Chapter 387

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Protagonist:

Lin En

Lena

Frost Dragon.

Is it a native giant xenos creature? Or a creation of some Warp demon?

Where exactly are the boundaries of its power? And how strong is Keli Feng's control over it?

In the wildmen's memories, only "Divine Punishment" and "overwhelming power" were mentioned; the specific process was a complete blur.

Is it a large-scale weather manipulation ability? Or something even stranger?

This directly determines the threat level of this xenos, and also determines what kind of attitude he should use to face Keli Feng.

If it's just a native giant creature, the threat is limited.

And as long as Keli still stands on humanity's side, it's not impossible to "temporarily utilize" him, just like with the Purge Plague Sect.

But if it possesses stronger abilities, such as powerful psyker powers, or can summon more of its kind...

Then the nature of the matter changes completely.

Dominic has a premonition that the specific way the Frost Dragon assisted the wildmen in repelling the Green Skins is the key to prying open all secrets.

"Deputy Colonel Karen."

He pressed the communication device, his voice returning to its usual steadiness.

"Have the reconnaissance squad pull up all satellite monitoring records for the Arctic Ice Plain over the past year, focusing on temperature anomalies and energy fluctuation data in the northern ice plains before and after the Forbidden Wall War."

"Also, dispatch another squad, under the guise of 'Border Survey,' to search along the ice plain's edge for Green Skin traces, focusing on collecting residual Green Skin samples."

"Yes, Major General Adult."

The deputy officer on the other end of the communication acknowledged the order.

But Dominic knew that relying on these was far from enough.

Satellite monitoring in that harsh ice plain environment has huge errors to begin with; half a year has passed, and traces have long been mostly covered by wind and snow.

Moreover, Brevis's orbital defensive line is not sound, and the intelligence collected is incomplete.

To truly get to the bottom of the Frost Dragon, they still have to start from inside the wildmen.

But scattered wildmen tribes all belong to marginal roles; they simply cannot access core information.

The headquarters of the Ice Fang Clan and Snow Claw Clan are the only two places that can obtain key information.

But he cannot directly lead troops to barge in.

The interrogation made it very clear: the leaders of the two great clans.

Ice Fang Kuai and Snow Claw Yu have long acknowledged Keli Feng as the "Ice Lord," meaning the two are already Keli Feng's nominal subordinates.

If he rashly leads troops to raid the tribe and seize people, it equals directly tearing face with Keli.

Right now the Tithe hasn't finished collection, the Bottom City Plague hasn't been completely quelled, and Dolido's reclamation has only just begun.

The evidence isn't complete enough either; turning hostile has no benefits whatsoever.

More importantly, Dominic doesn't want to turn hostile in his heart.

He has seen too many corpse-position-grain-eating Imperial nobles, and too many high officials who only shout slogans but are actually useless.

A young Governor like Keli who can get real things done and hold territory is too rare.

As long as the other party doesn't truly betray humanity, doesn't lead a great enemy into the territory, he doesn't want to make things absolute.

Force won't work, so he can only go around.

The corner of Dominic's mouth hooked into a slightly meaningful arc.

He has collected taxes for many years; the planets he has walked number no less than a hundred if not eighty, and has dealt with all sorts of native societies.

Dealing with this kind of semi-civilized clan tribe, forcing entry will only arouse their shared hatred against a common enemy, but if one follows their rules, prying open their mouths is actually not difficult.

Of course, the most critical point is that they are essentially outsiders; this kind of local native has the most severe xenophobia.

But who said one must directly contact them to wheedle out information?

Three days later, Brevis Middle City District, Coal Cinder Inn.

This is an old building hidden in the cracks of the cargo pipes, its outer walls crawling with rusted pipes, the air forever drifting with a strange smell of machine oil and alcohol mixed together.

Most of those living here are scavengers, small merchants, and brokers shuttling between Middle and Bottom City; all walks of life, a mixed bag.

After the plague outbreak, Middle City was under martial law, business plummeted, and most of the inn's rooms sat empty.

The boss simply converted the first floor into a tavern, barely maintaining a livelihood by selling inferior blended liquor.

In a booth in the corner sat a man wearing a dark fur coat.

He was about forty years old, face slightly chubby, several decent-quality gemstone rings on his fingers, an exquisite plasma pistol hanging at his waist, the very image of a wealthy merchant.

His name was Wei Lun, a civilian officer in the Tithe Fleet specializing in diplomacy and intelligence; at this moment he was leisurely sipping the inferior wine in his cup, his gaze casually sweeping over the tavern doorway.

He was waiting for a person.

A scavenger alliance leader nicknamed "Earth Dragon."

According to Lieutenant General Dominic's plan, they cannot directly contact the Ice Fang Clan; that would be too conspicuous and easily watched by the Governor's Mansion's informants.

And it would be very difficult to get the desired results.

The best method is to connect through local Nest Capital trade brokers, using the identity of an Upper City noble merchant to establish contact with the Ice Fang Clan.

Earth Dragon is the most suitable intermediary.

This man had been scraping by in Middle and Bottom City for over thirty years, holding several Ice Plains trade lines, and was an old acquaintance of Ice Fang Clan Patriarch Ice Fang Kuai.

Every year he made a killing reselling rare beast furs from the Ice Plains.

After the plague broke out, Bottom City was thrown into utter chaos, the trade lines were completely severed, and the earth dragons had fled to Middle City, leaving him scraping by.

A cash-strapped old broker, plus a group of supply-starved wildmen — this deal would be easy to strike.

"Creak~"

The inn's wooden door was pushed open, a wave of heat rushed in, and several qi diao zhe drinking by the doorway cursed and grumbled.

A short old man with a slightly hunched back shrank his neck as he walked in.

He wore a thick coat patched in several places, his hat brim pulled low, revealing a pair of small eyes that darted about, scanning the people in the tavern.

It was Earth Dragon, but his appearance was far less imposing than his nickname.

Wei Lun set down his wine cup and raised his hand to beckon lightly.

Earth Dragon paused in his steps, eyeing him suspiciously for a few seconds, then rubbed his hands and hurried over, a professional smile plastered on his face:

"Sir, are you looking for me?"

"Sit."

Wei Lun lifted his chin to indicate the seat opposite, then snapped his fingers, asking the waiter to bring over a cup of hot malt wine.

Earth Dragon sat down flattered, cupping the wine cup with both hands and downing it in one gulp to cool off and quench his thirst, while his heart drummed with anxiety.

The man before him dressed exquisitely and bore an extraordinary air — clearly a big shot from Upper City; what business could such a person have with him?

"I hear you have dealings with the Ice Fang Clan of the Ice Plains," Wei Lun cut to the chase, his tone flat.

"I have a batch of goods I want to unload, and I also want to buy a batch of top-grade Ice Plains fox pelts and snow bear gallbladders — the price is negotiable."

The smile on Earth Dragon's face froze for a moment.

He set down his wine cup and gave an embarrassed smile: "Sir, where did you hear that news? I don't do that anymore, I don't do it anymore."

"Bottom City is in the grip of plague, the roads are all sealed off, the Ice Plains side is also in chaos, and the green skins just left not long ago — who dares run that ghost of a place to do business?"

He said it airtight, but his eyes held wariness.

These days, anyone suddenly popping up wanting to do Ice Plains business is either an Imperial Inspection Squad sting operation or a bandit out for robbery — he couldn't help but be careful.

Wei Lun didn't call him out, simply drew a heavy money pouch from his bosom and placed it on the tabletop, giving it a light push.

Golden throne coins peeked from the pouch's opening, dazzling the eyes in the dim lamplight.

There was also a grain card valued at over a hundred tons.