From Roswell to Ronninger by steam locomotive, an ordinary passenger car takes two days and one night. After Dawn Gibson and Elsa survived, he got on the train heading east. As a prince, he has the right to use the royal train. The Royal Express is more powerful, has fewer carriages, is faster, and can save about three hours of travel compared to a passenger car. But even so, riding a steam locomotive in the depths of winter still has to face the challenges of nature.

"Your Highness, since the Ronninger incident, the railway traffic connecting Ronninger and Roseville has been interrupted. What we know about the road is limited to the last return from Ronninger, and the road conditions may not be very good, and some sections may be icy. We estimated that we would not be able to reach Ronninger until the early hours of the morning. ”

Stanley Krudp, Prince Dawn's attendant, stood in front of the prince and reported the situation in a low voice. The carriage where the two of them were located was neat and clean, and the pyroxene neatly inlaid at the top of the carriage made the temperature in the carriage like spring.

"I see, there's no higher expectation anyway, is there?"

Dawn Gibson sat by the window, listening to the sound of steel wheels and rails crashing, thinking about things. Elsa, he was originally just treated as an accessory to a political marriage, and he didn't pay much attention to it. But after the accident in the Mage Tower, she showed amazing political intelligence, and she saw many things much more clearly than himself.

“…… If you say that this letter was written by His Majesty the Emperor to appease Grand Duke Ronin, then you have to ask yourself a question. Why did His Majesty the Emperor have to ask His Highness to deliver this letter? Is it because you are his son, and you show respect? ”

Of course not.

Dawn himself knew of course not, and he could feel that his father seemed to wish he could get closer to the Southern War Zone. But that vague feeling, when it came to Elsa's mouth, became a naked balancing technique.

“…… Prince Eliot worked hard at the Weapons Research Institute and had a close relationship with the Western Theater. In this war against the Negru Republic, he went directly to the front line with the 3rd Guards Division, and now that it is deep winter, he will not come back, and the cat will build a defensive line in Tulukas. Is he really that fond of war? ”

Of course not.

Dawn Gibson waved Stanley away, picked up the teacup on the table, and looked at it in his hand. It was a gift from Elsa to him, a teacup that she had made herself.

“…… Now that Prince Elliot has been tied to the Western Theater, they have lost the battle and are not sure. His Majesty the Emperor also made it clear that he wanted to support the troops of the Southern Theater to participate in the war, and those people in the Western Theater instigated this nationwide demonstration, in order to force the Emperor to break with the big grain merchants led by the Luo Ning family and the Owen family, and then to have a rift with the army of the Southern Theater. Unexpectedly, His Majesty arrested a group of small and medium-sized grain merchants, and beat the two early ones, which alleviated this problem. For His Majesty, this is enough. But for us, that's not enough. Elliot has soldiers in his hands, and you don't, which upsets the balance of power among princes. Your Majesty sent you to Roninger to deliver this letter in the hope that you can go further with Grand Duke Ronin, and then establish contact with the Southern Theater of Operations and have your own military power. ”

Then can my father play with the art of balance?

Dawn picked up the teacup and filled it. Anyone would be surprised to see the tea leaves he was using at this time. It wasn't some expensive or cherished tea, but Ankenrui was cheap because of the most common black leaf tea, the common people. The taste is bitter and the aftertaste is strong, not tasty, but very refreshing.

But how do you make that connection?

Dawn took a sip of his tea and pondered. There wasn't much time to talk about at parting, and there were some questions that Elsa had to think about before she could give answers. So he didn't get the answer to that question. Elliot was able to control the army because he had the cannonball, cavalry and weapons research institute in his hands, but what about himself? With a Ronninger tragedy, can you really get support from Charlie Ronin?

"Squeak—"

The train suddenly let out a sharp screech and slowed down rapidly. Dawn Gibson was shaken, and the black leaf tea was spilled. He stood up just in time to see Stanley Crudup rushing in with the guards.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, I arranged for someone to ask, please don't be impatient."

Stanley stepped forward to inspect the carriage, and then stepped back and asked the maids to serve Prince Daun to change his clothes. He and the guards passed from the prince's carriage through the garrison carriage, the attaché compartment and the luggage compartment to the front of the carriage.

"Why brake suddenly? Let His Royal Highness the prince be frightened, I can't spare you! ”

"My lord, there is a tree in front of you that has fallen, and we just hit one."

"There are trees?" Stanley leaned over the window and looked out, the fog on the window was so white that he couldn't see anything clearly. He reached out and wiped it, only to faintly see the broken tree trunk near the front of the car.

"How long will it take to leave?"

