It was morning and the weather in Nisk was clear.
It was another good day for tourists to go out.
However, the atmosphere in the garrison headquarters on the northern headland of the Leiden River estuary was a little solemn.
Compared to the extravagance of the bankers, this was a pitifully simple conference room.
The walls and floor were made of roughly polished raw stone. To ensure the strength of the fortress, even the ceiling was exceptionally low. There were a few narrow windows on the wall that could only allow an adult to poke his head out.
Even during the day, they had to rely on gas lamps for illumination.
A long table covered with green velvet and two rows of heavy wooden chairs on each side made up the conference room. It was as shabby as Major General Coverdale's office.
Oh, at least the decorations on the wall today were slightly better than his office.
On the uneven wall, there was a flag of the Tylon Kingdom, a navy flag, and a 'Tulip Cross' flag of the Alliance that was specially hung because of the complexity of the participants.
It was here.
The military meeting, which included the garrison officers, representatives of the reinforcements from the six nations, and the Church's Iron Wall Knight, had been going on for a long time.
"Reporting to Sir Commander, as of this morning.
The six fixed maritime observation points from Nisk to the far sea border have not found any abnormalities.
In addition, our two battleships and twelve patrol ships are divided into four groups. They cruise the entire route every six days. The situation is the same.
The news of the Leiden Valley and Huggins' next attack has obviously spread far and wide. Most of the people who should know already know.
We even have a record of more than ten consecutive days without seeing a single pirate ship at sea. "
In the garrison headquarters, an adjutant colonel in charge of dealing with threats at sea finished his report. He saluted and sat down again.
"Mm!"
Sitting at the head of the conference table, Major General Coverdale, the garrison commander, nodded slightly. He then looked at another officer sitting next to him. His light blue eyes were heavy with pressure.
"Colonel Wilde! Your joint mobile force has been stationed in several major cities for some time. I want to know what you have gained during this time.
Especially since the intelligence agency has confirmed that Huggins' elite subordinates are active in the cities along the route. How many of these rats have you uncovered? "
The colonel named Wilde immediately stood up and saluted the commander.
"Reporting to Your Excellency!
"We've mobilized the officers of the kingdom's garrison and the Alliance's reinforcements to form a mobile force consisting of 28 Extraordinaires and 120 peak-level trainees.
They were divided into three groups. One group was stationed in Brandenburg, the capital; one group was stationed in Golden Lion City, the City of Wealth; and the last group was mobilized along the Leiden Valley.
During this period of time, many new faces had entered the various cities, which was enough to prove that the attention of many forces was focused on this place.
We didn't bother with those who took the initiative to report their identities. A few days ago, we cooperated with the city defense forces in the various cities and captured a total of 23 pirates who exposed themselves.
After interrogation, it was confirmed that the five people captured in the two small cities of Como and Macerata were direct subordinates of the Pirate King. "
The colonel paused for a moment and looked ashamed.
"But no matter how we interrogated them, we couldn't get the location of the others from them, including their purpose for coming here this time.
Basically, it could be determined that all the subordinates of the Pirate King used a passive single-line contact. At least, they did not know the purpose of their trip at all.
Moreover, the military's advisory team used hypnosis, divination, psychic communication, and other means at their disposal, but they still couldn't get more information from them. "
Major General Coverdale frowned. He was obviously dissatisfied with their work.
As the highest-ranking military officer in the Leiden Valley, he didn't even know where the enemy's target was after such a long time. He had really let down His Majesty the King's trust.
Forget about the patrol force on the sea that wasn't the focus, the garrison officers and elite Extraordinaire troops on the land that he had high hopes for couldn't even grasp the only clue of the Pirate King's direct subordinates.
However, the general knew that it was useless to lose his temper, so he continued to ask patiently, "What about Golden Lion City and Brandenburg?"
As the two largest and most important cities in his jurisdiction, these two places absolutely couldn't be lost.
Even though Golden Lion City was guarded by a third-grade bishop and a grand knight of the Nederland Bank all year round, the city was still not safe. Count Mars, the governor of Brandenburg, was a veteran Grand Knight who had experienced hundreds of battles. He was one of the guardians of the Tylon royal family's white swan crown.
They were powerful and far stronger than the reinforcements.
Cautiously looking at the general's face, Colonel Wilde braced himself and said,
"Count Mars allowed us to station in the city and sent his own guards to cooperate with our investigation, but we haven't found anything yet.
