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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

n“Even though I didn’t bring many guards, I did bring with me a large number of new heavy crossbows!” Harribell continued after a pause. “After testing, we established that they are capable of piercing through the heavy black armor of Banto soldiers from a distance of up to thirty steps!”

nSeeing that Yang Ling had finally decided to attack personally, Harribell thought it was time to reveal her trump card. The black armor of the Banto Empire’s infantry was heavy and hardy, and its performance on the battlefield was exceptional. Originally, cavalry units were the best way to deal with Steve’s Black Armor Guards, but when it came to small-scale surprise attacks, the exquisitely crafted heavy crossbows would be more suitable.

nLooking at the crowd’s doubtful gazes, Harribell gave a confident smile. She whispered some instructions into the old butler Murbaqi’s ears. The latter obeyed the order and left. Soon he instructed a few servants to bring a large crate into the room. Yang Ling had a look at the contents as the crate was opened. They were all black, shiny heavy catapults.

nAs Harribell explained, Yang Ling quickly grasped the technique for using the heavy catapults. After repeated tries, he realized that the furthest range of the heavy catapult was a hundred steps away. It could pierce through normal armor at about fifty steps, and within thirty steps, it could pierce through premium steel a few inches thick. That was more than enough to deal with Steve’s black armor.

n“Miss Harribell, this is wonderful. Might I ask how many of these heavy catapults you have?” Yang Ling gave a satisfied nod. With these heavy catapults, Yang Ling had greater confidence that he could defeat Steve’s Black Armor Guards in one fell swoop.

nTaking a sip of the jasmine tea, Harribell said, “I heard about some of the things going on in Wissen Town before I came. Thus, I brought a full five hundred heavy catapults and fifty thousand expendable arrows!”

nAfter his surprise, Yang Ling’s heart became filled with doubt. He might have expected it if Harribell had only brought a few dozen heavy catapults. But if she had brought five hundred heavy catapults and fifty thousand expendable arrows…

nCould Harribell be a prophet?

nYang Ling shook his head. Even if Harribell knew that she had to deal with Steve, she might not have been able to prepare five hundred heavy catapults and fifty thousand expendable arrows in such a short amount of time. After all, these heavy catapults were all restricted military weapons. The only explanation for this was that Harribell had prepared for this long ago, and she had another motive for her trip here.

nSeeing Yang Ling looking at her doubtfully, Harribell knew that he had already begun to suspect her motive for coming here. After a moment’s deliberation, she decided to reveal the Alliance’s request. In fact, she didn’t even hide the fact that she had plans to develop the resources in Terras Forest on a large scale.

n“Yang Ling, as long as you defeat Steve’s Black Armor Guards, it would be best if you immediately claim to be the leader of Wissen Town. When that time comes, the Alliance will be the first to recognize and support you. I expect the Rossi Empire would give such an announcement soon after. This way, even if the Banto Empire is furious over their defeat, they would not dare to launch a large scale invasion of Wissen Town. It would be even safer if we could obtain the conferment and support of the Church.”

nHarribell did not wish for Wissen Town to land in the hands of the Banto Empire for work and personal reasons. But the Alliance couldn’t directly occupy Wissen Town, since that would also break the delicate balance they had with the other empires.

nAt this time, supporting a faction from within Wissen Town itself was the best choice. Supporting Yang Ling to become the leader of Wissen Town would not only foil the plans of the Banto Empire, it would also provide the Alliance with the rich resources in Terras Forest. Two birds with one stone.

nShe had discussed many details with the Alliance’s messenger before she left for Wissen Town, and because of that, she was able to obtain many premium catapults from the military. As long as she successfully completed the mission, the position of the Boulade Merchant’s Association in the Alliance would become even more solidified. It would be even better if she came to an agreement with Yang Ling on monopolizing trade on the resources of the Terras Forest.

nSpreading open a military map, Harribell gave Yang Ling a detailed analysis of the terrain of Wissen Town. She spoke in detail about Banto Empire’s possible reactions, as well as their various contingency plans, much to the agreement of the listening crowd.

nShe pointed to the map. “Look here Yang Ling, this is the pass of Aila Mountain. The road is rugged, easy to defend and hard to attack. After we defeat Steve’s Black Armor Guards, all we have to do is station a team of troops here and set the relevant defenses to block the passage of Steve’s reinforcements. This is Liep Harbor. Heading west after setting off to sea here would allow us to reach the Bavaria Plains after we pass the Cape of Good Hope. As long as we have a fleet of ships, we would be able to sell the various resources at Bavaria. The ideal of Wissen Town becoming rich and powerful would be within reach!”

nLooking at the red footnotes and arrows on the military map, Yang Ling knew that Harribell had spent much effort on this. Looking at her expression as she was concentrating, her fair, tender neck, then taking a whiff of her faint fragrance, Yang Ling could not help but recall his beautiful female superior back on Earth.

