Half an hour later.

An ice outpost occupied by the Children of Ice.

Inside the room of Odyss.

He was busy observing the battle map and was anxious when a knock on the door suddenly sounded, interrupting the commander's train of thought.

This time period...... Odyss, who had been distraught about his plan to burn the catapult alone, and was worried about whether the mission would succeed, immediately put down the map and shouted, "Come in!"

Sure enough, just as he expected, the white snow crow appeared at the door. After bowing slightly, the snow crow took off his hood and closed the door behind him: "My lord, the mission is complete. Both catapults have been burned. ”

A strong burst of joy in his heart, Odys immediately understood what this meant: the two outposts could not be captured, and perhaps even not attacked by the enemy. Not to mention, there is also the army of the Corruptor that may emerge after the start of the war. In this way, the Children of Ice will have many fewer casualties.

Now it's just a matter of hoping that those Frost Children won't be stupid enough to attack directly...... His instinct told him no, and Odysse was almost completely relieved: if only more sentries were sent to make the patrol route denser and more sentry posts were added, the night raid that had happened the previous day could be avoided.

"Well done, soldier—no, Snow Crow!" Shaken by the exciting news, Odyssey almost forgot to reply, "You have done it all by yourself...... It's really worthy of the snow crow of the city lord's own order. If I had known that you were so powerful, I should have recommended you to be a Freedom Sentinel a long time ago. ”

"You...... You're too much of an award, my lord. Seeming a little embarrassed, Vicol smiled a little shyly: "It's just the hunter's two sneaks into kung fu." ”

"Don't be humble with Lao Tzu. You can't do these two things. I've never been too lazy to say clichés, you should understand. Looking approvingly at his former subordinate, Odys felt proud of him: "How does it feel to be a hero? You have saved many lives." ”

"Hmm...... It's quite fulfilling. Seeming to be a little nervous talking to his original boss, Vicol put his hand in his pocket and groped for something: "My lord, since I have finished reporting, I will retire first." ”

"Wait, Vicol. Noticing his true thoughts, Odys couldn't help but laugh a little. Clearing his throat, he pretended to be serious and drank: "You are so anxious to go back to your new home in Beihaiwang, you don't want to talk with me for a while?!! When you become a snow crow, you look down on your original army commander, don't you?"

"No, no, no. Shaking his head in a hurry, Vicol immediately closed the door that had been opened, and said hesitantly, "I am ...... Forehead ......"

"Alright, don't put garlic in front of me. Coughing, Odysse handed over a box of matches: "Your Gwedel was stationed next to the warehouse before being looked at by the North Sea, and I opened the window to face his post." This guy is a big smoker, and he always hides in the corner of the yard with you and smokes a pipe -- honestly, is he a smoker?"

"Huh?" was stunned for several seconds before Vicol took the match with a shocked expression. With a somewhat embarrassed expression, Snow Crow replied hesitantly, "Indeed...... Sir, I always thought you didn't catch us smoking pipes. ”

"You're blind to me, and I haven't been able to find out?" A few laughs, Odyssey's expression softened, "It's just a few minutes to smoke a pipe, and it's not too much of a problem." Why should I bother you?"

"That's right. Pulling out a pinch of tobacco from a paper bag, Vicol pinched it loosely in his fingers, gently rolled it into a small ball and placed it at the bottom of the bucket. As he watched him carefully flatten the tobacco in the bucket with a pressing stick, Odyses couldn't help but fall into deep thought: with such a large army, it was almost impossible to get them to withdraw directly. The loss of siege weapons was completely insufficient to create such a deterrent.

What should I do if the enemy chooses to deal with him by tomorrow morning, instead of marching in? Since Lord Mace has placed so much trust in me, and has given me the right to make my own decisions, I cannot disappoint him this time by acting as I did last time—if possible, I must try to get the enemy to withdraw by diplomatic means. In this way, the Corruptor will not be allowed to take advantage of the loopholes.

"Soldiers are coming to the city", whether the enemy can accept the negotiation is still uncertain. Even if they accept, how can they successfully conclude the negotiations? Is it possible to say that "once we go to war, we will lead to the total annihilation of the corrupted, so in order to avoid trouble, I hope you will withdraw your troops"?

Rubbing his hands helplessly, the corps commander's contemplation became more and more focused: This is definitely not possible. If we want the negotiations to conclude as we want, we have to make sufficient concessions. As long as the benefits are enough, the Ice Rock people will not accept it - of course, provided that the old man of Ice Rock Lord Rika Wild is not manipulated into a puppet as Mace envisions.

The smell of burning tobacco quickly spreads into the air. Smelling the pungent fragrance, Odys sniffled and asked in surprise, "Vicor, where did you get this tobacco?"

"Huh? That's right. With a stunned expression, the snow crow threw down the match and held the pipe with the white smoke in his palm: "How do you know?"

"Smells it. Sighing, Odysse took a deep breath of smoke almost greedily: "Originally, before I quit smoking, I have been smoking Ennis tobacco. The smell is so familiar that I can't forget it......"

With a look of sudden realization, Vicol hurriedly handed over his pipe and asked Odysse to take a few puffs to enjoy it. Resisting the temptation with difficulty, Odysses rejects the Snow Raven's offer. However, he was so addicted by the aroma that he forced himself to shake off his pipe and try to divert his mind from a new topic: "Snow Crow, I wonder what conditions should be used to lure them out if they can accept negotiations. ”

"It's easy. After hesitating for a while, Snow Raven put down his pipe and said slowly, "It's good to let them open the conditions." We'll bargain after that......"

"Then it's no fun to do ironclad. If the party proposing the negotiation is so passive at the beginning, it will definitely be led by the nose by the opponent in the end, and will not be able to control the situation of the negotiation at all. Shaking his head, Odes was extremely disappointed with this answer: "Although I am very unwilling, for the sake of the overall situation, I have to return the outpost we occupied to them." These Ice Rock people must also know that instead of forcibly attacking and losing their troops, it is better to accept the conditions for the withdrawal of troops on a peaceful handover. ”

"Huh?" Vichol spat out a smoke ring and said eagerly, "I thought you were ...... Won't be willing to give up this outpost. ”

"I'm impulsive, but I'm not stupid. Sighing, Odysse was a little absent-minded. After chatting with him about a lot of interesting things when he sneaked in, before he knew it, it was getting late. After never receiving news of the enemy's advance, Odys finally relented: it seemed that the enemy did not dare to attack rashly after losing the trebuchet.

The ghosts of the resentful drifted down the corridor, and the long-dead girl revived and got up again.

She was still tireless on her journey to the end of the corridor.

There are still seventeen years and one hundred and ninety-six days left at the end of the world.