Chapter 497: Preparations Before the War

After Luoning had Tangmu take Melis away to rest, he summoned Aoduoluo over.

Although Pulaxiduo had decided to surrender and had explained the method of surrender, there were some things Luoning still planned to handle according to his own ideas.

He picked up a pen and wrote a line of text on a piece of paper—

After the war begins, anyone who does not wish to die need only lay down their weapons and crouch in the southwest corner of Watchtower to survive.

After Luoning finished writing, he handed the paper to Aoduoluo: "Call Tangmu, find a few more people who can write, and copy this out several hundred times according to the content on this paper."

Aoduoluo glanced at the content, seemed to understand, and couldn't help but praise: "My lord, this method of yours will definitely shake the morale of Watchtower."

He did not yet know that the woman from just before was the younger sister of Pulaxiduo of Watchtower.

Luoning smiled and said: "Go, remember to have people write the characters nicely; don't write them so poorly that even you can't recognize them!"

"Understood, my lord!"

Aoduoluo found it somewhat difficult; there were not many people in the army who could read, and even fewer who could write well.

Although several hundred copies was quite a lot, if it really came to it, he and Tangmu would just have to write a bit more.

When Tangmu received this task, he immediately felt a bit awkward.

He felt that the lord was making things difficult for him; after all, his handwriting was truly hard to describe.

But there was no help for it; he had been designated by the lord and couldn't shake it off even if he wanted to, so he could only grip the pen and try to write as neatly as possible.

In the middle of the night, Ruidar returned to the West Wind Hill camp riding a Griffin, and upon learning that Luoning had arrived, he immediately came to report.

He recounted the appointment letter for Bruno, as well as the performance of Jialete and the various nobles.

Luoning naturally had no objections to Ruidar's stance; going to war served his interests.

What he hadn't expected was that Bruno would appoint him as a Military Advisor, placing him in the coalition's command layer alongside Jialete and Gushan.

However, this kind of appointment was clearly of no use.

In the subsequent operational plan, Jialete assigned West Wind Hill the task of capturing Watchtower and then assisting the Meilongnika troops in Grey Valley to take down Blazing Fortress.

There was nothing wrong with the plan itself, but in this way, Luoning wouldn't even be going to the main battlefield, so what kind of Military Advisor would he be?

This could be considered a deliberate arrangement by Jialete.

Luoning couldn't be bothered to go; for him, taking what he was owed and looking after the Wushan Territory Knight Order was enough.

As for the others, there was no friendship between them, and the other party had not expressed any intention of needing his support; if he went over on his own initiative, they might even think he was there to steal the credit.

"Since our commander-in-chief requires a full-scale attack the day after tomorrow, then we shall obey his orders."

Luoning said with a smile: "Have the Knight Order prepare for battle tomorrow; additionally, I will also take some action."

He had not expected Jialete to modify Bruno's decision.

Not only him, but Gushan, Yiben, Weilisi, and the others had not expected it either.

The reason for this was Jialete's many years of managing the affairs of Red Pine Castle, which caused the nobles not to consider things in that direction.

Furthermore, they could not see any issues with that appointment letter.

Although His Majesty the King in Golden Feather Palace found it a bit strange that Jialete had not yet returned, considering that his decisions would inevitably affect the other party's mood, it was possible that he was traveling slowly on the road or even taking a detour to clear his mind.

Just like the last time he returned from Moonlight Valley; it should have only taken half a day by Griffin, but Jialete had insisted on taking two or three days.

The next morning, Melis, having recovered her Mental Power and Magic Power, bid farewell to Luoning.

Wearing a veil, she activated a Earth-Walking spell scroll once more in the dense forest near Watchtower, and in Luoning's perception, she entered Watchtower from underground.

This was a Level 7 Magic; back then, Dean Milosilafu had relied on it to escape the pursuit of Earl Aosen.

If not for his Mental Power sensing, Luoning would not have been able to track the other party's movements even with Detection Wind; this showed that Earth-Walking was indeed unique in terms of Concealment and escaping.

Returning to the camp, Aoduoluo and Tangmu had already moved the seven or eight hundred "surrender letters" written overnight onto the table.

It was fortunate that they now had paper produced in Shanlin Town; otherwise, so much parchment would have cost quite a bit of money.

Luoning flipped through a stack and couldn't help but click his tongue twice, "You still need to practice your writing more; look at what you've written, it's all crooked and leaning like leaves blown by the wind."

Tangmu couldn't help but scratch his head, only able to laugh awkwardly.

"Alright, you two go down and assist Ruidar in preparing for tomorrow's battle; there is nothing left for you to do here."

The two felt as if they had been granted amnesty and left in a hurry.

Luoning put the letters into his Space Ring, then mounted Kaierluosi's back and arrived above Watchtower once again.

For the past few days, the soldiers of Watchtower had not seen the dragon, and the pressure in their hearts had lessened significantly.

But now, that huge figure appeared again, causing the fear that had gradually dissipated to strike their hearts once more.

The war was coming, yet this dragon had not left.

In other words, their enemy was very likely that big guy in the sky!

Pulaxiduo also walked out of his room, gazing at the figure of the dragon in the sky; he did not understand why the other party was still coming to make a show of force when he had already chosen to surrender.

Could it be to save face for the Carmen Family and play the act to the end?

Melis appeared by Pulaxiduo's side at some point; her mental state was overdrawn, and she was very exhausted at this moment.

"What kind of person do you think Luoning is?" Pulaxiduo asked.

Melis shook her head, "Hard to say, but I feel he is quite different from any noble I have ever met; perhaps he has more of his own ideas."

Just as the two were talking, paper drifted down from the sky like snowflakes, scattering into every corner of Watchtower; many guards and knights could not help but step forward to pick them up and examine them carefully.

Pulaxiduo was very surprised; he had a soldier pick one up, and after seeing the text written on it, he couldn't help but be stunned.

After Along while, he smiled helplessly: "You are right, he does indeed have his own ideas."

"He did not follow the method we agreed upon entirely."

Melis suddenly recalled the way Luoning had scrutinized her back then; it seemed quite meaningful now.

"Could it be that he is worried we are faking our surrender?"

"Heh heh, that is indeed possible; this young Marquis is truly cautious."

Pulaxiduo folded the paper; as he folded it, he looked at the paper twice with some surprise—it was different from parchment.

"It is clear that he not only wants our people, but he also wants the people of the Ricard Knight Order."

Melis pondered and nodded, "After what he has done, I fear many people no longer have the will to fight; I am afraid that as soon as they are at a disadvantage, they will go and crouch in the southwest corner."

"The time to prove our value has arrived!"

The corners of Pulaxiduo's mouth curled up, "Since that is the case, I must boost the soldiers' morale even more; at the very least, when the battle begins, they will still have the courage to hold their swords."

Although Luoning's maneuver weakened the fighting spirit, it would also make the defeat of the Carmen Family appear more reasonable.

Pulaxiduo would not only inform Count Wulaer of this tactic of Luoning's, but he would also relay how he boosted the soldiers' morale at the same time.

This way, the infamy of his eventual surrender would be lower; after all, he had already done what he should have done, had he not? (End of chapter)