Pinghu Lake is the largest lake in Victor Territory, and when there is no wind, the 6,000-acre lake surface is as smooth as a mirror, and it is beautiful. In the windy season, the fish and crabs are strong, the lake is sparkling, the big fish of several feet long jump out of the water from time to time, and flocks of water birds play and prey here.

Victor stood on the shore of the lake, overlooking the scenery of Pinghu Lake, which is not only beautiful, but also the most fertile land in the territory. More than 20,000 acres of farmland can be cultivated around the lakeside, and the annual harvest of grain is enough to feed more than 2,000 people, and half of the surplus. The lake is full of fish and shrimp, including delicious white-bellied finfish, scaby fish several feet long, fat and juicy curved loach, huge mud crabs, delicious green shrimp, and so on. This abundance of aquatic products has made Pinghu a natural granary, and if it wasn't for Bayer's first occupation of the area, Victor would have chosen to establish a settlement here.

However, the biggest problem in the Pinghu area is that there is no danger to defend, and if Victor does establish a settlement here, then it is he who is trampled by Ant-Man. Looking at the ruins of Pinghu Village, Victor sighed with some emotion, Nelson's action to get rid of the ant colony caused more than 600 people in Pinghu Village to die in the belly of ants, which is absolutely a shocking tragedy in modern society, and Nelson didn't care about it, and when he passed by the ruins, he spat on the ground.

Victor only sighed for himself, he could directly run over Pinghu Village and kill all the rebels, and the rest of the people naturally had to surrender to him. But Victor wanted to avoid needless killing, and despite the advice of Edwin and Bruce, he tried to solve the problem of Pinghu Village with stratagem, and now that he thinks about it, he was really naïve and stupid at the time.

For those villagers of Pinghu Village who were killed, Victor had no sympathy. On the surface, the villagers of Pinghu Village were deceived by Baier, but in fact, most of these people were lords of the Eastern Sanxing Province, and they would not know the fate of challenging the lord's dominance, but they did not choose to leave Baier and join the hill camp. In the final analysis, it's not because these people don't look down on Victor, they want to use Byer as a shield so that they can live an autonomous life. As a result, most of Victor's followers survived, while they died. The reality is that everyone is responsible for their own fate, and it is not a pity for those who blindly follow to die.

"It's a pity, it's harvest season, but more than 5,000 acres of crops here have been gnawed away, Ant-Man is really a pest!" DeWett said with a regretful sigh as he pointed to the abandoned farmland with the hilt of his sword in his hand.

Victor smiled slightly, on the 11th day of Gillian's distress, Count Chebman sent a team of elite soldiers to protect the heir of the family, led by the great knight DeWet. Seeing the family coming, Gillian demanded that her equipment be salvaged immediately. So, Victor took the knights of the Chebman family to Pinghu. Naturally, the salvage equipment was done by the soldiers and knights, while Victor and the two big knights stayed on the shore to watch the scenery.

"Lord DeWet, what do you Chebman family think of Ant-Man?" asked Victor with a smile.

DeWett said hatefully: "Ant-Man is a recognized pest! They have similar habits to wild bees, and they will tear them apart if they provoke them! The difference is that wild bees make nectar, while Ant-Man gnaws at crops. With that alone, we can't coexist with Ant-Man, and even if they don't attack humans, we're going to destroy them!"

"That's pretty much the case. Victor nodded in agreement, and then asked, "I take the liberty of asking, how many crops are still undestroyed in the Chebman Territory, and how many Ant-Man are stranded?"

The corners of Deweit's mouth twitched, and he sighed: "The remaining crops in the territory are less than forty percent, and in order to stop Ant-Man from continuing to gnaw on the crops, we have three castles fighting against Ant-Man." There are currently more than 9,000 Ant-Man left. ”

"Yes, the ant colony eats the crops at an astonishing rate, and if there is no fierce battle to attract them, the ant-man will gnaw all the crops, and the Yorks will lose all their harvest, and it is said that the same is true of the Buryatia family, and the Dukedom of Neo will also have a lot of losses. Of course, there are no grains of wheat left in my territory, and I have no ability to resist ant colonies. Victor whispered.

