The climate by the sea was warm and humid, and for the first time Higg came to a place where there were no mountains, and for the first time he saw the vast and endless sea, his mood seemed much more active than that of the mountains.

The roads in the hilly area are tortuous, the mountains are not high but dangerous, and the cliffs and cliffs abound. The karst landform is characterized by the large and small karst caves in the mountainous area.

Higg was anxious to go to the small town of Teris to find out the mystery of his origins, and Shante heard that the capital had fallen and the queen was in danger, so he hurried to go. Except for the occasional nagging of Higg along the way, Shante basically did not speak. I've been walking on the endless path for almost three hours, and I haven't seen a single figure.

"Hahaha, I've been waiting for several days, and I finally have a business." Seven or eight people suddenly flashed out of the jungle on both sides of the road, led by a bearded strong man who said loudly, "Want money, do you want to die? ”。 As he spoke, the two of them had already been surrounded.

"This is the person who sent the money?" Higg said with a smile.

"It should be, it's just too enthusiastic, seven or eight people come to send it, it's really unbearable." Shante also said with a smile.

"You're going to get it, right? I'm bleeding! ”

"No problem, you'll carry my backpack in a while!"

"Hmph, there's no love, I'm still a minor!"

Seven or eight people looked at them, thinking that they were discussing something, but did not step forward, but remained vigilant.

Higg stepped forward and said, "We want money!" We're not interested in your lives! ”

The bearded man was so angry that he screamed, "Damn, see clearly, we are professional bandits, please respect our profession!" After saying that, he picked up the big knife and stepped forward to cut it. Suddenly, there was a flash of light in front of him, and Shante's sword rested on the bearded man's neck, frightening the bearded man there.

Immediately, two of them slashed at Higg, bent down and took a step forward, just dodging the two big knives, and when they turned around, they grabbed them by the hair and smashed their heads together, and the two thieves immediately broke their heads and bled out, and they fainted on the ground.

"Eh, I said that I fainted blood, but I accidentally saw blood, so I said let you come." Higg said to Shante with a smile.

Shante snatched the big knife from the bearded man's hand and threw it at a fleeing bandit, sticking it into his right thigh, screaming in pain.

Now all the bandits stood stupidly, and no one dared to move.

"We should be peers, you are bandits, we are robbers." Higg said to the bearded, "So you know, there's always going to be a cost to what we do. Since we are peers, today we will give a discount, the money will stay, and the life will not be lost. ”

The bearded man hurriedly said: "Brother robber, misunderstanding, we will give you the money, give it to you!" After speaking, he motioned to the people below to hurry up and pay the money.

Seven or eight people, even the three lying on the ground, searched their bodies, and only found a total of eight gold coins.

Higg smiled and said to Shante: "Our peers are not on the road, and even the interest is not enough." ”

The bearded man hurriedly cried and said, "Brother robber, we just started this business, and we haven't opened meat a few times, and the bandit leader in the mountains refuses to accept us, so we came out to do it alone." ”

Higg smiled and said: "Okay, this money is interest, you answer me a few questions, answer well, we will let you go, there is a question that is not answered well, leave a peer, how about it?" ”

"Okay, good, brother robber, just ask, I must say what I know."

"What is this place? Who governs it? ”

"This mountainous area is called the Gaudell Hills, and the leaders here are called ......"

"Stop, I'm asking which province is this and how far is it from the nearest town?"

The bearded man was sweating profusely and drenched all over, although Higg's question was strange, he didn't dare not answer immediately: "This is the southern part of Andalu Province, the nearest city from here is Misland, the Governor of Andalu Province Freirand is currently loyal to the Queen's camp, but the Lord of Misland and the army of 5,000 men under his command concealed the Governor's Majesty three months ago, and announced that they would leave the Queen's camp and be loyal to the Duke of Arad, oh no, it is the King of Arad. So now the province of Andalu is very chaotic. ”

"We've been doing business at sea for the past few years, and the ship hit a reef, and we just got drifted here by the sea. Tell us more about the current situation, starting with the Arad army. ”

The bearded man said: "For many years, Duke Arad's Third Army was originally the main task of countering the rebellion in the eastern part of the empire, and the first and second armies in the south were the main forces of counterinsurgency, because he was the queen's cousin, so he received the most support. Duke Arad supported the rebels in the south while quelling the rebellion in the east, so that the main forces of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps were all transferred to the south to participate in quelling the increasingly rampant southern rebellion. Three years ago, the Duke of Arad united the rebels to declare their independence from Her Majesty, and the Third Army turned around and surrounded the capital in just three months. The main forces of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps stationed near the capital were transferred early because of the counterinsurgency, and the 4th and 5th Army Corps were pinned down by the barbarian and Shuize legions that were about to move, so all the Qinwang troops either had no time to move, or were pinned, and only 40,000 city defense troops defended the capital, 20,000 Queen's Praetorian Guards and some temporary garrisons, with a total strength of no more than 80,000, surrounded by 400,000 large legions. ”

