Rosetta's question was straight to the point, and Gawain wasn't surprised at all — everyone sitting in this room knew they were here today to talk about it.

The "war" between Typhon and Cecil is over, and the armistice signed on the battlefield of Winter Castle has been in effect for some time, but for the armies of both countries, the matter is not completely over. To this day, the reconstruction of the Winter Fortress line continues, and Winter Wolf is still under the control of Cecil's legions, and although Gawain has ordered the withdrawal of half of the troops in the Winterwolf area in good faith as he did with the truce, everyone knows that the blue-on-gold sword and plough banner still flies over the Typhon fortress - and the massive Iron Throne armored train still stands on the border between the two countries.

Sooner or later, this matter will need to be resolved head-on.

Gawain listened to Rosetta with a calm expression, and he knew very well that in the current situation, Cecil's army stationed in Winterwolf Castle actually had no reason to continue to occupy that fortress, unless he planned to escalate this "war" that had ended into a war of aggression, and his real focus was never on the Winterwolf Castle's defense line - but until the real purpose was achieved, Winterwolf's army was still a good card.

"I understand your concern about this—but rest assured, Cecil has never intended to encroach on the lands of the neighbors," Gawain said slowly, "Our occupation of Winterwolf was initially forced by the situation, and as you know, Typhon's army was out of control at the time, your chain of command was in disarray, and we had to prevent the war from spreading to our own land, so we had to push the battle forward, but now that the war is over, the land that belongs to Typhon must be returned, but ...... We also have our own difficulties.

"In the battle of the Winter Fortress front, it was not only Typhon who suffered heavy losses, Cecil's armored legion was also fiercely attacked after entering the range of the god of war, we lost two light armored trains and one main armored train, and the losses of all kinds of main vehicles were incalculable, in addition to the heavy artillery paralyzed on the battlefield and countless wounded...... We can't leave it all on the battlefield.

"We're going to bring heavy weapons back home, but the railroad line to Fort Long Wind has been blown up, and it will take a long time to repair it; The wounded also needed to be cared for, many of them were too badly injured to withstand the long bumps, and the railway line was cut off, and they had to be stranded in Winterwolf. To tell you the truth, I'm in a better hurry to bring them home than you are, but I can't let the wounded go back to the Wind Fortress on foot......"

Rosetta frowned, of course he knew that what Gawain said was an excuse - maybe every one of these words was true, but the truth can be mixed with a lot of water, but he still asked in this direction: "Then what do you mean......"

"When we repair the main railway line, and when the wounded can move to the rear, my army will immediately withdraw from the Winter Wolf area," Gawain said, "In fact, you should know that I have already evacuated most of the local troops, and those units that can be transferred have already left, and the rest ...... It's not something that can be evacuated overnight. ”

"So how long does the process take?" Matilda looked at Gawain, "A month? Or a year? Or longer? ”

"All I can say is as soon as possible," Gawain spread his hands, "but there are a lot of factors beyond my control. ”

Rosetta looked into Gawain's eyes for a long time before suddenly breaking the silence: "We don't really need to bargain for too long on such a watery matter, do we?" We're not here to polish our lips today—"

As he spoke, he adjusted his sitting posture and looked at Gawain in a more solemn manner: "We each rule a powerful empire, and unless it were for special circumstances, we wouldn't even have to meet in person - if it were just to argue about the ownership of a fortress, our diplomats could have done all the negotiations, but now that you and I are here in person, sitting here face to face, I hope we can talk more heartily." Regardless of diplomatic rhetoric, without considering any implications and metaphors, let's be honest and straightforward - Typhon is morally at a loss in this matter, so you can put forward your terms, what do you want? ”

It was only then that Gawain finally showed a genuine smile, and then he sighed and sat down more comfortably: "So you should have said that earlier, instead of taking out the matter of Winterwolf Castle as a test first." Now that I've come to this point, I'm going to talk about my thoughts - amber. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Amber on the side had already taken out a folded map, and after placing the map on the coffee table and spreading it out, a partial picture of the northeast region of the Loren continent appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

The moment he saw the map, Rosetta's pupils narrowed significantly, but what he noticed was not any of the signs on the map, but the astonishing accuracy of the map and the specific depiction of the large number of islands and coasts in the coastal area, especially the latter, some of the small coastal islands that no one knew at all, and the uninhabited coastline that was not necessarily clear to the local inhabitants were clearly outlined, and the information revealed in these details was enough to alert him.

While Rosetta's attention was drawn to the map, Gawain's finger was already pointing to a spot on the border between Typhon and Cecil.

"The Calling Dragon Fjord, as far as I know, Typhon calls this place," he pressed his finger to the map, his gaze turning to Emperor Typhon in front of him, "I'm going to build a port here to serve as the northeastern node of the Ring Continental Route, and I'm going to need to set up some strongholds in the area off the coast of the port in order to provide the necessary maritime protection and turbulence warning for the Calling Dragon Sound...... In short, I want these islands. ”

The room was quiet.

Rosetta Augustus's expression was as calm as a deep pool, and Matilda on the side took a soft breath. At this moment, it was as if a cold wind was blowing through the surrounding space, and the air at the scene even became stagnant, and at the same time, Rosetta and Matilda also had a name in their hearts-

Winter.

The terrifying steel warship still hovers in the coastal areas east of Winterhold, where it has been there for a long time, and shows no signs of returning, like a nail nailed to the edge of Typhon's coastline.

I see.

