret guards to rebel and interfere with their work."

"Your second fault was to contact the royal family and Southern Chu privately, provide the royal family with abundant food, and facilitate an alliance between Western Qin and the royal family."

"Your third fault is to cover up your sin with a clumsy lie in front of me."

With each crime committed, Reed felt the air around him become heavier, and in the end, cold sweat even rolled down his face.

Lid thought that he should prepare to run away. But with Garberd here, it was a question whether he could escape or not. How about not worrying about those things now and going straight to the tenth level? It's not impossible, but this woman's eyes are too scary. She is so beautiful, but people don't have the leisure to appreciate her beauty. In front of her, they just feel suffocated.

At this moment, the Lingwu Lord suddenly retracted his terrifying aura, returned to his normal state, and said calmly:

"However, the establishment of the Iron Wall Defense Line is due to your contribution."

"During this free hunt, you killed a large number of giants. This is also your credit."

"My merits and demerits offset each other, so there is still some room for improvement. So from now on, you will follow me and work for me for a while. I believe you are not the good-for-nothing that people say you are, and I hope you will not let me down."

After Lord Lingwu finished speaking, he stopped looking at Lid and shifted his gaze away.

She waved her hand slightly, indicating that Reed could leave.

Like being pardoned.

Lid turned around and saw Alayya and Shiloh looking at him worriedly, so he smiled at them. Shiloh silently put away the dagger hidden in his hand and lowered his guard. General War Ghost came over and stopped at the position side by side with Lid, and said:

"I want to talk to you for a while, do you have time?"

Lid nodded. Zhan Gui took him to a secluded place, while Alaiya and Xiluo followed Lid the whole time. Zhan Gui glanced at the two people following Lid and did not ask them to leave. There were only three people from Yuxi City this time, which meant that Alaiya and Xiluo were trusted by Lid, so Zhan Gui took something out of his pocket in front of them, spread his hands in front of Lid, and said:

"Have you seen this?"

Lid looked into his palm, which was almost twice as wide as that of an ordinary person. There were several dark crystals lying quietly there, so he answered:

"It must be something from the heart of the giants. What, have you figured out something?"

Zhan Gui put the crystal back into his pocket. He was very pleased that Lid had noticed these things instead of just hastily stripping off his lacquer moon armor and running to claim the reward like the others. Zhan Gui let out a breath, his tone slightly gentler than usual, and said to Lid:

"Galberd encountered a giant who had reached the ninth level of perfection. During the battle, the giant suddenly showed signs of reaching the tenth level. I thought it would be a fierce battle, but the moment the low-level giant reached the tenth level, his chest began to turn red and then exploded. A ball of dark mist flew to the north, and the surging heat turned the frozen soil into mud."

War Ghost paused and continued:

"So after that, we dissected some giant hearts and found this thing inside. No one knows giants better than us Lingwu. We have been dealing with them for hundreds of years, and we have never seen this kind of black crystal in their hearts before."

Lid pondered for a moment. Lingwu's judgment was similar to his, that is, this kind of thing should not be born with the giants, and it is even harder to say what it is used for. Lid had never seen the pattern on it, but if the little slime grows up a little more, maybe he can remember something.

But the problem is that Reed doesn't have enough rare materials for the little slime to eat.

Seeing that Lid hadn't spoken, Zhan Gui asked:

"Do you have any news on this?"

Lid replied casually:

"I don't know. But...if you can give me all the Lacquer Moon Armor you got from this hunt, I might be able to find out."

Lid originally thought that Zhan Gui would refuse, or provide some resources after hesitation, or at least ask Lid what he wanted these Lacquer Moon Armor for, and whether he planned to pocket them. But he didn't expect that Zhan Gui almost didn't hesitate at all, nodded and said:

"Okay. I'll have someone take inventory and give it all to you in the afternoon."

Lid raised his head and was stunned for a moment, because he knew that the number of Lacquer Moon Armor obtained in this hunt was definitely not a small number. This rare material is in short supply no matter where it is placed, and only Lingwu has the ability to produce this resource. A piece of high-quality Lacquer Moon Armor costs 200 gold coins, and Zhangui now has at least hundreds of them.

While Lid was stunned, Zhan Gui had already spoken:

"Why, do you think I would be reluctant to give it up? I have been dealing with the giants in Moon Guard for many years, and what I value most is intelligence. Lacquer Moon Armor is a very rare material, but as long as there are no problems with the army, we can keep hunting the giants and keep obtaining information from them. In comparison, this kind of critical intelligence is more important, and I can smell the breath of danger from it. So even if there is only the possibility of obtaining intelligence, I am willing to make this sacrifice."

