I'm in Terra

"I told you, how long do you want to keep pretending?" Jack angrily snatched the axe from his companion's hand and rushed forward fearlessly again: "You want to wait until the guerrillas come back to deal with us? Do you think I'm stupid? Hey! Both of you come at us together. If we don't kill them both, none of us will be able to escape!!!"

The two hunters exchanged glances, about to step forward to help, but the resurgence of brilliant flames halted them in their tracks. This time, Tallulah didn't hold back; she didn't even raise her weapon. With a simple flick of her hand, the blazing flames completely engulfed Jack.

With a weak and shrill scream, the man who had just been clamoring to kill Tallulah turned into a corpse emitting a burnt smell.

"Monster!!!" Seeing such a terrifying sight, the two hunters looked at each other and turned around and ran away at the same time. They had never thought that someone could easily kill others with a wave of their hands, and they just thought it was some kind of strange witchcraft.

Looking at the two people with their backs exposed, Talulah instinctively raised her hand. But before she could perform her skills, another rough little hand gently pressed her hand down.

"That's enough." Alina gently but firmly held Tallulah down. She had never seen Tallulah so angry. Although her eyes often showed resentment before, that resentment was like a gushing flame. It came quickly and disappeared just as quickly.

But what about Tallulah now? Her eyes were devoid of emotion. Though she was clearly manipulating the flames, her whole being was icy and chilling. Even more worrying for Alina was the strange, sinister smile on Tallulah's lips.

"That's enough." Alina hugged Tallulah and gently stroked her back. "Calm down, little Tallulah. You can't go on like this! Have you forgotten what you promised me? You said you wouldn't feel resentment anymore, and you wouldn't lose to the person in your heart again. But now you're so unfamiliar that I'm scared."

Feeling the warmth of the girl in her arms, Tallulah slowly came back to her senses. She looked at the charred corpse in front of her, dropped the axe in her hand listlessly, and slowly sat down while hugging the girl.

"What a shame! I thought I could succeed on the first try."

In the guest room of Villa Victoria, Kashena suddenly opened her eyes. She had just sensed the Black Snake's spell was more active than ever before. She had thought Tallulah's awakening would be a success, but she hadn't expected it to be interrupted at the last moment by an ordinary girl.

Through the power of her magic, she could sense the importance this girl held in Tallulah's heart. If she stayed with Tallulah, her awakening process might be interrupted a second, third, or even fourth time.

"If it were before, I might have been eager to get rid of this girl. But now..." Kashena glanced at the next door. A certain ruthless lord pushed her out of the door mercilessly after the service was over, and fell asleep with his girlfriend in his arms.

"Haste makes waste—what a fascinating proverb. The darkness within will only grow. That little girl alone can't dispel it. When the time comes, the power accumulated to its limit will naturally surge forth. She can interrupt it two, three, four, five times, but she absolutely can't stop it ten or a hundred times. When negative emotions continue to accumulate under my spell, what kind of flower will eventually bloom?"

"I am looking forward."

PS: I was totally confused when I woke up today. I didn’t have the energy to write anything. I saw that it was Saturday, so I took a good time to slack off.

But when I got into the game, I found that I was in no shape at all and was beaten badly no matter what I played.

kuso

I won’t cancel it again next time.

PS2: Recently someone commented in a book review that Alina’s behavior was too saintly, and I think it is necessary to clarify it here.

Some people think that sparing an accomplice is a saintly act, but it is actually a very reasonable setting. First of all, Alina herself is a gentle and kind person.

Secondly, the article shows that the murder was entirely Jack's personal act, not a conspiracy by the others, and that the two hunters did not attack. Furthermore, the hunters had been their companions before tonight and had helped them.

Finally, and most importantly, Alina's primary reason for stopping Tallulah wasn't concern for the accomplice, but rather for Tallulah herself. She was one of those who knew the Black Snake dwelled within Tallulah, and so her fear for Tallulah's evil nature stemmed from her killing spree, not her fear for her fellow hunters.

I deleted the unreasonable book reviews and made some changes to the content of the chapters.

that's all.

Survival Abroad: New Year 57

new Year is here.

Under the witness of flying snow, the calendar quietly turns to a new night.

This year, Victoria turned 18. This marked his official coming of age, and also meant that his position as lord and rank of colonel would be officially recognized by the Ursus authorities.

