"Noodles, how's it going?" Barrett, who hurried through the woods, spoke to the shadow where the halfling wanderer had been hiding before he had not even had time to shake off the snow off his body.

The halfling wanderer, hidden in the shadows, barely noticeable even for Barrett, whispered, "The convoy is about halfway in. Thank you for the weather, otherwise you would have been able to complete their handover work in the middle of this time. ”

Barrett, who heard this, cautiously poked his head out. At this moment, the drawbridge of the fortress had been lowered, and the three caravans outside the city gate were moving towards the gate of the fortress with the efforts of the coachmen. The tired tall horse spewed out a large amount of white mist from its nose, and the people who were pushing it behind the carriage almost fell directly to the ground.

"So this time the convoy consisted of 6 caravans? Did you go in there before? Barrett touched his chin and began to ask about his companion.

The noodles that appeared from the shadows shook his head: "No! The six cars that came this time were all caravans, and there were no flatbeds. ”

"In other words, all the baggage that is transported needs to be waterproof? Maybe it's something else that is inconvenient to transport on a flatbed truck? Based on the current intelligence, Barrett can only come to such conclusions. If you want to find out more about the specific information, I am afraid that there is no other good way than to infiltrate the fortress to investigate on the spot.

The noodle then said, "Judging from the car model and the ruts they left on the snow, this batch of supplies is 20,000 pounds, to say the least. If you go by the limit, it seems that it is possible to reach about 24,000 pounds. ”

"It's impossible to reach 24,000 pounds, that's the theoretical value of this four-wheeled heavy carriage. Judging from the maintenance of the vehicle in front of you, as well as the horses being towed, 21,000 pounds is probably an overestimate. Barrett immediately shook his head.

The system of the Cruze kingdom made it very easy for the other side to recruit the people, but it also made the people who were used as cattle adopt a very rough attitude towards the tools they used, which was similar to the slaves who spontaneously destroyed the tools of production in the later years of slavery.

So in Lucia's military and political system, you can't expect their tools to be well maintained. If you don't break something, you might eat the whip, and the number of losses reported here will definitely make those aristocratic bureaucrats who are good at drifting pick up knives and kill people. Therefore, Barrett understands that there is usually a big gap between the actual transportation situation of the other party and the ideal value.

"Even 20,000 pounds of supplies is a lot of money." Noodle mentally calculated, "But it seems likely that this is just the first convoy." After all, judging by the area of the fortress in front of you. At most, its atrium could only stop the six wagons and the horses that were pulling them. ”

The wagons in front of you were large four-wheeled vehicles that were often used to carry goods by caravans that had to travel long distances. While it is true that its carrying capacity is not small, it often requires eight medium-sized or four large organisms to keep it running. This makes the footprint of these carriages absolutely insignificant.

If more than six cars come at a time, the fortress in front of you will not be able to accommodate all of them, so there will inevitably be chariots and horses that will have to stay outside the fortress. This is very detrimental both in terms of security and internal harmony. Therefore, the speculation of noodles is indeed very probable.

"If there is a very frequent convoy exchange in the future, it means that Lucia has begun to stock up on supplies to the front." Speaking of this, Barrett not only did not have any worries, but his expression was slightly excited. Obviously, like his companion in the room, he was already a little uncomfortable waiting for the fighter plane to appear. Of course, compared to some of his peers who write everything on their faces, this one just hides his emotions very well.

Hearing this, Noodles nodded, "That's what I'm going to say, but it looks like there won't be a second team coming over today." ”

"Then you keep an eye here first, and I'll go back and write a report to the territory." Barrett, who patted Noodles on the shoulder, turned around, "If there's anything else, report it with a text stick like you just did." I'll get over as soon as I can. ”

The 'SMS stick' that players now have in their hands is a quest item assigned to players by the Boreham family before the mission. It is the same as any other communication tool, and it must be returned to the family after this mission is over. However, considering the possibility of battle damage, the province's contribution in this regard is actually not small.

Back at the Vault, Barrett nodded to Rielly, who tacitly stopped what he was doing and gave up the table to Barrett. Then he took out a one-foot-square parchment roll from the drawer of the table. At first glance, the parchment scroll looks unremarkable, with dark brown spots and scratches of varying shades on the waxy yellow surface. The edges of the paper seem to have been gnawed by insects, and after unfolding, a sense of vicissitudes that has passed through the years comes to the face.

Barrett, who had rolled up the parchment, took out a silver-tipped quill and a tightly corked bottle of dark red ink from the drawer. This quill is known as 'Diarra's writing pen'. It is an alchemy product made with the griffin feather as the rod, the mythril as the tip, and the silk sac of the earth mastiff spider made of nitrate as the heart. If you write with Dragon's Blood Ink on the previous 'Diqila's Messenger Paper', the contents of the text will be passed to the holder of the corresponding item 'Diqila's Scroll' when the writing is completed.

The so-called dragon's blood ink can't be a real dragon's blood product, it is an alchemical product refined from fresh lamb's blood plus the sap of the Vishnu tree and the blood chalcedony stone. This half-pint of ink, which is bottled in crystals, costs around fifty gold coins. Thankfully, the bottle containing the ink can be recycled, otherwise someone would have been angry and scolded the mother.

Even so, the Dragon's Blood Ink was an expensive consumable. If it's not something particularly important, no one will usually use this way to deliver a message. However, now that the war is about to break out, the timeliness of information is particularly important. In order to ensure the transmission of information to the territory, the Boreham family equipped the players with this device - if the SMS baton is a team walkie-talkie, this kit is a long-range radio station.

