Early in the morning, when the first rays of light shone into the White River Valley, the hardworking farmers had already woken up.
Winter in the south always ended early. The sun in the middle of January already had a hint of warmth to it.
Originally, this season was the most suitable for planting pumpkins. Just a small plot of land would be enough to produce a cart full of grain in three months.
But this year seemed to be a bit different.
Ma Wen had personally ordered that all farmers had to plant okra.
No one liked the smell of it. In the past, only during the most destitute times would people choose to plant okra.
Apart from having a strong vitality, it had no other advantages.
But on this piece of land, no one dared to disobey Ma Wen's orders.
He definitely had his reasons for doing so.
Even though the farmers were ignorant and inexperienced, they weren't completely isolated. From time to time, they would talk to the adventurers on the other side of the river. They had all heard that something big was going to happen soon.
In the fields, two youths gathered together and whispered to each other.
Not far away, an old farmer with a pipe in his mouth reprimanded them, "Stop talking about those boring things. Hurry up and sow the seeds for this season."
"The weather should be getting warmer soon."
"I heard from the people in the castle that the free wheat rations will run out soon. We'll have to feed ourselves."
The two youths stuck out their tongues. Under their father's scolding, they could only change the topic and go over to help.
But even though they were working, their envious gazes were directed at the other side of the river.
… …
To the south of the White River, a skinny figure was standing on a small hill.
He held a piece of paper in his hands. From time to time, he would lower his head to look at it and then give orders.
In front of him, a few massive creatures were hard at work.
The Earth Golem's movements were very clumsy, but they were incredibly efficient.
Changing the terrain and building simple walls or ditches were all things they were good at.
Under Vigny's orders, the Earth Golems worked tirelessly.
Soon, a series of crisscrossed city walls rose from the ground and gradually connected with the city walls that extended from Sword Harbor.
A massive defensive wall surrounded the entire White River Valley, providing the Sand Race village with the best protection.
All that was left was the White River Valley.
"I should be able to fill in the last piece before nightfall."
Vigny wiped her sweat and sprinkled some Earth Essence on the Earth Golem as nourishment. The latter began to work hard again.
However, Vigny's face was pale.
For the past few days, he had been in charge of the Dirt Puppets. Although he was a Heavenly Awakened with great talent, he was still a child.
The intensity of the work was so high that he could hardly get a break.
"A city wall of this level can't stop the wild beasts of the Wildlands."
Vigny looked at the completed city wall with confusion in her eyes.
At this moment, Ma Wen's figure suddenly appeared.
"Brother …"
Vigny looked at Ma Wen and asked nervously, "How is Lady Hathaway?"
Ma Wen shook his head and sighed.
Vigny's eyes quickly dimmed.
If not for Hathaway, he would still be walking on the path of a Magus. Although he already had a premonition about this operation, it was his first time seeing Marvin at a loss for what to do.
"She'll be fine."
Ma Wen said in a low voice.
Vigny nodded, and his gaze became somewhat gloomy.
"What about us?"
Ma Wen looked at the city wall with a satisfied expression.
"We'll be fine."
"At least at the start, they won't be able to do anything to us."
"I promise."
He gently put his arm around Vigny's shoulder and said with a resolute tone:
"After making a mistake once, I won't make a second one."
"Whether it's you, Anna, or anyone else in this territory, no one can harm you."
Winnie's eyes became a little dazed. He thought for a moment and finally lowered his head.
He thought for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "But I've seen many bad endings."
He thought for a bit and finally lowered his head: "Don't believe in those so-called prophecies."
Ma Wen chuckled: "The prophecies you saw might not come true …"
Vigny blushed.
Ma Wen was naturally referring to Vigny's dream of Ma Wen being raped by a purple-haired woman.
Until now, this prophecy had yet to be fulfilled.
The current Ma Wen was the ruler of the night, no one on this continent could force him to do anything he didn't want to do.
He felt that this prophecy would definitely not come true.