The War Ghost forced a smile at Lid, turned his tall and mighty body towards him, patted Lid's shoulder with his heavy hand, and said:

"Besides, the Lord believes in you."

"In your eyes, what do the five words 'travel with the Lord' mean? Perhaps in the eyes of you outsiders, traveling with the Lord is just a lackey following around, but in Lingwu, it is the supreme honor. It means that the Lord has recognized your ability and you are qualified to be on an equal footing with us. Although the Lord has pulled you into the second team before, he has never had a suitable reason to grant you this power. Fortunately, you did a good job in this free hunt."

"Starting today, if you need advice on strategy or tactics, you can tell me. If you need to mobilize cutting-edge combat power, you can ask Garberd for confirmation. Regarding the heart crystal, it would be best if we can get an answer as soon as possible. Otherwise, the further north we go, the more worried I will be."

After saying this, Zhan Gui turned and walked towards the army.

There was a rustling sound in the box, and the little slime poked half of its head out. After confirming that the war ghost had gone far away, it jumped into Lid's arms:

“It’s Qi Yue Jia——!! Bijijiji, I love you so much——!!”

53. A female secretary was arranged

That afternoon, Reed couldn't help but fall into thought.

He felt that Lingwu Lord was indeed the person who looked most like an emperor. She had the demeanor of a queen. Not only because of her strong aura, but also because she was very proficient in the art of controlling her subordinates.

Imagine if it were someone else, who was regarded as a good-for-nothing by the world and had been unappreciated for many years, and suddenly got the favor of the third lord and the most beautiful woman, he would most likely have bowed down and sincerely offered his loyalty:

——"I, I will follow you for the rest of my life!"

Theoretically, this should be the development, but unfortunately, there is no theory about Reed.

Not to mention that keeping a low profile was an important strategy for the development of Yuxi City, Lide didn't care much about the outside world's evaluation of him. In terms of the art of controlling subordinates, Lide felt that he was not much worse than the Lingwu Lord, so he didn't feel anything.

A king will never submit to another king. Precisely because of this, there is a tradition that two kings cannot meet.

That’s right! Lid thinks he is also a king… He is the king of slacking off.

The little slime is the type that can be blinded by delicious food. It is lazily carrying a black shoulder bag and happily lying on Lid's shoulder. Among the high-ranking officials of Lingwu, the little slime does not need to hide anymore, because it has been exposed during the security check when entering Lingwu. The Lingwu lord even knows that Lid has a beautiful fiancée, so the little slime has certainly entered her sight a long time ago.

The good news is that Lord Lingwu probably doesn't know that the graceful beauty is the leader of the southern uprising army, Huang Yan, nor does he know that this soft-looking little slime was the decisive weapon of the old gods against the demons.

When the little slime was next to Reed, it completely ignored the atmosphere. It stretched out a tentacle and grabbed a handful of lacquered moon armor from the bag on its body. It sank its body and swallowed them all. The digestive juice immediately began to corrode the precious material. The thing worth a hundred gold made a "crackling" sound, which sounded like crackling melon seeds.

"Beji...I have lived for so long, and this is the first time I have seen such a generous person!"

The little slime said sincerely in a voice that only Lid could hear:

"That Lingwu Lord has a good eye for investing resources in me. He is not like some people who take all the good things for themselves and leave me with the leftovers. I want to run away from home. If I sneak over there, I can eat whatever I want! You are worthy of being called a genius!"

The little slime ate five lacquered moon armors in one breath and said to Lid solemnly:

"I am very happy to be with you! Thank you for your care. Next, I will--"

Before he finished speaking, the little slime was lightly lifted up. He looked back and saw a girl's bright smile, followed by a clear voice like a yellow warbler:

"Ah! What a cute slime! This is the first time I've seen such a transparent slime! Well, I've been to the demon's territory once before and saw quite a few of these creatures, but most of them were slimy and disgusting. This one looks soft and bouncy, I like it very much!"

Lid looked over there and found a girl riding a horse like him, walking side by side with him. She was about 18 or 19 years old, with a silver side ponytail, light brown skin, and a bright smile on her face. The most noticeable thing was that although she was wearing a bright red cloak, she was only wearing a bra, hot pants and a pair of small leather boots under the cloak, which made her look very out of place in such a cold place.

