Rhode Island Park Project

"No, what I want is for you to keep the supply lines open and all avenues out of the city unchanged on the surface for three days, but relax internally."

Laito was stunned for a moment.

"You want to let them out?"

Manfred's face showed an expression that Leto didn't quite understand.

"According to the latest news, the last of Victoria's exiled princes, His Highness Aslan, recently visited the royal family's heritage site. If nothing unexpected happens, your Victorian symbol, the 'Breath of Kings', should have once again fallen into the hands of your king."

"..."

Leto suddenly understood the meaning of Manfred's expression, but the only expression he could respond with was dead silence. "I just want to ensure the safety and survival of my soldiers. As for Victoria, she has had nothing to do with me from the beginning to the end.

I am a Gaul, and you should know that."

"I do know."

Manfred did not continue to deviate from this matter, but returned to the main topic after a slight divergence.

"Although I do want you to release the Self-Defense Forces and your Highness, I still need you to do your best to track their movements, and it would be best if you could take photos and video footage of them as they leave."

It only took Leto a moment to realize the purpose of Manfred's requests.

"You want to spread the news that the Breath of Kings is in the hands of the Self-Defense Army?"

Manfred glanced at Leto in front of him and did not hide anything.

"Indeed. With the crown prince returning, wielding the national sword, I imagine those grand dukes currently engaged in a fierce battle will be quite interested, right?"

Leto suddenly felt a chill.

These Sarkaz are going to push that prince to death.

At this special time, a legitimate heir of Victoria was holding the symbol of Victoria in his hand. Who could those jackals, tigers and leopards-like grand dukes turn a blind eye to this?

The most crucial thing is that if these were in Londinium, in the hands of the Sarkaz, it would be fine, but once that prince and the Breath of Kings were lost, even if the grand dukes themselves could not obtain them, they would never allow others to obtain them.

It is more likely that His Highness will be destroyed than be captured by a Grand Duke.

"Are you so sure that those Grand Dukes will ignore the threat of the Sarkaz and fight to the death right before your eyes?"

Laito couldn't help but search for reasons to refute.

As a remnant of the Gauls, he really had no sense of belonging to Victoria, the invader who built his country on the ruins. However, his human instinct made him not want to see the Sarkaz's evil deeds succeed so easily.

"The sword's use is more than just symbolic. The Shard is within our control. Once the Grand Dukes witness the power of the storm and understand the sword's value, they will naturally be tempted to seize it."

"What is the purpose of the Breath of Kings?"

Leto was speechless.

He might indeed know less about this country's national sword than the Sarkaz.

However, he suddenly realized a problem.

"Since that sword can deal with the Shard, why don't you just leave it in Londinium?"

"..."

This time, it was Manfred who fell into a brief silence.

Isn’t that because we can’t keep it?

However, after witnessing the battle between Luo Hang and the Blood Demon Lord, he no longer dared to underestimate Rhodes Island.

Although it would cost the Breath of Kings, he believed that Rhodes Island would find it difficult to cope with the gazes of all the Grand Dukes of Victoria this time.

Of course, these words are definitely impossible to say.

"Even if the Breath of Kings could defeat the Shard, the cost of a Grand Duke mastering it would be less than the value of the fight between Grand Dukes."

Although Manfred quickly continued to speak and gave an answer, it still couldn't change Leto's suspicion after noticing his expression at that moment.

Is that right?

Laito didn't ask, but a soldier trotted up to the two men, saluted, and began to report:

"Reporting, several workers are outside the gate, claiming they have important information that the Self-Defense Forces are fleeing Londinium."

Leto and Manfred looked at each other.

"That sounds like fun."

Manfred spoke first.

Leto turned his head knowingly and instructed the soldier:

"Since General Manfred is interested, bring those people here and see what important news they have for us."

"Yes!"

After standing at attention and saluting again, the soldier immediately turned around and trotted back in the direction he came from.

After a while, several men with nervous expressions and wearing workers' uniforms appeared in the sight of Leto and Manfred.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're from the factory that was raided by the Vigilantes yesterday?"

Laito casually handed a piece of information to the soldier beside him and asked while looking at the nervous people in front of him.

"Yes, yes, Lieutenant Colonel, but we were only forced to leave the factory with them by the Self-Defense Forces! We never intended to go against the Sarkaz!"

The grumpy worker, who was no longer grumpy, quickly explained.

But Leto remained silent and showed no expression.

"You said you brought intelligence about the Self-Defense Forces?"

"Yes! The Self-Defense Force is preparing to evacuate from the Sarkaz supply lines!"

The irritable worker immediately became agitated. "Our factory director is the grandmother of a captain of the Self-Defense Army. Not only did that old woman disregard the Sarkaz's protection of us, she also secretly recorded the Sarkaz's supply lines and directly disclosed them to the Self-Defense Army. They are now preparing to escape through the supply lines!"

"Oh?"

Laito didn't rush to respond, but instead looked at the group of people in front of him twice again.

Until several workers were feeling uneasy, he asked slowly:

"Since this is such important information, how did the Self-Defense Forces let you escape?"