"After you're done with this, go take a good rest."
Marvin smiled and instantly disappeared from where he stood.
…
After becoming the ruler of the night, many of the Nightwalker's skills had been improved. Although many skills still couldn't be used during the day, the conditions were not as strict.
For example, as long as it was a cloudy day, they could use many skills that could only be used at night.
This was a very good piece of news.
Ma Wen wandered around the territory. He had nothing to do on the last day anyway. Everything that needed to be prepared had already been prepared, so he could only wait for that day to come.
The residents of the territory continued to live as usual.
The people in the adventurer camp began to build houses with the help of craftsmen. After the two battles, many adventurers no longer regarded the White River Valley as a stop for their adventures, but a possible long-term foothold. The wilderness south of the White River was actually very rich in resources. Although some crazy news came from the north, and Lord Ma Wen also strictly prohibited adventurers from leaving the walls for the next two days, few adventurers took it seriously.
However, it was still considered a period of war preparation, and their actions had to be restrained by Ma Wen.
Under Drew's command, many houses appeared in the camp that was originally just an empty shell.
The White River Valley had already started a war with the Alliance, and this war would not end in a short time. Since they couldn't leave anyway, they might as well make themselves more comfortable.
At the very least, it was hard for the adventurers to be satisfied with the shabby inns in the camp, especially those that had families to feed.
Compared to the bustling camp, the Sand Race's village seemed a bit bleak.
The leader of the Sand Race, Constantine, had already warned them about the Cataclysm a long time ago.
This was a true calamity. Anyone who didn't take him seriously would suffer sooner or later.
The Sand Race's craftsmen's workshops were lit up.
New muskets were being forged one after another, and large amounts of Graylight Stone were being taken out of the cellars and storehouses to power these muskets.
The Sand Race's status in the White River Valley was rather special. Even though they belonged to Ma Wen's territory, Constantine was the sole leader of them.
Ma Wen was very reassured by this. Constantine was one of them, and he was a smart person. He knew how to handle the relationship between the Sand Race and other people.
In the past, the Sand Race's development had been limited by their economy.
But in this new era, Ma Wen felt that this race had a lot of potential.
He allowed Constantine to do as he pleased. Since the Sand Race had chosen the White River Valley, they were on the same boat.
The Sand Race's strength wasn't bad for him at all.
In the face of a true catastrophe, everyone would be tightly united.
Because their enemies were just too powerful.
Ma Wen's figure flashed past the Sand Race's village. Constantine was currently teaching a few Sand Race children the [McCance Combat Technique]. When he saw Ma Wen, he only nodded.
Everyone had already made their preparations for tomorrow. Ma Wen was just here to take a stroll.
When he saw the young children, Ma Wen suddenly thought of a girl.
Isabelle.
The girl he had sent to the Union of Assassins.
He had previously sent people to find Isabelle, but because the White River Valley and the Union had split, and the White Race in the Sage Desert had chosen to ally with the White River Valley under the Holy Spirit White Deer's orders, the Union of Assassins had immediately fallen apart.
By the time Lorante's people arrived at the Shadow Valley, the Union of Assassins' base had already been destroyed.
They discovered the corpses of countless children, but because the destruction was so severe, it was hard to tell who they were.
They guessed that the Union must have taken away the Assassins who had chosen to obey them and killed the rest.
Ma Wen didn't know what Isabelle's fate was.
But he believed that with the girl's intelligence, she would definitely be able to escape from the Union's clutches.
In the face of this calamity, he gradually felt his own helplessness.
Even though he was already very powerful, he still couldn't take care of everyone.
When he thought of this, Ma Wen's mood once again plummeted.
He went to every corner of his territory. Most of the commoners lived their lives as usual.
Even though they had heard about the Cataclysm, most of them still didn't have a complete understanding of it.
The farmers were still used to gathering under an old locust tree to chat after farm work and before sunset.
The children were still chasing each other in the fields.
