Your war hammer is too fake

Chapter 454: Current Situation in the South

The South, Salt Wind Territory, Juhui Port.

The Zhemu Royal Court is currently in a state of rapid development: in addition to the Forest Territory where the capital Tar-O-Zhuer is located, Kaldorei has also established a new administrative division, Salt Wind Territory, in the coastal area west of the Forest Territory. Compared to the Forest Territory, which has a forest coverage rate of more than 90%, more than half of Salt Wind Territory is hot and savannah. Only near the coast can you see large tracts of forest, and the northernmost part is a narrow Gobi desert, next to the death land with yellow sand all over the sky.

The purpose of establishing the Saltwind Territory was very clear. On the one hand, Morgan hoped to open routes to the Old World and other places, make money through ocean trade and obtain resource input. On the other hand, from the fundamental standpoint of protecting the forest, the Shady Territory with too many trees is not suitable for the development of the magic industry. Even if the Kaldorei magic industry is fully environmentally friendly, how to mine minerals without excessively destroying the forest is an unsolvable problem.

Taking into account factors such as transportation, site, and energy, Morgan decided to place the planned industrial center in the Salt Wind Territory, including the production line of magic armor and the shipyard for manufacturing flying ships, which were also concentrated in this coastal territory. In addition, since the planning of the Salt Wind Territory needed to take into account both industrial production and marine trade, Morgan's courtiers suggested that the port city under construction be the capital of the territory. King Changqing readily accepted this suggestion and named it Juhui Port.

With the help of the War Codex's civilian recruitment function, Morgan didn't need to think about where to get immigrants. The first batch of 50,000 Kaldorei were recruited in Tal-O-Tur, and then went to their new home to settle down with the supplies prepared by the royal court in advance. Among them, 20,000 were settled in Juhui Port, which was still under intensive construction, and the other 30,000 were settled in villages of 500 people throughout the Salt Wind Territory.

Thanks to the convenient and fast root transmission and the fact that all the preparations had been done very well in advance, the 50,000 Kaldorei immigrants hardly experienced the pain of migration and went directly from Tar-O-Tur to Port of Torchlight. Before their arrival, the royal army had first cleared out all the mess in the Saltwind Territory, mainly the greenskins and ape tribes. The latter was a subspecies of beastmen unique to the South, and looked not much different from gorillas.

It is worth mentioning that during this process, the Kaldorei actually discovered some human colonists. These guys are not many in number, but their origins are quite complicated. Some of them came directly from the Old World by boat, trying to establish their own small kingdom in this primitive and wild land; some of them came from the northern Sardenberg, and had to leave there for various reasons, and wanted to find a no-man's land to start over.

Former pirates who had retired from the game, exiled hedge mages, wanted criminals on the run... there were less than five hundred of them in total, and the Kaldorei who were in charge of the review had fully witnessed the diversity of the human species.

After identifying these talented people, the Kaldorei were at a loss as to how to deal with them. If it was Asur, they could just send a ship to take them to where they should go; if it was Druzy, they could just stuff them into the slave market; if it was Asrai, it would be even simpler, as the forest would never complain about too much fertilizer.

Unfortunately, none of the above three methods are suitable for the Kaldorei. Originally, Asur's method was the best, but unfortunately the Kaldorei had no surface ships, and it was impossible to expose the secret of root transmission to outsiders. In the end, the courtiers could only report the matter to Morgan, and His Majesty the Evergreen King would make the decision himself.

Morgan's treatment of these people was simple: the hedge wizards either voluntarily had their spellcasting abilities sealed or were expelled with dry food and water. Others could stay if they were willing to swear allegiance to the Zhemu King's Court, but those who were unwilling could leave. Of course, the above premise was that they could not have committed serious misdeeds, as Morgan did not want scum.

"In the final analysis, Juhui Port is positioned as a place open to the outside world. We cannot welcome merchants and travelers to visit here while prohibiting them from settling here and purchasing real estate," said Morgan, who wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, put on a khaki work suit over a pure white round-neck T-shirt, and wore work gloves on both hands. "These people are just a beginning. Our people must try to get used to getting along with outsiders."