"Well, we belong to Londinium. When the Sarkaz were in charge of our factory, it was running smoothly, and we had food and shelter. It was much better than before!

Catherine, our factory director is an ungrateful person. We must not deny the good of the Sarkaz! In order to sneak out, our companions even sacrificed themselves to provide cover within the Self-Defense Force.

Everyone, please send someone to arrest those members of the Self-Defense Army and save our companions!"

What made the irritable worker feel at a loss was that although he thought he spoke very sincerely, Leto in front of him seemed to have no reaction from beginning to end.

He smiled obsequiously and then glanced suggestively at Manfred who was standing next to him.

"This Sarkaz general is here. You won't just watch the Self-Defense Forces escape, will you?"

Laito's eyebrows finally raised, and he looked directly at the worker in front of him.

"Are you reminding me? Or are you threatening me?"

"We dare not, we absolutely dare not, Lieutenant Colonel!"

The irritable worker immediately panicked. "We just wanted to help you and the Sarkaz people, so we couldn't help but say a little more. Please don't misunderstand!"

"Misunderstand?"

Leto's eyes grew sharper. "With just a few of you, not only did you know the vital intelligence about the Self-Defense Forces, but you also managed to escape all the way here from their lair during this critical period. Are you saying that you're incredibly capable, or that we, having suffered significant losses in the Self-Defense Forces' attack, are simply incompetent?"

The angry worker's face turned pale, and the other workers around him were all panicked.

"We, we really did sneak out."

The irritable worker swallowed his saliva while forcing an explanation. Then, unable to bear the pressure, he revealed another person. "It's just that there was a man who claimed to be a subordinate of the Duke of Caister who was also keeping an eye on the Self-Defense Army and gave us some convenience."

It is indeed not an easy task for such a large group of people to leave the self-rescue army on their own and not be supervised.

And more importantly, the secret subordinate of the Grand Duke of Caster not only prepared a passage for them to escape, but also promised them benefits.

So they agreed without any hesitation.

However, when Leto heard this, he sneered.

"Well, you're colluding with a Grand Duke from outside the city during the period of martial law in Londinium, and you still expect me to believe you?"

The workers were all dumbfounded.

Isn't this different from what they imagined?!

With such important information, shouldn't the Sarkaz be overjoyed and quickly organize people to capture the Self-Defense Army to claim credit, and then reward them at the same time, so that they can live a happy life?

"We are telling the truth! Lieutenant Colonel!!"

Finally, some of the other workers couldn't stand it anymore.

But before the third person could speak, Laito's angry voice suddenly rang out.

"Shut up!"

Looking at the enraged Leto, several workers trembled and unconsciously pursed their lips.

Leto turned to look at Manfred beside him.

"General, it's hard to guarantee the credibility of what these people say. I think it would be more appropriate to interrogate them first before questioning them."

Hearing this, the workers' faces turned pale, and they couldn't help but look at Manfred, who seemed to be the one in charge.

Without any hesitation, Manfred nodded.

"A very reasonable decision, Commander Leto."

There's actually a lot of chemistry between the two.

They could actually tell that what these workers said was most likely the truth, but because of this—

They were originally planning to let the Self-Defense Forces evacuate, right?!

You guys tipped off at this critical moment. What if the self-rescue army refuses to withdraw?

What if the evacuation time is delayed?

What if we replace easily monitored supply routes with other more troublesome routes?

Londinium is already full of spies of the Grand Duke. They are tight on the outside but loose on the inside and intend to let the self-rescue army leave the city. What if the time is prolonged, the workload is increased, and the Grand Duke's people find out and cause trouble in the middle? What if?

Leto and Manfred looked at the terrified workers in front of them, and from the very beginning they were talking to them in another world.

Regardless of whether what these people said was true or false, what they considered truly meaningful was locking the person up first and ensuring that the news would not leak out.

As for the interrogation,

It was just incidental.

Although they were not interested in the news of the evacuation of the Self-Defense Army, it would be fine if they could find out something else.

Besides, if there was any use for him, Manfred might be able to keep playing nice with these guys for a while longer, but if there was no need——

Traitors are equally unwelcome in his place.

"Somebody come!"

Seeing that Manfred also understood what he meant, Leto simply called for help.

But at this time, some workers who could no longer control their panic shouted out despite Leto's ban.

"My uncle, Esner Cortez, is also a soldier in the city defense force! You must trust us!!"

"..."

Laito looked at the worker who was shouting, and his eyes suddenly became very cold.

Manfred on the side was a little amused.

Although the city defense forces cooperate with the Sarkaz, it does not mean that they can really sit back and relax.

In order to protect the safety of the city defense soldiers at the hands of the Sarkaz, Leto also made various efforts and sacrifices.

But the current situation,

From the perspective of the higher-ups, this is obviously not a good thing.

Manfred watched from the side. Leto couldn't just ignore what he said. He could only glare at the worker who was gradually trembling with fear and said through gritted teeth:

"Go and call Esner Cortez over here, and let him recognize his good nephew!"