DeWett seemed to hear something else, and he tentatively said, "Viscount Victor, it seems that your purple cane forest still has a lot, doesn't Ant-Man like to eat purple cane?"

"They love to eat purple cane, but in addition to purple cane, there are also fish people in my territory. Victor laughed.

"What?!" DeWett whispered, moved by the information Victor revealed.

Victor said: "The initial influx of more than 30,000 ant-men into my territory, some into the Chebman territory, some into the Buryat territory, the Eskri territory was also invaded by the ant-men, there are still about 7,000 ant-people left in my territory, and later I found out that they are at war with the fish-people on the riverbank, so far, the ant-people here have been reduced to 3,000, and the purple cane forest has been preserved." ”

DeWett solemnly gave Victor a knightly salute, "Lord Viscount, thank you very much for revealing this information to us. ”

The county of Chebman is also close to the Jinshui River, and the length of the river bank in their territory is even longer than that of Victor's territory, and the number of fishmen is very objective. Due to the fact that Count Chebman resolutely resisted the invasion of Ant-Man, the ant colony has not yet collided with the fish-man. Now that Victor's intelligence is available, the Chebman family can also use the fish-men to share the pressure of the ant colony, so that their war losses will be greatly reduced.

DeWett was overjoyed, but Victor reminded: "If you think that Ant-Man is simple and brainless, he must have suffered heavy casualties!"

"Victor, I've always had a question. Gillian asked, "Are you ambushing the silver-level Ant-Man and just happened to save me?"

Victor smiled, few people knew that he had the ability to monitor territory, and he wouldn't explain it to Gillian, and nodded, "That's right, I'm ambushing Silver Ant-Man." Recently, the Yorks launched a battle to attract the ant colony, and they found that the ant colony was mixed with particularly powerful Ant-Men, and these silver-level Ant-Men would take the initiative to attack the Grand Knight. Lady Sylvia believes that eliminating these fleeing ant-men can really weaken the strength of the ant colony, thereby slowing down the attack of the next wave of ants, and this information has been reported to the royal envoys, and I believe that it will not be long before you will be informed. Lady Sylvia also warns that silver-class Ant-Men are unrecognizable and very dangerous in the ant colony, and she does not think that the Grand Knight can survive surrounded by Ant-Man. ”

DeWett and Gillian's faces became ugly, monsters that can threaten the silver knight can be called silver-level monsters, the big knight will not be afraid to fight with silver-level monsters, but he will never be attacked by silver-level monsters, especially when fighting.

"No wonder Viscount Buryatia died at the hands of Ant-Man. DeWett said sullenly. The Viscount of Buryatia was the first great knight to die in the ant plague, and his death shocked the Kingdom of Gambis, which directly caused the lords around the country to not dare to send knights to clear the ant colony, but instead adopted the tactics of castle defense.

Gillian frowned and asked, "Isn't there a way to tell the difference?"

"I don't know. Victor shook his head and said, "Maybe if they lose cover, they will run away." For example, the number of ant colonies has been reduced to a certain extent. They are like assassins and soldier bees in a colony, and when the colony is threatened, they will strike. In short, you have to be careful. ”

Gillian and DeWett looked at each other and sighed, "It seems that the only way to attract the ant colony to the river bank is to let the elite cavalry." ”

"Sacrifice is inevitable, and the warrior must have such an awareness. Dewee nodded.

"Mistress Gillian, your equipment has been salvaged. A Chebman soldier came up and reported.

Gillian was overjoyed, no longer worried about the fate of the family's elite cavalry, and walked towards the lake with high leather boots, her figure was already very tall, after wearing half-heeled leather boots, not only looked more erect, but also walked with a hint of enchantment, many Chebman soldiers were secretly peeking at their eldest lady.

After the raft docked, Gillian eagerly took her armor and sword from the family knight, and after careful inspection, she confirmed that there was no damage, and she immediately smiled.

"This Great Knight's equipment is made of pure gold, mythril, and iron. Not only is it extremely strong, but it is also corrosion-resistant, and it will not rust even if it is soaked in water for half a year. DeWett explained to Victor on the side.

"Very nice. Victor smiled noncommittally, he was waiting for DeWet's next step.