King Evergreen put down the wrench in his hand, took the large cup of cold tea handed to him by the maid, raised his head and took a big sip: "Ha... haven't you been to Plateau Castle? What do you think dwarves are like?"

"Loud, rude, stubborn, and overly obsessed with hatred," replied Nayes the Spellsinger, chancellor of the Court of the Crucified Wood King. "They are also honest, forthright, loyal, and true to their oaths. Oh, and they are surprisingly gentlemen when it comes to a lady, if they consider you a 'lady'."

"So, if there are fights in the human community of Torch Harbor again, just get used to it," Morgan said as he returned the beautifully carved crystal cup to the maid, then took out a screwdriver from the toolbox. "We will not tolerate any illegal or criminal behavior, so these over-energized drunkards will be punished as they should be. Remember the cumulative conviction system I emphasized? Those guys who just can't keep quiet will sooner or later send themselves to jail for minor crimes."

Cumulative conviction is a legal system that is widely accepted and recognized by group members. If someone commits the same crime repeatedly, even the most minor crime, the punishment will be gradually escalated with no upper limit.

Take Anshi Zhendan as an example. If it is a fight, as long as the person is not killed or disabled for the first time, the suspect will basically be locked in a cage for a week and fined, and compensate the victim for all losses. But if it is a second offense, the suspect will face hard labor ranging from six months to one year - if the fight does not cause serious consequences. When it comes to the third time, congratulations, the minimum sentence is ten years.

The punishment for crimes in the Crucified Wood King's Court was relatively light, but only slightly so. Under the rule of the Lords of the Holy Scriptures, those old-timers who went to the police station as if it was their home would be exiled from normal society after three visits at most.

"I'm not blaming you, Morgan," Nayes sighed. "The human community in Torch Harbor only has 99 people, but they account for % of the crime rate in the entire city. Some people in your tribe think that you are too indulgent towards these humans."

"Nais," Morgan asked without looking up as he used a screwdriver to remove the screws from the armor plate, "this is why the Kaldorei must contact the outside world. The outside world is not so good, but it is not so bad either. Our people must realize that this world is not black and white, but gray."

"I see. I will visit those nobles who are complaining," Nayes nodded, "and then there are the military matters. There is one thing... I don't know how to describe it, it is both a good thing and a bad thing."

Morgan looked up as he removed the armor plate: "What did you say?"

"After obtaining information about the seven Chaos Hive incubation pools through... well, 'certain' channels, our fleet, with the help of our allies, managed to destroy three of them, destroying the monsters known as 'Plague Arks' before they could hatch. However, when our fleet found the fourth incubation pool, we discovered that it had been destroyed."

"go on."

"The good news is that this incubation pool facility was completely destroyed, but the bad news is that our people found some disturbing traces," Naisi said seriously. "They found some rather suspicious silver fragments at the scene, which seemed to be part of some large mechanical device. The accompanying spellcasters and the alchemists of the Zhendan allies have confirmed that the power of the Lord of Change remains on those fragments. What's worse is that the Ark of the Plague in this incubation pool is about to hatch."

"That is to say, we can't destroy all the Plague Arks before they hatch. Our fleet will have to face this behemoth next." Morgan's expression finally changed. "Any other bad news? Tell me all at once so that I can be mentally prepared."

"I don't know whether this is good or bad news," Nayes said immediately, "More than one reconnaissance team reported finding traces of lizardmen. The activity frequency of these cold-blooded reptiles has obviously increased."

"Tell the fleet to ignore them unless they attack us first," Morgan frowned. "Lizardmen... they shouldn't bother us in this matter. Chaos is their primary enemy. On the bright side, maybe the Southland Lizardmen are here to cause trouble for the Chaos Hive. Forget it, the new armor has been adjusted, and I don't need to keep watching here. What's the current situation of the fleet?"

"To be honest, it's not very good. Although the supplies are still sufficient, the continuous fighting has made the soldiers very tired."

"Recall the fleet so that we can distribute the new armor. There is a proverb in Zhendan that goes, 'A spent bow cannot pierce a silken cloth.' Since preventing all the plague arks from hatching is an impossible task, we might as well take the time to rest and let the soldiers face these enemies in the best condition."

"Your will, Your Majesty."

Chapter 455: A Difficult Problem

Xuanshui, the residence of Duke Wu.

