"The current situation is very unfavorable for the Allies. ”

"The attrition of troops is increasing......"

"If you can't land, large weapons won't be useful at all, and you won't be able to supply them in time......"

On the Allied command ship, the noble generals of various countries were discussing the current war situation. At this moment, a contemptuous voice interjected unceremoniously.

"Hmph! they're all idiots, they've been talking nonsense for a long time, and none of them are useful. ”

This arrogant attitude succeeded in attracting the attention of all the dozen or so nobles present to him. The one who spoke was a young general with blond hair and blue eyes, he was only seventeen years old, the youngest of the noble generals of the fifteen allied forces in the Eastern Continent, but also the one with the highest status. The reason is simple, because he comes from the largest country in the Eastern Continent - the leader of this war, the grandson of King Herilandi - Evhr Herilandi.

The Lepeilian people in the Eastern Continent are a people with a strong sense of hierarchy, and this hierarchical difference is not only reflected between people, but even extends to countries and countries. From ancient times to the present day, land has been regarded as the most valuable asset of the Lepelian people, so the size of the territory, at least on the surface, is also an indirect indication of the strength of a country. In any case, the territory of various countries is forcibly seized by force and strategy, and it can naturally be regarded as a manifestation of strength.

But there was more to the young prince than that. Prince Ephr's father had offended the authority of his grandfather, the current King of Herilandi, and was deprived of his legs and disqualified from the throne. Therefore, since he was a child, Prince Ephraim was cultivated as the only prince of Herilandi, and he proudly displayed the posture of "the noblest and most powerful" all the time.

Of course, King Herilandi had more than one son, but Prince Evhr's father was the eldest son, and he was his father's only son. In Herilandi, where the hierarchy is extremely strict, only the eldest son of his mother's noble birth is eligible to inherit the throne, and the rest of the descendants are almost always alternates. If there is no accident for the eldest son and grandson, the status of the other descendants is not as good as that of ordinary nobles, and it is very difficult to survive.

In the seventeen years since Prince Ephravi was born, at least in the territory of Herilandi, he has the right to receive everything he wants, and to erase everything that he does not like. He was a firm believer in his own power and position, and took the obedience of others to him for granted.

This time, he led the army of Herilandi to go on an expedition with the Western Alliance, in fact, it was Prince Ever's own will, and King Herilandi seemed to have the intention of training him, so he agreed without hesitation. Although Herilandi had far fewer troops and ships than other countries, it still could not shake its leading position as the dominant nation in the war.

"What is the best plan for Prince Ephrall?" asked the general of Sicia. Western Asia is a small coastal country in the western part of the Eastern Continent, the king is a rudder who sees the wind, and the top generals sent by him seem to know it well, no one can be offended, follow the general trend, pick up if there is a bargain, and do not get out easily if there is no cheap.

The generals of several smaller countries also hurriedly chimed in, as if they couldn't wait to listen to Prince Epher's good advice, and no one cared about his arrogant attitude. In fact, these small countries that tend to be inflammatory, are indeed secretly waiting for Prince Ephrone to speak. Judging by the current situation, the Allies are at a clear disadvantage, and no smart person is certainly willing to take the main responsibility for the defeat.

Prince Epfer apparently enjoyed the admiration of others, which would increase his sense of superiority, and a feeling of wisdom in his hands arose, and he said arrogantly: "Why waste time with a barbarous inferior people? Let them know clearly that the land near the water is a place given by the gods to the wise people to develop civilization, not to those barbarians to hunt. ”

"Hahaha, Prince Ephron is really neat, and that's how he can fight. Naboland General de Hérault laughed in solidarity. Naborland is the third largest country in the Eastern Continent, located in the northeast coastal area of the Eastern Continent, governing the country by religion, believing in the Lizard God Religion, and every time it occupies a place in a war, it must force the local people to change their faith, otherwise they will slaughter the city. The people of Napoleand have long been engaged in brutal warfare, and have long regarded the poisoning of living beings as a matter of course, which is their custom.

