XIX

The Central Plateau Boulevard, which leads from Kengrad to Vodkagrad, is a second-class post road that winds through the hills of the plateau. This hilly road is not in the same good condition as the Royal Mile from Kengol to Lenny, and there are few villages and towns along the road. After leaving the farming area around Kengol, there is a winding mountain road, and the valley can be seen except for the hillside. From one station to the next, it often takes an hour or more to gallop a horse.

The headquarters of the Central Front of the Free Army and the main force, the 2nd Interre Division, totaling 18,000 men, and seven full-scale combat regiments were deployed along the stations along this road, deployed in a huge area within a radius of 150 kilometers - this was to facilitate supplies. After all, in the Central Plateau, where crops can only ripen once a year, it would take a large area of farmland to raise supplies for even one regiment on the spot in early spring. Under the pretext of logistics, the avant-garde regiment of the Interre Division was stationed in a small town only fifty kilometers from Kengrad. If there was a change in Kengler, the regiment would be able to reach the city of Kengrad in one day, and the whole division would only need five days to arrive. Conversely, the closest Imperial reinforcements to Kengrad were at Fort New, 500 kilometers away, and it would take more than two weeks to march at full speed to join the battle – not counting the interference of more than 20,000 Free Army soldiers from Ampollas and Fort Steele. As long as the Central Army Staff received the news of Kengrad, even if the Imperial Army eliminated the Halberd Division, it would be impossible to stay in the city located in the heart of the enemy army.

"It's strange that there have been no obstacles along the way. ”

At midnight, when most people were asleep, Bonnie, still known as "Pluto", was on horseback looking at the starry light at the end of the valley four or five kilometers away. If she is not mistaken, from this fourth town onwards, it should be the sphere of influence of the Central Army. Each of the first three towns had a platoon of Imperial soldiers and a company of the Overseers, as well as reinforcements, but surprisingly she was not stopped. But now she didn't have much time to hesitate: as long as the Interlite Division was dispatched an hour earlier, the safety of the Halberd Division would be one more guarantee.

With this in mind, Bonnie used a spell to speed up her mount and galloped towards the end of the valley road. Soon, she saw the Free Army guards at the entrance of the town, and the division flag "Red Sea" composed of blue wavy lines on a red background. The speed of her horse startled the two red-coated sentinels, who hurried to the front of the level.

"Stop, who?!Why are you in a hurry late at night?"

"The election in Kengrad has changed, the Imperial Army has intervened by force, and the Halberd Division has been defeated!" Bonnie gasped and shouted to them, "I'm Pluto Luthor, Vice President of the Federalist Party, who escaped from the city with the remnants of the Free Army!

The shout alarmed all the nearby sentinels, and the entire guard squad came together. A man recognized him and exclaimed, "It is indeed Pluto Luthor! I have seen him at the Vodkagrad by-election!

The commander quickly arrived, it was a sergeant platoon leader. He immediately ordered his men to lead the weary horse to the stable, and he himself respectfully led Luthor to their company. The company headquarters was set up in a small two-story building not far away, and in the middle of the night there were almost no people, except for two dozing sentries and two duty rooms lit by dim butter lamps. She followed the platoon leader up to the second floor, when her sister's secret communication rang in her ears.

"—Repelled Imperial forces—Killed a cardinal—Future unknown—White rose. ”

Bonnie almost chuckled out loud at the news. "Cardinal, isn't that gorgeous?"

While contemplating the possible consequences of killing the cardinal, the office had arrived.

"Here we are, Lord Luther. ”

The sergeant opened the door for her, and Bonnie put away the smile on her face and walked inside. Inside, a bespectacled, lean-looking young officer sat staring at her with a smile. His smile was quite attractive, and somewhat familiar-

It's like a drug full of needles suddenly enters a blood vessel, and the indescribable excitement and paralysis rush down the nerve endings to the brain. The rationality on her face vanished, her gaze became glazed, and she couldn't even react to "something is wrong". The non-commissioned officer at the door stared at it all with a smile on his face that looked like he was not sane. The perfect traps are set after the target has let their guard down.

