On the roof of the hotel, more than 50 imperial mages each carried a small bench and arranged them in five horizontal and five columns. As a temporary combat command post, this place has a wide field of vision, fresh air, and is farthest away from the sit-down kobold people below, which is relatively quiet. Sometimes they also let the owl pull on the kobold's head, which is also a little emotion of the Empire.

The owl operation has been going on for a day, and at 6 p.m. the sun is setting. The reconnaissance commander also began to report the day's battle situation to Van Mill: "More than 2,600 birds of all kinds have been cleaned up nearby, and the area around the main city is basically clean, of course, it is only a rough cleanup at present, and the animals also have instincts, and they will hide if they feel wrong, hiding in the bushes and hiding in the holes." If you want to clean it all up, you have to search carefully and repeatedly. ”

"Didn't you meet with strong resistance?" Van Mill asked.

"No, it's easy to kill. The head of the reconnaissance group replied.

"That means the bird that should have been caught hasn't been caught yet. Van Meer was slightly regretful.

"Is the bird on the other side really so strong?" the reconnaissance leader had not seen it with his own eyes, but he was still skeptical, "We owls travel, all three for a team, and there is not too much difference between the squads, and they are coordinated and well-trained. Even if you do, you may be killed instantly. ”

"When we were besieging the kobold princess that day, our two owls attacked her with continuous wind blades, but she still escaped," Van Mill replied, "and it would not be so easy to solve if you really ran into that crow." ”

"Didn't you let it go on purpose? Did you really not leave your hands behind?" the reconnaissance commander still didn't quite believe it.

"How so?" replied Van Memeer, "and those two owls are not my men, they are Bradley's retinue Robles, how can they keep their hands?"

"Maybe it's because I'm worried that I really killed the crow, and if there is any problem with the relationship with Lou Baole, I will make a warning, right?"

Van Meer fell silent, but could not completely deny the situation, although he thought it was unlikely.

"It's almost night, do you want to continue cleaning up?" asked the head of the reconnaissance group.

"There's no need to clean up, hold the cleared airspace to prevent them from slipping away at night. Van Maier replied, "You can rest in batches, mainly around their embassy." ”

"Yes," replied the head of the reconnaissance regiment, "but is it useful? We can't go into the house and search it, so what can we gain?"

"Even if we can't catch crows and parrots, we control the entire airspace, which is equivalent to cutting off their communications and reconnaissance, which is very beneficial to us in wartime. Van Meer replied.

"But no matter how many owls there are, they can't recognize any brave quilts," replied the head of the reconnaissance group, "what's the use of not catching people?"

"It is not difficult for us to re-prop up the agents," Van Mill replied, "as long as the communication and information are all in our hands, if the quilt brave jumps out, then we will kill them, and if we don't, then it will be a matter of time before the agents take control of this place." ”

The head of the reconnaissance group nodded: "This seems to be feasible, but how to ensure that the newly supported agent is really our person? Could it be directly the other party's undercover agent?"

Van Mill sneered: "If it was a dead person, then there would be no other problems." ”

The reconnaissance leader was stunned for a moment, and then didn't say anything more.

As it got dark, the 50 mages were divided into five teams, with 10 people changing shifts, ready to stay on duty all night. Van Mill and the new reconnaissance captain sat on the roof of the building, looking up at the sky boredly.

"The crow is pitch black, will it not be easy to spot in the dark?" asked Van Mill.

"Don't worry," replied the Recon Chief, "the owl has excellent night vision, and is itself a nocturnal animal, but it is not as strong during the day as it is at night. ”

"Report!" a mage suddenly stood up, "Target!

"Catch up!" the reconnaissance commander immediately ordered!

"I'm chasing at the moment!" replied the mage, "but it's really ......."

"Can you be faster than your owl?" the Scout Leader was a little unconvinced. But if the opponent's speed is really above the owl, it will be difficult to intercept. The air is not like the ground, the space is very large, and the ground is surrounded by a circle, and if you want to encircle in the air, you must enclose a ball. But at this time, at night, the mage was already on duty, and there were only three or five owls scattered around, and it was impossible to surround them.

"I'll go!" Van Miel waved his hand, and the snake dragon landed on the roof. Prepare to pull up the mage who found it and go to capture it yourself. No matter how fast the crow is, it will not be able to surpass the speed of the snake dragon.

"Wait, it's landing!" replied the mage.

