The talk had been done, the direction had been set, and when the sun had risen to the sky, and the crown of splendor with a faint grain of wood shone on the entire Silver Stronghold of 112, Gawain had a final glass with Rosetta Augustus—and after that was the area where the diplomats of both countries had to work on it.

Gawain did not know how Typhon's nobles would perceive the outcome of this closed-door meeting, nor how later historians would record and speculate about the negotiations, but for himself, these exchanges of interests between Cecil and Typhon were not really the point, all of this ...... It's just one part of what he's trying to do and transform the world.

All for the sake of greater victories - he doesn't know if Rosetta Augustus has realized his ambitious goal, but judging by his performance...... This eloquent ruler may not have been unaware of this.

Gawain left his seat, but before leaving with Amber, he finally couldn't hold back his last little doubt: "I'm curious, how did you detect the true effect of the Winter?" ”

This is the point he is very curious about: in the context of the era when all human beings in this world are far away from the sea, under the premise that everyone has no sense of sea power, how did Typhon associate the concept of offshore blockade from a warship wandering on the sea, and even thought of the method of repairing the outpost in the blind spot of the warship to protect his maritime sovereignty?

"It wasn't me who noticed first," to Gawain's surprise, Rosetta shook her head and pointed to Matilda, who rarely spoke the whole time, "It's my daughter, who first realized that your target might not have been in Winterwolf Castle in the first place. ”

Gawain finally set his eyes on Matilda, the "pearl of the empire" who did not have much presence throughout the whole process, as if a junior who listened modestly and rarely spoke, while Matilda calmly raised her head and met Gawain's gaze with a calm gaze.

"Can you tell us what you think?" Gawain's expression was gentle, and he asked casually as if he were gossiping.

"Actually, I didn't think you would really occupy Winterwolf Castle from the beginning—I didn't even think that you would make any difficulties or make any conditions on the matter of Winterwolf," Matilda smiled faintly, and replied like a gentle junior answering an elder's question, "You will definitely withdraw the soldiers who occupy Winterwolf Castle unconditionally, and you will withdraw them in a high-profile manner, so that all nations know that you have not asked for any compensation or quid pro quo in the process." ”

Gawain's eyes became serious, and he nodded slightly to Matilda: "Go on." ”

"You will do this because your biggest goal is not Typhon at all, you want to have the highest voice in the Alliance, you want to be the rule-maker in the Alliance - Winterwolf Castle must not be occupied, because the whole world is watching Cecil's next move, and what purpose the future 'Alliance Leader' is trying to promote his own order. Of course, there are countless reasons to occupy the Winterwolf region, and these reasons can even be quite reasonable: it was Typhon who was the first to 'start the war', and Typhon who was morally inadequate, and Cecil's occupation of the Winterwolves is a legitimate act of counterattack, but no matter how tenable these reasons are, it will undermine the cohesion of the future alliance.

"Because for the small countries that are cautiously watching, they don't care if the occupation is justified or not – they just care about the outcome. You can occupy Winterwolf with a reasonable reason, or you can occupy other places with a more reasonable reason, and even if they bow their heads and join the Alliance, no one will completely believe most of your promises.

"What's more, the truth of this 'war' will definitely be made public in the future, and this truth will affect the legitimacy of your occupation of the Winter Wolf region even more, which you will definitely consider."

Gawain listened to Matilda's analysis with some surprise, and a look of appreciation appeared on his face: "That's right, you have a good judgment of the situation. ”

"Actually, it's not about judging, it's just a simple comparison of benefits," Matilda lowered her head, "Compared to the entire Loren Continent, Winterwolf Castle is too small, isn't it?" ”

“…… Gone are the days when primitive and brutal means of seizing land and plundering resources were used to extract the benefits of war," Gawain said in a deep voice, and then the conversation changed, "but why did you think that my target was on those islands? Isn't the occupation of the island an occupation an occupation? ”

