Chapter 554: Piluo's Speech, Jier's Solution

The strange wooden house took to its heels—literally took to its heels—and just as Jier was startled, it had already run far away.

Jier intended to give chase, but after estimating the speed of both parties, he gave up.

The opponent's four slender legs were longer than the average height of the trees in the forest, so it was completely unaffected by the forest terrain, whereas Jier's mobility was hindered by the soft humus layer on the ground, tree roots, and uneven terrain.

Even if he mounted the Spirit Dog Big Nose, it seemed he would not be able to catch up to the opponent.

"Forget it, forget it. This whole thing is just inexplicable."

Jier shook his head. He had originally wanted to make contact with that so-called "Messenger of Flame," but he hadn't expected the opponent to not only be protected by such a terrifying Magic Creation in terms of strength, but also to be so cautious; the moment they saw that several different attacks couldn't do anything to Big Nose, they immediately ran away.

But what Jier couldn't understand was, clearly, besides him, no one else should be able to see Big Nose, right?

How did the opponent discover Big Nose several times?

Or could it be that the opponent also possessed the Divine Power of the Agricultural God? Could they judge Big Nose's approach through the sensing of the Agricultural God's Divine Power? But that wasn't right either, because the whole incident was stirred up by the opponent; the autonomous village under the Agricultural God Church here was attacked, and the farmer believers who believed in the Agricultural God Church were captured and enslaved—how could someone who also possessed the Agricultural God's Divine Power do such a thing?

"Then how did she discover it? It seems I still cannot trust these so-called invisibility abilities too much. No matter what kind of invisibility, it will be seen through by the enemy's various methods; it is simply unreliable."

Jier shook his head, and only after confirming that the opponent had left a long distance away did he dispel the Plant Concealment Cloak, walk out of his hiding place, and go up to inspect the traces left by the powerful Magic Creation shaped like a wooden house.

The small hill in the forest was covered with broken and collapsed large trees.

If Jier hadn't known before how this area of collapsed trees came to be, having seen the Magic Creation show its power just now, he already understood: these were all the results of that Magic Creation striking out with its huge, slender arms.

The massive, whitish, three-fingered arms, as thick as a person, could easily snap these surrounding large trees.

Arriving at the top of the small hill, Jier saw a clearly flat area; although it was a mobile Magic Creation, it clearly still needed a stable foundation when it sat down.

Jier touched a patch of ground that had been baked by high heat earlier and found that the ground here was even somewhat hardened, with parts of the ground showing signs of melting, which indicated that the temperature at the time was indeed very high.

If this kind of flame were sprayed onto a person, an ordinary person would be instantly burned to charcoal ash by the high temperature, and soldiers and Knights clad in armor would likely not have it easy either, or perhaps even worse, because the high-temperature, scorching armor plates might not even be removable, burning the person to death alive.

Smacking his lips, Jier felt somewhat troubled about how to deal with these enemies who liked to play with fire.

Especially hearing that the army of the hostile neighboring country was adept at manipulating fire and using it in battle, this made it even more troublesome.

Last year, part of the reason for the crushing defeat of the Southern Province Noble Coalition was that the frontline troops could not deal with the enemy's Refining Qi fire units, leading to the collapse of the front line.

Of course, from the letters written by the Defeated Soldiers he had obtained earlier, he saw that there seemed to be a change in the rear of the coalition as well, and the rout had actually started from the rear first.

This was not something he needed to consider; after passing the content of the letters up through the Agricultural God Church, it had little to do with him.

Jier looked to the side, and what came into view was a large area of open ground without even any collapsed trees. This was the area that the terrifying Magic Creation had bombarded with a large group of Magic Missiles earlier.

Big Nose came over, woofing and woofing about how it felt just now.

"Alright, alright, alright. Next time we see it, I definitely won't let you go up. It was very scary; even I was sweating for you. Good dog, thanks to you substituting for me to Scout just now, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to handle these enemy's methods!"

Jier stood on tiptoe, raised his hand, and vigorously rubbed the huge dog head, while the Spirit Dog Big Nose also narrowed its eyes in enjoyment, accepting Jier's petting with peace of mind.

After soothing the Spirit Dog created by the Divine Gift Ability, Jier carefully inspected the ground attacked by the Magic Missiles.

He grabbed a handful of soil from the ground and found that the soil under the humus layer, which was originally as damp as mud, was actually dry and crumbly; grabbing a handful, he couldn't even squeeze a drop of water out of it.

Moreover, the soil in his hand was scattered severely, as if it had been stir-fried in an iron pot several times.

"So powerful, it actually even blasted the moisture out of the ground, and the soil was beaten into powder. With just this one move, it could probably crush an army of thousands. No wonder I've never seen a Mage; they are so powerful, shouldn't those Mages be surrounded and fawned over by Nobles all day long?"

The world is just like this: whoever ultimately masters the basic violence can occupy a high position in this orderly functioning society.

Because the normal operation of the entire society itself relies on this violence as the foundation for governance and management.