"We're going to overhaul it, and if it's okay, it will be ready for half an hour."

"As soon as possible, His Royal Highness the Prince has something important to do, and he can't delay it."

Stanley admonished, and began to walk back again, he was going to pass through the carriages to report to His Royal Highness. It's not a good idea to travel in the depths of winter, and if he can, he'd rather hide in his own home, wrapped in a quilt and read a book, or have sex with a woman.

Attendants are a very special position, they have to assume both the function of security and the duties of secretaries, and they are often strictly selected, both civil and military. Stanley Crewdpp also worked in the Guards and was awarded the Order of Perilla, so he has a natural sense of smell and sensitivity to weapons and combat. He walked through the carriage, walking, but suddenly stopped.

Just now, something was wrong.

Stanley stood still and began to think. For some reason, he sensed a looming danger, as if some important detail had been overlooked. He carefully recalled what had just happened, the conversation with His Royal Highness the Prince, the conversation at the front of the car, the scenery outside the window, the broken tree and—

It's a big tree that has been knocked off!

That tree was sawn off!

Realizing what was wrong, Stanley felt his hairs stand on end. Who would dare to intercept the royal train in the hinterland of Roswell with sawn trees? What is their purpose? What countermeasures do you have?

"Master Krudp?"

The place where Stanley stopped was the attaché carriage of the special train, and many of the attachés of His Royal Highness the Prince knew him. Someone saw that he was standing still, so he stepped forward and asked.

"I'm fine—"

Stanley was about to answer when he heard the dull sound of gunfire and shattering glass. The glass on both sides of the royal train exploded into countless pieces at this moment. Buckshot rushed into the carriage like rain, killing many people in an instant.

"Enemy Attack !!!!!!!!"

Stanley fell to the ground as soon as he heard the gunshot, but even so, he was shot in the right arm. He looked left and right, and found that the attachés had been blinded by this volley of guns, and the moans and screams were endless, but no one thought of organizing a counterattack. Maintaining a lying position, he began to move towards the garrison carriage, where there were the elite of the Guards, who might be able to rely on the train and wait for an opportunity to fight back.

But just as Stanley had climbed two steps and had not yet touched the door of the garrison, someone threw something in through the window, and after it hit the ground, it began to glow brightly. Stanley saw what it looked like for a split second.

That's activated, top-of-the-line metallurgical pyroxene.

Stanley groaned and gave up resistance. Whoever the enemy was, they clearly had no intention of keeping these people alive. The metallurgical pyroxene is activated in a small space and will directly turn the train into an oven that can melt steel.

An oven with no trace of life.

——————————

When Senior Colonel Kontriman Chung, the son of Western Theater Commander Paul Chung, opened the door of His Royal Highness's carriage, His Royal Highness was drinking tea. He sat down at his table, took a sip of a cup of black-leaf tea, and met Contriman's gaze.

"I'm still wondering who dared to move my train, and sure enough, you," Dawn Gibson's voice was calm.

"It's an honor to be guessed."

Contriman Chung sat down in front of Dawn Gibson and set aside his felt hat, which was covered with snow and was beginning to melt from the hot air around him from the scorching heat of metallurgical pyroxene.

"What about the others?"

Dawn Gibson watched Contriman's movements and poured him a cup of tea.

"Why do you ask?"

Contriman smiled, reached out and took the teacup, holding it in his hand.

"I heard that His Royal Highness the prince has always disliked expensive tea, and when I saw it today, it was so."

"Tea is such a thing, the more bitter it is, the more refreshing it is."

"That's right, if it's not bitter, it's not tea."

There was silence in the carriage. The hot wind that was scorched by the metallurgical pyroxene of the surrounding carriages blew into the carriage, causing fine beads of sweat to appear on the foreheads of the two people sitting opposite.

"Why?"

Dawn looked sideways out of the windowsill, snow and water mixing and hitting him in the face.

"To stay alive."

Contriman is surprisingly honest.

"I can help you."

Dawn crossed his hands with a relaxed expression.

"You can't help us."

Contriman leaned back in his chair and looked at the prince opposite.

"Ronin isn't that stupid."

Dawn revealed the other party's intentions.

"Sometimes, people don't have a choice."

Contriman's words are meaningful.

Daun was silent, he thought for a few seconds, and suddenly figured it out.

"What you guys are doing, it's a big game."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness."

Contriman smiled and got up, and the soldier standing behind him stepped forward and pulled the trigger.

"Bang-sss

The snow outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, and the wind was whining, blowing through the broken carriage into the window, whirling and whistling in the gorgeous carriage, like a trapped beast in a cage, full of anger, but there was no way to vent.

