For the inhabitants of the city of Seren, the boundaries of the concept of life have been blurred.

Patience, perseverance, and hardship in fear.

That's what they're aiming for now.

In the past, they would take to the streets every morning, rush to their places of work to the crisp voices of the newsboys, and start a new round of work, but now they often dare not leave their hideouts until the sun comes out.

In order to avoid that weird, silty monster attacking through the sewer pipes, many people have tried to block the pipes in their homes, preferring to dump filth like city dwellers did a long, long time ago rather than touch a place like a bathhouse.

No one wants to die in the most desperate and humiliating way when solving a physical problem.

After all, this has happened many, many times.

Seeing one's friends, relatives or neighbors wrapped in that terrible monster, melted, devoured, and completely fused with those dark pus and gelatin, it will not take two days for these people who were once devoured to "revisit the old place".

One can see these inhuman dark shadows, following the habits of the deceased, taking to the streets and even into the buildings, like balls rolling on the slope, rolling downwards with the irresistible inertia.

This scene continues to shock all the survivors in the city of Seren.

If the scarcity of living resources can still be overcome by taking risks, then this tragic ending seriously hurts ordinary people's perception of the world and their simple belief in gods.

There is no one force to help them.

The Legislature can't do it, neither can Wattle and Teresa, and the gods they believe in don't say anything.

In an old apartment, a young man with curly tan hair sat by the window, quietly peering out into the street and the sky that was already shining a little.

He has a wound on his face, from a conflict with the Tricolor Brotherhood before the Celestial Revolution.

As the leader of the Seren Commoners in the past, he is now extremely confused - there are no more Commoners, no Tricolor Brotherhood, and in the atmosphere of increasing war, this once peaceful city has been completely reduced to an insignificant background, and sometimes he even has the luxury of hoping that someone will be able to shoot two more crystallized cannonballs at the city.

In his opinion, even an explosion with a strong sense of malice was stronger than the dead silence that filled the city.

Even if the artillery fire itself was meant to be destructive, it at least meant that there were still people who remembered it.

"Newspapers! Newspapers!"

On the streets, the shadows of those children still linger.

They had all been helped by the Mutual Aid Group in the past, but when disaster struck, these children who had no ability to protect themselves were the first to be victimized, and the muffled voices coming from the black figures were heartbreaking, but helpless.

Little by little, the light brightened, and the black figures walking in the streets began to change according to the custom, they gathered at the cracks in the ground that connected to the underground waterways, and the original humanoid bodies began to quickly "melt" and merge with their own kind, and after a few moments, these pools of black "silt" flowed down the gaps towards the ground, and in the process, the piercing hum that terrified the entire city of Salem resounded.

That's the monster's habits right now.

Hearing this sound, everyone in the city will breathe a sigh of relief, which means that they have successfully survived another day, and for the next day, this monster will most likely remain silent underground, and this will be an opportunity for everyone to obtain supplies and find a new way out for themselves and their families.

The young man also clenched his fists, and he could feel the coldness of his palm.

Every trip is a must for them

Huge risk, but he didn't back down.

He stood up, put on his old heavy trench coat, grabbed his empty bag and the dagger and crystallized gun he had found in a certain alchemy shop, counted the remaining ammunition, and walked in the direction of the door.

In the room, several children who had lost their parents were huddled together and asleep, and one of the older girls was sitting there in a daze, not speaking, but quietly watching the young man push open the door and eventually disappear from her vision.

On this silent winter morning, all the survivors who still survived the city of Salem instinctively began to look to the sky.

Perhaps because of the seasons and weather, the sun has been rising later and later late.

However, by the faint light of the sky, the people of the city of Salem could already see the artillery observation balloons that had regained their flight after the great earthquake in the distant sky.

These balloons are suspended in the air on the east and west sides, and they are of different shapes, with images of the giant eagle of the plateau and the iris of Teresa.

"Where is our hope?"

They silently asked questions into the cold air.

However, no one could answer them, and the observation balloons that flew in the air were just silent eyes.

In the midst of a new day in Bolden, there was talk of a new round of shelling in the early hours of the morning.

Only this time, the shelling was no longer one-sided, but carried out simultaneously by both camps.

The target of the bombardment was not the poor city of Selen, as it was completely meaningless, and through the forcible mediation of Merlinle and the Judicial Council, as well as several neutral Abyssal Mage Towers, the Kingdom of Wattel and the Kingdom of Deran had tacitly put the city and the assassination that took place in it behind them.

Now, with the exception of the occasional mention of the assassination in the Borden daily newspaper and some of Prince Havid's supporters, people have gradually begun to lose their attention to it.

Hug flipped through the latest newspaper as he shoved the last half of the bread into his mouth.

He pointed to the explosions on the plains east of the jagged hills in the magic photos on the front page, and asked Duden, a guard standing nearby, "What is this?" Ceremonial shelling?"

"Yes, even though it's like this now, people still follow some traditions."

Duden nodded in response, but there was pride on his face: "Heh, the crystallized cannon used by the Plainsmen is probably still an old style, and the range is not comparable to ours at all...... I guess the artillerymen must have been tempted to hit their positions with shells, rather than play this formal trick with them."

Shuge nodded in agreement.

