Siyuan City.

Today, Siyuan City is in ruins, full of construction sites and busy people rebuilding homes.

When Emperor Marius burned the supplies in the city, coupled with the fighting between the Dreaded Legion and the rebels in the city, the bustling place of the capital became messy, but it also left only one voice in Siyuan City.

The nobles who could run had already run away, and the noble-born councillors of the Senate would not take part in 'barbaric battles' or 'coolie construction', nor would they cut back on food and clothing at the call of Emperor Marius and donate the materials hidden in their homes for centralized supply.

In fact, the original Senate probably no longer exists, and Emperor Marius has reorganized the new Senate Council.

The members of the Senate were all elected from all walks of life, and unlike in the past, the members of the Senate now hold important positions and have made outstanding contributions to the country.

Among them were the old aristocracy, Marius's thinker, the initiator and promoter of reform, and the new imperial treasurer Governor Justus;

General Creon, a newcomer from a commoner background who has been fighting against Serpentarianism and the Red Death;

There is the newly appointed garrison of Siyuan City, General Valerius, who was once the lord of the burned Oraiga Castle, and is now the garrison of Siyuan City, which is leading the construction. He has been leading the inhabitants of Siyuan City to respond to Marius's call, whether it is to withdraw from Siyuan City to organize fortifications or return to Siyuan City to rebuild their homes, Valerius is the leader of the residents and craftsmen.

There is also General Yin Wa Yinluo, who was born as a serf, but successfully defended the port of Dilin. Emperor Marius gave the 'pig general' the official title of general - originally intended to appoint him as the administrator of the Imperial Frontier Port, but the serf general refused the appointment, believing that he did not have the experience and ability to govern, and did not want to cause the people to suffer because of his incompetence, but could lead the army to war as a general.

The four new senators each represented the old Bacchus aristocracy, the new Pander aristocracy, the inhabitants and artisans, and the farmers and serfs.

This is also the vision that Marius has always had in mind.

The Senate should not only be the hand of the emperor who assists the emperor in governing the country, but also the hanging bell that supervises the emperor's behavior on behalf of all strata, but it should never be a battlefield for factional struggles for power and profit.

At this moment, the Senate can't talk about factions, or ...... All of them were Marxists who supported reform, so naturally there would be no serious internal friction.

And the new Senate five seats, the last seat is empty.

This seat is reserved for the spokesmen of the armed forces, that is, representatives of the army.

This is, of course, reserved for Agathon.

Only Agathon would not be objected to, he was born in the Shadow Legion, but at the same time he was a champion of reform, highly accomplished and always on difficult tasks, and was the best person to balance the military's power.

In addition, Brutus was appointed by Emperor Marius as an intelligence officer, an important position in the Bacchus Empire in charge of intelligence spying and surveillance investigations.

But in reality, the real controller of this post is Alina, and Brutus can only be regarded as her deputy at best.

Because those professionally trained spies were originally Justes' subordinates, they only listened to Alina's arrangement. At the same time, Alina is the only one who can get the Shadow Wolves' General Sulla to help her, who will only respond to requests from two people in Bacchus, one is Emperor Marius and the other is Alina, who was entrusted by Emperor Marius to communicate with him during the most dangerous times.

But Alina doesn't have any position at the moment.

Not to give Alina a position, this is Justes's request, he doesn't want his daughter to do intelligence work, because this job is always in contact with the dark side, he is worried that if this position is made public, his daughter will not be able to marry in the future.

In fact, now this child has been refusing to talk about anything related to blind dates, and keeps saying that he will only marry the child of prophecy, but what hell is there a child of prophecy......

But after Alina lost her position, the secrecy of the intelligence service was greatly strengthened.

Alina is now constantly wearing a mask and is so elusive that even Justes doesn't know where she is.

Sometimes she would hide behind the screen in the council chamber, holding a small notebook to provide information to Marius;

But more often than not, it's not Alina behind the screen, it's Elena, Brutus's sister - she looks very similar to Alina, and now she wears exactly the same outfit, and no one can tell if you don't look closely......

Emperor Marius knew that Alina had such a stand-in, but only Marius knew about it.

At this time, the new members of the Senate were holding a small meeting in the chamber.

The huge Blackstone conference table is hollowed out, and a brazier is placed under the table, and the firelight reflects the hollowed-out part of the tabletop, so that the table top presents obvious diagrams and lines.

