On the mainland, northwest of the Morro River, west of Desik, and east of the city of Manning, there is a special existence.

This is a huge canyon that winds for hundreds of miles, cut deep into the ground, flanked by huge rock faults, carved here by the power of the devil's axe, and a bottomless giant valley is sandwiched in the middle. There is a thin stream at the bottom of the valley, and the current is not large.

With the change of weather, the water and mountains are changing, and the natural wonders are magnificent.

This is the Grand Canyon in the mouth of the mainland, which is rumored to be the last struggle of the Magic Empire in the First Continental War, and the huge magical power unleashed has caused this indelible scar to the continent. Later, time passed, and the bottom of the canyon gradually accumulated water, forming a river valley. This canyon is the natural dividing line between Desik and Shangmeng, and the Morro River runs through the southern part of the Grand Canyon.

On the east side of the canyon is the garrison of Desik's border guards. Unlike the elite warriors of the Wasteland, the Desic Border Guards were a little rough, dressed in untidy fur from beasts, and wore a hat with two fur buckles on the sides, which was the hallmark of the Desic Border Guards.

Instead of being armed with a well-crafted decic scimitar, a weapon reserved for the desik nobles and moorland warriors, the border guards were replaced with spears and bows. However, this does not prevent the Desik border guards from becoming a formidable army, if the wasteland warriors are invincible "city breakers", known for their strong and ferocious attack power, the defense army over there is a snake that spits poisonous letters all the time, and a moment of distraction will attract its attack.

The direct leader of the Desik Border Guards was the Western General, who was under the command of Emperor Desik and the chairman of the Desik Military Joint Council, and was listed as the highest military command of Desik along with several other generals. Desik suppressed the Shang League all the year round, and the aggressive border guards, under the leadership of Western generals all these years, did not cause trouble to the Shang League.

With the signing of the trade agreement with the Merchant Alliance, Desik's military oppression in the west slowed down slightly, and at the same time, not far behind the border guards, a small city called "Tarim" built a huge material turnover field, where a steady stream of grain imported from the Merchant Alliance was piled up, and the newly formed six elite border guards were stationed around Tarim.

And today, in Tarim City, flags are fluttering, horns are shaking the sky, and countless black steppenwolf flags are hanging on the flagpoles, shaking. The low horn sounded through the sky, and the roar of "roar, roar, roar" was shocking.

Two Desiks, dressed in splendid aristocratic costumes, rode side by side through the city on two tall horses, followed by a large group of servants and guards. The two nobles carefully inspected the granaries in the city and inspected the nearby troops. A gold black Steppenwolf badge that shines on their chests.

They were the two princes of Desik, Crown Prince Ferdinand, and the chairman of the Military Joint Council, Archduke Edward.

"Ferdinand, look at this turnaround yard, it's okay to build. "It was Archduke Edward who spoke.

Prince Ferdinand watched as he walked, asking the attendants behind him from time to time for something. Edward sounded quite professional, and thought to himself that this brother was not without ability.

On the mainland, Prince Ferdinand is one of the three major perverted nobles and has a bad reputation. It's a pity that he has a good background, the crown prince's position is unbreakable, and the Kaiser also trusts him. This time, he was ordered to inspect the armaments in the west of Desik, and this newly built turnover field was naturally a must-pass place.

Unlike people from other countries, the Desiks still retain many of the habits of the barbarian tribes, such as the preference for living in tents, and the extremely luxurious felt fur tents.

At this moment, in the center of Tarim City, there is a huge, gorgeous, golden tent, on the top of the tent, a gold-edged black steppenwolf flag flutters in the wind, which means that the Desik royal family is stationed here.

The two crown princes of Desik, who had finished the inspection, sat in the tent, and the attendants rushed in with wine and food. Archduke Edward was a heavy drinker, and he was the first to raise his glass and drink it.

Prince Ferdinand didn't seem to be in a particularly good mood today, ignoring Edward, and was in a daze, and the group of dancing girls who came into the tent in front of him didn't attract his attention at all.

Archduke Edward, who sensed that something was wrong, put down his wine glass, "Ferdinand, what's wrong?"

Prince Ferdinand, retracting his gaze, "It's okay, eat a bar." ”

The meal was not particularly tasty, Prince Ferdinand did not say a word the whole time, and Edward did not want to be bored, so he only buried himself in drinking. The two princes were like this, and the generals below didn't say much, and the dancers who were dancing hard all sensed a hint of embarrassment, and hurriedly finished the dance and withdrew.

"I'd like to go to Shangmeng again. "It was Prince Ferdinand who broke the silence.

"Well, why?" said Edward, curious.

"The Food Agreement is too exploitative of the Business Alliance, and if our main target is San Jose, the stability of the Business Alliance is also important. Ferdinand explained.

"It's just a matter of dying early and dying later, and we Desik don't need weak allies. "Edward was tough as ever.

There was an instant silence in the tent. Edward stared at Ferdinand's face, a little curious as to why the crown prince's beard was still so neat and a little distracted.