"Whether he lands or not, I'll go myself!" Van Mill turned over and climbed onto the snake dragon.

The head of the reconnaissance group on the side was extremely surprised: "As for it, a crow wants you to take action personally?"

Van Mill ignored it and tried to pull the discovered mage, but saw that the mage did not move, but looked at their reconnaissance leader. The head of the reconnaissance group stood still, apparently not happy with Van Mill commanding his men.

"What do you mean?" Van Mill was annoyed.

The head of the reconnaissance group also ignored him, turned his head and ordered: "Emergency, wake everyone up, and send the owl to the east of the city gate." ”

Van Maier was so angry that he had nothing to say, without intelligence reconnaissance, he himself was useless in the past.

The head of the reconnaissance team smiled: "Brother, the dignified leader of the dragoons, go and catch a crow in person, and he is not afraid of being laughed at." ”

"Humph!" Van Mill had nothing to say. On the surface, the head of the reconnaissance regiment obeyed Van Meer's command, but in fact he only obeyed Bradley, and he was not afraid of Van Meer in terms of seniority, official position, and beating, and naturally he did not need to listen to him in everything.

As he spoke, there was already a rush of footsteps downstairs, and the mages who had just fallen asleep had all gathered urgently. The new reconnaissance leader immediately ordered: "Are you ready? Who is in charge during the day? Call for pursuit!"

"Yes!" several mages immediately took the order, closed their eyes, and began to cast spells.

The head of the reconnaissance group turned around and explained: "The owl has finished its reconnaissance during the day, but it is just resting in place. He didn't summon it back, he just had to summon the owls nearby. ”

Van Mill just nodded on the side, not saying a word.

"Report! It's confirmed to be a crow! It's gone into the woods," a mage reported, "the woods are surrounded by us. ”

"Then what are you still doing in a daze? Go in and search!" the reconnaissance leader waved his hand, as if he was already waiting for the good news of victory.

As a result, after a long wait, no one responded.

"What's the matter? How big is this wood?" the reconnaissance leader was surprised, he had just arrived, and he was not very familiar with the map.

"The forest is not big, about a circle with a radius of about three hundred meters. Someone replied.

"With such a small range, how can you search for so long and not be able to find it?" the reconnaissance leader frowned, "Are you sure he didn't escape?"

"Absolutely not!" another group of mages responded, "We have already made a guard in the air, and the owl's night vision and hearing are top-notch, and there is no way for the other party to escape." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a mage suddenly shouted, "The crow has appeared!"

Immediately after: "The crow has broken through!"

"Chase me!" shouted the reconnaissance chief.

It is indeed quite difficult to arrange an encirclement in the air, especially in the case of the same speed, although there is a warning in the air, but you can only watch the other party break through.

"Aren't your owls capable of long-range spells like Wind Blades?" Van Mill said nonchalantly.

"You ...... Isn't it a bit more demanding?" the head of the reconnaissance group also changed slightly.

"Report, the crow has landed again! another grove!" a mage said suddenly.

"Surround it, go in and search!"

Then he waited for a while, and one of the mages shouted, "Ah, the crow has appeared!"

"The crows have broken through!"

"What are you eating, chase me!" the reconnaissance commander scolded.

Van Mill on the side: "......"

"The crow has landed in the woods again!"

"Surround it, search it again!" roared the reconnaissance chief.

After a moment, the mage spoke, "Raven...... Ran away again!"

And the next few lines began to repeat, the crow fled, went into the woods, and the crow ran away again......

Fan Mill sneered secretly on the side, and the head of the reconnaissance group was so angry that he couldn't help but open his mouth to curse: "What are you doing? More than 50 reconnaissance mages, more than 500 owls, are you being teased by a crow?"

No one spoke, and when the chief lectured, it was naturally quiet underneath.

"Why can't you find the crow immediately after chasing the crow into the woods? Are you blind?" the reconnaissance commander scolded.

A mage said awkwardly, "But I really can't find it." ”

On the side, Van Mill finally spoke: "If you don't find it again next time, I'll go over." ”

The reconnaissance leader thought about it, but still shook his head: "No need, I'll come in person!" As he spoke, he directly summoned his summoned beast, an owl with golden feathers all over his body.

"Oh, is this owl all gilded?" Van Mill teased.