Those hollowed-out lines and drawings represent the cityscape and roads.

This huge conference table is engraved with a map of the Pander continent.

A black metal piece in the shape of a sword is placed in the Seven Forks Fortress on the map, while another blue-gray piece in the shape of a giant crown helmet is placed in the Fortress of Leila.

"That was the situation three days ago...... Have the men sent to Fortress of Rayla returned? ”

Emperor Marius was placing a red chess piece next to the Seven Forks Fortress and placing another red chess piece with the crown emblem on it in the Lion City.

"Your Majesty, we have made contact with the Phoenix Knights, but according to the Phoenix Knights, it was General Titus who kept them on hold at the Fortress of Rayla...... General Titus claimed to hold on to the fortress of Leila and buy time for the empire with General Agathon, and for this reason he asked His Majesty to transfer money and food to him, and asked him to form a new legion......"

It was the intelligence officer Brutus who reported the situation, and he conveyed the situation with a blank face, and his words were completely unemotional.

"If it were for the sake of the Empire, he should have defended the fort of Sava instead of illegally occupying the territory of Agathon......"

General Creon shook his head, believing that Titus' claims were unreliable.

"I can't say that...... Fortress Rayla is indeed easier to hold than Fort Sava River, and Titus' retreat is understandable, and the fact that he can be stationed at Fortress Rayla to protect the capital means that he does not intend to commit treason. He's just greedy and wants a higher status. But it is dangerous to control the Phoenix Knights to blackmail the Empire into supplying money and food soldiers...... The empire can't give him money and food now! ”

Governor Justus shook his head, and he flipped through the bookbook in front of him.

The empire needs money everywhere, and the money and food for the reconstruction of Siyuan City are not enough, and he, the finance minister, is probably the poorest in the history of the empire, and the treasury really has no money.

"Yin Wa Yinluo, do you have any opinions?"

Seeing that the serf general had not spoken, Ma Luo gave a voice of encouragement.

"Your Majesty, I'm just a pig breeder, and I don't know how to govern the country...... My only opinion is that the land is sacred, and even in the face of a terrible enemy, as a general, he should not give up an inch of land. ”

Yin Wa Yin Luo said softly with some hesitation.

"That's right! Titus abandoned the Sava Fort when he was able to hold on, and only after Agathon's successful assault on the Seven Forks - not only did he abandon his homeland, but he also left Agathon, who was bent on aiding him, into a desperate situation! Maybe this bastard didn't commit treason, but he betrayed the people under his rule! Countless civilians will die as a result of his evacuation, and many more will be left homeless! ”

General Valeus was a little more vehement, obviously he cared more about the life and life of each Bacchus, and it was no wonder that Emperor Marius would make him consul.

"Now is not the time to talk about the charges...... The key is how to free the Phoenix Knights from Titus' control and quickly aid Agathon. Since the Lion King appointed Leon as the marshal, it was obviously for the purpose of invading the Empire, so Agathon would venture into the Seven Forks Fortress alone to buy time for the Empire, but he probably wouldn't last long......"

Justes was clearly thinking a little more practically.

"Sura, do you have a relationship with the people of the Phoenix Knights?"

Emperor Marius asked, turning his head to the shadow in the corner.

The place was dark and looked like no one was there, but General Sula's voice was heard: "No...... Although the Phoenix and the Phantom exist to fight against the Serpent Cult, and I admire them as people, they are noble knights who shine like flames in the light, and we are just wolves hiding in the darkness and not wanting to attract attention......"

This is also true, the Phantom Wolves are all civilians, and they probably don't have much in common with the noble knights of the Phoenix Knights, but they are all on the mission of dealing with the Snake Worship Sect.

"Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen, I just got a new piece of information...... The Seven Forks Fortress has been burned down by General Agathon, and Titus is trying to take Agathon's forces for himself! ”

A pleasant feminine voice came from behind the screen.

It was Alina's voice, and everyone at the conference table turned their heads.

Alina hurried out, covered in dust, and handed a letter to Emperor Marius.

"Agathon...... Is he alive? ”

Emperor Marius frowned, and instead of asking Titus what he had done, he was more concerned about Agathon's life and death.