——————————

Grand Duke Charlie Ronin, wearing a cloak, stood on the bell tower of the city hall of Ronninger, looking at the city covered in snow in front of him. It had snowed all night and covered all traces and there were hardly any pedestrians on the streets. If you are unaware, you will not know what happened in this city two weeks ago.

"Father."

Charlie Ronin's third adopted son, Karim Ronin stepped forward from behind Archduke Ronin, "His Majesty's envoy has arrived. ”

Ronin didn't respond, he stood still, looking at the city where his family had been entrenched for generations, feeling the chill in the air, and reached out to fasten his cloak.

"It's getting colder and colder this day."

"Father."

Karim took off his cloak and was about to drape it on the shoulders of Grand Duke Ronin, but was stopped by Grand Duke Ronin.

"Has His Royal Highness said anything?"

"It's not His Royal Highness the Prince, it's Austin Gyllenhaal, the Minister of Justice."

"Not Daun?"

Grand Duke Ronin was silent. He stood still, thought for a moment, and asked.

"What did the messenger say?"

"I said that there is a letter from His Majesty, and I want to hand it over to you in person."

Luo Ning thought for a while and asked again.

"How many people came?"

"One hundred and twenty-two."

"How?"

"Came by carriage. It was said that the special train derailed on the road, and they changed the carriage. ”

The Grand Duke was silent. After a while, he turned and went downstairs, and in silence all the way, in the hall of the town hall, he met the envoy of His Majesty the Emperor, Austin Gyllenhaal.

"Grand Duke Luo Ning", the Minister of Justice saw the Grand Duke Luo Ning, bowed deeply, and presented an envelope sealed with the royal insignia with hot fire paint, "Your Majesty has a letter for you." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Grand Duke Luo Ning bowed slightly, took the envelope, and just stood there and looked at it. Austin remained half-hunched, half-bowed, looking at the ground. Shaoqing, Luo Ning opened the envelope and began to read the letter.

In the city hall of Nuoda, there is only the faint crackling sound of wood when it meets the heat.

"This ...... Is that what the emperor meant? ”

Luo Ning's hands were trembling, and he folded the letter slowly, put it back in the envelope, and took a step back. His entourage moved onto the couch and helped Ronin to sit down.

"Your Excellency, I am only responsible for delivering the letter, and the content of the letter—"

"Don't tell me you don't know!", Grand Duke Ronin's voice suddenly raised, "You dare to take this trip, you must have already been prepared to die, don't think about going back alive, I, Charlie Ronin, am not someone who can be bullied casually, even if it's Paul Gibson!" ”

Austin lowered his head, waited a few seconds, saw that Ronin stopped talking, raised his head, and began to speak in a very serious tone.

"Grand Duke Charlie Roning, what you did in Ronninger, it's over."

"My son is dead, and I wish I had the whole city burned for a funeral! You still say I've passed?! He Paul Gibson doesn't have a son?! ”

"The people did not agree."

Austin Gyllenhaal kept her head down, her attitude respectful, and her tone stiff.

"People?" , Charlie Ronin laughed, "If the people were useful, he should have died a long time ago!" ”

"The people are the cornerstone of the country, these are the words of the founding monarch O'Haram."

Austin was still like that, like a nail standing on the ground.

"Good...... Good! ”

Charlie Ronin was even more angry, he waved the letter a few times, and his voice suddenly became cold.

"Did you know that when this letter arrived, it was when you were supposed to die?"

Grand Duke Ronin's voice suddenly became unusually cold in a few words. His left hand gripped the handle of the sofa tightly, and the green tendons on it were angry, reflecting his anger.

Hearing this, Austin's body trembled. He raised his head and looked at Ronin with the look of a dead man.

"Your Excellency, if you don't tie your hands and go to Beijing to ask for guilt, Your Majesty's army will end the bloodline of the Luo Ning family. I'm going to die, but so will you. ”

"Good, good, good!"

Charlie Ronin said it three times in a row, then took a deep breath. His adopted son, Karim, stood behind him with a heavy expression on his face.

"Your Excellency, Your Majesty is still waiting for your reply."

Luo Ning, who was sitting on the sofa, snorted and laughed, he looked at Austin standing in front of him, and waved his hand lightly.

"Kill him."

Austin looked up and looked incredulously at the angry but weak old man sitting on the couch in front of him.

"Your Excellency—"

"Killed."

Grand Duke of Glacier, Charlie Ronin repeated his command, and softly, closed his eyes.

Ronninger under the heavy snow, the silence is incredible.