In the southern part of the Grand Canyon, about a hundred miles away from the Morro River, there is a large forest shrouded in mist all year round, this is a pristine and undeveloped forest, inaccessible, and in the intersection of the three countries, it is rumored that there are mysterious races in the forest, and few people who enter can come out.

And a few hundred miles east of the Misty Forest, a mysterious castle, a group of people in black, gathered in the castle, on the ground, the blue pentagram emitted a strange light. The black-clothed people wore peaked hoods and hats, and their whole bodies were shrouded in darkness, revealing only blood-red eyes, and the sound of incantations was accompanied by the flickering of the five-pointed star.

A moment later, a white-robed man came in through the door and walked to the center of the pentagram to stand still, and the light of the pentagram did not stop him in the slightest. The man in black stopped chanting the incantation, folded his hands and bowed, and shouted "Welcome to the Patriarch." ”

The white-robed man stretched out his hand, and the void pressed it: "My brothers and sisters, welcome to you. ”

The man in black clasped his hands together again in unison, "The Patriarch is hard. ”

As if to end the politeness and greetings, the white-robed mysterious man asked in a low voice: "How are the plans progressing?"

A man in black walked to the corner of the pentagram, stood still, and saluted the man in white robes, while the rest of the people faced him. "Patriarch, the development of the members of the various places is far beyond the plan, there are not a few ambitious people, and the forces available for mobilization are extremely powerful. ”

The white-robed man bowed his head and seemed to be satisfied. Another man in black walked to the other corner of the pentagram, stood still, and saluted. "Patriarch, the penetration of the army is methodical and progressive. ”

The white-robed man nodded again, "Protecting the Dharma is hard. ”

One by one, the man in black stepped forward to report in turn, and the man in white robe did not say a word, it was all simple recognition, until the last man in black.

Different from the others, this last man in black was taller and burier than the others, and when he bent down at the apex of the pentagram, he seemed to be taller than the patriarch: "Patriarch, we have tracked the whereabouts of the 'tooth', and we can carry out the 'fuse plan', please show the patriarch." ”

The Patriarch reacted slightly more this time, and he walked straight to the man in black and stretched out his hand. The man in black was very clever, and immediately bent down, and the patriarch took the opportunity to put his hand on the top of the man in black, a burst of purple light flashed, and the man in black's eyes lit up, "Thank you for the blessing of the Patriarch!"

The Patriarch returned to his place, "*** plan is on schedule. The goal of 'teeth' is not difficult, but the difficult thing is how to use 'teeth' to achieve the expected plan, and you still need to work together here. ”

"The Patriarch is wise. The crowd responded.

The strange blue light of the pentagram flickered, and suddenly began to erupt, the light became brighter and brighter, and in the bright light, a pair of fanatical blood-red pupils released endless enthusiasm, and roared loudly: "Blazing holy fire, bless me with glory, burn my heart, burn my blood, eat my flesh, kill my bones." The storm rises again, the world is turned upside down, the continent is shattered, the long sea is empty, the magic is endless, and the darkness rises. ”

The Patriarch looked at the frenzied crowd, did not know what to think, did not say a word, and after a long time, the Patriarch left alone, and everyone disappeared into the night, leaving only the black castle.

Prince Ferdinand's ceremonial driver left Tarim City the next day. Prince Ferdinand, who was sitting in the car, was thinking about Archduke Edward with mixed thoughts. In fact, within Desik, the Kaiser and Archduke Edward had clearly announced Desik's plans for the future, which represented the will of the ruling class and the army. Although there is a slight difference in his political views, as the crown prince, he is still willing to support the emperor, otherwise he would not take the initiative to go to the west to inspect the preparations for war.

It's just that there is a huge difference between himself and Edward in his attitude towards the Shang Alliance, and he advocates stabilizing the Shang Alliance first, with San Jose as the main goal. Edward's goal was to defeat the Merchant Alliance before turning around against San Jose.

This is a multiple-choice question that is easy before difficult and easy before easy, and it's not easy to do.

Instead of heading east to White Rock Castle, the driver headed for the "West Bridge" (Note 1) on the Grand Canyon.

Watching Prince Ferdinand's convoy gradually move away in the southwest direction, Archduke Edward snorted unremittingly, and the Western general beside him stepped forward and said: "This crown prince is too idealistic, and I don't know what conspiracy he has with the Shang Alliance. ”

Prince Edward glanced at the Western generals, "No matter what his plot is, our plan will not change." The emperor's mind has been decided, and it is not something that he can easily change as an emperor. Besides, how long this emperor will be in charge is not up to him at all. ”

"How long will we have to wait, Chairman (Note 2)?" the Western General continued.

"It's not long coming, so don't worry. Now, all we need is a fuse. Edward suddenly felt bored.

Note 1: The West Bridge, on the Grand Canyon, there are more than ten volley bridges. Communicate the business exchange between the business alliance and Desik. Without these bridges, merchants would have had to take a detour through San Jose to enter Desique.

The Westside Bridge, the largest of these, is located on the border between Desik and Manning.

Note 2: Archduke Edward was the chairman of the Desik Military Joint Council, as the Western generals called him here.