In the ruined capital, in the new governing hall of the Red Pavilion, Buxiao is standing in front of a cobra. I heard that he had been standing and staring at the cobra for almost a morning, which also caused the old ministers of the Wild Sand Empire to talk a lot.

"That snake, it shouldn't have been raised by the Cobra General, one of the five gods of war, right?"

"No, that's the pet of the 'Protector of the Nation' in the past. He and the prince of Babu fled in such a hurry that they forgot to take this terrible thing with them. ”

"I heard that snake is brutal, and once the second prince is in a bad mood, the archmage will let it bite people. The person who bites him will be killed on the spot. ”

"But I don't seem to be afraid of the 'Lord of the Red Pavilion', but the snake seems to be a little cowering."

Just as they were hiding outside the door and whispering, there was a crisp sound in the hall.

Syllable!

Then they looked and saw a shocking scene: the snake's head had been blasted by soul magic, but the ground was covered with turquoise demon's blood!

Buxiao withdrew the Nether Fire from his fingertips, just let out a long breath and took a few steps back without saying a word. Lydia, who was behind him, was also startled, and hurriedly motioned to the attendant next to her to clean up the demonic blood all over the ground.

Just then, Finks came from outside, "I have bad news for you. ”

"Isn't there any good news that comes with it this time?" Lydia asked with a smile.

Finks shook the sand from his cloak, "If it would be good news if I found the Sommer tribe...... That's still there. ”

"That's good news, of course." Lydia said, "The Sommer tribe is the last tribe in the south that is still rebelling against the prince of the Báb, if you can contact them......"

Finks shook his head regretfully, "Their entire clan has been slaughtered. ”

Lydia fell silent.

"And that's not even the worst news." Finks looked solemn, "I also discovered something even stranger, they encountered a war of extermination, and they resisted desperately. But I didn't find any intruders' bodies at the scene. ”

He groaned for a moment, "Are there any traces of demonic beasts?" ”

"Nope." Finks shook his head, "There are no monsters, no demons, not even traces of soul attacks, it seems to be just hand-to-hand combat. ”

"There are only two possibilities without leaving a body." Lydia pursed her lips, "Either the invaders have plenty of time to clean up the battlefield in order to hide their identities; Either that, the intruder has an absolutely overwhelming force, making it impossible for the opponent to fight back. ”

Finks frowned, "As far as I know, the Sommer clan is capable of fighting well, relying on the terrain advantage of the valley to repel several attacks from the Wild Sand Empire. Even when Babu was crowned queen in the Temple of the Sands, they were not afraid. Is there still a power that can absolutely suppress him? ”

"Yes." Without smiling, he turned his head and his gaze drifted to the pool of emerald demonic blood on the ground.

Lydia had been studying here with Buxiao for a morning, but she still hadn't understood what Buxiao was working on, "What do you mean...... Something wrong with that snake? ”

"Demon people are not good at beast control." Buxiao took a deep breath, "I heard that the 'Protector of the Nation' has a poisonous snake that is very obedient to orders, which is very abnormal. ”

Lydia and Finks looked at each other and decided not to laugh until they could continue.

Bu smiled and pointed to the corpse of the snake, "I observed it for a morning, it was a purebred desert cobra. But its perception is almost gone, and it is oblivious to threats from the outside world. However, he is highly sensitive to the energy of Shadow Soul Magic. Just now, I proved a guess. ”

"What speculation?" Lydia and Finks asked in unison. For the two of them who are not very flexible, listening and asking more questions is the easiest way to save trouble.

Bu smiled and said lightly, "Demon Star is researching a way to infuse 'demon's blood' into ordinary animals, what if he uses this technique on soldiers?" ”

Finks gasped, "Looks like the enemy is more difficult to deal with this time. ”

Lydia also felt a dull pain in her brain, "If this technology is mature, they will definitely not sit and watch us occupy the ruined capital." ”

Buxiao nodded, and suddenly asked, "What about Fili?" ”

"He should be out there recruiting new recruits these days." Lydia replied.

didn't laugh or say anything, just intervened and thought about it. For some reason, Lydia suddenly had a bad premonition, she hadn't seen such a sad look without smiling for a long time.

……

News of the massacre of the Sommer tribe spread far and wide, and soon spread throughout the ruined capital. In this regard, Lydia felt more pressure than ever.

She knew very well that it was only a matter of time before Prince Babu and the Alien Star attacked, and if they took advantage of their unstable foundation to launch an offensive in shock, the entire ruined capital would be plunged into a second brutal war.

"The city can't afford a second war." Lydia pondered for a moment, and finally her eyes fell on the choke point to the south: the city of Rafis.

It was a ruined city, but the terrain was treacherous. On the map, it is surrounded by mountains on one side and a stone forest on the other, and if it can be heavily guarded here, it will be able to effectively contain the attack of the prince of the Báb.

"Send an order to Red Dragon and Mira to rush to Rafis with five thousand men at once, build fortifications, and prepare for defense." Lydia signed the order and handed it to the herald.