In addition, the Nederland Bank said that they have the ability to protect themselves and their clients' property. They don't allow us to disturb the peace of the city and the citizens.
Bishop Jasper of the Golden Dome Cathedral also supported them. Although we are stationed there, it's difficult to carry out the investigation because they don't cooperate. "
Bang!
Hearing the feedback from Golden Lion City, Major General Coverdale was instantly enraged. He slammed the saber in his hand.
Even if he knew that Golden Lion City, an alternative "country within a country," was not easy to deal with, they still dared to play this game at this critical juncture where they might be attacked by the Pirate King! Aren't they afraid of death?
However, those big bankers didn't even give face to the king, let alone the commander of the garrison.
After being annoyed for a long time, the major general glared and spat out two words.
"Incompetent!"
I just don't know who the general is referring to …
At this time, a very small voice was heard in the conference room, but most of the people present were at the Transcendent level of official Knight and above, so they still heard the sentence clearly.
"How can you blame us for not catching the big fish? Who knows if there's a mole covering for these rats? "
The officers present easily found the source of the voice and looked over. Of course, this included Captain Elvin, who was sitting in the corner of the conference room with only his ears.
Sitting in the position of the Joint Mobility Force, a young officer with short ice blue hair was holding a long sword with a black hilt and a black scabbard. Under the gaze of everyone, he was straightening his neck, as if he didn't care that his words would be heard by others.
The major general, who was already unhappy, looked up and saw this thorn in his side, and his face became even more long.
"Mr. Thomas Gregory! Do you suspect that there's a mole for Huggins in the cities along our route? "
As the second place of the "Rising Star of the Navy" this time, he was originally arranged to join the patrol team with the first place, Elvin Garriott, and the third place, Bertram Solomon.
Not only would it show the importance of the mission, but there wouldn't be too much risk. Didn't you see that there were no pirates on the sea now?
However, perhaps he felt that his "Snow Lake" was only a fifth-level patrol ship and didn't want to be inferior to the other two "Rising Stars of the Navy" who piloted battleships, Captain Thomas directly abandoned the ship and went ashore to join the Mobility Force.
Now, it was all good.
The Mobility Force he was in didn't perform well, and he dared to find excuses to shirk responsibility.
From the moment he came to report and directly disobeyed his arrangements, Major General Coverdale had already "preconceived" of his character. Flamboyant, impetuous, arrogant … He didn't like it!
Hearing the general's question, Thomas insisted on his point of view without showing any weakness.
"It's not just a suspicion, I think the current situation is difficult to explain with common sense. If there isn't a mole with enough influence, it's impossible for a large number of elite pirates to hide so well. "
Instead of being angry, the general laughed and asked again.
"Haha, common sense?
Do you know how much power is needed to hide the hundreds and thousands of pirates in the cities along the route? Do you know that colluding with pirates in the entire Tulip Alliance is considered the same crime as pirates? Do you know what the consequences are?
In the Leiden Valley, what kind of big force would take such a risk? It's equivalent to abandoning everything they have in the Tulip Alliance to follow a great pirate who can only drift on the sea all the way to the dark? "
Seeing that Thomas was unconvinced and wanted to argue again, the general raised his hand to stop him from speaking.
"How about this, the situation you mentioned isn't completely impossible.
I'll allocate an independent intelligence team to you. You'll be responsible for finding the mole behind the scenes. How about it?
You can even choose any member of the intelligence department in the garrison. We're pressed for time, so I'll give you half a month at most. If you can't find the mole, you'll have to obediently return to your "Snow Lake" to carry out a cruise mission! "
Huala —
Thomas pushed his chair away and stood up. The general's words were exactly what he wanted.
Knowing that he couldn't display his talents, he immediately agreed loudly.
"No problem, Sir Commander! These days, I'm familiar enough with the Leiden Valley. Just give me an assistant. My crew is my team member. "
As he spoke, he pretended to glance at the officers in the conference room and finally fixed his gaze on a person he had been paying special attention to ever since he entered the conference room.
"Hehehe, what did I say? Being targeted by a troublesome guy, what's going to happen has finally happened."
When Elvin heard Bertram Solomon's gloating laughter sitting next to him, he looked at Thomas.
He raised his head and met Thomas's gaze. Naturally, he saw the smugness in Thomas's eyes. He then heard Thomas casually say,
"Sir Commander, why don't you let Mr. Elvin Garriott be my assistant? We're both 'Rising Stars of the Navy', so we can take this opportunity to learn from each other. "
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