"But, given the present state of war, how can we destroy the barbarians?" said Licy's general, modestly expressing his doubts, but in his heart he was very disdainful. The current situation is clearly unfavorable to the Allied forces, and they may soon flee back to the eastern continent in disgrace, and this little imp who does not know the height of the sky is ashamed to say that he wants to destroy the Sava people, which is simply ridiculous! Lixi is a small landlocked country in the south, which thinks very highly of itself, and although it has no warships, it has dispatched a lot of troops, and it is obvious that she also wants to strive for some benefits.

Most of the generals present remained silent, quietly looking at each other's expressions, although they were all unconvinced, but no one showed it. In particular, the young general of Geeland looked idle from beginning to end, as if this was just a spring outing, neither participating in discussions nor taking the opportunity to stammer, which really made it impossible to guess Geelander's true intention to join the Allied forces. Gerland is a coastal power in the north of the Eastern Continent, the fifth largest country in terms of land area, and the king is a young man in his twenties, but other than that, almost no other information is known, and he can be regarded as the most mysterious king in the Eastern Continent. The number of ships and troops sent by Geeland this time was also very small, as if he really just came out to see the scenery.

Of course, Prince Epfer didn't care about the attitudes and opinions of these people, and in his opinion, their behavior at the moment was nothing more than the jealousy of people of low status for people of high status. The more humble they become, the more angry they are, the more they fear his authority. For Prince Epher, it was a pleasant thing to do, and there was no discomfort in the slightest. I only heard him laugh arrogantly: "Hmph, of course you can't do anything by yourself. However, I, Herrilandi, have already developed a special weapon, and although it has not been officially used in war before, all experiments have shown that it is ...... powerful."

At this point, Prince Epfer paused deliberately, admiring the stupidity of the generals who were both skeptical and desperate to know the truth. As a matter of fact, no matter which country in the Eastern Continent is secretly developing secret weapons. Of course, the so-called secret weapons cannot be easily made public to the world, otherwise the most advantageous means of self-protection will be lost.

But at the same time, no matter which country it is, no matter how much it costs, it will try its best to learn the secrets of other countries, after all, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can win all battles. For a powerful superpower like Herrilandi, there are certainly more than one or two secret weapons. Therefore, if one or two of them are occasionally shown among the many secret weapons, it will not actually damage the strength. Not only can they properly show off their wealth and power, but they can also play a very effective deterrent effect on the surrounding small countries, which is enough to keep them subservient for a while.

"That's it...... Baro ...... "Prince Ephr is playing tricks, and the point is stopped."

"Barro, isn't that a kind of cartilaginous beast that grows in a dark, damp cave?" asked Koz Solus, the noble general of Konon, puzzled. Kenong is located on the southwest coast of the East Continent, with many excellent ports, and the number of warships is also very considerable, but the country is rich and the people are poor, and the king has no opinions, and the political affairs are almost all controlled in the hands of the nobles. Barro is common in the mountains north of Conon, so Koz Soluth is no stranger.

"That's right," said Prince Epfer smugly, "then you ought to know about mealworms, too?"

Everyone nodded hurriedly, of course they knew, but they just hoped that the prince would not waste any more time playing tricks. Now the Allies are at a disadvantage, and the more they delay time, the more disadvantageous it will be for the Allies, and the generals of various countries are already anxious.

Mealworms are small, round, white caterpillars that only have mouths and no eyes and grow in dry areas. They are called "powders" because they are so small that they are difficult for the naked eye to notice, so they can easily be trampled to death. In order to gain the strength to survive, they will always come together in a clump to be able to quickly flee from danger in a rolling manner. Although mealworms are found only in some parts of the Eastern Continent, they are not rare, and mealworms are much more common than Barrow. Because the place where Baro inhabits is usually some dark and damp caves, and the mealworms are sunny.