DeWett pondered for a moment and said, "Although Adamantite is called gold, it has nothing to do with gold, they are extremely strong and lightweight, and as long as a small amount of Adamantite is mixed with it, the quality of weapons and armor can be greatly improved. Adamantite gold is also rare, and if it weren't for the discovery of a large amount of Adamantite Ore in the Borui Kingdom, its value would not be much lower than that of Mithril. Despite this, the Borui people still restrict the sale of adamantite. And our Chebman family happens to have a pure gold mine.

Victor, we appreciate your willingness to sell us Mithril. But in addition to Mithril, we also need refined iron ore and copper ore in the Centaur Hills, and I don't know if these can be traded. ”

Refined iron, strong, heavy, corrosion-resistant, is an important material for building weapons and equipment. Elite soldiers must be mixed with fine iron in their equipment, and knights' equipment is also made of fine iron. Therefore, fine iron is used in a wide range of uses and is an indispensable metal. Centaur hills, lack of iron ore, lack of salt ore, lack of flax, but there are rich iron ore and copper ore. The Chebmans were justified in their request to trade in iron and copper, but they apparently still regarded Victor as Sylvia's spokesperson, and Victor did not intend to explain the misunderstanding.

"Trade among free people should be free trade. I don't know, I don't collect taxes, I don't obstruct, I don't hurt, and I hope the Chebman family will do the same. Victor whispered.

DeWett frowned and pondered, but Gillian put down her armor and long sword, stared at Victor with burning eyes, and said excitedly: "Including purple cane wine, jaggery sugar, snow sugar, and coffee?"

"Except for the purple cane wine, it is impossible for me to violate the notarization before the gods. Victor laughed.

Gillian leaned over, and in Victor's stunned eyes, she kissed Victor's lips fiercely, and after some entanglement of tongues, she said with a crimson face: "This is a reward for you to save me, and I will save you once in the future." ”

Looking at the amazing Miss Chebman, Victor smiled and said, "I don't want this day. ”

Glaring viciously at the stunned DeWet, Gillian said to Victor, "I'm leaving." ”

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The Chebman family drifted apart. Nelson walked up to Victor and asked, "My lord, did they agree?"

Victor touched his numb lips and said, "They still have to discuss with Count Chebman, but the Chebman family will definitely agree." Mithril is too important for high-ranking knights, and not all high-level knights have Mithril equipment. ”

"Then why don't we exchange with the Yorks? Nelson asked worriedly.

Victor sighed, "I just can't let the York family know!"

Mithril is too scarce, and there are many knights in the York family, if they know that there is a Mithril mine here, they must take it for themselves. And it is impossible for Sylvia to twist the will of the vassal family and favor Victor. Eventually, the territory where the Mithril Mine is located will be swept away, and Victor will receive some compensation at most.

Victor had no knights, and he didn't care about the Mithril Mine, but he couldn't tolerate the Yorkists taking away his eastern possessions. Otherwise, his realm will be completely isolated, which will cut off Victor's connection with the outside world.

Victor's territory is bordered by the Everglades to the west, the Jinshui River to the south, the Eskeri and Blackcastle to the north, the Buryat Territory to the northeast, and the Chebman Territory to the east. The north, west, and south are all dead ends, and the Buryat family in the northeast once cooperated with the queen to plot against Viktor, and they are hostile to each other. Therefore, Victor wanted to let the Free Folk Merchants go out, and the only choice was to go east, through the territory of Chebman, directly into the sphere of influence of the southern lords of the kingdom, and then east, through the Rand Empire and the El Kingdom, and finally to the United Kingdom of Borui.

Similarly, Victor sought a small territory at the northern end of the Centaur Hill, in addition to monitoring the ant colony and occupying the resources of the mountains, he also had the purpose of using it as a starting point to go all the way north and open up the trade routes of the Kingdom of Duoduo, the Sarsan Empire, and the Duchy of Teuton.

This is Victor's strategic concept of going north and east. The deal with the Chebman family was Victor's first step, and he needed to get on good terms with his neighbors to the east, even if they had stolen his Mithril and Purple Cane.

"Nelson, let's go! clean up the Ant-Man from the territory. ”