"Jin Xiaohua, Yin Xiaocao, did you miss me~" Pushing the door open with great energy, An Jiyue first bent down to pick up the silver cat that came over, and then used telekinesis to forcibly pull the golden cat that dodged with a look of disgust over, and stroked the two cats with excellent touch at the same time: "Yo si yo si yo si~"

When An Jiyue returned from Zhendan, she naturally would not leave behind the two cats that came to her door. Since they were just "ordinary" pets, Jin Xiaohua and Yin Xiaocao were placed in the Wu Guogong Mansion and did not run around with the girl.

"You still have time to pet cats?" Xiao Yiyue, who was walking behind, leaned against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest. "I thought you would seize the time to deal with the accumulated government affairs during this period, and then rush to the Southland. The situation in Morgan is quite serious. In the final analysis, our fleet is still too small."

"What's the point of just being anxious? The expansion of the fleet is not a one-day job. Apart from other things, the training of personnel alone must take a lot of time. In comparison, the huge training expenses are nothing," An Jiyue half-squatted on the ground, petting the cat while answering, "Besides, I'm not slacking off, I'm waiting for something."

Xiao Yiyue raised her eyebrows: "What?"

"Remember when the Reflection Fortress was attacked by the Chaos Nest and Morgan led the team to provide support? Since there is almost no magic wind in the underground world, Morgan brought a batch of spirit stones with her when she went there, otherwise she wouldn't be able to cast a decent battlefield spell," An Jiyue said, gently scratching Yin Xiaocao's chin with her fingertips. "Because of the limited number of spirit stones and the worsening situation in the south, Morgan and the Kaldorei army she brought with her quickly returned to the surface."

"Later, Plateau Castle organized a second batch of reinforcements. After these troops arrived, the dwarves organized a tentative counterattack. Well, the battle was won, and the exchange ratio was not at a disadvantage. However, the result of this counterattack proved that it was impossible to push back the Chaos Hive under the current conditions..."

The underground world is not big, but it is definitely not small either. There are hundreds of medium-sized caves like the Reflection Fortress alone, and there are even more small caves. Judging from the current situation, even if the Chaos Hives do not occupy the entire underground world, they are not far behind. And every cave corrupted by Nurgle is filled with deadly stench and sick plague clouds. Even a tough dwarf cannot stay in this environment for a long time.

What's worse is that these corruptions can't be purified at all! The soil and rock layers can naturally block the wind of magic, and the wind of magic in the underground world is so thin that it is almost non-existent. Even someone as strong as An Jiyue can't cast spells normally in the underground world. Unless they use spirit stones, the Lords of the Holy Scriptures can't purify the Nurgle corruption that is spreading wildly in the underground world; the problem is that An Zhendan needs spirit stones everywhere, and there are not many stocks left. Even if they throw all of them in, they can't purify a few caves.

"Don't dwarves have runes that can purify corruption?" Xiao Yiyue asked.

"Too little." An Jiuyue replied.

The dwarves have special master runes that can purify and isolate the chaos corruption. It is with this that the Norse dwarves can gain a foothold in the Norsca Peninsula and not succumb to the darkness like the Chaos Dwarves. But master runes are not easy to come by. Even with the help of the Recasters, it is impossible to create so many master runes in a short period of time. The Norse dwarves have a total of four fortresses plus some small settlements, which is equivalent to only about three large caves.

According to the information provided by the Faceless Man, the entire underground world is estimated to have hundreds of large caves, three hundred to four hundred medium-sized caves, and about two thousand small caves, not to mention various tunnels and secret places.

"Then we have to blast every cave we dig... well, that will cause geological disasters," Xiao Yiyue rejected the idea as soon as he proposed it, "and those caves themselves are difficult to demolish."

The great earthquake four thousand years ago nearly destroyed the Mountain Kingdom, shattered the Dwarven underground tunnel network, and indirectly led to the fall of many strongholds including Eight Peaks Mountain; however, in this catastrophe that was apparently a natural disaster but was actually a man-made disaster, the caves and tunnels left by the Riftworms were safe and sound, with little damage.