The bearded man took a breath and continued: "In fact, the total strength of the main forces of the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Army Corps at that time was no less than three million, and the total strength of the local armies was at least four million. And the total strength of the main force of the Duke of Arad did not exceed one million, plus about 800,000 other rebels, the total strength was far inferior to the army of King Qin. After besieging the capital, Duke Arad besieged the royal city but did not attack it, forcing the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the Queen, which were loyal to the Queen, to rush to attack King Qin, and were ambushed many times and suffered heavy losses. The Fourth Legion was not originally the Queen's direct army, so when the situation in the capital was not clear, it was ostensibly King Qin, but in fact it had been on the sidelines. Although the Fifth Legion later swore eternal allegiance to Her Majesty, two of their generals and one commander were instigated by the Duke of Arad to rebel, causing more than 200,000 men of the Legion to mutiny and paralyzing the entire Legion. ”

The bearded man was foaming at the mouth, but Higg and Shante were terrified.

The bearded man continued: "More than half a year ago, the Duke of Arad saw that the time was ripe and ordered the capture of the capital city of Croatia. The 80,000 troops defending the city held out for less than a month before the capital fell, and the queen led the remnants of the army to break through, but also disappeared without a trace. After that, Duke Arad's subordinates persuaded him many times, and Duke Arad repeatedly expressed that he did not want to be king. Finally, three months ago, Arad ascended the throne and issued a national message, listing more than a dozen crimes such as the queen's cruelty, improper succession, tyrannical conquest, murderous and belligerent, and harem, and demanded that all legions immediately pledge allegiance to the new king, hunt down Catherine to sacrifice the remnants, and take in and support the queen as treason. ”

When Shante heard that Her Majesty, the Queen He admired, was blackened by such an insult, his blood was spurting, and his eyes seemed to be on fire, so frightened that the bearded man lowered his head and did not dare to say more.

Higg said to the bearded man, "Tell me about the current pattern of the empire. ”

The bearded man said: "The First and Second Legions refused to recognize the throne of Arad, and also issued a battle message to the whole country, calling on all the forces of the whole country to eradicate Arad as a thief, but militarily they were defeated and retreated, and now they were mainly entrenched in about twelve provinces in the southwest of the empire, accounting for less than a third of the territory of the whole country, but they were the most developed and reached areas. The Fourth Legion heard that it had declared its allegiance to the new king last month, but said that it would only like to be stationed on the border and could not put down the rebellion. "The rebels within the Fifth Legion, with the covert support of Aradd, are in a standoff with the more than 400,000 troops of the main force of the Legion, and the situation is uncertain at present. Although His Majesty Allad has become the king, the entire empire is now on fire everywhere, and His Majesty Allad and Queen Catherine have entered a state of mutual stalemate! ”

Seeing that the bearded man didn't say any more, Higg asked, "You are a thief, how do you know such details?" ”

"I was originally a messenger in Misland City, and most of the outside information was conveyed by our messengers, so I know more about it. Before the rebellion of the city lord of Mithland, in order to prevent the news from leaking, most of the messengers were wiped out, and I was lucky to escape from death, and there was no way to go, so I did this business. I also have a younger brother who is guarding the warehouse in the Van Weyberg stronghold, so I know not only the news before, but also the news now. We are not well-informed as bandits, and we are going to lose money. ”

"Well, you did lose money this time." Higg smiled and said, "How many bandits are here?" ”

"The real bandit leader is only one named Wan Ke'er, occupying the best karst cave here, the terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, there are nearly 200 people under his hands, all of them are very powerful, and ordinary bandits can't enter their gang."

"And the general bandits?"

"Bandits like us, who don't have a scale, don't want to listen to other people's commands, so they have to go it alone. There are at least dozens of people like me in this hill, and the total number is more than that of Wankel. Each small group of bandits had their own cave site, but they had to pay a certain amount of land fees to Wankel every month. Usually we do business alone, and when we have a large business, we do it together. ”

"Hmm!" Higg pondered.

"Why don't you be our big leader, I have a big business, and I don't dare to do it."

"Oh, tell me about your business."