Thinking of this, Jier hesitated somewhat. He suddenly felt that he might not be a match for that "Messenger of Flame." The other party retreated only because they didn't understand Big Nose's strength, and seeing that they couldn't hurt Big Nose, they withdrew on their own initiative.

But this did not mean that Big Nose had the ability to hurt the opponent.

It was the same for Jier; although he had the ability to hurt that powerful Magic Creation, he did not have the defensive power to deal with the opponent's counterattack methods.

Even if just a few Magic Missiles hit him, Jier probably couldn't take it.

Just look, this ground, at least the size of a basketball court, was attacked by Magic Missiles, and the ground was blasted into dry floating soil; one slip, and Jier would be dead for sure.

"Forget it, as long as the opponent is scared off, that's enough. If she approaches the Defeated Soldier Jiedian again later, I'll have Big Nose scare her! Ha."

Jier gave a dry laugh, then mounted Big Nose and walked away. It wasn't far from the enemy Jiedian here; with such a big commotion, the enemy would definitely send people over to take a look.

After a while, a small group of Defeated Soldiers hurried over. They were all very unwilling, as the commotion here was so loud; who knew if it was some powerful Magic Beast fighting for territory? If they came over to investigate and were discovered by accident, there would be no chance of survival.

But the Soldier Captain gave a death order that they must come over to investigate as soon as possible. One had to know that this was only two kilometers away from the Jiedian; even in a forest area, it was a bit too close.

And it was a sensitive period when transactions could happen at any time, so it was only right for the Captain Yeluba to send people over.

Interestingly, the Adjutant Piluo was also in this small group of soldiers. Yeluba didn't dare to leave the Jiedian, but he, Piluo, dared to take the risk to come out and check.

If the movement here was caused by the person they had an appointment with, that would be great; he could make contact with the other party at the first opportunity and complete the agreement first. And as long as the Knight Hartna, who obtained the Lizardman Transformation Potion, recovered, then Yeluba would be completely finished!

"Hmph, I want to hang him on a pole and let the sun bake him into a corpse!"

Piluo thought bitterly.

And when they passed through the forest and saw the scene in a mess, they were all frightened.

"God of War above! In this situation, I think we had better retreat early." Someone was frightened and didn't dare to step out of the still-intact trees, fearing that the Magic Beast, Monster, or whatever it was that caused all that in front would target them too.

"Retreat? Can the wooden walls of the Jiedian block the Monster that caused all this if we retreat? Wouldn't it still be a result of death? So, let's not be afraid; it's so quiet around here, the fighting Magic Beast or whatever must have gone far away."

Another soldier thought more openly; anyway, sticking your head out is a blade, and pulling it back is also a blade, there's no difference, so why not be bolder?

Piluo, however, was different from these ignorant soldiers. As an Adjutant and attendant who grew up with Knight Hartna, he had seen things. Although the large trees broken by great force around looked very much like they were caused by a huge Magic Beast, when he climbed up to the small hill here first, he immediately discovered the traces of the ground being scorched by high-temperature flames.

There was still some unburned flammable Grease on the ground. He carefully dipped some onto a piece of fine cloth he carried with him, and then carefully put it away. He then looked at the large area of dry ground next to it that had been bombed into powder.

He picked up some soil from the ground and rubbed it; he had seen how this kind of ground came to be.

"The result of a secondary magic explosion from Magic Missiles? A Mage? Looking at this scale, it's a Mage, right? To think a Mage would come to conduct a transaction; the enemy thinks too highly of Hartna, or perhaps the enemy values this transaction very much? But since they value it so much, why not appear inside the Jiedian?"

"Did they retreat after encountering an enemy? Who is the enemy? A Magic Beast in the mountains and forests? Or some strange Monster? Or perhaps a powerhouse from the Southern Province Noble Coalition?"

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but complain: "Stupid Yeluba, does he really think everything is under his control? Look at this; a powerful existence that can wipe out the entire Jiedian at will is right beside us, and he is still thinking about digging more Mineral Ore and smelting metal to make money? Do you think it's a good idea to stay here?"

The surrounding soldiers fell silent upon hearing this. They actually had resentment toward Knight Hartna in their hearts, so when the Soldier Captain Yeluba targeted the soldiers loyal to the Knight, they all silently chose to stand on Yeluba's side.

But complaints were complaints, and compared to their own lives, it wasn't important.

"Today, a battle of this scale happened just two kilometers away from the Jiedian; tomorrow, it might fall on our heads! Look, even the soil on the ground was blasted dry of moisture and shattered into powder and floating soil after being affected by the attack."

Piluo patted his sturdy-looking Cavalryman Armor, which didn't seem like much at this moment: "Can the Armor on you and me protect you? Can the wooden fence of the Jiedian, several meters high, protect you? Our Jiedian is like a castle built of mud by children; I could wash it away with a single piss. So, if you want to survive, you have to leave here as soon as possible."