He saw the newly established army set up a camp near the northern mine. They were meticulously following Anna's orders.
The slaves were still diligently mining the iron ore in the mine.
He even saw Lola commanding in the mine. And she actually had a little follower beside her.
The halfling Little Tuck.
Anna had previously reported to Ma Wen that there was a shortage of management staff in the mine. Lola happened to have nothing to do because of the war with the Union, so she took the initiative to apply to manage the mine. Ma Wen didn't pay much attention to it and directly approved it.
Now that he saw Lola and the little halfling here, Ma Wen couldn't help but think of the time when they traveled through the Spider's Crypt a few months ago.
Lola seemed very calm when she saw Ma Wen. Speaking of which, the two hadn't seen each other for a long time except for meetings.
All of this was because Ma Wen was too busy. He was always busy preparing for the Cataclysm.
However, the day before the Cataclysm, he suddenly found himself idle.
Of course, this kind of leisure was just an illusion.
He was very clear about what kind of predicament he would face after tomorrow.
But he felt that it was not bad to give himself a day off.
So he walked over and quietly watched Lola arrange the slaves' workload for the day. The latter nodded and smiled at Ma Wen.
"It looks like you have nothing to do."
"After being away from the territory for so long, I found that apart from being in the limelight when fighting, the rest of the time, I'm a little overwhelmed. This must be a terrible feeling, right?"
Ma Wen spread out his hands. "It's not that bad. At least I can rest."
Lola rolled her eyes. "I've never seen a lord as indifferent as you. The men of Pisces Constellation are really unreliable."
After saying that, she pulled her dirty clothes and walked out of the mine with Ma Wen.
There was a camp outside the mine for people to rest. A Dark Guard was stationed here, so no one dared to make trouble.
The two walked into the camp, and the little Halfling followed them.
"Actually, I don't quite understand what will happen tomorrow."
Lola patted the dust off her clothes and squinted at the little follower. "What about you?"
Little Tuck scratched his head. "My grandpa said it's a terrible disaster."
Ma Wen looked at Little Tuck curiously. "Why are you here?"
The Halfling said awkwardly, "My grandpa said he had something to do. He said he needed to find a safe place to settle down."
"So you came to the White River Valley?" Ma Wen's eyes were a little playful.
Little Tuck said blankly, "I have nowhere else to go. A lot of monsters appeared in the Spider's Crypt. I packed my luggage, went south, and then came here. "
"I have an acquaintance here, don't I? Although she can be quite fierce sometimes. "
Lola said angrily, "Hey! Little halfling, before you start spouting nonsense, use your brain to think about who is taking the risk to offer you a job. "
Little Tuck immediately retorted, "Wasn't it Lord Ma Wen? I saw the signature on the letter of approval. "
Lola said angrily, "Would Ma Wen have approved it without my application? Also, you saw the messy signature. I'm afraid that he was mostly focused on Sister Anna when he signed it! "
Ma Wen immediately felt embarrassed.
He had signed a lot of things recently, but he didn't read them carefully out of his trust for Anna.
However, why did the objective fact sound different when it came to Lola?
Lola and the little Halfling's bickering was not uncommon in the camp. Generally speaking, it ended with Little Tuck's failure and surrender, because Lola always had her trump card —
"No matter what you say, you can't hide the fact that you abandoned me and ran away from the monsters! Do you dare to deny that, you cunning little fellow? "
Little Tuck was immediately speechless.
What happened in the Spider's Crypt back then was completely based on the instinct of a Thief. As a result, Lola would probably laugh about it for the rest of her life.
It was the greatest humiliation of her life …
After the little Halfling surrendered, Lola slowly returned to her room and changed her clothes.
She took out a deck of cards with delicate covers and said to Ma Wen with a smile, "There are three of us.
Let's play Locke Cards. If you don't know how to play, I can teach you.
"There are three types of Locke Cards. One is' Secret ', one is' Constellation ', and the last one is' Truth '.
