"Anatol is about to catch up! Gotta speed up! ”

The second prince shouted at Joshua, "Can you go faster?!" ”

Joshua shook his head: "It's already extremely fast. ”

Bang Dang!

The warship shook violently suddenly, and there was a loud tooth-aching sound on one side, and everyone hurriedly stabilized their figures, ran to the side of the ship to check, and found that a big hole appeared on the side of the ship, and the river water was frantically pouring into the bilge!

"Not good. Oh no! ”

A sailor hurried onto the deck: "The steam compartment is leaking!" ”

Ma Wei's heart sank, without the power of the steam engine, the speed of the huge Dickey warship slowed down many times, and it was difficult to escape Anatol's pursuit in the first place, and it was even more impossible now.

The merfolk sneered underwater, fearing Archbishop Brandon, but they were clever enough to scuttle the cabin so that it would be impossible for the Mavi to escape from Bonaparte's First Empire along the river.

"Made! How can these merfolk be so smart! Levin scolded, "They knew they were going to scuttle the cabin, just like they knew Anatol was chasing us."

As he spoke, Levin's eyes widened and he looked at Ma Wei, and found that Ma Wei was thoughtful, obviously being reminded.

That's right!

Why don't the merfolk wait until they sail to the surface before destroying the warship?

If a warship sinks on the sea, they become lambs to the slaughter

Conversely, sink in an inland river and lose at most one warship!

The mermaid's actions were like knowing Anato's existence

Who sent the information to the Sirens?

"That's what it means."

His eyes narrowed, and Mavi remembered the last thing Maria had said to him, and it dawned on him.

"Nicholas, what do you think we should do?"

In thought, Archbishop Brandon consulted Ma Wei's thoughts, and now there are not many people on the ship who can discuss, the second prince is almost frightened, and Joshua does not know the inside story, and the only one who can really help is Ma Wei.

Ma Wei thought for a moment and said, "Abandon ship." ”

Anatole doesn't know when he will catch up, and since he can't reach the high seas, he might as well make a quick decision and abandon the ship and enter the interior of the empire, so that there is still a chance to escape back to London!

"Abandon ship?" Joshua frowned: "You can't abandon the ship!" I'm the captain of the ship, and I'm going to live and die with the warship! ”

"Are you crazy!"

Hearing Joshua say this, Ma Wei angrily scolded: "It's just a warship, what's the big deal?" As long as there are still people, ten or twenty ships can be built! The ship is dead, the man is alive! What's the use of a boat without people! Ghost ship?! ”

Ma Wei's scolding scared everyone, the second prince and Archbishop Brandon had never seen him get so angry, Joshua was even more scolded silent, his lips squirmed, as if he wanted to say something, but Ma Wei stopped him in time.

"Abandon ship! Hear no! I said abandon ship! ”

Joshua gritted his teeth, his fists clenched, his scars twitched again and again, and he had the heart to resist the order, but when he raised his head and saw Ma Wei's extremely serious eyes, the anger in his heart suddenly leaked.

"Alas!"

Joshua slammed the ship's side: "Abandon ship!! ”

"Abandoned !!"

The sailors passed the captain's orders in turn, and it was not a tradition to live and die with the ship, but at least it was a spirit of sacrifice, but in Ma Wei's view, this fearless spirit of sacrifice was unacceptable, and it was not a moment of human life and death, and someone had to stay and wait for death!

What's more, it is Joshua who wants to live and die with the warship, and if he were someone else, Ma Wei may respect the other party's decision, but as a comrade-in-arms who lives and dies together, Ma Wei will not watch Joshua sink with a ship!

Even if he uses violent means, he will also take Joshua off the ship!

He'd seen too many of his companions dead in the water, and he was afraid that one day when he would look down at the water, he would see Joshua's face again.

After receiving the order to abandon ship, the first mate directly filled the rudder on the left and steered the Dickey to rush to the embankment on the right side, and with a violent vibration, the Dickey warship stopped on the shore.

The boarding board fell, and the sailors quickly disembarked, cut down the bushes, and cleared a clearing.

"We've entered the Upper Normandy district of the Empire, and we're walking through this jungle, not far from the city of Vernon, but there must be a lot of ecclesiastical eyeliner there"

With the map in hand, everyone began to discuss the retreat route, they are located in the northwest of the empire, not far from the Kingdom of Windsor, as long as they go all the way to the northwest, and then cross the Perea Strait, it is the territory of the Kingdom of Windsor.

