A figure in an off-white cloak emerges from the doorway. Unlike in the past, he stood at the door and did not move for a long time. It didn't look like he was going to come in, it wasn't like he was going to leave at a glance, but he was just standing by the door.

The lights in the room were dim as usual. But I could clearly see that Ilan was sitting in a chair as usual, with one hand on her cheek, as if she was contemplating something.

The gray cloak was sure that Ylan had already discovered his presence, but at this time, neither of them spoke, only maintained this subtle silence.

"Did you come to me for something?" After a moment, perhaps not thinking it was interesting, Ylan finally spoke. "What are you doing standing in the doorway?"

"What the hell are you trying to do, Ylan-Ylang?" the gray cloak's voice was stern. "I've seen the plan you submitted to the committee!"

"Oh, what's wrong with that plan? Is there something wrong?"

"The plan...... The plan...... Ylang ......" the voice of the gray cloak softened. "We've been friends for a long time. From a friend's point of view, I don't want you to do that. ”

"Some things are irreversible. Ylan chuckled softly. "There's no turning back after taking the first step. ”

"You don't have to make this sacrifice for the committee!"

"It's not a sacrifice...... It's just that...... It's just a rational choice. I remember telling you that I hate men who do nothing more than anything, and I can't stand being held back. Ylan asked suddenly. "Do you agree with my judgment of Ashrufat?"

"Judge?

"It's a matter of memory. Judging by the last time I met him, plus some other scattered intel from various places, I think he lost his memories of before he became a vampire. However, what is lost is only the memory of life experience, and all other common sense, skills, language, habits, etc., are preserved. The reason why this is happening is because of the influence of artificial intelligence. The artificial intelligence called 'Carrie' took control of his brain and locked all his past memories. In other words, artificial intelligence has far more control over him than we expected. ”

"I have no objection to this. The gray cloak replied. "Reasonable. If I were the heart of the piano, I would do the same. ”

"In this case, it is really difficult for the committee to get artificial intelligence. And that damn logic bomb!" Elan replied lazily. "I probably expected this from the beginning, so there was very little interest in it. Indeed, in the current situation, it is almost impossible to get your hands on a working AI...... Unless that AI is turned off. ”

"If it is turned off, the logic bomb will be invalidated, and with our strength, it is not enough to deal with the primitive civilization creatures on a wild planet?" "Although Ashrufat is strong, no matter how strong it is, there is a limit......

"But your plan is too dangerous!" replied the gray cloak. "You're going to die. ”

"It doesn't matter. Ylang shrugged. "I won't live long anyway...... Even if you survive with the picture in front of you, you won't live long...... I said I hated being doing nothing. For me, death must be the glorious end of all that blooms, not an obscure disappearance. This is my philosophy of life. ”

The gray cloak was silent for a long time. But he could feel that although Yilan spoke with a relaxed attitude, there was an unusual resoluteness in his voice.

"How can you tell that Ashruphat will go to the place you have chosen?"

"That half-beast named 'Mimilu' is dying, so Ashrufat will definitely go and save her. Ylang replied. "The universal healing device in his hand can't handle this level of serious injury...... Now that he's got the map from us, he's going to have to go all the way to get the programmable chip. ”

"Why are you so sure? The half-beast was just one of his men. Take this risk for one of your subordinates......"

"Don't ask me what I'm talking about, it's a woman's instinct. Ylang said.

The gray cloak spread out his hands and showed a "well, you won" look. He and Ylang had gambled more than once on the matter of "female intuition", and both of them lost.

"Besides, does your coming to me in such a hurry mean that the committee has agreed to my plan?" Yilan asked rhetorically.

"What can they say?" replied the Gray Cloak. "And you've long been given carte blanche to deal with it. Even if you don't report the plan, you can do whatever you want. ”

"Do whatever you want...... Ylang repeated the word once, then showed an expression that seemed to be a smile.

"What are you going to do next?According to my inference, the Dark Elves and the Martial Elves are waging a great war, and I'm afraid that Ashrufat's actions will be very difficult......"

"Difficult?" Elan chuckled this time. "It's for someone else. I'm just going to make it a little more difficult for him, or wouldn't it be too boring?"

......

The journey was far easier than expected.

The encounter that Valinor feared didn't happen, but it wasn't surprising, since the Dark Elves had already sent such a force to cut off reinforcements, so there was no need to send other small forces to harass along the way. The only evidence of war on the road is a small village that was burned. However, the inhabitants of this village should have been evacuated, as no corpses or bloodstains were found other than the burned houses.