"It's not gilding, it's the latest technology of the Empire," the Recon Commander said, looking around, "I won't explain much about this kind of place, you dragoons won't need it anyway." ”

"Isn't the golden owl's target a little too obvious?" Van Mill asked again.

"New technology," replied the Recon Chief, "is still in the testing phase, and if it works well, then the color problem is the easiest to solve." ”

As he spoke, the golden owl had turned into a golden light and disappeared into the night sky in the blink of an eye. Not to mention anything else, it's really amazing to look at the speed.

Sadly, there was no news of the crows tonight. When the crow entered a certain wood, it disappeared completely, as if it had melted into the night and into the woods. In the second half of the night, all the owls went to the woods and rummaged through them a dozen times, and the insects were all gone, but there were no crows.

A group of mages didn't sleep all night, and a group of people deduced all kinds of possible scenarios. Summoned away, teleported away, buried in a cave, but whether summoned or teleported, there will be spell fluctuations, and there is no hole here. The search is almost turning over the land.

Finally, at dawn, Van Maier could not bear it anymore, and ordered his dragoon troops to go over and burn the forest clean with a fire.

The fire was raging, the smoke was billowing, and the owls were circling around the side, and if the crows were still in the woods, they would not be able to stand it and would escape, but until the trees were burned to ashes, nothing came out.

"Close, the crows have been burned to death. "The head of the reconnaissance group directly announced the results.

At the sound of the order, the owl rested nearby, the mage went back to catch up on sleep, and the people who were sitting outside woke up on time, occasionally shouting slogans, and occasionally someone stood up to give a speech. It's just that the people of the empire are so tired that they can't even get upset for a while.

"Ah...... Yes...... Ah......h

Everyone subconsciously looked up, and saw the crow leisurely passing the people who were meditating, bypassing the imperial people on the roof, and flying back to the embassy of Lou Baole in an arc.

Everyone: "......"

The mages who were originally going to sleep looked back at the reconnaissance leader, but the reconnaissance leader's face was not good, and he didn't say a word for a long time.

On the side, Van Memeer spoke: "Since the crow is not dead, your reconnaissance patrol will definitely continue." ”

"I know," the reconnaissance leader waved his hand impatiently, "you guys, take shifts during the day. Others hurried to rest. ”

"Yes!" everyone reluctantly agreed.

Van Maier reluctantly reminded: "In addition to crows, they also have parrots. They are all wise, and they all need to be vigilant. ”

"I see!" the head of the reconnaissance group was impatient.

After a long silence, Van Maier finally remembered something: "Every time I lose my trace in the woods, could it be because of the wood spell?"

The reconnaissance leader thought for a moment: "There are no spellcasters around, and if the elves can control it remotely in the embassy, it would be too detailed. ”

"Perhaps, the crow itself is the caster?" Van Mill couldn't help but guess.

"Isn't that too much of an exaggeration?" the Recon Leader shook his head, "We didn't see the forest burned in the end, and if it was a wood-based spell to hide, then ...... Unless you hide underground. ”

"Did you know that there's a wood-based spell called the Hollow Tree?" Van Mill reminded, "and it was originally made hollow to thicken the trunk while saving as much mana as possible. After that, the hollow trunk was used for various other purposes. ”

"You mean the tree hole?" the Scout Leader frowned, "the crow hides in the tree hole that has been prepared for a long time, and the tree hole must be connected to the root system, or even the entire tree root system. Crows can easily walk underground. ”

The two of you and I have analyzed the approximate situation. Van Mill replied: "The Dark Elves have been quietly arranged in the vicinity, ostensibly a tree, but no one will look at its root system. ”

"It's all on fire!" the reconnaissance commander was also uncomfortable.

"It's useless to burn it alone," Van Mill also knew the problem, "as long as the roots are still there, they will continue to grow when burned." ”

The two of them were silent for a while, and the reconnaissance leader couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive when he recalled at this time: "If they really used the wood spell, then this time they could have caused a lot of casualties to the owl." But they didn't do it......"

"It's a warning," Van Memeer figured it out at this point, "maybe they don't want to provoke us completely, but they must also let us know that if we continue like this, we will also suffer the consequences." ”

"The crow is here again!" Suddenly, a mage shouted again.

This time, the reconnaissance leader didn't speak, but even if he didn't speak, his men had already begun to pursue automatically.

"Ah, it went into the grove. ”

"We're searching with all our might. ”

"Ah, it ran away!"

"Ahh......h