Naturally, Xi Wei saw Jom's actions.
His comment on it was' grass (a type of plant). I didn't expect you to answer first '.
It was true that while Xi Wei had high hopes for his Players and believed that the Lord of the Peaks and his bunch of lazy hill-folk would never win against his believers, the condition of the wager was whether they could conquer the Elven Synchronized Intellect Nation, in other words, the Sky Horizon.
If the other side decided to be shameless and send one or two of them to the Sky Horizon, claiming that they had conquered the Elven SIN and even asked the Earthweaver to 'uphold justice', Xi Wei would have no choice but to swallow his grievance.
Even so, the Lord of the Peaks was still a deity who presented himself as a positive image, and he wouldn't be unreasonable and use his authority to oppress others.
That was why even if he wanted to play such dirty tricks, he would at least have to send his believers to the Sky Horizon.
With that, Xi Wei's task was clear: he would have his Players do their best to stop the hill-folk, and not a single one of them would be allowed to reach the Sky Horizon!
In fact, he could go even further and make sure that the hill-folk wouldn't know where the Sky Horizon was!
☆
Not long after the Players started their preparations, the event began the moment the hill-folk and the Lord of the Peaks' believers set foot within the borders of the Valla Empire.
Not long after that, Lancaster's messengers and resources arrived at Crookes, which was still being rebuilt.
At the moment, Lancaster wasn't completely siding with the Church of Games on the surface. After all, there were many churches stationed in Lancaster as a city of commerce, and the various religious factions were in a balance of checks and balances.
Even if Mayor Corinth Atherton had secretly sided with the Church of Games, his faith didn't change. Therefore, from a certain point of view, he was merely working with the Church of Games.
On the other hand, the waters of Lancaster ran deep. Many nobles and ministers had their own agendas due to their birth and the way they were taught. Even if they knew that the mayor was leaning towards the Church of Games, they would at most show some goodwill, and would never lean towards the Church of Games together with him.
Even after the Twin City Cup and learning about the might of the Church of Games, their thoughts and attitude didn't change much.
To them, it didn't matter who the castellan was or which church held power. After all, would the castellan not need nobles to govern his territory if the Church of Games controlled the city?
Herman thought the same.
That was why he was a little reluctant when old Corinth appointed him as a messenger and brought a caravan full of resources to Crookes.
Why should Lancaster's resources be donated to Crookes for free?
It would not have been a problem if it was still the powerful mining city it once was. But now, it was reduced to rubble by a natural disaster (Crookes claimed that the city was destroyed by a landslide). Its former prosperity was buried under mud and rocks, and heaven knows how long it would take to rebuild it.
In comparison, wouldn't it be better to leave those resources in Lancaster and reward them to nobles like us who contributed greatly to the Twin City Cup?
It was a pity that Gerald McCobley, the captain of the city had been keeping a close eye on them along the way. Otherwise, Herman would have taken away half of the fifty caravans of resources to make up for some losses for the nobles of Lancaster!
"Welcome, Messenger of Lancaster." Old Meredith, the liege of Crookes greeted Herman amiably. "As the saying goes, it's in the face of adversity that you learn who is a true brother."
In the past, a noble of Herman's rank would never have had the right to meet Meredith. But now, Herman was trembling at the sight of Crookes in ruins.
He didn't say anything definite in response to Meredith's greeting, and merely mumbled perfunctorily. It was only when they reached the tent prepared for them that he turned to his trusted aide. "Crookes has fallen to such an extent that we wouldn't get much in return even if we invested so many resources. It's better to keep some of our wealth for the sake of Lancaster's future development."
"But wouldn't Mayor Atherton reprimand us if we bring the wealth back like that?" Herman's aide asked worriedly.
"Of course we can't bring it back directly. That's why after we leave Crookes, help me move it to a nearby city and buy some land to store it."
Herman said righteously. "It's all for Lancaster's future!"
His trusted aide was very perceptive and started to flatter him.
Old Meredith wasn't aware that Herman the Messenger was such a short-sighted person, and assumed that he was simply tired from the journey, which was why he didn't press for the handover.
On the next day, Herman hurried to the scene of the handover, ready to act like an official and blackmail some of the wealth.
That was how it should have been.
But before he could put on airs and speak to old Meredith, he noticed that familiar Players were hurrying past the Crookes survivor camp.
While the nobles of Lancaster basically didn't participate in the preparation and progress of the Twin City Cup, they did watch the tournament, and naturally recognized some of the more popular and powerful believers of the God of Games — in other words, the Players.
For example, there was that champion who wore a pink flatfish headgear. He really couldn't forget him even if he wanted to …
And now, not only did those powerful Players appear in Crookes, they seemed to be carrying out some secret operation.
"What is it, Mister Messenger?" Old Meredith, on the other hand, was puzzled by the Lancaster messenger's behavior. It was one thing for the messenger to stop him from handing over the resources — after all, he was old and wise enough to know that there would always be people who would ask for a commission when doing such a thing.
But the messenger wasn't asking for anything, and wasn't reacting to Meredith's number either, which was very puzzling.
On the other hand, Herman's attention was completely drawn by the Players, especially when he saw the Players dragging unconscious people past the camp.
Occasionally, they would say things like 'That guy's stun debuff is gone, he's faking it!' Then, a group of Players would surround and beat the unlucky bastards who were dragged several miles away, beating them until they were bruised and swollen before dragging them away.
Some of the more unlucky ones were beaten until they were on the brink of death, and the believers of the God of Games seemed to be afraid that they would die just like that. Hence, they fed them cola to revive them, before beating them up and dragging them away …
Even watching from the sidelines was enough to make anyone wish they were dead.
There was no telling where they were dragged to, but there was no jail or dungeon in this camp, and those who were dragged away never showed up again …
"Sir Herman?" The old man's voice left Herman shuddering, and he promptly came to his senses.
"T-those who were dragged away are …"
"Please don't worry. They are just people who want to harm Crookes, and you are a friendly friend of mine. Why would you harm the interests of Crookes?" The old man said kindly. "Then, about the resources …"
Be that as it may, the benevolent expression on the old man's face was immeasurably sinister and terrifying in Herman's eyes.
Hence, he did his best to stop himself from shuddering, and said righteously, "Of course there's no problem with the resources. Take everything! I wouldn't agree to missing even a needle! "
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