The bespectacled young man pulled a chair over and gave him a gentle push on Luther's shoulder, and he sat down obediently.

"I've been waiting here for you all night. I thought that the Federalist thinker, the only senior priest of Protestantism, would have a hard time dealing with it. If you had known this, you wouldn't have had to take such a big risk against Machiavelli. ”

The man who appeared during the day today as the secretary of the politician put away his glasses and closed the door. His words are rhythmic – two syllables a second. Not much, no less.

"Now, vice president of the Federalists, let me know something. After that, become a part of my power. ”

Painful struggles. In the mind emphasizes sobriety.

There was still a vestige of sanity that judged the identity of the person in front of him. Luthor slurred the terrifying name, "Hee...... Sid ......"

"How can you still try to struggle? ”

The Minister of Imperial Security snapped his fingers again. In the darkness on the side, a flame flickered slightly, and stronger mind control hit Pluto. He shuddered all over, lowered his head, and stopped all resistance.

"Can you start answering my questions?" Sid Nasser held up a finger, dangling it in front of the captive's eyes.

Under the dim oil lamp of the makeshift interrogation room, Bonnie Sefir, disguised as a male Pluto Luthor, sat in a chair, smiled clumsily and nodded.

The flame of the oil lamp swayed in her pupils. It is a bit inaccurate to say that this is an interrogation - because the interrogator has no psychological defenses at all, and can only answer the interrogator's questions mechanically. What she lost was not only the freedom of the body, but also the freedom of the mind. After the great Machiavelli, brutal torture has become a relic in the history books.

The only waking part of his mind was obedience, and a little distant memory of the enemy in front of him. The memory was just a vague shadow, like in another world—

"Prime Minister of Kingkilling" Sid von Soma. A man who is a civilian but climbs to the highest point of the empire through the security system. But why would he use psychic magic......?

Even this vague thought disappeared into the flood of excitement. All that left his mind was to obey the will of the owner of the eyes in front of him. The man in front of him is God, everything. And now, God is going to ask questions.

"Name?" Pluto Luthor. ”

"Age?" "Twenty-seven. ”

"Profession?" "Reformer, banker. ”

The interrogator, Sid, curled the corners of his mouth in satisfaction. This most basic information is consistent with the information he has, and it is impossible to go wrong.

The man in front of him, who called himself Pluto Luthor, was the most mysterious of the enemies he had encountered. The sudden emergence of bankers, high-ranking Protestant pastors, and extraordinary political ability. As the leader of the secret front of the Curman Empire, he is accustomed to speculating on all actions from the point of view of conspiracy theories. Judging by experience, such a person cannot appear out of thin air, there must be a huge group hiding behind him. Finally laid a trap to catch this live mouth, and he had to be extremely cautious.

"Who sent you here, Mr. Luther?"

Sid moved the oil lamp closer to Luther's face, slightly increasing the pressure. The first thing he had to make sure was that the person had some self-consciousness left. Pluto's handsome woman-like face contorted painfully, as if battling the hallucinations and pleasures she felt.

“...... Commander of the Free Army. ”

The Minister of Security was stunned, he didn't expect the real first question to be cleverly bypassed. He paced around the captive with his chin propped up, understanding how the magic he was using worked. Under the effect of "mind domination", the other party cannot disobey his problem, but can use various means to misinterpret his problem. He rethought the question and began to approach what he wanted from the side.

"No, I mean, what did you get here for?"

"The Imperial Army is attacking us...... Our men repelled them. We killed a cardinal and are in dire need of reinforcements. ”

"Cardinal?" Sid repeated the unexpected message softly, the expression on his face still unchanged. "So, who sent you to Kengler to participate in the election?"

"Myself. Because, Kengler could not be allowed to throw himself into the Empire. Pluto's lips trembled, and he spat out the answer. This answer is still nonsense, nothing is revealed.