He said loudly to the surrounding Soldiers: "Leave this mountain forest, leave this Forest. This place does not belong to us Humans; this is the home of those Monsters, while our home is outside the mountains, outside the forest. Support me, stand on the side of me and Knight Hartna, let us sell off those Metal Ingots as soon as possible and leave here. The sooner we leave by a day, the safer we are by a day!"

None of the Soldiers voiced their support; they were all looking at each other, but no one voiced their opposition either.

Adjutant Piluo let out a breath and finally said: "Think about it carefully. We went through so much trouble to cross the Southern Mountains, not to die here and remain stuck in one place. Do not believe the promises Yeluba made; he is not a Knight and has no honor to speak of. But whatever Knight Hartna says, he does. He understands your previous choices; everyone has resentment toward his decisions, after all, everyone suffered too much when crossing the Southern Mountains."

"But do not forget, every time there was a battle, Knight Hartna charged at the very front. Have you forgotten? Even with such heavy wounds on his body, he still stood like a Shield in front of everyone. The suffering everyone endured, Knight Hartna was also enduring, perhaps even more."

"The wounds on his body are hurting him every single moment. And you? Are you responding to a Knight's protection with indifference and betrayal? Please, everyone, wake up. Only Knight Hartna can guarantee that everyone survives and returns home safely. And you, under Yeluba's command, have committed wrongdoings enough to dim your honor. He is cutting off your path of retreat!"

Speaking up to this point, many Soldiers finally understood what consequences they would have to bear for attacking Changmai Village.

Someone spoke up bitterly: "But Adjutant, we have already reached this point."

"We have long since had no way back..." another person spoke up with equal bitterness.

"But we cannot just keep making mistakes like this! Do not be used by that careerist Yeluba. He said he would distribute the wealth obtained from exchanging the Metal Ingots to everyone! But never mind the wealth that hasn't been seen yet, he doesn't even live with everyone! You live in Tents, while he has a separate house!"

"Heh, when I went to look for him just now, he was busy in the house with the woman with the best figure among the Villagers," Piluo said sarcastically.

But in this group, there were still die-hard loyalists to Yeluba. A Soldier spoke up to refute: "But aren't you and Knight Hartna also living in a separate wooden house? What do you say to that?"

Piluo immediately responded: "Is that so? Then let me ask you to live in the same house as Lord Knight Hartna with me, are you willing? Come over and smell carefully, what scent is on my body?"

Without needing to go over and smell carefully, everyone could smell a rotting stench from Piluo's body. Everyone knew where this smell came from, so many people watched the Soldier who had just asked the question as if watching a show.

This person turned bright red and stopped talking entirely.

"It is different. From every detail, everyone can understand that Knight Hartna and Yeluba are not the same kind of person. Who is truly reliable, and who is just using everyone's emotions—you need to distinguish carefully, because this truly concerns everyone's life, death, and interests."

Having said so much, Piluo had managed to shake the stance of these Soldiers.

In fact, as the Soldiers stayed in the Forest longer, with many of the things Yeluba had promised failing to materialize, the Soldiers had long been suspicious.

And for Piluo, who previously could say nothing that had any effect, standing up to say the same things now had a vastly different result.

A month ago, because the Soldiers had resentment in their hearts, no matter what he said, no one listened and no one believed.

But now, it was different.

After Jier returned to the outside of the enemy's Jiedian, he first found Xueya Site hiding in a large tree on the north side of the Jiedian and asked Xueya Site if he had discovered anything while monitoring the enemy's Jiedian during this time.

"Yes, yes, Jier. There is a major discovery!"

Xueya Site immediately climbed down the tree and excitedly told his companion about his discovery.

"Here, in the enemy's Jiedian, there are actually Long-Haired Lynx Beast-men! And the number is especially large! It is noon now, not their active time, so you might not have noticed before, but I saw a Hunting party of at least twenty Mao Mao come out of the Mine and head toward the north side of the Forest. Fortunately, I was hiding in the tree, and they are short, so they didn't spot me."

Jier was noncommittal; perhaps it wasn't that they hadn't spotted him, but just as it was hard for them Humans to tell which Mao Mao was which, it was also hard for the Mao Mao to tell the appearance of Humans apart.

And since Xueya Site was wearing Metal Armor Plate similar to that of a Defeated Soldier, it was normal for them to mistake Xueya Site for one of the Defeated Soldiers.

Jier had already learned from the intelligence obtained through interrogation and letters intentionally left behind by the enemy that a group of Long-Haired Lynx Beast-men was serving these Defeated Soldiers. They assisted in guiding the Soldiers through the Southern Mountains; clearly, this was not the first time they had done such a thing.

It was estimated that, just like him, they had accepted someone's employment.

These Mao Mao were particularly fond of metal, and remaining here at this time was clearly because they wanted to get more metal materials from the Humans.

"Perhaps we can make use of these hired aliens. After all, they have no loyalty; whoever has metal in their hands, they listen to."

Jier had an idea in his heart, a way that would allow him to enter the enemy's Jiedian during the day.

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