Gawain remained silent, patiently waiting for Rosetta's answer, his expression never changed, so that no one could tell whether he was confident or complacent, and the silence in the room lasted for a long time in this state of confrontation, until Rosetta suddenly raised his head, and his deep-set black eyes were frozen as if he was solid: "Typhon can't accept it." ”

"You have to think about it," Gawain said patiently and calmly, with no surprise on his face, "I'm not asking for your coastline, not any land, not even your offshore waters - I'm asking for the islands off the southern coast of the Evoking Sound, which are close to the area dominated by storm turbulence and are not within your territory. ”

"Typhon could permanently relinquish his claim to the Confir of the Calling Dragon, which is a disputed area, but we can recognize it as Cecil, but the islands ...... They're on Typhon's side," Rosetta said categorically, "and it doesn't matter if they're in the offshore seas, even if they're on the Typhon Territory, even if they're deep into the Raging Oceans. ”

"The endless ocean is so vast that the Typhonians can't spread their zone of control to the sea indefinitely—those islands don't belong to them, that's fact, and it doesn't change just because you put them on a map," Gawain said without giving in, "and it's better to let those islands do their job than to let them continue to suffer from the wind and rain on the surface of the sea." ”

At this moment, Matilda, who was sitting on the side, suddenly said, "What if those islands have a belonging?" "Daxia Chinese Network

Gawain's brow furrowed, "What do you mean?" ”

"I suppose you should have a way to get in touch with that ship at any time, right?" Matilda looked into Gawain's eyes, "Why don't you check it out with your own eyes?" ”

Gawain was already vaguely aware of something, he glanced deeply at Rosetta and Matilda, and said in a deep voice, "It seems...... There are some things that we will not be able to talk about until tomorrow. ”

……

In the boundless ocean, a majestic steel battleship was floating quietly on the sea in the night, the waves were constantly surging around, and the sea breeze from the southeast was lapping the steel shield on the side of the battleship, but this most powerful battleship ever shook only occasionally slightly, calm as a hill.

Byron stood on a high platform on the foredeck, gazing somewhat boredly out into the distance, but he could see nothing but the undulating waves that shimmered faintly under the starlight in the distance.

The Winter was far from land, and at this distance, it was impossible to see anything even during the day, let alone at night.

The ship has been floating on the ocean for a long time, and the soldiers have lived on the ocean for a long time, which is probably the longest experience of human activity on the ocean since the Second Frontier (not counting the experience of a legendary explorer drifting on the sea). After the initial period of adaptation, life at sea became boring and even Byron began to miss his time on land, but strict military discipline still played a role on board, and the well-trained sailors planned their lives as if they were on shore, while accumulating valuable experience during this time.

Experience in long-term ocean-going missions, experience in the maintenance of ship machinery at sea, experience in the marine environment and response plans...... These things are extremely valuable technical accumulation, but also in the future to further build the navy, training soldiers indispensable first-hand information, although before this mission, Byron led his soldiers in the coastal area to carry out many simulation exercises, but no matter how real the simulation exercises, after all, there is no actual experience to be real and reliable.

While collecting and accumulating this valuable information, Byron also carried out the important task entrusted to him: monitoring the coastline of the Typhonians and waiting for orders from the rear.

The men and men on this ship knew exactly what it meant to do this: as a steel fortress floating on the ocean, the Winter could be a sufficient deterrent to the Typhonians as long as it floated here.

Just then, a sudden sound of footsteps came from behind the side, and Byron turned his head to see a junior officer walking onto the platform.

"General, I have received a secret order," said the officer with a serious face after walking quickly to Byron's side, "and the superior ordered us to move immediately to the southeast to reconnoiter the situation on the three islands and reefs of H-6, H-9, and H-12. ”

……

With a slight hum, a lightweight dragoon aircraft modified for reconnaissance missions took off from the circular platform at the tail of the Winter, and flew into the distance in the night.

The undulating sea and the low-altitude mist rapidly receded in his field of vision, and with the help of a viewing lens with night vision and Eagle Eye enchantment, the distant scene was clearly visible to the aerial scout, the young scout kept his eyes fixed on the sea, and after flying for a while, something different from the sea finally appeared in his field of vision, and a small light source that seemed to be extinguished at any moment.

It was the first reef he was responsible for scouting—a bare stone soaked in the icy waters, a deserted little "island" where even a few weeds were rare, but a little stubborn fire rose on the island, illuminating the entire reef and the nearby sea.

A rudimentary tent stood in the cold sea breeze, and two sentries with short staffs stood in front of the rudimentary tent, staring vigilantly at the distant sea, and behind the sentry, above the tent, the banner of the Typhon Empire was fluttering in the dark.

In the distance, a little glow of the morning sun has slowly faded along the undulating waves.

In the bridge of the Winter, Byron was sitting in the captain's seat with a straight face, and the communications officer was reporting the information sent by the scout in front of the magic net terminal on the side:

"Typhon sentries and flags have been found on reefs H-6, H-9, and H-12, all of which appear to have been set up recently...... No Typhon warships were found nearby......"

"General," said an officer, standing beside Byron, bowing his head with some hesitation, "those 'posts' are vulnerable, but we are afraid we can't ...... them."

"It's not 'I'm afraid,' it's 'absolutely,'" Byron sighed, "we must not attack, even if those tents and flags fall ...... at the push of the button"

He shook his head and raised his gaze, his gaze beyond the window on the side of the bridge to the wide deck outside—huge rainbow generators crouching on the deck like giant beasts, and large and small secondary cannons guarding the terrifying main cannon, the battleship's magical wings extending from one side, and under the starlight that had begun to fade, the surface of the rune array on the wing board was dimly lit.

This ship, which can destroy strong fortresses, sink warships of the old era, sweep fortifications and pillboxes on the coast, and even execute weakened true gods -

But it can't knock out the "outposts" that have only two or three sentries and a tent.

"Report it up," Byron sighed again, "and leave this matter to your Majesty's judgment." ”

As he spoke, he couldn't help but mutter, "Damn, when did those Typhonites react......"