"The rules of the game are very simple. Whoever can see through the other's secret first will be the winner.
"The Constellation Cards are fixed. You can choose a Secret first …"
Hearing Lola's calm explanation, Ma Wen actually relaxed.
The three of them sat in the cabin in the camp and played Locke Cards for the whole day.
Lola was obviously a good player of Locke Cards and basically never lost. On the other hand, Ma Wen lost more than he won. If he were to gamble, he would probably have lost all his money.
But he felt extremely comfortable.
Time passed quickly while playing cards.
The sky quickly darkened. In the camp, the slaves came back in twos and threes.
Lola put down the cards and returned to her post.
Before leaving, she suddenly asked Ma Wen, "After today, will we still have a chance to play cards so leisurely?"
Ma Wen was silent for a while, and finally said seriously, "Yes, I believe there will be.
"Yes, I believe there will be."
"Well, I believe you." Lola's eyes narrowed into a crescent moon as she smiled. She skipped back to her post and began to count the slaves' work results for the day.
As her assistant, Little Tuck naturally followed her.
Ma Wen put down the cards, took a deep breath, and left the northern mine under the cover of the night.
In the castle, dinner had already been prepared.
There were only three people at the table: Anna, Ma Wen, and Vigny.
There was originally an old butler, but unfortunately, the old butler passed away not long ago.
Those who really grew up in this castle were the three people in front of him.
The dinner was uneventful.
Vigny had finished her work and was already exhausted. After dinner, she went back to her room early to rest.
Only Anna and Ma Wen were left.
"I heard that you played cards all day today?" Anna looked at Ma Wen curiously. "That doesn't seem like your style."
"My style?"
Ma Wen smiled. "In your eyes, am I a lord who runs around and doesn't do proper work?"
"Not at all." Anna held her chin and said in a rare less serious tone, "Although you only run around in other people's eyes, I know how much you've done for this territory."
Ma Wen calmed down. "Do you want to see our territory?"
"Huh?" Anna clearly did not understand what Ma Wen meant.
… …
Half a minute later, on the highest mountain on the west side of the castle, the wind whistled.
Under the moonlight, the winding White River was like a silver belt, charmingly winding around the vast territory.
Standing on the top of the mountain, the entire White River Valley, as well as the distant River Beach and Sword Harbor, were all in sight.
Anna was busy with the territory all day long, but this was the first time she had taken a good look at the land she had been silently contributing to.
"It's so beautiful."
The half-elf sighed, her eyes bright. "I now understand why she liked to stand here so much."
Ma Wen smiled and shook his head.
The 'she' that Anna was talking about was naturally Hathaway.
Unfortunately, Anna did not understand that the reason why Hathaway stood here was not to look at the scenery, but to look at the person.
At that time, Ma Wen could only helplessly fall into the field and look up at her, a legendary Wizard.
Now, Ma Wen could stand on this mountain peak.
Unfortunately, he had already lost news of her.
"Where do you think she is?"
Ma Wen stepped forward and seemed to be talking to himself. "No matter where she is, I will find her, right?"
Anna nodded silently.
Ma Wen just sat on the mountain peak, silently watching the entire territory fall asleep.
At some point, Anna also quietly left.
Only Ma Wen sat alone until dawn.
And when the first ray of sunlight shone on the continent the next morning, a majestic voice exploded in the sky!
The entire Fernand trembled!
"People without faith will eventually lead to destruction."
"Greedy mortals, you have occupied this continent for far too long, so long that you have forgotten to fear."
"However, ignorant people like you will not know what kind of powerful forces there are in this world."
"The refuge that you were once proud of will be destroyed; the power that you once stole will be lost; and those who boast of being strong will also bow down to the wrath of the gods!"
"Faithless, accept your judgment!"
"And devout believers, please begin to rejoice, please believe that the era of the gods is coming!"
Ma Wen smiled.
The same declaration of judgment.
The cataclysm had finally arrived.
…
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
