[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-405":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338868,4572,"Chapter 405","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-405",405,"\u003Cp>“So that’s how it is! No wonder they possess such power.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pity, though—if this spring could have lasted longer, perhaps Lord Gervas could have trained even more formidable soldiers!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing Gervas’s account, the Legion Commander showed no suspicion; by the end, he even felt sorry for Gervas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Commander, I thought the same at the time. If only I’d had another year or two, I might have turned Stormhold into a prosperous domain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No longer would we suffer threats from the foreign races and beasts of the Death Forest and the Chaos Wastelands,” Gervas sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Legion Commander nodded, then glanced at the Duke of Hernand beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Duke of Hernand naturally understood the implication—they had made this arrangement earlier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lord Gervas, let me introduce you: this is Duke Lishi, and this is Duke Hernand!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And Duke Hernand has a question he’d like to ask you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Greetings, Your Graces. Duke Hernand, if you have any questions, ask freely—I will answer truthfully if I can.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas looked at Duke Hernand—the duke’s face bore solemn authority, an aura of command that needed no anger to command respect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, his appearance was far more agreeable than that of the Duke of Lishi beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Gervas, the Duke of Lishi’s face was the classic visage of an old fox: sunken nose, triangular eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, if Gervas remembered correctly, the missing wizard from the cave upstream of Tianehu had vanished after heading toward the Lishi family!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, no noble house is without its dirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this kind of outright betrayal? Gervas held it in utter contempt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Gervas could swear he wasn’t judging this way because Catherine was Duke Hernand’s granddaughter…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Hernand’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the young noble before him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did he mean by “if I can answer, I will answer truthfully”?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What if he can’t answer?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the first time since becoming duke that a minor noble had dared play word games with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lord Gervas, my question is simple: where did you obtain your ‘Windbreaker’?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh? Windbreaker? What windbreaker?” Gervas looked utterly confused—he truly didn’t know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Hernand and the Legion Commander both froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Gervas wasn’t lying, the Legion Commander said: “Gervas, the Windbreaker is the weapon you used today to slay the Wild Wolf Knights—the one that fires massive arrows!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And the Windbreaker is a weapon unique to the Hernand family. Only the Hernand family and the King’s Royal Navy possess them in the entire kingdom!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holy shit! Gervas mentally exclaimed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What windbreaker? That’s just a ballista!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why the hell give it such a pretentious name?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, that weapon!” Gervas kept his face neutral, “Your Grace, I didn’t know that weapon was called the Windbreaker—I call it the ballista.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ballista?” Duke Hernand and the others clearly didn’t understand the term.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas offered no explanation: “As for the origin of my ballista, it begins with a band of pirates…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He then recounted how he had wiped out the pirates drifting to Stormhold’s coast, and how he’d discovered the ‘Windbreaker’ aboard their ship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He finished by explaining how his domain’s craftsmen, by sheer luck, had reverse-engineered the ballista.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Hernand and the Legion Commander finally understood: “So it was a copy!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Duke Hernand, I didn’t know this was your family’s creation. Please forgive me,” Gervas said, adopting a contrite posture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Hernand shook his head: “Our Hernand family once lost a warship—we never imagined it ended up in your hands!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But to obtain the Windbreaker and then improve it into a land-based ballista? That’s your fortune—divine favor from the God of Glory!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So don’t worry—I, the Hernand family, are not unreasonable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As long as Lord Gervas ensures the ballista’s manufacturing technique is never leaked, that’s all we ask.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Your Grace. I will strictly keep the ballista’s manufacturing technique secret,” Gervas solemnly pledged again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the Legion Commander offered a few words of encouragement to the group before dismissing them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Gervas left, the Legion Commander turned to Duke Hernand and Duke Lishi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Graces, what do you think?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do you mean, Commander?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Graces, do you believe Mil, as the report claimed, truly had the ability to devise strategies in crisis and turn the tide?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The eyes of Duke Lishi and Duke Hernand flickered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The answer is obvious,” Duke Hernand said. “Perhaps Mil’s achievements were actually Gervas’s.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Lishi said nothing, but clearly agreed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Legion Commander nodded: “Mil’s demeanor and emotions when facing us were nothing like those of a man capable of strategizing under pressure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But Lord Gervas—his calmness is something I’ve never seen in any minor noble before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He paused, then chuckled in wonder: “Strange things happen every year, but this year’s are odder still. What does Lord Gervas want?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He has the highest kill count, yet hides it. If he’s also the mastermind behind the strategy, then combined, he’d be the kingdom’s next rising star!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Any other noble would dream of such an opportunity—he acts as if he’s terrified anyone will find out!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Duke Hernand and Duke Lishi nodded—they truly couldn’t understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was cognition determining perspective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As natives of this world, they had no concept of a “golden finger.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In their minds, nobles climbed classes through reputation and prestige alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in Gervas’s mind? Hide until you ascend to godhood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Regardless, as long as Gervas serves the kingdom, that’s enough,” Duke Hernand suddenly spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Commander nodded in agreement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Indeed, Gervas was a noble of the Griffin Kingdom—that alone was sufficient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that, Duke Hernand and the others ceased discussing Gervas and turned to planning the next campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the war plan was finalized, Duke Lishi returned to his tent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet he dispatched a subordinate to summon a collateral branch scion—Solit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a collateral scion, Solit was both thrilled and anxious to learn the Duke had summoned him personally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Solit greets Your Grace. What does Your Grace command of this humble one?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Solit, is it? Nothing urgent—I simply wish to ask you about Lord Gervas.”\u003C\u002Fp>",1000,"2026-06-20T22:44:02.688Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","5bd2e006aa6c7eeebfe63f5a4a95ed670a1bbe4d6fa3b372c7bba253f6d62bfc","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-406","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-404",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]