Yes, there is an implicit rule in Ursus that only adults can officially hold official positions, and what Victory's adulthood means is probably only known to him and Kashena.

The New Year celebration in Ursus is often held at the beginning of the new year. At this time, both nobles and commoners will begin a carnival that lasts for two weeks to one month. They will hold celebrations, hold banquets, sweep away the dust of the past, and welcome the new year with joy. Even the most lowly infected will breathe a sigh of relief during the New Year's Day and congratulate each other on living another year.

That's how it should be.

But for Luxembourg, located in northeastern Ursus, this year's New Year's celebration lacked any festive atmosphere. The nobles were on edge, watching each other with hawkish eyes. No one dared to let their guard down, fearing that some unscrupulous faction might launch a surprise attack during the banquet.

Everyone knew that the internal integration of the Sixth Legion would be completed before the summer arrived, but who would be the winner? No one dared to be sure.

However, after the initial two months of chaos, the situation within Luxembourg has become slightly clearer.

First up was Carter Kalashnikov, son of former General Akashsky Kalashnikov, who served as acting governor. The assassination attempt on Carter at the end of the year was the catalyst for the chaos that engulfed Luxembourg. Carter was seriously injured and unconscious, completely missing the opportunity to consolidate power within Luxembourg.

However, General Akaski had a considerable following, and even after the assassinations of Acting Governor Carter and Adjutant Hilder, the orthodox faction represented by Carter remained intact. Several powerful military officers supported the severely injured Carter, preventing the nobles from further attacking him.

Therefore, Carter and the orthodox faction he represents are still strong contenders for the commander of the Sixth Army. It's a pity that his influence is currently limited to Luxembourg, and his forces are almost all orthodox military personnel, with almost no talents in other areas.

Next was General Akakis's second son, Choray Kalashnikov. The faction he had founded to oppose his brother, Carter, collapsed after Carter's misfortune. Choray, through this incident, gained a clearer understanding of himself and no longer focused on targeting his brother. Instead, with the support of some of Carter's former subordinates and an unknown force, he targeted the nobility and a few merchants.

Although Jolay is still in Luxembourg and has partial military and administrative power, his work and development center has quietly moved to the western part of Luxembourg. The focus of his power development is to use his own military force and power to threaten or even seize the territories of those aristocratic merchants.

Unlike the orthodox faction, which prioritized deterrence and defense, Choloy and his forces practically broke ranks with the nobles. The two sides engaged in various power struggles in towns and villages, even engaging in several actual battles. Although they consistently lost more than they won, and faced numerous dangers, Choloy did put immense pressure on the western nobles, even inadvertently buying his brother Carter some breathing space.

Therefore, many orthodox soldiers changed their views on Cholay, whom they originally disliked, and some even provided him with help and support overtly or covertly.

Then there was the general's third son, Victor Kalashnikov. There wasn't much to say about him. With only three thousand soldiers, he stayed in hiding, even strictly sealing off his territory to avoid the chaos of war. Aside from occasional correspondence and business dealings with his two brothers, he didn't act like a general's son at all.

Many people in Luxembourg were aware of the hidden struggle among the three generals, so they tacitly ignored the unambitious Victor.

Just a kid, it won't cause any big trouble.

Aside from the three factions within the Military Control Faction, the rest of the Sixth Army was almost entirely aristocratic. After all, General Akaski himself was the result of checks and balances among the aristocrats, and the Sixth Army had always been considered the private army of the old faction of aristocrats.

The first is Earl of Rossia Clyde, who almost rules the entire West. Although he is only an earl, he is an old aristocrat with the title inherited for three generations.

The Clyde family was already aristocratic before the late Emperor Vladimir Ivanovich ascended the throne. After the late Emperor's ascension, the Clyde family became his most loyal supporters. His father's outstanding performance in industrialization reforms and wars of foreign expansion earned him the right to inherit the earldom. Even after the late Emperor's death and the sanctions against the Sixth Legion, the position of Count Rossiya remained unchallenged.

However, after that sanction, the entire legion's survivors were secretly disobeying the current emperor Fyodor, and Count Rossiya was also targeted by other nobles, both openly and covertly.