It was obvious that she had a well-trained body, with not a trace of fat from head to toe. Her exposed abdomen showed a clear waistline, and the lines of her arms and legs were also very beautiful. When she hugged the little slime to her plump chest, the little slime showed a very enjoyable expression, indicating that there should be something warmer and softer than the little slime.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Zhan Mei, the deputy general of the Moon Guard and the younger sister of Zhan Gui. Please give me your guidance during this period, Mr. Lid! By the way, can you give me this little slime? I promise to raise it fat."

The little slime began to struggle painfully, repeatedly comparing Zhan Mei and Lid. Before it could make a choice, Zhan Mei's smile suddenly became a little colder. She opened her eyes slightly, looked at the little slime, and murmured:

"…Then cut it into countless pieces one by one to see what kind of creature it is."

The little slime immediately realized that something was wrong and struggled to escape from the girl's arms. But its strength of the sixth level was nothing to Zhan Mei. No matter how the little slime struggled, Zhan Mei held it tightly in her arms.

Zhan Mei was still surprised and said:

"Hey~~Don't run! Can you understand what I'm saying? That's really...even more curious!"

The little slime burst into tears.

Lid sighed, stretched out his hand to Zhan Mei, and said:

"Excuse me, that's my pet. Even though he's a bit naughty, I still have feelings for him."

Zhan Mei blinked her eyes and reluctantly returned the little slime to Lid. The first thing the little slime did was to crawl into Lid's clothes and lie on Lid's chest and cry loudly, making Lid's clothes sticky. Zhan Mei scratched her head and bowed to Lid apologetically, her plump breasts trembling as she bent over.

"So it's a pet?! I thought you were going to fatten it up and collect materials later... Sorry, sorry. But if you don't want to keep it anymore, be sure to contact me first!"

Lid patted his chest, nodded, and replied:

"Don't worry, I will."

The little slime cried even louder, and it seemed that he had no intention of running away from home and becoming someone else's child for the time being.

Zhan Mei regained her usual energetic smile and said to Lid:

"Thank you so much! My brother asked me to come and say hello to you. Since this is your first time to come to Chaobei and you are going to participate in our decision-making, you must have sufficient intelligence. I will be responsible for cooperating with you in the future and tell you all the intelligence we have and the problems we encounter. Anyway, please give me your guidance!"

Zhan Mei held the reins in one hand and extended the other hand towards Lid.

Lid shook hands with her briefly. Although Zhan Mei was not wearing much clothes, her body temperature was surprisingly high, and her palms were much hotter than Lid's.

She is in the middle of the eighth level, a realm similar to Shiloh's. Judging from the position of the calluses on her palms, she might be using a top-heavy weapon like a battle axe, but she doesn't seem to be carrying it with her.

Lid was actually more curious about why a person in the middle of the eighth level could become the deputy general of the Moon Guard. It couldn't be because she was Zhan Gui's sister, right? The Lingwu Lord didn't look like someone who would rely on connections.

54. Both are dead ends

"According to the request of the Lord and Big Brother, I will first introduce the current situation to you, Mr. Lide."

Zhan Mei patted the snow on her head with her hands while speaking to Lid. Her body temperature seemed to be higher than that of ordinary people. The ice crystals and snow that fell on her body quickly melted into water, so Zhan Mei's skin always looked wet and had an attractive sheen.

Zhan Mei smiled at Lid, revealing her neat white teeth:

"Although we told people from other territories that this trip northward would be very dangerous, we Lingwu have calculated that we will definitely reach the Golden Giant this time. Even if we don't go looking for it, it will come looking for us. Now that we don't have the protection of the National Defense Formation, it wants to kill us, and this is the best time."

After the little slime cried enough, it poked its head out from Lid's chest and observed the girl vigilantly. Zhan Mei blinked at it and continued to say to Lid:

"The problem is, after reaching the Golden Giant, how many of our troops will be left, and how many of the other two teams will be left. The core of this operation is to use the protection of the military formation to enhance Senior Garberd's strength, so as to kill the Golden Giant. If the casualties of the troops are too heavy after reaching there, the idea of ​​killing the Golden Giant will become completely nonsense."

Lid nodded and said:

"I roughly understand that you want to strike a balance between defeating the giants along the way and preserving your strength. So what?"

Zhan Mei smiled and said:

"It's great that you understand! I won't explain any more. If we march further north, there will be two ways to go. One is to go through the [Cold Abyss Corridor], and the other is to go through the [Weeping Night Plain]. Let's talk about the commonality first. The commonality is that both roads are dead ends! Isn't it surprising? Then, I will roughly explain to you the difference between these two routes."

Zhan Mei pointed her finger to the northeast and said:

"The Cold Abyss Corridor is the ruins of a giant civilization. There is a long corridor that stretches as far as the eye can see. There are now a large number of giants living there. Many of them even use primitive weapons, which makes them very difficult to deal with."

