"This damn weather," said Baron Jean Bette, standing by the window, looking at the cloudy sky, "it's going to rain again." ”

There is no shortage of rain in Sunken Pond Bay, which is close to the sea, especially in summer and autumn, when it is not uncommon for the sky to be stormy in the first moment and stormy in the next, so the city has made a lot of preparations, from stone pavements to underground drainage facilities. It's not like Broken Tooth or Greystone, where a single rain can turn the lowlands into puddles and mud everywhere. At most, one or two heavy rains will delay the unloading of merchant ships, and the impact on the city will be minimal.

It's not so much the weather, it's his mood.

Unfortunately, after the shower, the clouds will dissipate, but the mood will not.

"Your Excellency, have you thought about how to answer them?" asked Clerk Jum cautiously.

"Answer?" the baron sneered, "to be hanged or burned, if you were to choose one, how would you answer?"

"Uh......" The clerk was dumbfounded for a moment.

"You can't choose it, can you? ”

"But......" he opened his mouth, as if to say something more, but could not speak.

In fact, even if he didn't say it, Jean Bette knew that it would be hard to drag it on forever—like clouds and rain in the sky, no matter how much the merchant did not want to see it, it would always fall.

It all came from the war with the church.

After the destruction of the Wolf Heart King City, a large number of illegitimate sons of the Wolf King seemed to emerge overnight. After some competition, three major forces were gradually formed - the Tolkien family entrenched in the northwest, the "Red Stone Gate" family that occupied the south, and the "Fang" family in the eastern mountains.

Due to the distance, the former didn't bother Shenchi Bay, but the latter two families were different, and the two dukes wanted to pull Shenchi Bay into their own faction and further expand their strength.

In the early stages of the dispute, the baron insisted on the neutrality of the harbor and did not offend any party, which not only allowed the city to quickly restore its prosperity, but also allowed him to earn a lot of money. In order to ensure that the goods could be exchanged for grain or golden dragons in time, and the surrounding area was undecided, the two dukes did not force him too much.

However, with the new round of annexation and expansion, Fangs and Redstone Gates gradually stood out and became the most powerful contenders for the new Wolf King. Coupled with the Tolkien family's sudden closure of the cage mountain road, the two families invariably set their sights on Shenchi Bay again.

The baron could think of what they were doing with his knees.

-- Swallowing Shenchi Bay, by the way, banning the enemy's material trade, will inevitably gain a great advantage in this competition. So this time they not only sent messengers, but also dozens of knights and a hundred mercenaries with them, and their attitude was self-evident.

The harbor is only equipped with patrols to maintain order and a personal guard to protect the lord's safety, which is okay against pirates who are not clothed, and there is no ability to protect themselves against heavily armed knights. Jean Bett had no intention of resisting, if the three major forces had already decided the winner and the wolf king, he would not hesitate to swear allegiance. As for whether the new wolf king is from the bloodline of the old wolf king, he doesn't care.

However, the Redstone Gate and the Fangs are evenly matched.

Taking refuge is a dead end.

No matter which side he chooses to stand on, the other side will never sit idly by and watch the loss of maritime trade, which means that food, iron and other materials can only rely on self-production, while the other side is constantly replenished, which is undoubtedly equivalent to giving up victory.

Therefore, once they take refuge, they will inevitably be attacked by the other side.

There is neither an impregnable wall nor a deep moat in Shenchi Bay, and if you want to resist it, you can only rely on the full support of the refuge party.

But will the two families really support him?

The baron did not dare to gamble.

If he is a Duke of Redstone Gate or Fang, he can naturally imagine that using the people of Sunken Pond Bay to consume the strength of the attackers first, and then taking advantage of the situation to flank the attack, can effectively reduce the casualties of elite knights. even let the enemy into the city, and then block the retreat, slowly depleting it...... After all, the other party wants Shenchi Bay, not the people here.

Or rather, it would be better off without him to let Bate govern Sinking Pond Bay.

As previously said, it is a question of choosing to be hanged or burned.

Putting two emissaries in one camp is to use their mutual hostility to stall for time, and it would be better if they could fight. He also offered spirits and women again and again, and deliberately let them choose together, but unfortunately even if the gang was red-faced, they never drew their swords against each other.

"Tick, tick, tick......"

The rain finally fell, and the garden of the Doge's Palace became hazy, as if covered with a veil.

Staring at the petals swaying gently in the rain, the baron was silent, waiting like this was not the solution, but he couldn't think of a way to remain neutral. My grandfather used to say that the aristocracy often oscillated between profit and power, and that if you take advantage of this, you can get right and left. Maybe he should calm down, give up those little tricks, and think about how to get out of the predicament from the strategic level.

At that moment, his musings were interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps.

"Great, sir, no!"

"What's the hell about it, there's something to say!" Jean Bate glared at the man in displeasure, "What's wrong?" Could it be that the knights are finally fighting? If so, that's good news!!, staring at the guard's mouth, hoping to discern the word "camp" or "knight" from the shape of the other's mouth.

"The fleet of the Grey Keep and the King of the Grey Keep has taken over the harbor!" However, the guard's words were completely beyond his imagination, so that he could not react for a moment, "Not only that, but they also cordoned off the dock area and forbade anyone to approach!"

"What did you say? Ash ...... Castle?" the baron subconsciously repeated, "do they want to buy or sell anything?" etc...... You just said blockade?"

"Indeed," said the guard eagerly, "they drove away the ships that had been parked by the pier, and only allowed their own sea boats to dock, saying that this was a 'temporary requisition' and that order would soon be restored. The patrol tried to stop them, but they were disarmed in the blink of an eye! There are reportedly hundreds of ships in the Grey Keep outside the harbor!"

Jean Bate was a little incredulous, "Are you sure it's the fleet of the King of the Greykeep?"

"Yes, I've seen it with my own eyes," the guard nodded with difficulty, "and it's indeed the Greycastle royal family's tower spear flag." ”

With the gods above, could it be that Grey Castle is planning to invade the wolf's heart?

Why would Wimbledon let his rich neighbors go away and come on a detour to find trouble with him?

Even if the King of the Grey Keep wants to expand his territory, there is no need to attack from the sea, right? Can the Tolkien family really withstand the Grey Keep army that defeated the Church?

No, it doesn't make sense at all......

For a moment, the baron only felt that his mind was in turmoil, and he couldn't figure it out at all.

Until Clerk Jum walked up to him and bowed his head and whispered a few words.

The baron's eyes lit up suddenly!

That's right, maybe that's the opportunity he's been waiting for!

The Grey Keep is undoubtedly strong enough to break the deadlock between the two powers. Assuming that this fleet is really here to expand the territory of the King of Grey Castle, even if it is strong for the first time in this strange land, it needs the help of the local nobles, as long as it is slightly guided, it may be able to achieve the effect of driving away the wolf and the tiger. Anyway, who is loyal is not allegiance, if you show favor to the king of the Gray Castle, maybe you can hold more power, and you may become a party to the guard!

Even if Wimbledon fails, he has nothing to lose.

At this moment, another guard ran in, "My lord, the Grey Keep fleet has sent an emissary, saying that it is here with the will of His Majesty Roland Wimbleton, and I hope to talk to you in detail. ”

Jean Bett looked at the clerk for a moment, then nodded, "Guests as far as they come, tell the messenger that I can see them at any time." ”