“…… Because in most people's minds, 'territory' is confined to the interior of the continent, and the distribution of interests on the seas is a blind spot for each country, and it is not even considered the territory of a country," Matilda replied immediately, "They keep an eye on Winterwolf, but they don't care if you occupy a few islands far from the land—only those who have begun to step towards the sea will realize that there is also gold and silver flowing beyond the coastline, and according to our detection, the Winter's trajectory is always lingering near those islands." ”

Gawain smiled slightly, "Kid, you seem to think badly. ”

"No, I adore you, even second only to my own father, I just think that you are powerful, so strong that it makes people a little frightened, so that I have to be careful to observe whether you are showing an offensive posture at all times," Matilda raised her head, her clear but deep eyes fixed on Gawain's face, "You are a hero, but a hero is not necessarily a saint - a good ruler must be greedy, even for the sake of the thousands of people under his rule, he will always calculate the gain and loss, and unfortunately...... In this erroneous war, Typhon lost the initiative. ”

"Heroes don't have to be saints...... Gawain was silent for a few seconds and nodded lightly, "I've made a note of this evaluation, that's right, Matilda." ”

He withdrew his gaze from the other and turned to leave, but at that moment, Matilda suddenly stopped him from behind, "Please wait a minute. ”

Gawain stopped and looked back at the dark-haired Princess Typhon, "Is there anything else?" ”

"What would you do if, I mean, if we hadn't set up outposts on those islands? What would you do if you didn't just have one Winter? ”

Gao Wen thought for a while, and calmly gave his own answer: "If I have more warships, I will occupy all the islands as soon as possible, and if you don't make any response, then I will not only occupy them, but I will also ask you for a hundred years of free and unrestricted navigation rights on the entire east coast - from the Evoking Dragon Sound to Mobius, from Mobius to the southeast coast of the Kaolin Kingdom." ”

Matilda's eyes widened slightly, as if looking at Gawain with some surprise, then she lowered her head and replied softly, "...... I understand. ”

Gawain left the room with Amber, leaving Rosetta and Matilda alone in the sunlit reception room.

After this, the silence in the room lasted for a long time, and it was only after a few minutes that Rosetta suddenly broke the silence: "No, he won't do that." ”

Matilda raised her head with some surprise: "Father, what did you say?" "Scales

"He won't occupy those islands, and he won't ask for any gratuitous and unrestricted navigation," Rosetta's expression became very serious at some point, he frowned and pondered, and was silent in contemplation for a long time, but finally he raised his brows, and the serious expression on his face turned into a complicated smile, "I thought I had already determined his intentions when he 'gave in' for the second time......"

“…… We've only signed an internal memorandum now, and the real negotiations haven't started yet," Matilda said immediately, "and now we have some leeway......"

"No," Rosetta interrupted Matilda, the smile on his face seemed a little more complicated than it had just been, "I wouldn't mind losing some face if he hadn't mentioned Tallund and the Theocratic Council, but for now...... He's already shown me a future that's even harder to refuse, and he's offering a hefty price tag, but it's also worth the challenge. ”

Then he gradually put away the complicated smile on his face, turned to Matilda, and said quickly and seriously: "Immediately go and contact the ambassadors of the Gaoling Kingdom and the Silver Empire to finalize those trade and port opening plans, if necessary, we can lower our conditions, in any case, before the agreement on the Circumcontinental Route takes effect, we must keep the market and the right to speak at the southern end of the continent as much as possible." ”

"Is it still too late? The Cecilians had probably already begun to prepare for these things, and Gawain Cecil had met with the Silver Empress even yesterday afternoon...... They have personal relationships. ”

"The friendship ...... seven hundred years ago" Rosetta's expression was a little complicated for a while, he subconsciously glanced at the red fruits on the coffee table not far away, and once again deeply felt the powerlessness of dealing with a character who came out of history, but he quickly shook his head and said in a deep tone, "Do our best to keep as much as we can - although Cecil is ahead of us, they are too far away from the Southern Continent after all, and they can't eat all of such a big meal." ”

……

In the elven-style town, the lively atmosphere is everywhere, the magic guide car with Cecil's insignia is driving on the avenue, and the members of the mission of a certain country or the elven affairs officer responsible for maintaining order and receiving guests can be seen on the side of the road, Gawain and Amber sit in the back seat of the magic guide car, while enjoying the architectural scenery of this foreign country, while relaxing a little tense nerves.