The so-called ceremonial artillery bombardment is a kind of conventional "ritual of war" formed by the two countries in the time after the appearance of the crystallized cannon, the crystallized cannon is fired, and the cannonball is fired at the designated place, one is used to inform the other party that it has the determination to fight, the second is to give the other side a threat and warning, and the third is based on aristocratic etiquette, showing its fair and honest battlefield attitude, and will not launch a sneak attack or carry out large-scale artillery bombardment against the enemy's camp.

Xiuge had a hunch that this would be the last time that "ritual shelling" would appear on a frontal battlefield.

When he was still in the Ernst Manor Hotel, he had listened to some young aristocratic officers talk about it in the hotel restaurant, and they were very confident in the new weapons that had begun to be mass-produced, and it can also be seen from the previous incident of the Wattle artillerymen shelling the city of Salem directly from the front of the rugged hills, these new weapons may indeed be inferior to the pure magic crystallization cannon in terms of artillery power, but they are extremely exaggerated in terms of range and accuracy, and the cost is relatively low. Capable of direct mass production of new types of ammunition......

"If the Mage Council on the plateau can provide some supporting battlefield magic or secret rituals in time, then this advantage will definitely be further expanded, and at that time, I am afraid that no one will really cooperate with the enemy to play this kind of trick."

Xiuge silently made a conclusion in his mind.

Just before he was right

When he opened his mouth to ask Duden about the Fifth Chasseur and Major Alfred, a figure appeared in the dining room under the guidance of a servant.

It was none other than the pale, haggard-looking Verin.

Her very typical appearance of staying up late and working overtime reminded Xiuge of his past, so he hurriedly beckoned Wei Lin to sit down, picked up the teapot and found that it contained a strong refreshing drink, so he hurriedly asked the maid to bring a cup of soothing herbal tea.

"Miss Verin, what's the matter with you? Didn't the housekeeper of the manor arrange a place for you to live?"

Out of concern for his friend, Hug asked, "And I remember, didn't your meeting end in the middle of the night last night?"

"The Great Council is over."

Wei Lin's gaze was a little wandering, and her voice was a little hoarse, she took the herbal tea from the servant's hand, took a slow sip, and then said, "But after a big meeting, there are often many small meetings...... There was no agreement among the top management of the council on the association, and the attitude of both sides was too fierce, so the debate continued until now...... It's just that they set the meeting place at my house."

"Oh."

Xiuge glanced at the other party sympathetically.

Rao is himself has long been numb to overtime in the past, but he has indeed not experienced the scene where "colleagues" are all meeting in his residence, not to mention that there are probably some "leaders" with old qualifications, which must be a double torture of physical and psychological.

The herbal tea in Ernst Manor is of excellent quality, probably to maximize its effectiveness, and even a little potion is added to it, so after only two sips, Viline's appearance and state have been slightly improved.

"So, Miss Verin gave them her place?"

"What are you thinking?"

Wei Lin raised her eyebrows, and a strange look flashed in her eyes behind her glasses, "I came to you for two things...... I heard from the housekeeper of the manor, "Mr. Schugg, you have already obtained the Poem of the Night?"

"Yes, I looked through it a little bit after I got it last night."

"What do you think?"

As soon as she said "Poems of the Night", energy came out of thin air from Wei Lin's body, her face was still a little pale, but the moment she asked the question, the whole person's temperament had changed, which made the guard Duden, who was standing quietly beside Xiuge, couldn't help but shudder.

He had heard before that the female mages in the legal committee were not normal people, and no matter what they looked like, they should not be provoked.

He was now convinced of this, and in his heart he felt sympathy for Xiuge.

"Read it, but it's better not to read it."

Accustomed to Vilin's exuberance in the face of academic problems, Shug shrugged his shoulders calmly, "I really can't tell if it really hides some magical secrets, but I'm sure that the mad poet Azifu must have been very average in literature."

A hint of disdain flashed across Wei Lin's face, "Mr. Shugg, you're not going to compare it to what you've written, are you?"

Hugg shrugged his shoulders, after all, his loyal readers were standing beside him, and their presence proved that his literary works were special and did not need much debate.

"Miss Viline, you can have some breakfast here, and I'll give you the original manuscript of the Poem of the Night in a moment...... Also, what's the second thing you're talking about?"

"The scale of conscription has expanded, and it is likely that there will be a national mobilization next."

Wei Lin nodded lightly to the maid who brought her food, and then summoned her mage's hand, controlling it to spread jam on her bread and said, "It's just that this round of mobilization is mainly aimed at two groups of people...... The first is an adult member of the nobility who meets the requirements."

"Members of the nobility? Is this a preparation to replenish the rank and file officers?"

"Probably...... The promotion of new ordnance and equipment has created many vacancies that did not exist in the past, and these positions cannot be filled by ordinary soldiers

A young nobleman who has been educated as an elite family is the best candidate at the moment."

Verin took the bread from the mage's hand and continued, "Two, it's mainly aimed at spellcasters, healers, and alchemists."

"Haven't you been doing this before?"

"That can only mean that the previous strength was not enough."

Wei Lin swallowed a mouthful of bread slowly, stared at Xiuge and said, "Judging from the reaction of the council mages, I am afraid that this order came a little suddenly, maybe the kingdom will have some other plans and arrangements for the enlisted spellcasters...... The reason I am telling you this, Mr. Schugg, is because our identities meet both of these requirements." z.br>

She picked up her teacup, "I'm afraid there won't be much time to settle down, be prepared to be transferred to the front line at any time."