Despite this, Count Rossia remained the most powerful noble in Luxembourg, aside from the Legitimists. He overtly or covertly controlled dozens of towns and villages in western Luxembourg, and commanded one of the largest numbers of soldiers among the nobles.

It could be said that, aside from the lack of a mobile city, Rossiya's power was comparable to that of a duke. Therefore, after General Akaski and Duke Kosice were assassinated, Rossiya had practically considered Luxembourg and the generalship as his own. And the sons of the two generals were the very beings he hated most.

Aside from the most prominent Count Rossia, the nobles within the Sixth Legion were mostly minor nobles who survived the purge. Following the Great Rebellion, the major nobles, except for Clyde, were almost all liquidated. The remaining minor nobles, supported by the nobles within Sainte-Germain, rapidly prospered, soon becoming scattered across southern and eastern Luxembourg. Their superiors were mostly factions within Sainte-Germain, and they maintained relative restraint among themselves.

After the chaos, the scattered nobles of the southeast formed a nominal alliance, but internal intrigues and intrigues made true unity almost impossible. They were forced to unite only under pressure from Luxembourg and Count Rossia to avoid being liquidated one by one.

Therefore, Luxembourg's most favorable competitors are actually still the acting governor Carter and the most senior noble Rossia, and the fight between them will become completely intense after Carter wakes up.

PS: You can put in more coins and leave more messages. Old book friends should all know that Hokusai is a high-intensity chat party, and he visits the book review and message page several times almost every day.

If everyone is enthusiastic, Hokusai will be more motivated.

(Of course, it would be even better if there were rewards or tickets)

0v0

A general's success: 1 playing chess

Woden, a medium-sized town in south-central Luxembourg, may not rival the scale of a mobile city, but its advantageous terrain, pleasant climate, and well-developed roads have made it a prosperous place. However, amidst the current internal strife in Luxembourg, these advantages have made Woden a prime target for conflict among various factions.

The old aristocracy, the royalist aristocracy, and the military control faction all infiltrated their forces into the town of Woden, with the implicit intention of turning Woden into a place where various forces competed.

But this tense atmosphere had no effect on Victoria who was far away in Norvinsk.

New Year's celebrations were also underway in Victoria and Norvinsk. Despite Norvinsk's burgeoning population and a shortage of supplies, Victoria generously granted all officials, except the police, a three-day holiday. He himself took the opportunity to spend the holiday at his villa with Dorothy and Beehive, enjoying this rare break.

"Want to play chess?"

During the New Year holiday, Kashiena also took off her seductive and solemn clothes and changed into a casual shirt with a homely feel. If you ignore the fact that this is Victoria's house, Kashiena looks quite hostess in this outfit.

"Not interested. I haven't studied the rules of this kind of chess." Victory lay motionless on Dorothy's lap, enjoying the softness of her knees. Meanwhile, a petite girl sat on his thighs, pounding his calves with a reluctant look on her face.

Ever since the last time the Bee Hunters stole Victoria's honey reserves, Victoria had handed control of these sweets to Kasheina. Although this woman, who resembled Liberi, appeared quite kind, the Bee Hunters were completely hesitant to trouble her. Her warrior instincts told her that this woman, claiming to be Victoria's sister, was far more dangerous than she appeared.

So, to enjoy their honey in winter, the sweet-loving bee hunters had to put on a hard face and provide special services for Victoria. From leg and shoulder massages to sparring and beatings, they also had to endure Victoria's wicked teasing and...

"Don't you know the rules?" Kashena raised an eyebrow in surprise. Although most of the Ursus nobles made their fortunes through warfare, chess games have always been a popular leisure activity. But Victory said he hadn't studied the rules of chess, which made Kashena feel very interesting.

After a moment's thought, Kashena didn't leave with the chessboard. Instead, she swayed her slender waist and sat down across from Victoria. She glanced at Dorothy, who seemed a little tempted but kept her knees together, and then tentatively suggested, "Since you don't know the rules, why not try something more interesting?"

Seeing that Kashena still didn't intend to give up the invitation, Victoria, who was lying in the girl's arms, became interested: "Hmm? I'd like to hear more about it."

Kashena smiled faintly and removed the chess pieces one by one, leaving only the kings on both sides. "Since you don't know the rules, let's play without rules. Each person holds a king piece. Whoever's king is removed from the board loses. Simple, right?"

