Although located in the middle of Central Avenue, City Hall, which faces Huaiguang Church, is nominally the military and political center of Port Harrison.

But in reality, it is the Viscount of Grant that is the true heart of the city.

A middle-aged man with a serious face came to the Viscount's Palace, and after handing over the double sword and a handcuff he carried at his waist, he arrived at the conference room on the second floor under the guidance of his servants.

The gray-haired, lightweight man in leather armor had a dignified appearance, but his face had been weathered, with an inconspicuous scar running through his right eye and down to the corner of his mouth.

Harrison's City Guard and Sheriff, Sir Arm was the apprentice of the knights under the old Viscount Grant, and the teacher was shot to death by the stinger of the totem spirit in order to protect the old Viscount in the battle with the natives, and he grew up with the current Viscount Grant, and became an ascendant with the support of the Viscount.

The two sides are not only master and slave, but also childhood friends, and life and death comrades who have fought together.

When Yamm entered the conference room, he found himself the last to arrive, Viscount Grant himself, Viscount's staff and treasurer Lamar were already sitting in their seats, talking about the details of how to provide relief and remediate the people of the surrounding villages after the natives attack.

And Pudde, the elder of the White People, and Imur, the head of the Harrison Port Chamber of Commerce Alliance, were pointing at the map of Southridge hanging on the wall, not knowing what they were talking about.

The spacious hall was filled with fresh and refreshing incense, an expensive spice that was not actually energizing, but rather to banish mosquitoes and suppress the plague, and to dispel the shamanic spells of the natives and the curses of the spirits.

Including himself, these five people are the five most powerful people in Port Harrison today.

And the real core is the Viscount.

"Yam, you're here?"

Seeing the arrival of his right-hand man and his friend, Viscount Grant, who had always kept his face calm, had a slightly soothing expression.

He stood up and beckoned the knight to sit down: "What the hell is going on?" Let's talk about it. ”

"It has to do with pure sacrifice."

Yam didn't sit down, Viscount Grant didn't care, but as a courteous knight, he wouldn't relax until he finished reporting the information.

He came to the conference table and reported one by one, "Thanks to Elder Pudde's capture, the information he told and the information of our informants corroborate each other—this attack was mainly for the purpose of plundering the population, and a large number of women and children were taken captive and sent to the redwood forest marsh next to Elephant Bone Mountain. ”

"In normal times, the pure sacrifice of the natives only needs a dozen people, and the large ones only need thirty-two people, and their own internal strife is enough to make it up. But this time the scale of the pure sacrifice was unusually large, and it is roughly estimated that more than 150 people were taken captive, and 110 people were killed in the village of Anpu, near the brown elm forest, half of whom were killed, half of whom were taken captive, and the village had been wiped out. ”

"These people can't be saved, and by the time the informant reported it, the natives had killed them all, and their bones were thrown into the swamp."

Sir Arm's tone was dry and unemotional, but everyone, including Viscount Grant, had a slight change in expression, apparently shocked by the news.

"Sure enough!"

In addition to anger, there is also a trace of shame, Viscount Grant is indeed not a person who loves the people like a son, but at least he still has a sense of honor and disgrace, he feels like he has been slapped hard by the natives, and he is a little incredulous: "But if they want to wake up the mountain lord, they don't need to kill so many people at all!" ”

"Don't they understand, killing so many Imperial people, even if I don't want to fight, I must take the same revenge!"

"They don't want to fight either."

Sir Yam said, taking out a rather thick brown elm leaf from his bosom and handing it to Viscount Grant: "The twelve tribes who are inclined to us say that they knew nothing about it until the Great Shaman issued the summoning order—the natives also felt very sudden and unbelievable, even very disgusted, by this operation, because they had become accustomed to the goods, tools, and refined salt we were selling, and could not bear the interruption of trade. ”

"But the Great Shaman's command is absolute."

"Why don't you die when you're old?"

Scolding in a low voice, Viscount Grant took the aborigine's leaf paper letterhead, and he couldn't help frowning as he read the contents: "All the shamans gathered in the Elephant Bone Mountain? The sea of trees is making noise? Are they going to start a full-scale war? No, it's just that the shamans have gathered, and the chieftains haven't been summoned yet......"

"It seems to be a ritual."