"It seems that this can't be asked, so let's change the question. Sid muttered to himself and walked behind Pluto. "How many pastors are there in the Reformation Church who are like you or stronger than you, and who are they?"

This answer was greatly unexpected by Sid.

"Not a single one. Luthor muttered to himself, "Not one now." ”

"Not a single one. How can this be ......?"

Sid suddenly felt that something was wrong. He frowned, stopped, and slammed Luthor's shoulder from behind his chair.

"Mr. Luther, stop acting. You're not under the influence of domination, are you? If you don't cooperate with us, my magic will be released. I don't want to torture at all. ”

Hearing Sid's deceitful words, Pluto's breathing suddenly became rapid, his pupils dilated, and his whole body trembled slightly. Sid became alert, and did not hesitate to apply the torture magic used for torture to the captives with both hands, in case the other party was really disguised.

Indescribable torment streaks through the endings of nerves throughout the body. The vice-president of the Federalist Party rolled out of his chair with a scream, his hands on his head and curled up in the ground.

The non-commissioned officer on guard at the door looked twice into the room with a controlled smile and turned his head again. Sid retreated into the corner and took a closer look at Pluto, who was struggling on the ground.

The screams slowly turned into moans, and the moans slowly turned into gasps. Pluto was sweating profusely, and his expression returned to his previous numb smile. In the struggle, his clothes were covered with dust, and his sleeves were ripped off by himself, rolling around his wrists like rags.

The clothes were high-end, but the Minister of Security did not feel sorry for them in the slightest. He sighed in disappointment, knowing that the person in front of him must still be under the influence of his domination technique. Using that great performance to a mentally controlled person is like explaining a sonnet to an ogre, and it doesn't make any sense.

Ignoring the people struggling on the floor, he pulled out a clamshell pocket watch from his coat pocket. He flicked the lid open with his thumb and suddenly began talking to himself to his pocket watch.

"Why can't I ask? ”

Hearing this, Pluto reflexively crawled close to him and looked at the person who controlled his mind with confused eyes. "I haven't heard of it. What's that?"

Sid ignored him, and continued to speak to the pocket watch in a commanding tone, "Tell me, is it that the Domination Technique will never get a lie, and will it never be lifted by any outside interference?"

"The answer to both questions is 'of course'. At most, the person who is dominated can only not answer, but as long as he answers, it must be the truth. ”

From the pocket watch came a cold and arrogant female voice. Hearing this voice, Pluto, who was prostrate on the ground, suddenly stiffened, as if he had received some violent mental blow. If Nikolai had been there, he would have recognized the voice—it was that of Magia Verri, who had been missing for three months.

"Why? Can't ask? Do you want me to ask for you? This magic greatly reduces the target's actual intelligence, so you have to ask very skillfully. The woman's voice was mocking and disdainful, "Or, you can change your magic." Communicate directly with his heart, although it is potentially dangerous, but it will definitely be effective. ”

"I choose the second option. You come to use it. Sid ignored her attitude.

The female voice restrained a little, and said stupidly, "Let me get close to him, you have to keep staring into his eyes." ”

"Understood. Sid closed his pocket watch and recited a spell that would leave his mind blank. Once he had done his protection, he grabbed the frozen Pluto by the collar with his other hand, put him back in the chair, stared into his eyes and turned his pocket watch back on.

"Let the heart be connected to each other through its window, and let the memories that words cannot convey merge...... Mind Link！”

Magia chanted the full incantation in a high-pitched voice. The pupils and pupils reflect each other, like mirrors placed on two sides, reflecting countless shadows on each other. Countless shadows are like bridges, connecting the minds and memories of both sides.

The real world around him is only a shadow, and the world of Pluto Luthor's memories gradually emerges. Majiya Verry was just a ghost fire floating in the corner of this mental world—Sid pulled her mind in to prevent her from doing something unexpected. Sid's consciousness spread, searching his captive's memories for what he wanted.