But the question is, everyone has lost their last means of transportation, and when will they go with only a pair of legs?

"No, you can't go into the city." "The city is full of churches, we have a special appearance, we will be recognized at once, we can't run away if we want to, my advice is to avoid the city, hike through this forest, look for a small village to settle in," Ma Wei said.

"Agreed." Archbishop Brandon said: "First of all, you have to change this outfit because it is too conspicuous, and secondly, you can't have too many people in the group. Colonel Joshua, you and the sailors are here to wait for the Empire to come to the rescue, and they should not embarrass you. ”

"Okay." Joshua nodded: "Is the second prince also going to accompany him?" ”

"I'm definitely going to go!" The second prince hesitated and said, "What if I am caught, and Anatole uses me to threaten Nicholas!" ”

Several eyes focused on the second prince, extremely strange, as if asking him if he was serious about saying this.

"Actually."

Ma Wei said word by word: "Your Highness, it may be better for you and Archbishop Brandon to stay." ”

"Huh?!" The second prince looked shocked: "Nicholas, are you serious?" Without Archbishop Brandon, what would you do if you were in danger? ”

"I still have some means of self-defense." Ma Wei is very tactful, he can't just say that Archbishop Brandon and the second prince are a burden!

If so, Archbishop Brandon must be curious where he got the confidence and how to explain it when the time comes?

"Although the fewer people there are, the lower the risk of exposure, but I have to go along." Archbishop Brandon said: "I am the only one who can use magic, and I need to keep you safe Nicholas, as for Your Highness"

"Archbishop! You don't want me to stay, do you? ”

Glancing at Ma Wei, Archbishop Brandon sighed: "Then Your Highness, you can follow." ”

After deciding who to go with, the conversation returned to the question of route, and Daniel decided that they should head east, detouring from Frederick's kingdom back to Windsor.

Anatole knew that they were going back to the Kingdom of Windsor, and after discovering the stranded warship, they would definitely set up checkpoints on the way they had to go, and only by surprise could they avoid being exposed.

Levin was more secure, and he offered to abandon the Perea, march south of the empire, enter the Roman Republic, and return to London by ship from the Mediterranean, guaranteeing that Anatol would not think of their route.

The direct route to the northwest is the most dangerous, I don't know how many ambushes I will encounter along the way, Daniel's suggestion is more reliable, and it is safest to detour to Frederick's kingdom, but it will take a month to return to London.

The most unreliable is Levin, just listen to his advice, and he can think of it by detouring to the Roman Republic!

If you really want to return to London from the Roman Republic, you will be home at least three months later!

After much deliberation, the Mavey and his men finally decided to synthesize Daniel's and Levin's proposals, first to the south, to avoid the blockade of the northern church, to bypass Paris from the south, and then to the north into the kingdom of Frederick, from where they returned to London.

In this way, although it will take an extra week, the security is greatly improved, and as Levin said, no matter how clever Anatole is, it is impossible to imagine that they will abandon the nearby Perea Strait and go to the south of the empire.

After finalizing the plan and designing the route, the Mavi and his men decided to set off immediately, bringing some food and drinking water necessary for life from the ship, and set out on the road to the south of the empire.

As soon as the Mavi and the others walked on the front foot, Anatole chased after him on the back foot, and just as Joshua led the sailors to try to repair the warship, he suddenly appeared in the crowd, looked at the rank, grabbed Joshua's neck, and asked in a deep voice: "Where is Nicolas von Manstein?" ”

Anyone could hear the anger in Anatol's voice, and Joshua looked at him indifferently, not saying a word.

Anato's eyes froze, and he was about to break Joshua's neck when he heard a sailor shout: "They are not here, they are gone!" ”

"Which direction?"

The sailor raised his hand tremblingly, pointing to the forest on the right, Anatole threw Joshua to the ground, jumped into the air, and looked at the dense jungle in front of him, his eyes flashed with gold, and in an instant, his voice sounded in the minds of all believers.

"Seal the borders, offer a bounty for Nicholas von Manstein, and a heavy reward for anyone who provides clues!"