Barro's beast looks like a bulging skin bag filled with water, and its flesh is quite elastic. Their bones are very thin and soft, can be folded almost arbitrarily, and the skin is slippery, mostly yellow, green, and black. Barro's eyes are very small, and his limbs and tail are short, so he moves very slowly. Once you are full, your body will bulge round and smooth, and then you will basically be unable to move. Because after a full meal, their short limbs and heads are barely visible. But Barrow never seems to have enough to eat, they have a hard time controlling their appetite, and as long as there is food in front of them, they will keep eating until they finish eating, or even die. However, due to the strong toughness of Barrow's skin, it is usually not as easy to satie.

To the bewilderment of the generals, what role could two seemingly unrelated and threatening creatures, Barrow and Mealworm, play in this war?

Prince Epfer looked at him with contempt and smugness, and said, "Barrow itself is not poisonous, and the mealworm only makes people feel a little itchy at most. However, the healers of Herilandi discovered that mealworms soaked in Barrow's gastric juices produced a deadly poison. Once this poison touches a person's skin, it only takes three days for the skin to become red and swollen, and then suppurate, until the whole body ulcerates and dies. What's more, the virus is spreading so quickly that within a few days, millions of Savoyard people will die without a fight. ”

Prince Epfer, though arrogant, is not a fool. Of course, mealworms are not highly toxic just by soaking them in Barrow's gastric juices. In fact, the mealworm itself needs to carry certain viruses in order to achieve a lethal effect after entering Barrow's stomach, but the most important part is impossible to disclose.

Hearing this, the generals of various countries couldn't help but be stunned. If Herilandi really developed this deadly virus weapon, wouldn't the unification of the Eastern Continent be just around the corner? Of course, they would not be naïve enough to think that what Prince Ephur said was the truth, but even if it was just that, it would be enough to make countries quickly enter a state of high vigilance.

At this time, the Western Asian general asked in disbelief: "How can we use it? If the soldiers are allowed to bring it down, won't the virus also spread to the allies?"

"Bring it?" said Prince Ever, laughing, "you don't need to carry it at all, just throw it ashore with a throwing weapon." ”

"But the two armies are fighting fiercely, should we withdraw our troops urgently now?" the generals of all the countries looked at Prince Ephur with confusion.

"Why bother withdrawing the troops, it is precisely because it is in the heat of battle that those barbarians will be unable to defend themselves. Prince Ephr said.

"But in that case, wouldn't even the Allied soldiers be infected?" the generals were amazed.

"Hmph! Even if they don't drop virus weapons, sooner or later they will have to sacrifice their lives for the country, so what's the difference between letting some soldiers die a few days early? It's just a cheap race born of slaves, and it's their glory to die on the battlefield as many as they want. The most important thing is to take the Western Continent as soon as possible, so don't worry about small things. If you think about it, once the virus weapon is projected, we don't have to do anything, and even the remaining troops on board can be preserved intact. Then, just wait here quietly for three days and reap the fruits effortlessly. Prince Ephrany said arrogantly.

The generals of all countries look at me, I look at you, and finally they all nodded silently in agreement. After all, this was the fastest and most effective method, and besides, they couldn't think of any other way to successfully capture the Western Continent in one fell swoop. If you can't land, the large weapons won't be effective, and the number of troops will be reduced day by day as the war continues. If this continues, I am afraid that it will not be long before the Savoyards will be slaughtered on the ship, and perhaps their own lives will not be saved.

It was only at this time that they finally realized why Herilandi, as the dominant country in the war, only sent such a small number of troops to participate in the war. But it was too late to regret it, and they had to swallow the bitter water in their stomachs, and who let them themselves think of a better way to deal with the ferocious Savoyards?

In the Eastern Continent, usually only nobles are qualified to serve as generals in the army, and ordinary soldiers are almost always the descendants of commoners and slaves, but on the battlefield, their lives are equally humble. Slaves existed only as tools of production and reproduction, and not only were they absolutely subordinate to the nobility, but even their ability to reproduce had to serve the political affairs and was given the noble reputation of "fighting for the motherland".

Slaves were usually remnants and captives of defeated nations, or criminals of their own country, and they were kept together. In addition to demanding daily productive labor from slaves, the aristocracy forced them to reproduce in large numbers, especially females - slaves. This is because the number of descendants of slaves is directly related to a country's future military strength and the stability of its political power. The larger the number of slaves, the larger the number of slaves, the larger the number of troops.