"A game where you move the king out of the board?" Victoria raised his eyebrows and waved his hand towards the chessboard on the table, but Kashena seemed to have guessed his thoughts and reached out to stop him in advance.

"What a pity, you failed to overturn the table. It seems that you don't have the strength to lift the chessboard." Kashena grabbed Victoria's hand and gently scratched his palm with her index finger.

"interesting."

Victor, having failed to flip the table, wasn't angry. Instead, he sat up from the sofa. He looked at the smiling Kashena sitting across from him and thoughtfully picked up the king in front of him. "If this king is me, then who is the king in front of you?"

"John Driss." Kashena moved her lips slightly and said a somewhat unfamiliar name.

Earl John Dries, the mayor of Woden Town, was a nobleman with considerable military power. Despite the recent strife in Woden Town, Earl John maintained a firm grip on power.

"Why do you think it's him?" Victoria was stunned, then smiled and put his king chess piece back to its original position.

Kaciena smiled and picked three black pieces from the nearby chess pile, placing them before the king. "Don't underestimate my intelligence network. I have some knowledge of Luxembourg's internal affairs. Well, Woden is a fertile and flat land. Count John has two thousand troops. Including the police and patrols, how about three thousand?"

"That makes sense." Victoria nodded, but he didn't rush to place the pieces on the board. "Ladies first, you go first."

"Then I won't be polite." Kashena nodded and placed three chess pieces next to the king. "The current situation is complicated. The conflict between Count Rossia and Acting Governor Carter is gradually intensifying. My best option is to retreat completely and wait for the situation to gradually clarify."

"A rather unambitious move, but a very steady one," Victoria commented noncommittally. He then picked up a white chess piece and placed it next to one of the black pieces. "The infected guerrillas are gradually encroaching on the countryside around Woden Town and are constantly active around it. If they continue to retreat, the patrols and tax collectors will no longer be able to collect taxes from the surrounding towns."

Kashiena smiled brightly, showing no intention of following. "I choose to sit back and wait. Count John is a rational man. A short-term supply cut to the village won't have a significant impact. Waiting for the internal struggle in Luxembourg is more important. Therefore, I choose to remain inactive and wait and see."

"A mediocre choice." Victoria closed his eyes and casually took out a few white chess pieces to surround the black ones. "Without control of the countryside, Woden Town will lose its strategic depth. The infected guerrillas can use the power of the infected in the village to rapidly grow and attack the town from all directions at any time."

Kasheina picked up the black chess piece and tried to kick down the surrounding white pieces. "But even if the infected guerrillas increase in strength, their small number of people cannot defeat two thousand regular troops and take control of this town."

"Why do we want to occupy this town?" Victoria smiled faintly, picked up a chess piece and kicked the king in front of Kashena away. "Killing the king is enough. I never wanted to take this place all at once. Those villages that were abandoned from the beginning are my real goal. As for Woden Town? Let them fight for it slowly."

PS: A note on terminology: Some readers may find the term "Luxemburg" a bit odd. To clarify, Luxemburg is both a region and the name of a mobile city. In the world of Arknights, many places are referred to by the names of their local mobile cities. For example, Kazdel (both the name of the country and the mobile city) and Ursus's Sainte Fortress (the late emperor, in a display of his commitment to industrialization, spearheaded the transformation of Ursus's capital, Sainte Fortress, into a mobile city).

In addition, since the beasts in Arknights have their own cognitive filters, for example, bears are called split beasts instead of Ursus, and fish are scale beasts instead of Agol, so for the convenience of readers, unless there is a special need to emphasize, Hokusai will not use relevant nouns but still use real nouns such as chickens, ducks, fish, and dogs.

(Personally, I think this cognitive filter arises mainly because the "humans" of Arknights are all outsiders, while creatures like pandas, wolves, cats, and fish are native to the planet. Therefore, although the "humans" of Arknights also evolved from animal origin stones, they still do not regard native animals as their own kind. At most, they will only refer to them as "animal relatives.")

PS2: These two PS are free of charge, but Mr. Hokusai lost words.

A General's Success: 2 Eye of the Storm

"That sounds clever, but wouldn't it be too slow to start from the villages?" Kashiena picked up the fallen king on the chessboard, but her eyes were fixed on Victory's. She knew what Victory was hiding, and she was willing to spend some time thinking to solve this puzzle.