It looks like an unremarkable past. Growing up in a war-torn ruined city, with an older sister who was dependent on each other, and a poor teenager who studied magic and theology with a group of strangely dressed people who didn't know their identities. His sister's fall into the dust when she meets a bastard man sets Pluto Luthor with great ambitions to build a society where even women who are poor enough to have dignity and rights, and where people are not threatened by war. He studied political science and economics, became a businessman, a banker, and seized the opportunity to build his own political power in the face of this political crisis in the South......

Sid Nasser's mind was reading thousands of memories at the same time, and every scene in it was vivid, some of them were tear-jerking. But there wasn't what he wanted—even Luthor didn't seem to know who his teachers were. The Minister of Security became anxious, searching the other party's memories even harder, allowing more memories to appear in his senses, drowning out the real world around him.

"It's simply the standard propaganda resume of a Southern populist politician. Could it be that he's a puppet designed by someone else?" said Magia's consciousness, which seemed to be amazed.

The same thought had been swirling in the consciousness of the Secretary of State for Security himself. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. What is it?

This slowed down his search. He must have overlooked something—

*** ***

"City. Which city would have both the spire of the Deland and the grandeur of the South? What massive city had been so destroyed in the last war that it would take more than a decade to recover?!! Where did he grow up?"

A flash of inspiration flashed, and Sid grasped what made him feel that something was wrong, and immediately focused his mind, leaving only the impression of the city.

He stared at the city, trying to find any insignia in the city that marked the location, but couldn't find it. There was no agora, no council, no governor's palace, no buildings in the city that would give it its name, only a few unheard of shops such as "Taco Cola" and "Necrosoft" dotted around the city.

"Tell me where this is!"

The Minister of Security stared at the man in front of him. The surroundings reverted to the illusion of the real world, and the real-world Luthor in front of him overlapped with the Luthor in this memory.

"I don't know. Luthor replied with a giggle.

Inadvertently, Sid saw through the other person's neckline something that would not have been possible in the real world: the black corset and the chest that was still looming even if it was tightened underneath. This was at odds with all the information he had.

"It can't be, he's ...... Female?" The Minister of Security's will loosened, and his body reflexively grabbed the other party's collar and asked loudly, "Who the hell are you?!"

His mind quickly retreated, trying to untie the psychic connection and put away his pocket watch, but it was too late.

Before he could reinforce the mental pressure on his opponent's body, "Pluto" had already jumped to his feet and shook off the tattered sleeve that was wrapped around his right hand to disguise.

Underneath the sleeves is the blade of ice that has quietly formed at some point!

The colorless and transparent tip of the sword drew a smooth line in the air, and it also carried the white qi of Sensen, it was hard to imagine that Bonnie, who had always been calm as ice, could use such a swift sword move.

Somehow, she brilliantly played the role of "Pluto Luthor under control", completely ignoring Sid Nather, a suspicious opponent, and waited until he pulled out the pocket watch. Had it not been for Sid's careful discovery of her gender, she would have had the confidence to make the Minister of Security and future Prime Minister disappear from this history.

Accurate, swift, and powerful, the surprise struck Sid on the left wrist where he was holding the pocket watch.

Sid's trigger magic, Stone Skin, activated, and his skin was covered with a layer of gray limestone, but it wasn't enough to stop the sharp blow. The slash of the ice blade slashed into the depths of the limestone, making a dull thud—

Threatened by Bonnie's extraordinary strength and speed, these limestones are as soft as cheese!

His wrist was severed by an ice blade and he fell to the ground. There was no bleeding in the aorta because the bleeding was stopped by the granite epidermis.

The pocket watch was hit by the blow and flew out of his hand, slamming into the wall behind him. The two paused at the same time, switching their targets to their pocket watches. Sid reached for it, but Bonnie's magic was quicker than his instinctive reaction.

Estimating the distance, concentrating the magic, the three fingers of the girl's left hand were brought together, and invisible silk threads shot out from between her fingers.