The quality of the dwarven construction is beyond doubt. In other words, destroying these caves is a task that is beyond imagination. Even if we don't consider the difficulty of blasting the caves, the underground world of the Southland is under Plateau Fort: demolishing one or two caves is not a big deal, but if large-scale destruction is carried out, it will almost certainly cause geological disasters, and the consequences are unpredictable. In the worst case, the entire Plateau Fort may be completely destroyed.

Purifying the caves is impossible, and destroying the caves is impossible. Of all the corruptions of the Four Gods, Nurgle's corruption is the most disgusting, disgusting in every sense of the word. System units are immune to corruption, but they are not immune to toxins and diseases.

"The army of the living won't work," Xiao Yiyue asked again, "What about the undead?"

"That's what I'm going to talk about next. At first glance, the undead are indeed the most suitable. Low-level undead don't even have much self. They don't need to eat, drink water, or rest. They are not afraid of poison gas, and they won't be disgusted." An Jiyue spread his hands. "But there is still the same problem. The underground world is almost like a forbidden magic world. In the case of not being able to be resurrected on the spot, the undead cannot outlast the endless insects, especially since Atum's faction mechanism is so special."

Unlike other Lords of the Holy Scripture, the undead in Warhammer can be resurrected at almost no cost. Unless they are killed by special means that can directly damage the soul, the system units of Big Bones are pure reinforcements, which can only increase but not decrease. For this reason, Atum's recruitment mechanism is unique: first of all, this group of ribs has no replenishment function. If a rib dies, you can only wait for the Lich Priest to come and revive you. You can't spend points to instantly make up for the loss like other Lords of the Holy Scripture.

Secondly, all the functions related to system units in Atum's War Codex are priced tenfold. Recruiting troops costs tenfold, and converting locals into system units also costs tenfold.

"The exploratory counterattack organized by the dwarves before was a tactical victory, but a complete failure in terms of strategy," An Jiyue explained. "Since we cannot blow up caves at will, we must divide our forces to occupy each cave we capture. Otherwise, the underground ecosystem corrupted by Nurgle will continue to produce various Chaos Hive units."

"I see... After dividing our forces, we don't have enough troops to continue the attack," Xiao Yiyue pondered. "As long as we can't purify the corruption, the underground ecosystem distorted by Nurgle's power will continue to replenish our enemies. Tsk, why do I feel like this is a more powerful version of the Vietnam War? We're all losing because of insufficient troops (Note 1)."

Thinking of this, Xiao Yiyue asked: "Speaking of which, we are so troubled when facing the special environment of the underground world, why doesn't Nurgle have this problem?"

"Because Nurgle has been purely invested so far. That plague pig is at least a destructive power, so this little bit of capital is nothing to him," An Jiuyue replied, "As long as there is an anchor point for projecting power, the Chaos God can continuously project divine power into the material world. Tsk, where did Namtaru go? Did she really get mixed up?"

"Although I have never seen her, I feel that she is not the kind of person who would succumb to the power of destruction." Xiao Yiyue said, "Also, you seem to have not said what you are waiting for."

"Tsk, we've strayed too far... Do you remember how I dealt with the ratmen dungeon in Altdorf?"

"You want to replicate your actions? No, there is no suitable water source near the mountains on the edge of the southern world for you to do this. Hmm... could it be magma? Do you want to guide the magma to flood the underground world?"

"You got it right. Here, I'll give you a cat as a reward." As he spoke, An Jiyue grabbed Jin Xiaohua by the back of her neck and threw the confused golden cat to Xiao Yiyue. In response, the governor of the Shuofang Army dodged with an expressionless face, allowing Jin Xiaohua to slam into the door frame with her teeth and claws bared, and then fell on the threshold with a thud.

"I asked them to prepare three devices that are equivalent to shield machines in function," An Jiyue said as she rubbed the silver grass in her arms. "This batch of equipment has been assembled and is being debugged right now."

"Once the necessary tools are ready, I will go to the Southland to explore the Underworld."

……

Note 1: There are many reasons why the Eagle Sauce could not win the Vietnam War. The military reason is as simple as that: insufficient troops could not effectively control the occupied areas; correspondingly, we were able to defeat the Vietnam War with one blow because we had enough troops and could fill the entire front with decent-quality troops.

Chapter 456: Holy Insect Mausoleum

In the underground world, there is a super large cave called “Holy Insect Tomb”.