After she finished speaking, she moved her arm, pointed her finger to the northwest, and continued:

"There are relatively few giants in the Weeping Night Plain, but the environment is ten times worse than it is now. The wind is like crying, and sometimes icicles as big as a palm fall from the sky, hitting you and either killing you or crippling you. Also, the scenery in all directions of the Weeping Night Plain is very similar, and it's easy to get lost in it. At the moment, we in Lingwu don't have a particularly good way to deal with it, and can only pay with human lives."

When Zhan Mei said the last sentence, the smile on her face gradually faded.

Like her elder brother Zhan Gui, Zhan Mei also attaches great importance to the word "human life". When she mentions it, her expression will become serious involuntarily. However, she is not like Zhan Gui who has a stern face for years. After saying this, she immediately regained her smile and continued:

"In previous years, we always went all the way from the Cold Abyss Corridor! But this year the situation is a little different. Although my brother and the others have this idea, they are still hesitant. If Mr. Lid has any suggestions, you can tell me at any time! I'm quite free during this period, and you are welcome to come and harass me at any time~"

Zhan Mei didn't seem to regard harassment as a derogatory term. After saying it openly, she shook the reins and rushed back to Zhan Gui's side. There was still a big difference in height between the brother and sister. Zhan Gui was about 2.5 meters tall, and Zhan Mei was only a little over 1.6 meters tall at most. However, if you look closely, you will find that the two are quite similar in terms of skin color and temperament.

The little slime breathed a sigh of relief and said lazily:

"Biji... you dare to run to the Frost Abyss Corridor at this time, you probably want to die. That place is the ruins of the giant civilization. In the most ancient times, it was once the place where many high-level giants lived. Although the core bloodlines of the giants have migrated elsewhere, it is still one of the gathering points for the giants to go on expeditions. With such a large-scale southward march, the Frost Abyss Corridor is probably full of giants."

The little slime's tone was obviously a little angry, and it made two "Puh" sounds at Zhan Mei's back. If it had a tongue, it would have stuck it out, but unfortunately it didn't. Lid patted it on the head, and just then Alayya rode up. Lid thought for a moment and explained in a voice that everyone could hear clearly:

"It shouldn't be that simple. Even if they don't know the traditions of the giants, they can find out that the number of giants in the Frost Abyss Corridor has increased dramatically by sending scouts to take a look. I believe they still have this level of intelligence. I guess the reason why they still prefer to go through the Frost Abyss Corridor is nothing more than the following two reasons. First, if they don't go through the Frost Abyss Corridor this time, their strength will be greatly reduced on the way back, and they will not be able to go any further. But the risk of going through the Weeping Night Plain twice is also not low. According to what Zhan Mei just said, the Weeping Night Plain is almost a desert made up of ice and snow. In this kind of perennially gloomy weather, it is impossible to identify the direction. Second, even if they pass through the Weeping Night Plain, they may be attacked by the giants in the Frost Abyss Corridor when they continue to go north."

Alayya asked:

"Which way do you think is better?"

Lid yawned and replied:

"To be honest, I think it's best to go home. I miss our kotatsu at home... If I have to choose one, it's better to go through the Weeping Night Plain than the Frost Corridor. There are so many people in Lingwu, and they should have found a way out even if they sacrificed their lives. We just need to sit back and enjoy the results. But if we go to the Frost Corridor, it will be troublesome. With so many giants coming to attack, no one can guarantee their own safety."

Having said that, Lid estimated that the people of Lingwu would eventually choose the Cold Abyss Corridor. The reason was simple. Walking through the Weeping Night Plain was very friendly to a slacker like Lid, but Lingwu still had to sacrifice a lot of lives. These people died in the cold tundra, their bodies were frozen into ice, and their deaths were almost meaningless. It would be better to let them die in the war with the giants. Lid felt that this was what the high-level leaders of Lingwu would think.

At this time, the little slime raised his head, grabbed a handful of lacquered moon armor and threw it into his mouth, chewing while saying:

“Bejiji, this is the limit of human beings, Beji! Due to insufficient information, this level of danger will already be difficult for you, but it’s different for me! If you throw me into the Plain of Weeping Night, I can walk out of there in no time…”

Reed lifted it straight out of his chest and stared at it closely.

The little slime took out the lacquered moon armor from his bag and shook his head while saying:

"I know what you want to say. You want to ask me how to safely pass through the Weeping Night Plain? Since you just protected my dignity, it's not wrong for me to tell you."