"Do you know the concept of jumping?" Victoria smiled, but he didn't intend to reveal more information. He stretched calmly and shrugged back into Dorothy's arms. "Shula, don't be lazy. I remember you just paid off your debt. Don't you want some honey?"

Upon hearing this, Hunting Bee snorted in dissatisfaction, but still reluctantly sat back on Victoria's lap.

"Jumping piece?" Kashena stared at the chessboard before her, a vague clue dawning on her mind: "How can the southern town of Woden become a jumping piece for the northern town of Norvinsk?"

--------

Earl John had been feeling down lately. The arrival of the New Year should have been a good omen, but the successive waves of bad news had unknowingly dampened his joy. He hadn't hosted a proper banquet since the New Year, and he didn't dare attend any invitations from others.

The reason was simple: Earl John was afraid.

From generals and nobles to the governor's aides-de-camp, no one was spared from mysterious assassinations. In just a few months, Luxembourg underwent a near-complete transformation. And even within his town of Woden, signs of unrest were emanating.

First, the legendary infected guerrillas seemed to have wandered into his jurisdiction, and after attacking several mines and pickets, they still lingered in the southern countryside. This caused a large number of defects in the once considerable tax revenue of the town of Woden, so that Earl John had to pay out of his own pocket to fill some of the upcoming holes.

If this was the only bad news, it would not be a problem for Earl John. He only needed to send out his soldiers to drive away the guerrillas.

But just at this moment, an accident happened.

The general's second son, Joloy, who had been scheming against Count Rossia in the west, had somehow taken a wrong turn. He suddenly relaxed his incursions into western cities and instead began infiltrating Woden Town. Even more surprising, before Count John could effectively respond, news of Count Rossia's men appearing in Woden Town reached Count John's desk.

Now he understood what had happened, but his own plan was completely ruined.

A tiger and a wolf were fighting each other at his doorstep. Even if Earl John had the courage to do so, he would not dare to send troops to round up the guerrillas. He was afraid that by the time the soldiers had just left the city, he, the Earl, would have committed suicide by stabbing himself eight times in his own home.

So John could only swallow the loss with a bitter face, and at the same time pay close attention to the developments on both sides.

Initially, both sides maintained considerable restraint, using gangs and chambers of commerce to conduct probing attacks. However, with the news that Governor Carter had regained consciousness from his coma in Luxembourg, matters gradually spiraled out of Count John's control.

First, Count Rossia sent a trusted confidant via a caravan to Woden to try to get Count John to make his point. However, almost immediately after the confidant left, an officer from Luxembourg arrived for tea in his office. Faced with the combined pressure from both sides, what could Count John do? He could only appease both sides and try to delay the matter.

As a result, the next morning, the caravan from the Earldom of Rossia disappeared along with the confidant, leaving only a dozen headless corpses at the police station in Woden Town.

As soon as the incident broke, Earl John knew he was in trouble. Woden Town was so well connected that it was impossible to suppress the news. Even though he wrote several letters to Earl Rossia's territory, he still couldn't stop the situation from escalating.

Under the pretext of investigating the mysterious deaths of his own chamber of commerce, Rossia continuously dispatched various forces to Woden. Meanwhile, Joloy, not even bothering to find an excuse, sent several officers and a squad of soldiers into the city that day, citing Luxembourg's annual inspection as an excuse.

After entering the city, the officers did not cause trouble. Instead, they took a few soldiers with them to inspect the town of Woden every day. Their intentions were obvious.

Earl John was unable to deal with the situation and simply ignored the chaotic situation in Woden Town. Apart from paying attention to his own army and industry every day, he no longer paid any attention to infiltrators from various forces.

When the various forces saw that John no longer expressed his stance, they tacitly gave up on trying to win him over and instead focused on sabotaging each other.

But just when Earl John thought he was going to spend the New Year in frustration, his secretary brought him an interesting news: "Sir, Robert is here to see you."

"Oh?" Earl John, who habitually unbuckled his belt, was slightly startled, then he tied it back on as if nothing had happened. "Indeed, I didn't go to the dinner he hosted the day before yesterday. Logically, he should have come over in the past two days. Let him in."