Hei Ningxue reminded softly beside her, "Five thousand people, I'm afraid I can't stop the Demon Alien Star." ”

Lydia frowned, "Is this man so powerful?" ”

Hei Ningxue organized the language, "The Demon Star itself is not powerful, but he is good at refining demons. In the past, the blood of demons was blue, and the energy of this blue blood was low, and the power of demons was weaker. It was the Demon Star who researched the green demon's blood, which increased its energy tenfold. ”

"Demons are not easy to deal with, and this is a bit of a problem." Lydia had fought many battles with demons, and was well aware of the terrifying power of those demons, "Looks like I'll have to go myself." ”

Seeing her say this, Hei Ningxue also stood up, "In that case, then I have to go with it." ”

Lydia said that it would be enough to fight a war or something. Hei Ningxue didn't think so: "You have to be careful of Tsukihime, she is a person who is good at using power, and it is difficult to ensure that she and the Demon Night Shadow will not have some kind of chemistry." ”

"Don't, don't 'chemistry' in front of me." Lydia hurriedly covered her head, "The thing I hate the most is chemistry class, followed by the chemistry teacher." ”

Hei Ningxue was amused by her behavior, "In that case, how about adding a little more 'physical reaction'?" For example, there is also a 'Five-Step God of War' Demon Night Shadow, that person is the ceiling of the combat power of the entire demon race. ”

Lydia clenched her head and cried with a sad face, "Why do you want to hurt me with 'physics', can you stop mentioning those horrible sciences, and talk about the liberal arts that I like?" ”

Hei Ningxue spread her hands, "Okay, then let's talk about conscription." As far as I know, General Fili's recruitment did not go well. ”

The news was nothing unexpected by Lydia.

The Wild Tsar royal family has been rampant in the abandoned capital for several years, and I don't know how many strong men have been forced. Under the oppression of various tyrannies, the people who live here have long been full of fear and distrust of the ruling class.

Even if the Red Pavilion overthrew Darius's rule, for those inhabitants, it would be just a new emperor.

Although she had already sent Fili and Danica to educate the residents of the Red Pavilion and the Babu's plot to the residents in the ruined capital, the Red Pavilion was a newcomer and needed a lot of work to build trust.

Lydia sighed and said: "In front is the attack of Prince Babu, in the back is to win the trust of the residents, and there are still a bunch of prisoners of war in the prison who need to be reformed, and the three fronts are opened at the same time, it is really a bit unbearable......"

……

Fili and Danica sat at the gate of the imperial city, watching the bustling flow of people, and thought for a long time.

"They don't seem to believe us." Fili muttered to himself.

Danica "hehe" a few times, "It's not 'not 'not very convinced', it's 'not at all convinced'." ”

Fili's eyes drifted in the air for a long time, and suddenly a sentence came out, "It seems that we must establish our prestige first." ”

Danica glanced at him, "Have you figured out anything to do?" ”

Fili laughed, "Do you remember the story that the princess told me about a 'change' before? The man planted a log at the gate of the city......"

"Oh...... Shall I go find a piece of wood? Danica stood up, "And then have someone carry it away?" ”

Fili looked at both sides of the road, "Wood is too troublesome, I think we can use local materials." ”

So saying, he and some of the soldiers carried five large stones on their backs and surrounded them on the side of the road. Then he ordered someone to beat and beat to gather the crowd of onlookers.

"Wheat is received, wheat is received." The soldiers shouted, "Complete the challenge and you'll get wheat." ”

This voice instantly surrounded many people watching the excitement.

Fili stood in front of the stones, and announced in a loud voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, come and see: there are several large stones here, and whoever can lift any of them from here and walk back and forth by the manger of the opposite tavern will receive a sack of wheat." ”

As he spoke, he turned to the side and pointed to the bags of grain that Danica had in front of him. Although the bag is not big, if you save a little, it should be able to manage two months of food for one person.

The crowd of onlookers was full of talk, not believing that the young man with antlers on his head would keep his promise. Some people also mocked in private: "I'm afraid this is their trick to forcibly recruit people's husbands, who will be fooled." ”

Fili didn't get angry or urge, just sat quietly and waited. As the minutes passed, people were still just watching, and no one dared to try on stage.

After a long time, a beggar in ragged clothes staggered over. Apparently he was already hungry, and he didn't care if it was a so-called hoax or not, but he rushed forward, chose a smaller stone, gritted his teeth, and slowly lifted it with all his might.

"What a fool, what a fool." The onlookers laughed, "How can anyone believe such nonsense." ”

The beggar could not care about this, and his face turned red, and he stumbled towards the tavern opposite, holding the stone.

Ten steps, twenty steps, thirty steps.

He seemed to be reaching his limit, but he let out a loud roar and walked back with the stone in his hand.

Boom, he dropped the stone in front of Filip, and after a few quick breaths, looked up at Fili.

Fili picked up a bag of wheat and strode forward to hand it to the beggar, "Take it, it's your reward." ”