It's May.

The warm sea breeze from the Mediterranean Sea has blown on the Apennine Peninsula.

From Verona to Bologna, the distance is 128 km. The Emperor's coalition forces could only advance a short distance almost every day, often at a very heavy cost.

Imperial soldiers were constantly killed in frequent attacks by Chéng Rén's troops, so much so that morale in the army almost fell to the bottom.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Holy See is fighting a technologically asymmetrical war with the Empire, the latter losing real human lives, while the former is simply spending money.

If it weren't for the fact that the remains of Chéng Rén could have been sold for a high price in the army bazaar, the soldiers from the various principalities would have rioted long ago.

The emperor and the dukes held one high-level meeting after another, discussing the next battle plan. The dukes said that the odds of victory were now very low, and it was better to retreat to the foothills of the Alps before the Holy See had not cut off the back road and completed the encirclement of the emperor's coalition forces.

However, the emperor refused.

For the result of this is obvious, once the retreat (whether it is a strategic shift or a rout), the soldiers will inevitably lose all faith in advancing, and it will be extremely difficult to drive them south to attack the Holy See.

Not to mention that waging the campaign itself has already overdrawn too much of the political prestige of the royal Saxony family. If you retreat and regain strength at this time, it is equivalent to all the efforts made in the early stage have been wasted.

As soon as they entered the foothills of the Alps, which were easy to defend and difficult to attack, then "returning home" would become another option, and "continue the attack" would be placed in front of the dukes.

The emperor didn't even have to think about it to know which dukes would delay time, and which dukes would immediately propose to return home...... He even instigated the knights to launch a rebellion and forced the emperor to comply.

Therefore, it is impossible to retreat, at most it is nailed here like a nail, if anyone dares to set off a rebellion against civil strife, and then the Holy See army will attack the camp, and everyone will die together!

In the face of the emperor's old man's stiff neck, the dukes were also helpless.

Everyone knows what the only belief in favor of the emperor is:

The 3rd Magic Tide.

The first magic tide was in July last year, and the second magic wave was in January this year, so the interval is about half a year. However, this thing is just like my aunt, it may or may be delayed sooner or later, and even the Holy See can't predict it months in advance.

Maybe it won't last until June, and the magic tide will come? Maybe next week? After all, it's already May.

As soon as the tide came, not only Chéng Rén and the drones, but also the Templars equipped with prosthetic limbs would lose their combat power, and the Emperor's coalition would be able to move south like a bamboo, and the victory would be sealed before the Holy See could react.

The Emperor is gambling, gambling with the prestige of the Saxony family and the lives of everyone in the coalition, and the tide of gambling will come early.

Just when the situation was deadlocked, the news of a certain Blade Samurai spy reached the ears of the emperor who was presiding over the meeting, and immediately made the old Frankish man furious.

"Brought me that damn bazaar!" Emperor Otto overturned the entire desk.

The emperor hurriedly left with the blade warriors, and the dukes looked at each other and hurriedly summoned their attendants to inquire.

Soon everyone learned what happened:

It turned out that the Milanese traders in the army bazaar bought the wreckage of the Chéng Rén/drone captured on the battlefield from the soldiers at a high price, and on the other hand, sold it back to the Holy See at a higher price, and used it as raw materials for processing and recycling, and put it back into the production line.

This back and forth is tantamount to saying that the Holy See has spent money to save raw materials, and the Milanese merchants have made the difference in price, and only the emperor's coalition army is exchanging the lives of his men for money, and this money is still in the hands of the soldiers, and the channels of pleasure such as wine/women's sex continue to flow back to the merchants.

It's no wonder that His Majesty the Emperor can't stand it anymore and plans to dispatch troops to defeat the cancer of the army bazaar.

The Blade Warriors quickly regrouped and rushed towards the bazaar with the Emperor in their arms. The dukes hurriedly informed their subordinates, such as whose knights were now wandering in the market, and quickly slipped out in the other direction.

Otherwise, he was caught and killed by the emperor who was angry, and there would be no place to avenge his grievances.

At this time, Asker was walking around the market with Mia and Mier, and the two little girls were running around with grilled chicken thighs in one hand and ice cream cones in the other.

It's still easy to coax a child, Asker sighed. It's much easier to deal with than any mind-reading sister combination.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in front of them, and the three of them looked in the direction of the crowd, and saw that the heavily armed Blade Warriors had blocked the entrance to the market, and many soldiers who came out of the tents tried to leave, pushing and clashing with the Blade Guards who blocked them.

"Wow, Commander, let's run away!" Mia subconsciously wanted to take the two of them away from the Shadow Realm, only to hear Aske say:

"Don't worry, I'll see what's going on."

Soon, a bladed warrior stepped forward and read the emperor's edict to the unknown soldiers and traders;

From now on, the military bazaar will be permanently closed and will not be allowed to reopen. Any trader who attempts to camp near the barracks is considered to be a work sent by the Holy See; Any soldier who deals privately with a trader is considered treason and arrested.

This order quickly aroused the anger of the crowd, after all, everyone's usual battle was already very hard, and there was a danger of dying at any time. Now the only little opportunity to exchange the loot for money is actually ruthlessly deprived by His Majesty the Emperor......

I don't know who couldn't bear to shout, and then he actually saw blood!

Before the people present could even react, whether it was the blade warrior or the soldier who made the first move, in short, the conflict escalated suddenly in the form of lightning surprise, and when the remaining people came to their senses, they were already involuntarily coerced into joining the turmoil!

Mia and Mi'er were shocked and hurriedly pulled Aske to retreat, but they were empty.

Asker doesn't know when it's gone! Did you go back to Hearthfire Island, or did you leave suddenly?

The two little girls looked at each other, Mia immediately pulled out the short knife tied to her forearm, and Mi'er reached for the pistol on her thigh (her sniper rifle was too conspicuous to bring), and the two vigilantly retreated to the nearest tent, scanning the surroundings back to back, coldly watching the rebels draw their swords or guns and attack the bladed warriors who blocked the entrance to the camp.

Stumps fluttered, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and gunfire and roars shook the sky.

Suddenly, Asker teleported out of Hearthfire Island with Nola, Medea, and Peggy.

"Quickly search the nearby subconscious ocean to see who is instigating this incident!"

Nora and Medea nodded immediately, and quickly opened their mental vision, and Peggy also activated the salvage skill of the Law of Death, and countless figurative death tadpoles emerged from the void and disappeared into the subconscious ocean, and began to search for the thoughts of the living and the dead nearby.