The viscount raised his head and wondered, "That old monster has been sleeping for more than forty years, and it is indeed healing from its injuries...... But didn't it briefly awaken once eight years ago to protect the natives in the midst of a storm? Its injuries must have worsened again. ”

"This may be the reason why the number of people required for this pure sacrifice is so large."

Yamm offered a possibility, and the viscount fell into deep thought: "Could it be that the old immortal wants to awaken the mountain lord at the same time...... Take it a step further? ”

The Lord of the Mountain, also known as the Spirit of the Mountain Tide, along with the Spirit of the Rising Tide, the Spirit of the Drum Wave and the Spirit of the Sea of Trees, is one of the several large totem spirits that the redwood natives mainly worship.

Of course, from the perspective of the Imperials, these totem spirits are just some rare wisdom monsters, the weak ones are only the first energy level, and the powerful ones are only the second energy level, which is not very rare, at most because they have wisdom and can communicate with humans, so they are more difficult.

But it's different from a normal totem spirit.

With the title of 'Mountain Lord', the totem master monster worshiped by the natives is far superior to its peers of the same level.

Not only are they cunning and difficult, but they also have a long lifespan, strong vitality, and even great potential, they can advance to the third energy level and become the 'alien monsters' and 'nest masters' that are wreaking havoc and difficult for even the army to exterminate.

The reason why Viscount Grant was pondering was to think about this dangerous possibility.

The mountain lord and several other totem spirits were defeated by his father, the old viscount who led the Imperial immigration group to open up the area and establish Port Harrison, led a group of knights, and even killed one of them desperately.

The Spirit of the Mountain Tide was almost killed, and if it weren't for the natives' frantic use of human lives, the monsters in the swamp wouldn't even have had a chance to escape back into the swamp to sleep.

But that doesn't mean that the other side is weak - both the old viscount and Sir Yam's teacher were badly injured in that battle, the former was an elite knight at the peak of the second level, and he died five years after the battle, and the latter was even more poisoned and died when he returned to the city.

"Want to use human lives to reach the third energy level? Think beautifully. ”

Thinking of his father's old appearance when he entrusted Harrison Port to him, Viscount Grant sneered, looked up and said to the knight: "Yam, prepare the escort and alchemy cannon tomorrow, and let those cooperative tribes dodge." ”

"And the day after tomorrow, I'm going to see all the outlying tribes of the natives burned to ashes - all the way to the foot of Elephant Bone Mountain!"

After Yamm nodded, Viscount Grant turned back and looked at Lamar, the treasurer on the other side: "How about it, can the port's finances support it?" ”

"Salaries and pensions are in the budget." The young treasurer, with crimson medium and long hair and a soft face, held the document in his arms, lowered his head and said softly, seemingly a little shy: "It's the consumption of alchemy artillery...... The gap is a bit big, and because pancrystalline sand and gunpowder dust are strategic materials, the control of the imperial capital is relatively heavy...... Before the arrival of the imperial capital's aid, it could not last for a few days. ”

His eyes were red, and he gave a peculiar sense of enthusiasm, and he was quite gentle, but no one underestimated him, but listened attentively to what the young man had to say.

"I'll leave the gap to you."

Imur of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance is a sturdy and slightly chubby man, with an empty head and a big beard, after hearing Lamar's words, he stood up extremely skillfully, patted his chest and wrapped up this consumption: "Only by attacking the natives can there be a smooth trade route, they dare to destroy the village this time, what will they dare to do next time, I can't even think of it!" ”

"I'll take care of it." Elder Pude was also familiar with the conversation: "It is the rainy season, the shells should be kept dry, and the loading agent can also add a little more accelerant, so that the forest can burn in the rain." ”

The alchemy cannon is a product modified by Elder Pud with dwarven technology, and it can play different effects depending on the alchemy potion loaded, which is also the real main work of the White People in Port Harrison.

"So be it." Viscount Grant was quite satisfied.

All the people present, except for Lamar, who has only joined in the last ten years, are all old partners who have worked with each other for more than 30 years, although they are not so of the same mind, but they wear the same pants when facing the natives.

Next, everyone discussed the specific details for a while, and the deployment of materials and the supply lines for the next operation needed to be determined in advance.

This time they were not a surprise attack, but a strong attack when the natives were on guard, so they naturally needed to be prepared.

Once the process was finalized, the meeting ended and everyone left in turn, ready to do their work.

However, as Elder Pude was about to leave, he was stopped by Viscount Grant.