This is the deepest part of the underground world, the cemetery of the Rift Valley Worm clan, and also the holy place of the cavemen. When a Rift Valley Worm feels that its end is approaching, it will go to the Holy Worm Tomb on its own and quietly wait for death to come.

Naturally, the Holy Worm Mausoleum was also dug out of the earth by the Rift Valley Worms, and it is the largest cave in the entire underground world, bar none. The special life form of the Rift Valley Worms causes most of their bodies to be restored to the purest energy after death, leaving only a small part of the remains, which is less than one-fortieth of the Rift Valley Worm's entire body when it was alive. Even so, these petrified remains are still incredibly large.

As the resting place of the Riftworm, the Holy Worm Mausoleum is the most sacred place for the Cavemen, bar none. In the distant past, when the Nest Clan, a semi-underground race, crossed the conventional dividing line and began to invade the Cavemen's territory, the last Riftworm in the world had long been dead. The most far-sighted Cavemen prophet painfully realized that without the protection of the Holy Worm, they could not defeat these invaders, even though the Faceless Men were still fighting with the Ancient Lizardmen on the surface and had not yet fled into the underground world. For the time being, the Cavemen only had to face one enemy, the Nest Clan.

There is more than one tunnel leading to the Holy Insect Mausoleum, including a large tunnel drilled by the rift worms heading to the cemetery, and many small passages built by the cavemen themselves. In order to prevent invaders from getting involved in the holy land, the cavemen filled up the large tunnel and most of the small passages, and consciously erased all records of the Holy Insect Mausoleum in the tribe.

The cavemen were very successful in keeping the secret. When the Old Saints personally joined the battle and the Faceless Ones could not bear the pressure and were forced to move to the underground world, only the Great Prophet and her successors knew the secret. Even the memory of a certain Riftworm passed down from generation to generation in the Prophet's Cult (see Chapter 231) had the part about the Holy Worm Tomb deleted. In the end, the cavemen were defeated. They were either eaten up by the Nest Clan in a literal sense or enslaved by the Faceless Ones with their psionic powers. The last Great Prophet died on the battlefield, and the secret of the Holy Worm Tomb was buried.

Originally, Namtaru didn't know this secret. Before hearing that voice, she had never heard of the Holy Insect Tomb, and she never thought that one day she would bring her people here and survive under the protection of the last legacy of the Rift Valley Insect.

Thinking of this, the Nest Overlord looked into the distance. A disgusting green mist gathered in the distance, and the buzzing sound of flies and insects fluttering wings was like a chisel drilling into the ears, making the audience upset. In the plague cloud, you can vaguely see the rolling and smelly maggots gathering in piles, laughing, and some hunched figures arching back and forth in the depths of the "mist", making meaningless and empty whispers.

All of the above were blocked by an invisible barrier. Nurgle's corruption infected almost the entire underground world, twisting the unique ecosystem derived from the Riftworms into a shape that conforms to the aesthetics of the Grandfather God. The power of destruction should have swept through like a raging wave, but it was forced to stop at the edge of the Holy Worm Tomb.

Although the bodies of the rift worms have passed away, their souls have been preserved in another form. The souls of these ancient beasts are so powerful that even death is not the end.

The Holy Worm Mausoleum is the cemetery of the Rift Worms, but it is not only the Rift Worms that rest here. In addition to the Rift Worms, only the great prophets of the cavemen of all generations and the greatest warriors of the cavemen can be buried here after death. Although the cavemen have not developed a systematic psychic system, and their prophets can only be said to be quasi-psychics, the cavemen prophets have finally touched the power of psychic energy, and their souls have become a kind of catalyst.

Guided by the souls of the great prophets of all ages and with the primitive beliefs of the cavemen as an external driving force, the soul echoes left behind after the death of the Rift Valley Worm gathered, merged, and transformed, and eventually a pan-conscious collective was miraculously born, a super psychic without a material entity, a pitiful earthbound spirit bound to the Holy Worm Tomb and unable to leave.

He was born very early, even before the last Riftworm died; however, it was only recently that he was awakened by the rampant spread of Nurgle's corruption.