As soon as the children of slaves were born, they were taken away and raised by special people, and they were raised according to the standard of "the qualities of a low-ranking soldier". After that, the slaves and their children never saw each other again, but even when they did, they were difficult to recognize.

Those children were isolated from an early age and completely deprived of their freedom. Their minds are imbued with such extreme ideas as "absolute loyalty and patriotism," "only the nobility is the ruler chosen by the gods," "soldiers are a sacred profession," "sacrifice for the motherland is the highest glory of life," "all enemies are ugly," and so on. Soldiers must be loyal, sacrificial, and always full of hatred. You know, they have been confined to a small space since childhood, have never had the opportunity to communicate with the outside world, and because of their lack of insight and independent thinking ability, they have become gullible and ignorant, and have never questioned the concepts instilled by the aristocracy, and thought that this is a matter of course. When they were thus educated, they became "qualified" soldiers, and the various "noble" morals that the nobles inculcated and inculcated on a daily basis had already unknowingly encroached upon their souls, leaving them with no other knowledge. In order to maintain the absolute dominance of the aristocracy, the soldiers were not allowed to have their own views and principles of right and wrong, and they had to abandon their own selfish desires, regard the interests of the state as the highest value standard, and obey the ruler unreservedly. In this respect, the Sava people were much more tolerant of morality.

The aristocratic rulers of the Eastern Continent were obviously very clever, and they had already turned the country into a huge population farm. The means of domination are the same not only against the military, but also against ordinary people. Because the aristocracy enjoyed tremendous power, they could consciously cultivate and shape the people's ideological concepts according to their own ideals and through various means of propaganda and education, so that the people could think and live in their ideal way imperceptibly, so as to achieve the goal of indirectly dominating public opinion.

It is precisely because cultural education is an effective means that can directly affect the minds of the people to a large extent that the aristocracy will consciously cultivate such a group of extreme haters, especially soldiers, who are narrow-minded and dressed as patriotic heroes. Such people are indeed obedient and easy to rule, because they are blind and gullible, lack critical and independent thinking, and are uncreative enough to manipulate at will, so the risk of rebellion is greatly reduced. But this makes one wonder whether, in addition to being easily irritated and sacrificial, their closed-mindedness can bring any surprising value to their country and to the world of Lepelian?

From this point of view, isn't this form of culture a disguised means of centralizing power by the aristocracy? However, the broad masses of the people who have been nurtured by this culture will naturally regard "patriotism" as an absolutely noble belief, because it has long since become a universal view. Therefore, in order to defend this noble faith, people willingly die on the battlefield, and even take pride in their sacrifices. However, behind the aura of great "patriotism", there seems to be a certain extreme sense of self-centeredness and xenophobia, which has led the people to become very unfriendly and intolerant, and unconsciously classify "non-self races" as evildoers, and want to get rid of them as soon as possible. But in fact, are all "aliens" really the embodiment of ugliness, and are "my race" really the embodiment of goodness? There may not be an absolute answer to these two questions.

Looking back at the thousand-year-old history of the Eastern Continent, it is not difficult to find that these "hateful concepts" bred by "patriotic concepts" are in fact an extremely terrible circular contagious disaster, which not only destroys people's souls, but also endangers the peace of the entire Lepeilian world. Although "patriotism" is enshrined as a noble moral behef, since ancient times, wars triggered by the "patriotic" behavior of social groups have been constantly destroying world peace. The wall called "state", and certain concepts called "morality", seem to have become a tool that binds people's souls, depriving people of the right to understand each other, communicate freely, and appreciate each other's strengths. Lies and misunderstandings blur people's vision, making them unable to see the truth, distinguish between good and evil, and can only be trapped in a narrow space to hate and hate each other. What is even more unfortunate is that people's collective consciousness often determines the fate of their own living environment.

Aren't it these repeated "high moral" conflicts that have led to the constant wars in Lepelian's world?