"Actually, the whole Gauder area is a peninsula, and about 20 kilometers east of the Gauder hills, there is a small port, which is also a small military supply transfer station, and this small port was built temporarily. The supplies looted by the Lord of Mithland from the city and the surrounding areas were transported to the warehouses of the port, and at the end of each month, ships carried the supplies away. My brother was the guard of the warehouse, and in addition to guarding the warehouse, they had to transport supplies from the city of Misland from time to time. Tomorrow there will be four truckloads of supplies from the city to the warehouse, because the front line is tight, the warehouse guards have been reduced from more than 300 people to less than 200 now, so the escort force to transport the supplies is only 30 people, and my brother is also an escort. This is a good business, I can gather other small groups of bandits, but the bandits who are gathered together can't do it without a leader, and they will definitely make mistakes. ”

"Okay, you guys take a break, I'll think about it first." Higg said.

Higg thought for a moment, took Shantra aside, and discussed with him......

"What, you made me a bandit, just now you said that I was a robber or a pirate, you really called me a bandit, no discussion!" Shante was furious when he looked at the idea that Higg had given him with a wicked smile.

"What's so bad about bandits? Even if you find King Qin's troops now, don't you start from small soldiers, when will you be able to come out, now there is such a good opportunity, there are soldiers, and supplies are also delivered, where do you go to find this kind of opportunity? ”

"Can these people be soldiers? You're taking the army too seriously. Shante said angrily.

"You have to take your time, build your own power first, and then slowly find another source of troops, this is on the edge of the empire, but the terrain is dangerous, no one will pay attention here, you can develop with peace of mind. Moreover, this Andalu province has both rebels and Qinwang army, the various forces are intertwined, the situation is chaotic, just take advantage of the chaos, if necessary, fish in troubled waters, who is good to you, you help whom, of course, you are helping the queen in your heart, but the rebels don't know! So you can make a fortune with a muffled voice, haha! How's it going, are you tempted? ”

No one is not impressed, in this troubled world, who doesn't want to have their own power: "Okay, I listen to you, but I won't be a thief for the rest of my life." ”

"Haha, if you want to be a thief for the rest of your life, I won't do it, I'm still waiting for you to be a general when the time comes, and I'll be a general staff officer."

Higg beckoned to the bearded man and called him over, "When is your brother going to escort supplies?" ”

"Early tomorrow morning! It's twenty kilometers from the port to Misland, and if you arrive at noon, you will return immediately, and you will return to the port in the evening, which is exactly one day, so this time is very accurate. Misland is also twenty kilometers away from us, the port is also twenty kilometers away from us, and the exit from the hilly area is exactly in the center of three places, ten kilometers away from all places, and we have just entered the mountains after grabbing supplies, and it will take an hour and a half for reinforcements to arrive at the earliest. ”

Higg asked, "What's your name?" ”

"Denelson!"

Shante stood up and said, "My name is Shante, I can be your big leader, that one is called Hig, is your second leader, are you willing to obey orders?" ”

Denilson stood up and bowed and said, "Hehe, I've seen two leaders, please give the leader's order!" ”

"Good!" Higg said, "Denilson, let these people heal immediately, you can arrange it for me." ”

"Second Leader, please speak!"

"First, when I'm done, I'll send someone to inform Wankel of your information!" Higg said.

"What? Give this business to that demon, no! "Denelson was in a hurry.

"Are you unwilling to obey orders?"

"Uh, okay, I'll arrange it right away!"

"Second, immediately inform all the scattered bandits you can notify, and say that there is a big business, tell them not to ask about any business, and tell them that they must arrive at your cave this evening, and they will not wait."

"It's easy to say, we have a special contact information, no need to be notified, three fireworks at the top of my mountain, they will arrive as soon as possible, the time does not need to be notified, it used to be night."

"Thirdly, as soon as the bandits have gathered, they will immediately screen out at least forty people who are good at the water and can sail and steer, and then immediately go to the nearby villages to mobilize all the fishing boats and concentrate near the port."

"This is also easy to do, this is the seaside, most people know how to sail on the water, but what do you want a boat for?" Denelson asked?

"Isn't there something to be delivered?" Higg said with a smile

"Supplies by ship?"

Shante also smiled and said, "Your business is too small, you two leaders can't look down on it!" ”

"Too small? What about four cars? Denelson wondered, and then suddenly shocked: "You plan to rob the port warehouse?" That's impossible, we can't beat it! ”

"Well, it's not stupid. It's almost the end of the month, and the warehouse must be almost full, so let's help them tidy it up! Higg smiled and said, "But the matter of building the warehouse will be left to us, and I will find the best cave for ourselves by the way, but I will need you to lead the way when the time comes!" ”

"No, even if you build a warehouse and deliver supplies from the warehouse to the mountains, you will be stopped by reinforcements from the city on the way."

"Did I mention I use a car to transport supplies?"

"Don't use a car? Ah-you mean with a boat? ”