When all efforts failed and Nurgle's corruption was completely out of control, and the desperate Namtaru was preparing for the final battle with the remaining people, He lent a hand to these outsiders. He guided the skeptical Namtaru to the Holy Insect Tomb and deployed a psychic barrier to isolate Nurgle's corruption.

He did not hide his origins from Namtaru, and even if the Nest Clan leader did not trust this existence beyond his cognition, he had to accept the other party's help, otherwise the history of the Nest Clan would come to an end.

After settling down temporarily in the Holy Insect Mausoleum, Namtaru began to rebuild the hatching pool to replenish the lost troops while thinking about what to do in the future. The ecosystem of the underground world is quite fragile. A single cave, even a super-large cave like the Holy Insect Mausoleum, cannot support the normal operation of the nest tribe because it cannot provide enough biomass. If the nest tribe does not want to die slowly due to lack of resources, it must try to retake the corrupted land.

This is an impossible task: the upper nodes of the Nest Clan that master psychic power can still resist the corruption of Chaos to a certain extent if they are prepared, but the pure melee upper nodes such as the clan champions, or even the lower nodes without self, are helpless in the face of corruption. If not for this, the Nest Clan would not have fallen to the point where they are now, and are only one step away from extinction.

Namtaru tentatively asked "Him" if He could isolate the power of Nurgle from the outside, whether He could make the Hive Clan resist corruption, or expand the psychic barrier to at least cover several nearby caves. He did not give any answer to this, and it was unknown whether He could not do it or did not want to do it.

In the final analysis, the Nest Clan massacred the Cavemen, and the Faceless Ones enslaved the Cavemen. These two groups of outsiders were enemies of the Cavemen, and their hands were stained with the blood of the Cavemen. He had no obligation to help the Nest Clan, and he helped the remaining members of the Nest Clan only because he didn't want them, or more precisely, because he didn't want Namtaru to surrender in despair.

Namtaru scoffed at His concerns.

"The Nest Clan is always free, our souls belong only to ourselves!" The Overlord said at the time: "The Nest Clan will never have two things, one is a slave and the other is a master. The Nest Clan will not surrender to any existence, no matter it is the so-called god or anything else!"

He did not respond to this. As a pan-conscious collective, although He has a dominant consciousness, He still cannot communicate like an ordinary individual. He has his powerful psionic power to protect the remaining people of Namtaru from the corruption of Nurgle, but He will not do more.

He rarely spoke, and even less often responded. Sometimes he would answer Namtaru's questions, but more often he would remain silent. He never communicated with any other members of the hive except Namtaru.

He is coming.

Namtaru, who was on her routine patrol, stopped in her tracks and asked, "Who?"

[This is not the first time He has visited our territory. He has never gone deep before. Allow the psychic shield to be lifted. He senses our presence. He casts His gaze. He is coming.]

Visible spiritual energy was rising around the body of the Hive Overlord. "What did you do?!" Namtaru clenched the Void Nail, and the tip of this Hive artifact glowed with silver light: "Answer me!!"

As always, He did not respond.

"Master?" Nadel came closer worriedly: "Are you okay? Did that thing talk to you again?"

"I didn't... No," Namtaru frowned. If you ignore her lower body, she looks like a top human beauty. "I have a very bad feeling. Activate all nodes!... Prepare for battle."

The Queen of the Nest Tribe looked at her master and bowed her head deeply: "Yes."

Chapter 457: Strategy towards India

An Jiyue and Xiao Yiyue parted ways at Xuanshui.

The governor of the Shuofang Army did not continue to use the root transmission, but took a transport boat on the way to Jingning. The current situation in Indy is very delicate. No matter whether it is Baladiwa or the anti-Baladiwa alliance, whoever gets strong foreign aid first will win the war - for the Caledonians, the key to victory lies in when the reinforcements from Ulthuan can arrive at the Dawn Fortress and liberate the Caledonian expeditionary force stranded there.

The Caledorians are certainly arrogant, but that doesn't mean they are a group of irresponsible, selfish people who only care about themselves. Rather, the Caledorians' arrogance is so eye-catching that many people overlook one thing: the Caledorians have always been very active in supporting Asur's overseas colonies, especially after Prince Imrik took office, the Kingdom of Caledor has been sending expeditionary forces to the colonies.