"Telekinesis!"

The invisible force grabbed the watch in the air, and Bonnie pulled it back with her left hand, pulling it in her direction. The ice blade in her right hand was still pressing, trying not to let Sid interfere with her movements.

"Cut!" the Minister of Security roared, and the only hand that had gone to grab the pocket watch reached out to his waist and drew his sword. His swordsmanship was very high, and he once won the runner-up in the free sword fighting tournament at the Imperial University.

"Is the empire so short of manpower that even the minister has to devote himself to the assassination?" the heart-to-heart connection is still there, and Bonnie is trying to interfere with Sid's mind.

"One another. Sid squeezed a retort out of the blank mind, and used his talisman dagger to remove Bonnie's deadly ice blade in time.

This sword fight is very weird: the woman uses a brute force style of opening and closing, completely overwhelming the male opponent in strength, but the man uses clever tricks and blocks, relying on skill and the beautiful girl on the opposite side who only has a weak appearance.

"Looks like I guessed right. That's the 'bell', right?"

"Her target turned out to be 'Zhong'? Why did she know about the existence of this thing? Could it be that even I would intercept it here fell into their calculations?!"

Thinking of the possible huge organization behind the woman in front of him, Sid Nasser parried her sword moves while thinking about countermeasures. He also has a huge force behind him, but none of them can help now. He prioritized everything in an instant: the highest priority now was not to let the other party get the "clock"!

The left arm is the first coordinate, and the right arm is the second coordinate. He flicked his index finger at the target location, which had been carefully calculated. At the junction of the two lines, a crack to the other world opens in response.

“...... Plane Breach!"

Hearing this spell, Bonnie's face changed color and she took two steps back.

She knew it was one of the most dangerous spells of the pre-industrial era, capable of dragging everything within range into some known otherworld, as the caster had designated. For a modern mage like her, who had grown up under the barriers of the plane, all magic involving the plane was extremely dangerous—except for a few who specialized in the plane like her sister, the rest of them were not even capable of returning to this world.

The moment she stepped back, Sid's spell was complete. The spatial crack opened where she had stood, revealing the endless darkness within, fleeting. She couldn't tell which plane it was, but it must have been a world that Sid could control. Although she dodged it, this crack happened to be in the flight path of the "bell", and it looked like she was about to fall into it!

"It turned out that he was playing with this idea...... Ray of Implosion!"

Her left middle and index fingers pointed at the pocket watch, and the line of action of the strongest destructive magic struck the "bell" without hesitation-

The moment before entering the crack, the pocket watch cracked into thousands of crumbs.

Sid's face turned dead gray. He could only own one clock, and it would take at least a precious license and three months to remake it. At a delicate moment like this, he couldn't have wasted three months remaking this pocket watch!

"Is that what you're really for, Pluto? The Minister of Security said coldly, "I lost today." Although I don't know your real name, I won't forget yours. I didn't think there would be a stronger woman in this world than Miss Maggia, and now I retract that judgment. ”

"If you want to talk big, go to another world. I'm not interested in chatting with my enemies. Bonnie simply changed her female voice.

"I feel the same way. ...... Plane Breach!"

Seeing that the other party used another dimensional rift, Bonnie also felt a wave of instinctive fear. She couldn't tell where to hide this time: with Sid's power, could she have considered the range of her escape?

"Dimensional Anchor!"

She snapped yellow anchors to the wall to ensure she could return to the room after being pulled into the Atlas.

The space was torn apart, and a second time there was a piercing vacuum pop. The other party's spell has been completed, where will it unfold?

She nervously searched the lightless rift, ready to withstand the impact of being thrown through the rift of the world.

There were no cracks in the direct field of vision, and everything around was quiet.

She waited nervously for ten seconds before she realized: this rift wasn't meant to attack her—it was meant to retreat.

It's too late to pursue. Ten seconds is enough to use two more spells, and even with only dimensional rifts, you can escape hundreds of meters away, and if you use more powerful precision teleportation or dimensional gates, you can move tens or even hundreds of kilometers.