The church, the Knights of the Holy Silver Cross, and the believers who received Anato's order quickly took action, united with the local police, and set up blockades on the main roads, and the members of the Knights of the Holy Silver Cross even took the photos of the Mavi people to find the newspaper and publish their bounty information, and within two days, the entire empire would know the appearance of the Mavi people.

After giving the order, Anatole did not go directly into the jungle, but waved his arm towards the sky, and in an instant, the stars flickered, several stars lit up, hooking up the falling projection, and small insects with strange lights flashing all over blue appeared beside Anatoer, each one was the size of a fingernail, constantly flashing its wings and making a buzzing sound.

Astral Magic - Star Worms!

He took out a piece of Mavi's worn clothes and threw it to the star worm to sniff it, and Anatole waved his hand: "Go find Nicholas von Manstein!" ”

Buzz.

The starworms scattered and quickly disappeared into the jungle, and Anatol's form vanished with it, fading away like starlight.

Seeing Anatole summon the Star Worm, Joshua was a little anxious, but he had no way to remind Mavi and the others, so he could only pray that they could escape the pursuit and return to London safely.

Paris, Château de la Châteauées.

Maria walked into Napoleon's study in a black gown and whispered, "Your Majesty, the nobles who intend to rebel know that this is a list of rebels found in their homes, many of whom are generals of the army."

Instead of taking the list, Napoleon said to Maria: "Take this list to the military district, burn it in front of all the generals, and tell them that the past is not to blame." ”

Maria smiled, "Yes." ”

"How's going on Nicholas's side? Did he flee Paris? ”

"According to the informant, Nicolas escaped from Paris by boat last night, but this morning the boat they were traveling on ran aground in the river near the city of Vernon, and Anatole had given the order to seal the border and offer a reward for Nicolas."

As he was dealing with government affairs, Napoleon raised his head, frowned, and said, "It seems that Anatol is really in a hurry, he has never crossed me to control the police and army of the empire before."

"Are we going to stop Him?"

"No, let Him go." Napoleon said: "Although this is against Nicholas's personal wishes, I still hope that Anatole will keep Nicholas in Paris, the Reich needs him, and I have given Nicolas a personal letter, and the Reich will not embarrass him." ”

"What about the delegation of the Kingdom of Windsor?" Maria asked, "The priests, witches, and saints who remained in Paris have been imprisoned by Anatole, shall we just watch them?" If we continue to make trouble like this, I am afraid that it will lead to a diplomatic incident. ”

"Anatole shouldn't hurt them, whether Nicholas is captured or escapes back to London, eventually Anatole will send these representatives back and inform the prison side not to treat them as prisoners, so that they can be taken care of."

"Yes." Maria nodded: "One more thing, last night the demons invaded, they used the slums on the south bank of the Seine as a sacrifice, according to incomplete statistics, the death toll has exceeded 12,000."

Putting down his pen, Napoleon walked to the window, looked across the Seine, and did not speak for a long time.

"Your Majesty, on the bright side, at least we don't have to worry about cleaning up the chaos in the slums." Maria smiled, "You've been worrying about this, haven't you?" ”

Napoleon turned his head and looked at Maria calmly: "Why do you think that?" ”

"Am I wrong? You were telling me the other day that you wanted to make the slums disappear. Are you not happy that it is really gone now? ”

"Happy?"

Napoleon's eyes were cold: "Why am I happy?" The poor people are also the people of the empire! Since I am the people of the Empire, I am responsible for them! ”

"Their poverty has nothing to do with themselves! Are they not working hard enough? Aren't they hard enough? It's they who do the work that the upper class spit on and despises! Their efforts have not been duly rewarded, and the empire is worthy of them! I'm ashamed of them! ”

Napoleon, who realized that his emotions were a little out of control, quickly came to his senses, and his voice was flat again: "What I want to do is for them to live a better life, to be able to build their own houses, to own their own property, as long as they live a good life, how can there be slums?" ”

"But now they are dead, they are all dead, and many have died without seeing the empire I promised! I was sad that I didn't even get a full meal."

Napoleon's eyes were slightly red, and he pointed to the hill outside Paris and said, "Bury them on the top of that hill, and I want each of them to have their own separate grave, and each of them has a separate tombstone, I want."

"Let them watch Paris become the center of the world!"

(End of chapter)