High Above

The mountain people's rebellion had actually been foreshadowed for a long time.

It is different from the Sequoia natives who think that the empire is nothing more than a big tribe and the battle between the two sides is essentially an inter-tribal conquest.

Because the mountain people have a larger number and have been united under the belief of the Dragon God in the past, there has always been a call for 'independence and establishment of a country' internally.

These mountain people believe that the proud people of the Dragon God should never become vassals of the empire. Even if they cannot be independent, they should build a large mountain people autonomous region similar to the ice fortress group, with the strongest among the mountain people as leaders.

They refused to pay taxes to the empire and lived scattered among the forests in the Baisen Mountains. They followed ancient traditions and lived an independent life.

Because the products in the area where they live are poor, the empire has never been interested in eradicating them. Even if there is good stuff occasionally, it is nothing more than relying on the channels of the autonomous region and several colonies, using food, salt, iron, and various tools to fight with these rebellious mountain people. to trade.

The most important thing is that the empire deprived the mountain people of their inheritance to become the third or even fourth level. The rebellious mountain people have always existed, but they do not have the corresponding strength foundation to change anything.

In contrast, although the empire deprived the mountain people of their third and fourth level inheritance, it did not discriminate against the mountain people.

Among the Cangyun Knights, there is even a third-level mountain knight who serves as a law enforcement officer and has a very high status.

But this mountain man's self-identity is that of a 'mountain people clan under the empire', not as a subject of the Baisen Dragon God.

This is not surprising either. After all, Baisen Dragon God has been away for too long, and no matter how strong the ancient faith is, it will fade away and eventually turn into myths and legends, stories one by one.

Many people have long looked past this.

Elder Manya is one of them.

Although it sounds strange, Ian can tell from his conversation with Elder Manya that although this old mountain man talks about his belief in the Dragon God, he actually pursues power more.

He believes that the empire is a more advanced form of civilization, and there is nothing wrong with joining the other party. He wants to recover the Book of Silver Glory. Essentially, he wants to obtain the true form of bloodline inheritance that is not restricted by the empire, and also to make the country he belongs to Branch tribes and gain more benefits from the Dragon Worship Cult.

Of course, Ian also believed that Elder Manya had the idea of ​​"borrowing the Book of Silver Glory to help the mountain people". He wanted to reunite the now-divided mountain tribes under the light of Dragon God's orthodoxy.

But this is not the same as the purpose of rebellious mountain people to establish an independent country.

The purpose of Elder Manya is to gather the mountain people and become one of the important political forces in Nanling, thereby influencing the political decision-making of Nanling.

Therefore, the rebellion was definitely not the group of mountain people from Elder Manya, Ian could be sure of this.

But in this way, how did the rebellious mountain people, who had neither the third level nor sufficient resources and organizational power, let the situation in Nanling deteriorate to this point?

"It's Feiyandi."

Captain Piman said with determination, answering Ian's doubts: "It was the Flying Flame Land that gave those rebellious mountain people resources and weapons. They even had alchemy artillery and skilled musketeers. The militiamen in the autonomous region were no match at all. , Only one can know how long they have been planning."

This is the same as the way to support the Sequoia natives.

Ian thought of the gun-wielding natives he had killed around Harrison Port. He nodded and said, "The timing of the uprising was also very clever. The general and Captain Cangyun both went to the imperial capital. There was never any warning about this matter before. There must be a traitor in the Governor's Palace."

"Congratulations, sir!" Piman said with admiration: "The colonel also said so, so we are pursuing various clues!"

The colonel refers to the son of the Marquis of Barton Henrier, Mayova Henrier, deputy commander of the Nineteenth Army Corps, who took charge of matters related to the South Ridge after the Marquis of Baton went to the imperial capital.

"Tracing the master whose job is to make pastries, his father died at the hands of the Flying Flames?" Ian glanced at him and said calmly: "This is not your job, and don't take it too seriously. Other patrol knights Woolen cloth?"

"This..." Piman obviously couldn't answer this question. How could he know the movements of other patrol knights?

Ian believes that this is related to the truth that the rebellious mountain people dare to rebel - without a fourth level, even with the support of Feiyan Land and the provision of weapons and equipment, those rebellious mountain people will never be able to stop the Marquis of Barton's command. The attack of the knights and patrol knights.

Not to mention that the Nanling Dragon Worship Cult is still an ally of the empire, and the Mountain King also hates Feiyandi deeply because of what happened to Xiou.

"Take me to the Governor's Palace."

With thoughts flashing in his mind, Ian raised his head and signaled the guard knight to leave: "I have something to report to the colonel."

Since there were instructions from his superiors, Piman certainly would not insist on continuing to pester the manager of the pastry shop - it was originally the task from above. They followed the instructions to investigate and it was just business.

The manager of the pastry shop watched in shock as the team of escort knights led the team away obediently under Ian's scolding. He actually knew that his source of raw materials was somewhat powerful, but he never thought that it would actually interact with the spies from the Flying Fire Land. Get involved.