The elven warriors scattered to look for traces of the enemy to determine where the enemy was going, how many people they were, and so on, while Ashrufat watched the burned village from the edge of the village.

It's a small and inconspicuous village, with only a dozen rooms in total and dozens of residents. In the human kingdom, the houses of such small villages of dozens of people are generally very rudimentary and very crudely built, and they are built haphazardly and haphazardly. The situation of the elves is clearly very different. Although it was set on fire, the subtlety of the design and architecture can still be seen in the ashes of the flames, and every detail is a testament to the craftsmanship of the elves, the ingenuity of the conception and the ingenuity of the construction. By human standards, this level is not impossible to build, but at least an experienced designer is in charge of the design, and a team of corresponding architects is responsible for the construction.

That's the benefit of a long-lived race. The elves have enough time for all their fellow citizens to learn language, writing, art, poetry, and other things that are quite extravagant for humans.

The search was soon over. All traces prove that a detachment of the Dark Elves must have done this. Here they found the little village with nothing, and in a fit of rage when they had found nothing, they turned the village to ashes as they retreated. Judging from the flames, the fire should have been set up half a day ago.

"How far is it from Ireber?" asked Ashrufat.

"If you go faster, one day. It's only a day and a half if it's slow. Valinor replied. "I'm worried...... I'm afraid that guy's words before he died were not intimidation......"

Ashrufat also agreed with Valinor. In fact, arson is a completely unnecessary action, just to vent anger. This shows that the dark elves have acted unscrupulously, proving from the side that they believe that they have a great advantage, so there is no need to hide their whereabouts.

If I'm not mistaken, the Dark Elves have assembled an army near Iriber, and are preparing (at least as Valinor hopes) to invade Ireber.

"Valinor, how many troops are there in the city?" asked Aerufat.

"A large part of the army has been sent to support the Phoenix King. Valinor replied that he knew something about the city. "We don't have a lot of troops left, but if we can mobilize urgently, we can gather at least three thousand defenders. However, I am worried about this situation...... Maybe...... Can't do it. ”

"But if there is no urgent mobilization, how many soldiers can there be?"

"A thousand. Valinor replied. "Eight hundred marines, two hundred knights with silver helmets. There were many more, but I guess many of them went out on a cruise like me, and they didn't have time to make it back. ”

Ashrufat was actually eager to ask what kind of soldier the so-called "Knights of the Silver Helmet" were. But he knew that if he asked this, he would have to be exposed.

"This is within the reconnaissance range of the enemy's army, and scouts can appear around us at any time. "Valinor," we should slow down our search to avoid being attacked by the enemy. ”

"No, I think we should pick up the speed and get back to Iribo as fast as we can. Ashrufat objected. "Rest assured, I don't think we're going to run into scouts. Now that they have sent a force to take charge of the defense in our direction, there will be no more waste of scout reconnaissance...... Valinor, I feel like we have two options right now. ”

"What choice?"

"Either we will take advantage of this opportunity before the enemy is aware of it, and march back to Iribo as fast as we can to strengthen the city's defenses. Either we don't go back to the city at all, and harass the enemy as much as we can outside the city. We are neither more nor less, and we can just take a mobile and flexible guerrilla warfare to avoid large groups of the enemy and attack small groups of the enemy. Throw them into a daze and buy time for the city to strengthen its defenses. ”

Valinor shook his head. "I don't think it's a good idea. He pondered. "I believe that what Iribo lacks is not the time to prepare. Our walls are strong, our war readiness has never been slackened, our supplies are sufficient, and we have enough fleets to evacuate all the inhabitants of the city...... All Iriber lacks is Prince Berland. Without the prince, I'm afraid everyone won't know what to do......"

It seems that the customs and traditions of the elves are slightly different from those of humans. In human tradition, if such a situation had arisen, things would not have been so bad (at least not as bad as Valinor had suggested). The crown prince will soon be embraced as the new monarch, and if the crown prince is also surprised, then he will be replaced by another prince or prince, or even any nobleman with royal blood. If the new monarch is inexperienced or incompetent (say, a young child), it is natural that a reputable minister will come forward to take the regency and organize resistance.

Ashrufat hypothesized that this might have something to do with the elves' long lifespans.