"Alive, I saw him. However, General Agathon is now wounded, and he has been held in the fortress of Leila by General Titus. Titus was currently forcing General Agathon's forces to pledge allegiance to him...... Fortunately, I brought back this letter, and General Agathon said that it was written to you by Count Leon. ”

Alina gestured to the fire-lacquered parchment in Marius's hand.

"Alas...... The enemies of the empire always come from within...... It's ridiculous that the external enemy is thinking about the empire instead......"

After reading the letter, Emperor Marius looked down at the map on the table and sighed deeply.

"Everyone, prepare for battle with your troops, and gather all the armies of the empire between Siyuan City and Layla Fortress...... I personally went to Titus to 'provide soldiers and horses, money, and food'......"

After only squinting and thinking about it for a few seconds, Emperor Marius made a decision.

"Your Majesty, if all the troops are mobilized now, then the eastern region ...... Whatever? The Lion King made Leon the marshal, apparently with the intention of allowing Leon to lead a large army into the country from Karen Deer Castle......"

General Creon was somewhat incomprehensible.

"Agathon's return is a covenant, and Leon intends to do business with me, and he will not fight the idea of the eastern region...... Of course, this business had to be bargained, and I had to talk to him in person. Alina, send a reply to Leon, I'll meet him at Layla Fortress, and Titus's business is just a matter of incident......"

Emperor Marius shook his head, and a hint of ridicule appeared in his eyes: "However, Titus is a Grey Descendant after all, I have to give His Majesty Manius of the Grey Empire a little face, I plan to make him a glorious Phoenix Knight......"

……

Fortress of Leila.

General Titus was in a frenzied rage when he was forcibly led out of the fortress and headed east by a group of Phoenix Knights.

He felt betrayed.

Betrayed by Emperor Marius, betrayed by the Imperial Senate, and betrayed by the Knights of the Phoenix......

Because the Phoenix Knights ignored his order and prepared to go to Karen Deer Castle with all their members, and they also forcibly carried themselves together......

The reason why the Phoenix Knights went to Karen Deer Fort was because the current lord of Karen Deer Castle, Count Leon, had destroyed the Serpent Cult army and created a vaccine to suppress the Red Death. This was confirmed by all the leading figures of Bacchus, including Emperor Marius, and the Count of Leon even told them on the spot how the vaccine was made and how it was administered.

The Phoenix Knights originally came to deal with the Snake Cult, no matter which country's lord, whoever can deal with the Snake Cult will be their allies - they are from the Grey Descent Empire on the Amara Continent, and they didn't want to participate in the struggle between the countries of the Pander Continent, especially not to participate in the struggle for power.

Therefore, the Phoenix Knights plan to go to Karen Deer Fort and Marasburg to build separate auditoriums to ensure that the Serpent Cult will not reviralize.

Not only that, but Emperor Marius also took the initiative to let Titus join the Order of the Phoenix and become a new Phoenix Knight.

This is the first time that the Phoenix Knights, passed down from father to son, have recruited outsiders in the face of Emperor Marius, which is of course an honor, and it looks as if Emperor Marius is praising Titus.

The problem was that Emperor Marius had withdrawn Titus as a liaison to the Grey Empire, and he was no longer an emissary on behalf of the Emperor......

When Titus' mission was over, this emissary status would of course be withdrawn, and Emperor Marius even gave Titus a larger territory as a reward for successfully completing the mission - all the lands around the Sava Fort, including the villages and towns of Emilyn and Laiwulun, were considered Titus's territory.

But here's the problem...... These territories are not currently part of the Bacchus Empire - Leon's army has advanced south of Fort Sava River, and all of them are under Leon's control.

And, judging by Leon's appearance, he probably won't give it back to Titus......

In this way, Titus himself is just an empty general, and after losing his status as an emissary, he can no longer control the Phoenix Knights - he is now equivalent to a newcomer who has just joined the Phoenix Knights, and the Knights have their own organization and rank, and newcomers like Titus naturally will not have any authority.

The guys in the Grey Empire are all brainless, they only have muscles in their heads, only blood and fire!

Except for me......

Bacchus are not all good things either, all xenophobic!

Emperor Marius was even more treacherous! They say they don't treat everyone equally, but in fact they never trust me!

And that Leon...... A young man, lucky enough to win a few battles, what does he know?

Sooner or later I'll get Fort Sava back! And you have to add Karen Deer Castle......

Titus thought angrily.