Looking at the strange object in front of him, Barrett thought about it for a while and organized his sentences well. Then he unplugged the cork on the crystal bottle with the twisted text, dipped it in ink with a quill and began to write on parchment. One by one, the companions in the room lowered their voices. Even Claudia, who loves to play the most, didn't dare to disturb Barrett at this time.

Because the letter paper begins with the pen, the content of the same article must be completed in a short time. The interval between the two writings is about two hours. Although the better the workmanship, the shorter the interval between letters, but in fact, the difference is not very large. This is one of the two major flaws of the strange object, the other being that it can only be transmitted in one direction and cannot communicate in both directions.

In addition, there are small problems such as the need for consumables, not to mention. But although it has very serious flaws. However, because of its relatively simple production process, its output and price are easily accepted by people. After all, the scroll costs only 2,200 gold coins with up to 8 pieces of letterpaper, which is a rare and inexpensive product among magical items. Coupled with the writing pen of 80 gold coins each, a relatively complete intelligence network can be formed.

Coupled with its extremely long range of information transmission and the fact that no effective means of cracking it have been found so far, it has naturally become a common means of transmitting military intelligence -- the so-called common use refers to relatively safe intelligence gathering. Some special information is still transmitted through MeSign, which is more reliable.

Barrett, who had finished writing, let out a long breath. After collecting the strange objects on the table, he got up and gave the table back to Rielly. And several players who had been waiting on the side couldn't wait to ask: "What is the situation ahead?" ”

"There was a convoy of six horse-drawn wagons. According to my guess and I, there will be a succession of convoys to arrive until the fortress is filled with supplies for the battle. Speaking of this, Barrett paused, "But in order to ensure that the intelligence analysis of the territory is not interfered with as much as possible. I didn't write about these speculations. Rather, it is just a visual description of the specific situation. ”

"So is the battle about to begin? That's great news! At least that's the case for us. Claudia was slightly excited.

Barrett nodded this time: "It looks like the battle is indeed about to begin." Hopefully, the enemy will not act more than the territory intended. Otherwise, we're in big trouble this time. ”

"We've always had good luck, so we shouldn't be so unlucky." Clematis said and patted Barrett on the shoulder, "You're tired for a long time, so you don't plan to rest for a while?" ”

"Yes! Let's lie down for a while! Reserve your stamina for possible emergencies. With that, Barrett walked to his bed.

At nightfall, players who have finished their day's work gather around the fireplace to sip Barrett's hot soup and munch on lightly heated dough cakes to treat their internal organs. At this moment, a gem hanging in the room suddenly flashed with a burst of light, and then a whole row of words was projected.

If the 'Diqila Messenger' is a tool for players to report news to their realms. This 'Transmission Stone' is an important channel for the territory to inform players - the most important reason why it is so troublesome is due to the cost of investment. Strange things that can communicate in both directions over long distances are really not able to be promoted on a large scale in terms of price.

"Beware of bestials!" Looking at the words projected by the gem, Rielly subconsciously read it.

Barrett, who heard the news, raised his eyebrows: "Be careful of bestials? Could it be that this time Lucia's army recruited beasts? ”

The so-called bestioids are humanoids or giant human creatures that can transform into animals. In its innate form, the beast looks like its own creatures, but the born beast and those who have been infected for a long time will have the characteristics of their animal form. In its animal form, the beast is a more formidable animal, but if you look closely, you can see that its eyes glow red in the dark. Some jokingly say that there is an unusual spark of wisdom shining in it.

"Damn! We don't have any potions against bestiality. I'm afraid I'm going to be killed this time. Suddenly thinking of that terrible illness, Clematis immediately couldn't help but shudder.

The so-called bestiality is a special effect, which has given it such a name because it can be transmitted like a disease. Sometimes ordinary humanoids or giant human creatures will become infected with bestiality after being attacked by an orishoid and injured by an orishen. Such creatures are called infected bestials. Other bestials who are born bestials are called born bestials.

Hearing this, Barrett immediately reassured: "Even if you are infected with bestiality, it doesn't matter. I remember a kind of druid magic that was able to cure this disease once and for all. The family should not be unprepared for this. But now we need to really worry about the fighting power of beasts. Those guys' shapeshifts and hybrid forms are not easy to deal with. Even in its humanoid form, its tracking ability far exceeds that of ordinary soldiers. Looks like we're going to find a way to get rid of the smell in action. ”

Normally, beasts in their humanoid or giant form will use any tactics and weapons used by their own creatures, but will be more aggressive. At the same time, bestials possess the faculties of their animal form, including a keen sense of smell and dim vision. It also has a deep understanding of the kind of animals it can transform into and has the ability to communicate with it.

Of course, infected bestials can be overwhelmed by anger if they are injured in battle, causing them to involuntarily transform into animal form. In its animal form, the bestiary fights just like the animal it becomes, but its biting attack can spread bestiality. These guys are described as very cunning and extremely strong, and have damage reduction abilities that can only be broken by silver-plated weapons.

Infected bestiars, or infected bestiars who are born with a sense of being infected, can become a hybrid of their humanoid and animal forms. Hybrid beasts have hands and can wield weapons, as well as attack with their fangs and claws. Bestials in this form can spread bestiality through their biting attacks, and also have the same damage reduction as their animal form - a combination of the best of both worlds.

"I remember that beasts are shapeshifting creatures, and I'm afraid that the noodle's enemy-breaking arrow is useless." Rielly, who had completed the knowledge assessment, suddenly spoke, "But there are still a lot of silver refining potions we prepared before. Don't worry too much about their damage reduction. (To be continued.) )