At the current temporary stop of the Magic Powered Train, close to the territory of the nobles near the Golden Ear Plains, many soldiers of the Doug Army who had escaped were chatting and boasting in the tavern.
“I saw it clearly at the time; that Demon Clan Commander didn’t know how to respond and just exploded, with black chunks of meat inside swelling up and turning into a mountain that big!”
After speaking, this Doug Army soldier took a big gulp of beer.
“Really? Was it really that big? We should have seen it from here!”
The surrounding adventurers were somewhat speechless. If what this Doug Army soldier reported was true, then one could see a Demon Clan monster as big as a mountain right from this territory.
“Hey, can what I saw be fake? I’ve seen more and more Demon Clans transforming into monsters flooding onto the battlefield, and many humans were even turned into another type of monster by that monster’s black spit.”
“Although I fought desperately, I ran out of bullets for my firearm, and my sword got dull; in the end, I managed to take down two monsters barehanded, but there were just too many of them. Ultimately, I had no choice but to escape.”
It could be observed that after distancing from Noam, the psychological impact of those monsters on humans seemed to vanish. At least this Doug Army soldier looked spirited, boasting vividly about his heroic tale.
“But didn’t you say earlier that physical contact with those Sludge Monsters would infect you with sludge? How did you manage to win against them with your fists?”
The adventurers actually caught on that this Doug Army soldier was exaggerating; he wasn’t the first soldier to boast in a tavern. However, to understand what had actually happened in the Golden Ear Plains, the words of these Doug Army soldiers were still quite valuable as a reference.
“Oh, don’t worry about the details.”
The Doug Army soldier was about to take another sip of beer, ready to add a beautiful female character to his tale, even recalling the setting of their encounter, only to find that his beer had already been finished.
“Where’s the beer? If you want to hear stories, fill my cup!”
But no one at the scene was willing to refill this Doug Army soldier’s cup anymore, as he had gotten increasingly ridiculous, all about how he bravely slaughtered enemies, with less and less useful information.
“Tch!”
The Doug Army soldier slammed his cup down heavily, and from his flushed face, it could be seen that he was somewhat drunk.
“Not giving me a refill, huh? When the Demons’ monsters come over, don’t blame me for not warning you! I say, your Graywhite Territory army is about to fail, you’re all going to turn into monsters; it’s better to surrender to the Demon Clan Lord early, who knows, you might get a minor official position!”
At this moment, the tavern owner finally came up to refill the soldier’s beer, saying, “Detail it!”
“Hmph! When we escaped, oh no, I mean when I broke through, the Graywhite Territory army was already failing; the cannons were completely useless, those Demon Clan monsters could fully recover just by eating corpses. If it weren’t for me leading my brothers in a desperate fight, the Graywhite Territory army would have collapsed even faster!”
Following this, the Doug Army soldier started boasting again, but at least he shared some useful information with the adventurers.
The adventurers in the tavern were all experienced veterans, easily able to distinguish the truth from the lies in the Doug Army soldier’s words.
From the descriptions of the recently escaped Doug Army soldiers, it seemed that the situation in the Golden Ear Plains was indeed dire, and many were beginning to contemplate their options: whether to flee or to side with the Demon Clan?
However, some adventurers were not very concerned, simply hoping to return to their past lives. After all, under the rule of the Graywhite Territory, the quests in the tavern guild had decreased by more than half, with the remaining quests primarily for recovering lost items, leaving some adventurers no choice but to look for legitimate means of making a living.
That wasn’t adventurous at all.
At that moment, an adventurer rushed into the tavern in a panic, shouting, “It’s here, it’s here! That Magic Powered Train has arrived!”
Everyone in the tavern quickly stood up and ran to the makeshift station to see the excitement.
In reality, although this territory was the last stop of the Magic Powered Train, very few people had seen the train because this last stop wasn’t fully constructed; the railway was only laid down just enough for the train to reach here, with materials transported from the previous station.
On the other side, the nobles of the territory were gathered together discussing important matters.
The information that nobles received was much more accurate than that of the adventurers. After all, from the initial start of the war, many spies had been sent to monitor the Golden Ear Plains.
“Even the Graywhite Territory has fallen. Should we just surrender to the Demon Clan?”
“Moreover, since we’ve come this far, why don’t we just blow up that governor’s railway?”
Just as these nobles finished speaking, another opposing noble said, “Even if they fell, it was still the Graywhite Territory; they can easily deal with us, right? If we don’t manage to defeat the Demon Clan, you’ll be the one they vent their anger on!”
“Hmph, perhaps after the battle, there won’t even be a Graywhite Territory left. We could simply surrender the land to the Demon Clan.”
Then, while these nobles were still arguing among themselves, a flustered attendant rushed over, saying, “My lord, the Lord Governor has arrived.”
“What? So soon?”
These nobles had been discussing the battlefield situation at the Golden Ear Plains and whether to revolt and directly side with the Demon Clan. After all, they had quickly thrown in their lot, and the Graywhite Territory was busy with decisive battles, planning to deal with these nobles only after the fighting was over, not expecting to be delayed at the Golden Ear Plains.
As a result, the strength preserved among these nobles was relatively complete, which led them to harbor ulterior motives.
These nobles did not expect that the Graywhite Territory’s actions would be so swift, and the speed of railway transportation so fast. They hurriedly ran to the station to welcome Lind.
By the time these nobles arrived at the not-yet-finished station, many adventurers had already gathered around.
The sound of the Magic Powered Train’s whistle echoed like the roar of an Iron Beast, causing everyone to instinctively take a step back. When the train arrived and stopped, many looked at this true Iron Beast, unable to help but swallow hard; some felt scared, while others were more filled with curiosity.
As the train doors opened simultaneously, countless fully armored soldiers and knights jumped off the train in an orderly fashion.
Among them were also the Sisterhood dressed in blood-soaked nun uniforms.
Initially, the Doug Army soldier, who had boasted in the tavern that the Magic Powered Train was nothing compared to the Demon Clan’s monsters, found himself instinctively retreating along with everyone else as they watched soldiers continually pouring out from the train.
Even though their positions had already been directed to safe distances by local officials.
Meanwhile, Lind and Lena were surrounded by the royal guards as they stepped down from the train.
Lind, dressed in black military attire, said nothing, merely sweeping a glance over the crowd that seemed to be there for the excitement.
Even with just a simple scan, the Doug Army soldier who was previously boasting about his bravery on the battlefield was now terrified, collapsing to the ground. Perhaps it was because he had drunk too much earlier, as his pants were increasingly turning yellow. He wasn’t a real soldier but someone who was drafted by Doug using money; he barely escaped the battlefield by sheer luck.
Although it was their first meeting, these nobles immediately recognized Lind and flocked forward to pay their respects.
Before these nobles could bend their waists, Lucanus proclaimed, “From now on, all surrounding territories will temporarily enter military control. All affairs will be managed by the Lord Governor. All nobles must stay at home and are not permitted to go out recklessly.”
Seeing the display at the scene, large beads of sweat dripped from the foreheads of the nobles, especially those who had just spoken of siding with the Demon Clan, who now felt quite bewildered.
The few soldiers and professionals in their hands might not even be enough to fill the gaps of their opponents.
At this moment, these nobles realized that in a divine conflict, there was fundamentally no power or space for mere mortals to sit on the fence.