In the corners of the inner wall of the carriage, some inconspicuous runes shine, and the small soundproof barrier well shields the noise outside the carriage, making the carriage look particularly quiet and comfortable.

I don't know how long it was quiet before Amber suddenly broke the silence: "You didn't plan to ask for those islands in the first place?" ”

“…… Not really," Gawain smiled, "I wouldn't refuse if I could give it for free—if Typhon didn't realize the preciousness of the ocean's foothold, why should I think about the future for them?" ”

Amber scratched the back of her head, despite being an outstanding talent in intelligence, she was clearly not as professional in other areas: "...... Is a circumcontinental route really worth so much? ”

Gawain glanced at the half-elf who was trying to think about it: "At least it's worth more than those islands." A circumcontinental route is only a 'route' in itself, but with the addition of a premise - at this stage, Cecil is the only country capable of forming a large-scale trade fleet and an ocean-going combat fleet. ”

Amber subconsciously repeated Gawain's words: "The only ......"

"If our fleet can circumnavigate the continent, and any country on the route needs to rely on us to maintain the sea trade routes, and even their modern trade system itself is built with our assistance, then all the coastal areas of the entire Loren continent will become our shores - those countries that rely on the circumcontinental route and receive huge profits from the sea trade routes will even take the initiative to maintain this route for us, because we are not only their food and clothing, but also their sea bodyguards, the truth in this, Actually, it's not hard to understand. ”

Amber finally reacted: "...... Whoever is the first to stand up and shake Cecil's maritime authority is threatening the economic lifeblood of all the countries along the coast. ”

Gawain nodded slightly, but there was one thing he didn't actually say.

Although his plan for a continent-circumnavigating route is far-reaching, there is still one country on the Loren continent that is difficult for him to influence, and that is the Silver Empire, which is located in the extreme south of the continent and most of its territory is located on a giant island. Although the elves have been in decline for many years, their ancestral heritage is still not to be underestimated, and their profound national strength is also unshakable, and with such a strong capital in their hands, the silver elves will naturally have more say in front of this route.

However, he was not worried about this - the heritage of the silver elves was also their bondage, and the powerful ancestral heritage gave them strong national power, but it also firmly bound them to the "fortress" interwoven by the Star Sanctuary and various ancient factories like the deep blue well back then, and this bondage shaped the "non-expansion" characteristics of the Silver Empire, at least in the stage that Gawain could foresee, this "non-expansion" characteristic was not so easy to change.

This meant that the Silver Empire would fully enjoy the benefits of the Circumcontinental Route, and would also maintain the operation of the route to a certain extent, which for Gawain had already achieved his goal.

Of course, the Violet Kingdom in the north of the continent is also a problem...... But he didn't have much thought about this "hermit country" hidden in layers of fog now, anyway, in the previous limited contact, those mages had already recognized the existence of the North Harbor and opened the strait between the Violet Kingdom and the North Coast, which was enough.

Gao Wen rubbed his forehead, which was a little tight, and let his mind, which had been running at high speed for a long time, slowly cool down.

At this moment, a figure appeared on the side of the road, and the speed of the magic guide car suddenly slowed down.

Amber casually opened the window of the car through a gap, and the figure on the side of the road handed in a note, and then the figure blended into the nearby pedestrians in an instant, and Amber opened the note and glanced at it quickly.

"Two groups of people left from the lodge where the Typhon mission lived, one went to the mission of the Kaolin Kingdom, and one went to the east of the city."

"They're in search of the Silver Empress." Gawain said casually.

"Looks like a quick response," Amber blinked, "Something is going to be done?" ”

"What to do? Intercepting and killing ambassadors of other countries? Gawain glanced at the half-elf, then closed his eyes slightly, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to recuperate, "Let them go, this is an 'acceptable margin'." It's like we said before - when we eat meat, we always have to leave some soup for other people, or even a bite of meat. ”