Sitting in the rented carriage, Rachel lifted the corner of the window, glanced at the vast army of slave escorts in front of him, and then looked at Todd, who closed his eyes and did not move. Next, she lowered the window, leaned back into her seat, and waited.

After about two minutes, Todd opened his eyes.

"The meeting of the Twilight Kingdom is over?" asked Richer softly.

Todd twisted his neck clockwise, nodded and said: "The number of the Knights of the Twilight West has been expanded to 1,900, of which the proportion of the number of xenomorphs has reached thirty percent, the constitution of the Twilight West has been deliberated and promulgated next week, the list of court members has been determined, and the envoys of the Holy Acropolis have arrived in the Twilight City......"

"The Holy Acropolis?" asked Richer seemingly casually, "Is that the original vassal of the Queen of the Silver Ring?"

Todd didn't know why he asked, but he nodded yes.

"The first seagoing ship at the Duxi Shipyard was launched, and with the new design of the Duxi Academy, I heard that it was superior to ordinary merchant ships in terms of speed and durability. Speaking of what he saw and heard at the meeting, Todd was a little excited: "There is also the first drama competition of the kingdom, the completion of the outer periphery of the royal city, and the completion of summer planting of farmland...... So much has happened in the Twilight Kingdom in the time I've been away. ”

"Your Majesty, I have a question about the rescue of Boyle and Aisha this time. ”

Richel's words made Todd stunned: "Problem?

"How did you plan the whole rescue plan?"

Todd looked at Reicher with a serious face, and said, "If I can get close to the prisoner cart by night, I will be able to rescue Boyle in the shortest possible time, and as long as I rescue him, I will know the whereabouts of Aisha." But the escort of slaves was very well guarded. We're afraid we'll have to wait until we're in the city before we can do it. ”

Rachel curled her fingers in her hair and lowered her voice a little more, "You may have misunderstood what I meant. I mean, if the cost of rescuing these two people is too high, should you be concerned about your own safety first?"

Todd sank his face and instantly understood the other party's deep meaning: "Are you trying to suggest to me that if it is too difficult to rescue, I should give up these two people?"

Richel's expression looked a little struggling, but in the end he nodded resolutely.

"If it weren't for Aisha, the two of us wouldn't even be able to reach the north, and if it weren't for Boyle, I'd probably be a monster without reason by now!"

In the face of Todd's faint anger, Rachel lowered his head slightly, and there was uncontrollable emotion in his voice: "The original home, in my memory, has long since ceased to exist. For so many years, I had no relatives and no friends. After so many years of living in a fixed place and wandering away, I have finally found my home in the Kingdom of the Twilight, and I do not want to see or see anyone or anything disturb or affect this sacred land. ”

"And Your Majesty, as a king, is like the head of the family. If anything happens to you, this home, this kingdom, will only be like countless short-lived kingdoms, annihilated in the long river of history. ”

Todd remembered the time he spent with Richel, a wise woman who followed him, whether it was poor or rich, whether it was war or peace. She always stood quietly behind the scenes, never asking for anything, never seeking anything.

As she said, she really regards the Twilight Kingdom as her life's home, the only home.

Todd sighed, first rubbed the bridge of his nose, and then said slowly, "Richel, in the eyes of the world, I may not be a qualified king. I'm not a power-hungry person, nor am I a riches-coveting coveter. I am a believer in justice, even a little pedantic, and I am hot-blooded, and sometimes even a little reckless. I shelter every soul and love every person, and I hope to bring them the best life and the most beautiful world......"

"If that doesn't convince you, then I'll explain it a little more mundanely. As for rescuing Boyle and Ayisha, on the one hand, because they had helped me, and on the other hand, I had a long meeting with Emerson about the future of the Dusk Kingdom in the soul space. ”

"From a strategic point of view, the expansion of the Twilight Kingdom has reached a bottleneck. Because the capital of the kingdom, Twilight City, is located by the sea, and the military control ability and administrative communication level are limited, and the excessive territory will cause various problems in the management of the kingdom, so controlling the Silver Ring City is already the limit of the kingdom's area. If you want to continue expanding, there are only three options. ”

"The first is to move the capital. Moving the kingdom's capital to the east was a great challenge for the kingdom, both financially and humanly. If it is not handled well, it is likely to lead to administrative chaos and disorderly allocation. ”

"The second is to upgrade the transportation and communication within the kingdom. Let's talk about transportation first, building roads, erecting bridges, and finding better means of transportation are the prerequisites for the rapid transportation of resources within the kingdom, and they are also the prerequisites for ensuring that the kingdom's army will be stationed in the city as soon as possible in times of war. However, the construction of roads and bridges, as well as the upgrading of transportation vehicles, require a lot of investment and maintenance, and it is difficult to do so at this stage. Speaking of communication, now the communication from Dusk West City to Silver Ring City basically relies on fast horses and lighthouses, this method is costly and ineffective, and Twilight West Academy is researching new communication methods, but it is still difficult to change the status quo in a short period of time. ”

Richer asked puzzledly, "What does this have to do with rescuing Boyle and Aisha?"

Todd patted his knee and said, "This question is related to what I'm going to talk about next." The third way for the kingdom to expand its territory is to establish a puppet regime. The northern kingdoms are powerful, led by the kingdom of Ulster and the kingdom of Connaught, and the territory of these two countries is only separated from the kingdom of Twilight by the Falling Star Mountains. Although it now seems that the two of them have a bad relationship, and soon there will be a war. But as long as the resources are consumed to a certain extent, the two countries will inevitably join forces and plunder southward again. ”

"At that time, without the buffer zone of the Silver Ring Kingdom, naturally there will be no Church coalition to come to help. The Kingdom of Twilight will most likely need to face two behemoths on the northern continent at the same time. In addition, the church, which has always had a discordant relationship with us, put cold arrows on the side and stumble. What do you think are the odds of victory in the Twilight Kingdom?"

Rachel nodded as he listened, "You mean you want to support Boyle and become the third force on the Northern Continent, using his army and territory as a buffer between the Twilight Kingdom and the Northern Kingdoms?"

"Boyle is well-known among the barbarians, and he has always loved the warriors and people under his command. Such a person, if he can be the head of the vassal state of the Twilight West Kingdom, is indeed the best choice. ”

Rachel pondered for a moment, then asked, "What about Aisha, and what can she do with that pirate?"

Todd drew circles on his legs with his fingers, looked out the window, and said quietly, "If Boyle can really gain a foothold on the northern continent, the Dusk Kingdom will need to provide him with a steady stream of weapons and supplies. These supplies, if taken by land, are almost impossible. The Watchtower and several other important barriers have been controlled by the Church, and we have no way to break through them. ”

"So, sea transport became the only option. Originally, I hoped that the North Islanders would take on the role of transit, but they had too many grievances and ties with the barbarians. Moreover, in recent months, the actions of the North Island tribe have really made people more and more uneasy...... It's time for the kingdom to form a fleet of its own......"