nThe same intelligence and ability, the same beauty and allure…

nShould I tame a female servant that is like a city leader?

nStealing a glance at the alluring Harribell, Yang Ling’s heart throbbed involuntarily. He instinctively had an evil thought, and the privates on his lower body stood tall. Coincidentally, it hit Harribell right at her supple thigh.

n“Yang Ling, do you see any problems if we do it this way?” Harribell blushed when she felt the change in Yang Ling’s lower body. She silently shifted to the side.

nAfter coming to his senses, Yang Ling felt incredibly awkward after seeing Harribell’s face blushing in embarrassment. Fortunately, Goode, Casey, and the rest were all looking at the military map intently, so no one noticed the awkwardness between Harribell and himself. Only the small lass Alice, who was focused on serving Yang Ling, seemed to have noticed something. Her face turned red. She no longer dared to look at Yang Ling’s tall flagpole.

nFollowing that, Yang Ling calmed himself down and discussed the overall plan with Harribell. They were going to get the Rossi forces to launch a large-scale surprise attack to exhaust Steve’s troops and morale before they officially took action.

nOver the last few days, after Steve strengthened his patrol teams, the Rossi forces had no way of executing their plans. They had been growing incredibly anxious. Yang Ling believed that he wouldn’t only be able to extort a huge sum of money from them if he gave them a hundred heavy crossbows, he would also be able to shave off a great number of Steve’s forces.

nEven though there weren’t many of the Rossi soldiers, they were all elites who had a lot of battle experience. They were tough people who would fight to the death against the Banto Empire even if you only handed them a cleaver. After obtaining such powerful heavy crossbows, Yang Ling believed that they would definitely attack manically, catching Steve’s men off guard.

nFurthermore, at Harribell’s suggestion, Yang Ling would hire a large group of craftsmen and laborers under the guise of going to hunt, then secretly head to Aila Mountain to build up defensive facilities. That way, after defeating Steve’s forces, he could rapidly send his army to guard the pass at Aila Mountain, preventing the Banto reinforcements from entering Wissen Town.

nEverything was prepared. All that they needed was the opportune moment!

nAfter long hours of discussion, Yang Ling leaned comfortably on his large chair. With the intelligent Harribell and the experienced Goode, many of his difficult problems had been solved. He now felt much more relaxed.

n“Miss Harribell, any man who marries such an intelligent and capable beauty like you would be lucky!” Seeing Harribell’s haggard face, Yang Ling personally poured her a cup of refreshing jasmine tea as he teased her.

nIntelligent and capable beauty?

nPerhaps because no one had ever joked with her like that, the graceful Harribell’s face turned red instantly. She quickly calmed down after taking a deep breath. But despite calming down, when she looked at Yang Ling’s smile and recalled the awkward experience that had happened earlier, the blush in her face did not go away.

nA powerful woman, and such a natural beauty!

nSeeing Harribell’s blushing face, Yang Ling’s heart could not help but throb once again. A beauty like this could get things done both in work or in bed; she was definitely a woman many men dreamed of having.

nPicking up the jasmine tea, he was about to take a few mouthfuls to cool himself down when unexpectedly, the faint sound of breathing could suddenly be heard from outside the window.

nCould an assassin have infiltrated the castle?

nDespite his surprise, Yang Ling’s expression did not change. He slipped a Wizard Amulet out of his pocket and walked toward the window, pretending that nothing was happening. He then let out a sudden shout, jumping out of the window, fast as lightning. “Who’s there? Show yourself!”

nThe dark figure hiding under the roof retreated quickly. At the same time, the air around the dark figure rippled as circles of strange waves appeared. Wherever the waves passed, the snow on the tree branches moved without the wind and fell to the ground.

nYang Ling took the brunt of the waves, and his chest instantly felt as though it had been hit by a hammer. In his surprise, he was too late; he didn’t catch the intruder, even though he had thrown out the Palm Lightning Wizard Amulet without hesitation and even summoned a few Horned Bee Beasts to lash out at the enemy.

nFollowing a faint mutter, ripples once again appeared in the air. The dark figure strangely disappeared into thin air right as the poisonous stingers of the Horned Bee Beasts closed in!

nDeath Ripples?

nHarribell charged out behind him, and when she saw the person in black strangely disappear into thin air, her expression turned serious. “Yang Ling, if I’m right, that was a terrifying Dark Spellcaster!”

nDeath Ripples were a high level mental attack used by Dark Spellcasters. The abilities of the infiltrator must be nothing to laugh at if they were able to rapidly release a spell like that. Harribell was worried. If such an expert was by Steve’s side, they might have no choice but to make adjustments to their plan.

nDark Spellcaster?

nTaking a whiff of the faint fragrance that the person in black had left behind, Yang Ling felt a sense of familiarity. He recalled the slender figure of the person in black and had a thought. He remembered Maryse and her unknown background.

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