This is a necessary move, because the main colonies of Asur are almost all in the southern hemisphere: Dusk Fortress at the southernmost tip of Lustria, Dawn Fortress at the southernmost tip of the Southland, Sun Tower and Star Tower at the southernmost tip of Indy, Tal Alason in the depths of the ocean, Calis Gate at the southernmost tip of Horus, and Tal Alason at the southernmost tip of the Lost Isles Alas. Hmm, did you find a pattern in the distribution?

These colonies were all located as close to the Antarctic wasteland as possible. On the one hand, they supported the Asur family's ocean empire, and on the other hand, they formed a blockade around Antarctica.

Home to the demonic beastmen, the Antarctic wastelands are separated from the main continent by the ocean. Compared to the more familiar Arctic wastelands of Order, the Antarctic wastelands are relatively quiet... but in this world of constant war, anything that touches Chaos is a threat that cannot be ignored.

"The high elves have always regarded themselves as the 'guardians of the world', and this perception is not completely bullshit. At least in the matter of the Antarctic wasteland, the world should indeed recognize, and note, recognize the efforts of the high elves," An Jiyue said, picking up a fig from the silver plate in front of him, "Hmm, it's a little wilted..."

"Not out of gratitude?" Atum asked, holding a stick of incense with only about one-third left in his hand. He took a small sip carefully and asked.

"Thank you for nothing. Asur has almost monopolized the global ocean trade, and the profits they earn from it are astronomical figures that are difficult to estimate." The governor rolled his eyes at the priest king. "Of course the high elves have made contributions, but they have also gained countless benefits from these colonies. Their efforts are not pure."

"Even their intervention in the war in India was essentially to protect their own interests. The reason for joining the war, 'protecting trading partners', means that they don't want Baladivar to dominate and affect the high elves' pricing power in the Indian subcontinent. You have to know that Bai Douya spent a lot of effort to build this thing."

"What about the City of Spires?" Atum said, reluctantly putting away the incense he had taken only a few sips of.

"I asked Ayue to seize the time to organize an attack, so as to take advantage of the opportunity when the high elves are short of troops and unable to intervene to create a fait accompli. As long as we occupy the place first, it will be nothing more than a matter of wrangling with Lothern later," An Jiyue replied. "Although Sanhe Prefecture is good, it is so small that its upper limit can be seen at a glance. Sanhe Prefecture alone cannot support what Ayue and I want to do, and there is only so much land in the world with development potential."

"So you're planning to replicate Daiying's operations, right? No, the South Asian subcontinent is just a colony for Daiying, and you're planning to localize it," Daguda said. "The Spire City is the nail you hammered in."

"I have thought about this strategy for a long time. I have calculated that if we do not follow the militaristic approach of Showa Ren, under the premise of maintaining normal development and construction, the finances of Sanhe Prefecture can only support 8 to 10 frigate squadrons at most, plus an army aviation twice the current size," An Jiyue said, tilting her head and supporting her chin with her left hand. "The maintenance cost of a cruiser can be equivalent to at least one frigate squadron. Do you think three to four cruisers are enough?"

"I feel like the current situation alone is not enough," Da Gu Da answered without hesitation.

"Excellent agricultural conditions, rich mineral resources, high degree of development, relatively easy to conquer and rule, after all these conditions come together, only Warhammer India is left. Well, there is actually another alternative, Estalia, but the problem is that we all know what happened to the last person who wanted to attack Estalia," the young alchemist spread her hands, "With our military strength, we will certainly not end up like Sultan Jafar, but the problem is that attacking Estalia will inevitably turn against the Empire. The conquest of Estalia can only be done by Evelyn, and if I do that, I will destroy all my previous plans."

It is difficult to build mutual trust, but it is very easy to destroy it. An Jiyue has no doubt that if he attacks Banya, the entire Old World will be hostile to him, except for his staunch ally the dwarves. Whether it is the Imperials, Bretonnians, Kislevites or Tyrells, they will doubt what his real purpose is. They will no longer believe in the "Zhendan Celestial Empire" or any words of the "Heavenly Court". They will think that the "united anti-chaos" mentioned by the Zhendan people is just an excuse, an excuse to cover up their ambition to conquer the Old World.