Only the psychic connection remains. For some reason, Sid didn't remove the spell and continued the conversation.

"You are indeed a very outstanding person, and you have actually created yourself a male identity and devoted yourself to the political world, even more daring than Majia. To be honest, I really want you to work with me. ”

Bonnie had no intention of severing the connection at all. She snickered and began to prepare for the magic of tracking the location of her mind. "Do you want to 'work with' like Magia? ”

"I'm serious. You saw Maggia like that before, she chose it voluntarily, and if you are willing to cooperate with me, you can naturally maintain your independent identity. ”

"The conditions are really 'good'. Besides, you're already the Minister of Security, and it's not difficult to become Prime Minister, so why do you need so many people?"

She was met with a moment of silence. "Don't you want to change the world with your own will? Your memories are all fake, but I'm afraid that ideal is not. Only by cooperating with me can your ideals be realized, but it is impossible to achieve them in the south. ”

"Why?"

"Because there are far more men than women there who have a voice. For your citizens are a mass of loose sand. I bet that even in another hundred years, there will not be a single female head of state elected by the people in the South. You can only control it all from behind, but in the end it will be nothing. ”

"That's what you used to convince Magia, but they couldn't convince me. Bonnie laughed, "I believe in your bet, but I don't care." Besides, do you have a better plan? Are you going to be emperor?"

"Emperor?" Bonnie visibly sensed that the other party's thoughts were rather disrespectful, "I will build a network of many people who influence each other, and who can execute everything efficiently and change society with the greatest power. It is not a ridiculous feudal pyramid, nor is it a bloated bureaucracy like yours; it can be built under useless emperors, it can be scattered among the degraded aristocracy, and of course it can be built under your democracy. It relies on equal users of magic to check each other in order to ensure efficiency and safety. After all, no matter what kind of country it is, power is in fact in the hands of a small group of people – all I have to do is gather that small group of people. Only the network structure is the most effective and egalitarian power structure. ”

"But just grabbing the corner of a spider's web and rolling it can turn him into a mess. There is no room for this net in my world. Bonnie smiled, intently channeling the tracking magic. It's getting closer, it's getting closer. She will soon be able to see the true heart of the other party......

"What's your world like?"

"My world is ......" Bonnie coped, entering the world of memories that the other party had previously covered with blanks.

It was a huge city, tree-lined but with splendid classical-style palaces and buildings of gigantic proportions. She also didn't recognize the other person's hometown. At this moment, the psychic connection was suddenly severed.

A great sense of loss enveloped her. Bonnie Seffel slowly slipped against the wall, sat on the ground and laughed.

"Is that what you're really for, Sid? ”

"Sir, what's going on?" the non-commissioned officer at the door rushed in when he heard her laughter, his face no longer having a uncontrollable smile. Seeing the unfamiliar face of "Pluto", he instinctively became vigilant. "Who are you, where are the chiefs, what happened?"

The non-commissioned officer before the meeting had no memory of what had happened in the past period of time, and Bonnie coughed twice, switched back to a male voice, and stood up against the wall.

"I'm sorry, the officer on duty is afraid that he has taken a leave of absence today. I introduce myself again: I am Pluto Luthor, vice-president of the Federalist Party, who escaped from Kengal with the remnants of the Free Army. We are in dire need of reinforcements. Alright, take me to your chief. ”

Bonnie wasn't going to tell Sid about it, something should sit under the table forever. She had a hunch that her struggle with the man had just begun.

"Light to light, shadow to shadow, it's fair. At the very least, you won't be able to interfere with our operations for the next three months, will you? She licked her tiger teeth and whispered to herself, "What should come will come." I'm sorry, Magia, I'll avenge you. Please bear with me a little longer. ”

Unconsciously, an idea grows in her mind, grows, and gradually becomes irrepressible.

Welcome the majority of book friends to come and read, the latest, fastest, the hottest serialized works are all here!