But this is actually the norm in Nanling. The elusive spies and spies of the Flying Flame Land have greatly disrupted normal production and work in the surrounding areas of Nauman City. Although it sounds ridiculous, they will really destroy waterwheels and mills, castrate bulls, dig canals, and plant in important areas. Pour salt on the ground.

As for shaking egg yolks, splitting earthworms vertically, and slapping passing children... they would naturally not do such things, but they have basically become standard features in folk tales.

"Why is there no news of the rebellion of the mountain people in the imperial capital? I didn't even hear about it in the golden field."

Ian asked on the way to the Governor's Mansion. He had no intention of getting an answer. After all, for guard knights like Piman, if you don't know, you don't know. Anyway, they only follow the instructions from above.

Who knew that this knight actually had the answer: "Of course it's because of the big meeting. Sir, you are still young and very talented. You probably don't know these things, right?"

"How could such news be reported to the outside world and above during a meeting in the imperial capital? What's more, it didn't affect the Agate Stone Plain. It's not a big deal."

"When the general comes back, these things will definitely stop."

——This is also... too realistic.

Blinking, Ian felt an overly realistic absurdity in his heart - he didn't expect Terra to have a tradition of not having any major events during the national conference. How could something like the rebellion of the mountain people be concealed?

It's not a big deal if there are no problems around the Agate Stone Plain...Whose idea was it?

Ian didn't want to know the answer to this question.

Piman and other knights led the way, and the group entered Nauman City without any hindrance.

Because of Ian's status and reputation, some people in Nauman City knew him.

In particular, Marquis Barton would occasionally mention Ian. Everyone knew that there was a White People alchemist whom Marquis Barton was very optimistic about under his command, and even asked him to join the Inspector Knights at a young age of less than 20 years old. .

Nowadays, the sky is getting dark, and there are more pedestrians on the streets. Now that food has become more expensive, and the price of alcohol has also increased, there are more seafood stalls, mainly shellfish and fish, occupying the market on the streets of Nauman City. This kind of thing is in It’s hard for Naumann City to be expensive, and it can be considered as filling the current market gap.

There were a lot of knights patrolling the streets, and their armors were extremely elite, using a laminated armor design. Ian even saw two armors at the bridge guard in the upper city, and they were both brand new.

Obviously, the all-out confrontation with Feiyandi put great pressure on Nanling, and Nauman City almost took out all the equipment at the bottom of the box.

All the way to the Governor's Palace, Piman and others resigned. They did not have permission to enter it.

Ian waited for the guard to send a message to the Governor's Mansion, and the officer guarding the gate couldn't help but look surprised when he saw that the inspector knight being summoned was actually such a handsome young man from the White People.

"Please wait."

After confirming Ian's Order of Inspector Knight and the letter of appointment as lord personally signed by the Marquis of Barton and His Highness Mikael, he said respectfully: "I will report it now."

A few minutes later, Ian received a reply: "Please come in, the colonel is waiting for you."

After all, he had already been here once, and there was a map in the silver chip, so Ian still had time to observe some people in the Governor's Mansion when he was led to the Governor's Office.

Unlike when Marquis Barton was there, today's Governor's Mansion no longer has more than a dozen people monitoring each area from various angles. There are not even many knights, and the manpower is extremely empty.

And just by looking at it, Ian saw a bright red target directly in the office area on the first floor, representing hostility.

"Ouch."

Ian thought: "A spy works in the Governor's Palace so blatantly? He is really not afraid of death, and without the Marquis of Barton and his group of elite knights, what is left is just rotten fish, so obvious Can’t even find the target?”

This was one of the reasons he wanted to come to the Governor's Mansion. After Ian deduced that there was a spy inside the Governor's Mansion, he planned to use his psychic powers to see if he could find any clues. In the end, he didn't even think about it. He just opened his vision and found it directly. It was as easy as bending down to pick up money.

That being said, but other people don’t have precognitive vision, so who can hide from the prophet? But Ian took a closer look and found a clue: "Wait... isn't this a flesh-and-blood shapeshifter?"

"It turns out that it parasitized an employee? It seems that I mistakenly blamed the Governor's Mansion. This kind of monster has a very strong disguise and replacement ability. I didn't expect that Feiyandi would already use it now."

The Flesh Shapeshifter is a monster that Ian encountered in the subspace maze of Avak Territory. With its extremely powerful parasitic ability, it killed two members of the Huaiguang Rescue Team.

This kind of shape-shifting monster can read the brain memories of low-level sublimated people and then simulate it perfectly. Apart from the abnormality in weight, it has no shortcomings.

Ian made up his mind to tell Colonel Mayowa this problem when he met him later.

It seems that the Flying Flame Land has gained nothing in the Awak Territory. Some of the information may have been sent back before the dead king was born.

With all kinds of thoughts in his heart, Ian came to the office of the Governor's Mansion.

In the office, a thin, brown-haired middle-aged man stood up on his own initiative and came to shake hands with Ian with a smile.

"Sure enough, it's better to be famous than to meet."

Colonel Mayowa said in a soft tone: "Mr. Ian, you must also know who I am, so there is no need to introduce myself. I heard that you left the Imperial Capital two weeks ago, why did you come to Nanling now?"

Because of the Marquis of Barton, Ian was very uninterested in his smiling and cordial response, and even thought to himself, ‘Is this setting a trap for me again? ’.

"Report to the commander." So he answered without missing a beat: "Part of it is mission-related, and part of it is to observe the current situation in Nanling and prepare for the next management of the territory."

He said this, firstly, to block the other party's mouth from continuing to ask, and secondly, to bring up the topic later.

But for now, it seems that Colonel Mayowa's skills are not as deep as his father's. He just nodded slightly and motioned for Ian to sit on the sofa nearby, and then he sat back at his desk: "I can understand. You left. In the past six months, things have changed in Nanling, and now the situation is extremely chaotic. It is understandable that you want to see the situation with your own eyes."

"I guess you didn't come here to see me, but to contact my father. But from your expression, it seems that you have other things to report or ask me about?"

Colonel Mayowa spoke surprisingly straightforwardly. It seemed that the father of the Riddler and the Tempter would not necessarily raise sons of the same kind, but another completely opposite kind of offspring.

Ian felt so happy talking to such a person. He nodded solemnly and asked, "Yes, sir. My territory, a knight territory in the former Ryan Territory, has now lost contact due to the rebellion of the mountain people. I I want to know why the mountain people, who theoretically do not have any high-end military force, dare to bare their teeth against the empire."

"Even with the support of Feiyandi, they shouldn't be so bold when the fourth energy level cannot take action."

"Besides, I have a guess about the spies from Feiyan Land that I want to report to you."

"Indeed. You came here to inherit the territory, but this happened to you."

Colonel Mayowa was indeed a cheerful person. He knocked on the table with his hand, and after thinking for a while, he determined that Ian did meet the conditions for knowing this information, and told him the whole story.

Nearly three months ago, dragon roars suddenly came from the northwest side of the Baisen Mountains, where they intersect with the Absalom Mountains of the Flying Flame Land.

That was not the voice of the Mountain King, but the voice of another giant dragon. This incident aroused great vigilance in the Governor's Mansion, and the Dragon Worship Cult was also extremely concerned about it.

After that, the beasts in the Baisen Mountains began to become extremely active. It was also at that time that a large-scale biological virus spread. Groups of frantic monsters attacked the tribes and villages of the mountain people, the imperial colonies and the mountain people. Autonomous regions have been severely hit.

The King of the Mountain naturally did not allow this to happen. He took the initiative to investigate the root cause of these things. As a result, he discovered possible ancient dragon ruins deep in the mountains. He went to investigate, only to find that it was an ambush. There was a long delay.

"It's the Steel Winged Dragon."

Colonel Mayowa told the truth: "It was the steel pterosaurs in the Absalom Mountains that migrated here, causing all the evil consequences that followed."

The Steel Winged Dragons in the Absalom Mountains are a powerful group of monsters in the towering mountains between the Flying Flame Land and the Empire. The Steel Winged Dragon King among them is a fourth-level beast. Although its strength is inferior to that of the true dragon, But unlike true dragons, which often travel alone, the Steel Winged Dragon itself is a creature that is accustomed to moving in groups. They have always advanced and retreated together.

Feiyandi secretly opened the mountain passage between the empire and itself. Both the empire and other countries believed that Feiyandi must have paid a huge price to eliminate the group of evil beasts entrenched in the mountains.

But the actual situation is that Feiyandi made a deal with the dragon group. Feiyandi assisted the Steel Winged Dragon King to transform into a real dragon, at least with part of the true dragon bloodline, and the Steel Winged Dragon group had to serve Feiyandi. .

Reasonable deal.

The chaos in Nanling is essentially due to this group of steel pterosaurs that suddenly migrated here from distant mountains. They carried a large number of biological warfare viruses and insect pests, and easily defeated the gathering place of mountain people far away from the center of the Empire's Nanling. , and with the help of Feiyandi, the Steel Winged Dragon Dragon King has become even more powerful, even comparable to a true dragon.

They migrated to Nanling.

This is the truth of the matter - behind the rebellious mountain people in Nanling is not nothing, but a group of extremely powerful dragon beasts, a fourth-level true dragon-level monster.

The rebellious mountain people call the other party their true object of worship, the new Baisen Dragon God in the future.

Basically, the powerful Ascendants of Nanling and the Ascendants of the military have penetrated deep into the Baisen Mountains to help stabilize the state and order in those autonomous regions that are still resisting and supporting the empire.

This is also the reason why Ian didn't see any patrol knights or Marquis Barton's personal guards along the way.

They all went deep into the mountains to fight against the dragons.