High Above

A group of steel pterosaurs?

Ian remembered that eight years ago, when Teacher Hilliard knew that the Flying Flame Land had opened the mountain path of the Absalom Mountains, he had wondered how the Flying Flame Land could eliminate the steel pterosaurs in the mountains.

And it was at that time that he made his first big prophecy.

Unexpectedly, eight years later, the Steel Winged Dragon group reappeared and met him again.

"The fourth-level Steel Winged Dragon King has also been enhanced by Feiyandi's biotechnology. Is it comparable to a real dragon?"

Ian turned his head and looked at the map in the governor's office, staring at the regional distribution on it, thinking thoughtfully: "No wonder the rebellious mountain people can make such a big fuss. The King of the Mountain is probably fighting with Steel Wings recently. The Dragon King is facing a confrontation, and the elites of the Dragon Worship Sect and Nanling are fighting an unrestricted war with Feiyan in the mountains."

"This is the general situation. In addition, the infiltration of Feiyandi Special Forces is very serious. We can only maintain stability in everything to avoid causing greater chaos."

Colonel Mayowa answered Ian's question clearly. The man, who was not outstanding in appearance, but seemed to give people a sense of uprightness and peace, smiled and nodded: "Mr. Ian, you said you wanted to Report to me about the spy, what exactly is it? Could it be that you discovered some clues while traveling along the Nanling Mountains?"

If he were an ordinary person, Colonel Mayowa would probably listen casually and not pay too much attention to it. After all, he is not a professional. There have been too many times where he thought someone was a spy.

But after all, Ian is a genius who his father also values ​​​​and even praised. He is also a genius in alchemy. Colonel Mayowa is not an unlearned descendant of a noble family. He himself has also studied professional alchemy. As a professional, I can understand the value of Ian's technical achievements in recent times.

If it's Ian's suggestion, it's worth listening to.

But as soon as the young man opened his mouth, he felt confused and even felt ridiculous.

"The spies are in the Governor's Palace."

Ian stretched out his hand and pointed diagonally across the floor in the direction of the office area on the first floor: "That is a vicious parasitic monster with a very strong latent ability. If my psychic power didn't have special effects in this area, I wouldn't have been able to detect it."

Colonel Mayowa originally wanted to slam the table and reprimand Ian for talking nonsense. This accusation was quite serious. It was equivalent to saying that all the knights and persons in charge of the entire Governor's Mansion, including him, were all useless, and even a parasitic monster was killed. Can't find it.

When the Marquis of Barton comes back, regardless of the fact that he is the son of the Marquis, he will still be criticized by the entire army, and even severely punished by his own father himself.

But after all, his father was the Marquis of Barton. Even if he didn't learn the two characteristics of Riddler and Tempter Monster, he still learned very well that he acted steadily and did things without leaving any clues.

"If this is really the case, then it is indeed a huge mistake on our part."

Colonel Mayowa crossed his hands and supported his chin. He said seriously: "Who is it specifically?"

Even though he didn't believe Ian's statement in his heart, he didn't say anything like 'If not, you will be punished'.

He is not stupid. Ian is one of his own, and he is still a very young junior. In the final analysis, the other party thought that he had found a spy, so he spoke up. Any mistakes were just mistakes made by being too young and energetic. It is enough to criticize them internally. It is not necessary. It was too ugly.

The most important thing is that only he and Ian know about this matter, and they might be able to sell it as a favor when the time comes.

Ian also saw that Colonel Mayowa did not believe him.

Not surprising. If someone else said this out of nowhere, he would be equally suspicious.

Of course, with his character, Ian actually wants to say, 'Don't think you are useless. The Huaiguang Rescue Team next door has been tricked. Their professional ability to deal with monsters is so high. It's not a fault of war. ’, but this kind of words may be a bit tactful, so he just thought about it in his mind and did not really say it out.

Just need proof.

Soon, under Ian's identification, the staff member of the Governor's Mansion, whose whole body was glowing with a bright red light and whose silver chip clearly marked 'Flesh Transformer·Psychic Manipulation State', was taken away with a confused look on his face. Come up.

"He is a spy."

Ian raised his hand and pointed at this black-haired iron citizen who was probably in his sixties and could be considered an old man in the Governor's Mansion.

The other party's expression was simple, and the slightly gray beard on his face showed that he was highly qualified.

If there was to be a spy investigation in the entire Governor's Mansion, he would definitely be the last person to be suspected.

"Me? Spy...Master, you are wronged!"

Hearing Ian's accusation, the old employee named Klein subconsciously screamed, but Ian didn't mean to talk nonsense.

A cold light flashed, and ice-blue source of light burst out from the young man's fingertips, drawing a bright arc in mid-air.

This almost instantaneous ice spike is impossible for ordinary people to avoid. Once it hits, it will instantly freeze the human body and kill it.

Colonel Mayowa frowned slightly. It was a bit too much for Ian to kill someone. Even though he was already at the second level, the other party was an employee of the Governor's Mansion after all. It was still a bit troublesome to suppress him.

But he didn't stop it. Even if Ian is wrong, killing someone is even more wrong, and his help later will be valuable.

But if it's right...

Just like it is now.

The ice-blue sharp thorn should have penetrated the head of the old man of the Iron People. The skull of the Iron People of Terra, which could block bullets, could not stop the second-level ascender's casual move.

But it was blocked - with a pitiful roar, the old man of the Iron People suddenly burst out with extremely fast speed. He struck out with a palm, and hit the ice spike with his slightly deformed hand, shattering it, and then He turned around and planned to leave the governor's office through the window.

The ice spike exploded in mid-air, and the flying fragments turned into a hazy mist and debris in mid-air, reflecting Ian's expressionless face and Colonel Mayova's frown.

But this was not the end. Before Colonel Mayowa could take action, in Ian's indifferent eyes, the water mist swirled and condensed again. It gathered the cold and humid autumn air of Nanling, and instantly there was the sound of creaking ice edges growing. It turned into a chain of ice and wrapped around the legs of the old man of the Iron People, and the sharp ice edges pierced into the opponent's body.

Then, the blood-red blood ice spread over the body of the ferocious monster that gradually deformed and returned to the shape-shifting monster, piercing up from the inside of the skin, forming a chain that wrapped around its body.

The deformed creature, stripped of a large amount of moisture from its body, was unable to move and fell to the floor in front of the window.

"...It's actually true."

At this moment, other knights around the Governor's Mansion noticed the reaction of the source of matter in the office, and immediately rushed to support, causing a series of shrill wind sounds in the air.

But Colonel Mayowa just sighed, and he raised his voice and said: "Back off!"

So from the outside world, all the knights retreated and stood by.

The brown-haired officer stood up from behind his desk, put his hands behind his hands and came to the side of the flesh-and-blood shapeshifter who was unable to move but still breathing.

"what a pity."

Staring at the barely humanoid monster, Colonel Mayowa sighed: "Klein will retire and enjoy happiness in three years. How do I explain this to his children and grandchildren?"

——What nonsense.

Ian thought. He could completely see that Colonel Mayowa didn't stop him from killing him when he didn't believe him at the beginning. The other party didn't care about the other person's life at all. This can be regarded as a characteristic of the sublime people of Terra.

The young man did not speak, but the colonel was silent for a while. After thinking about the countermeasures, he turned to Ian and said, "You have done a great job, and all of this is our dereliction of duty."

"Ian, what are you going to do about it?"

He now calls Ian by his first name and fully recognizes Ian as one of his own.

The young man was not polite at this time: "Colonel, this monster is partially similar to the brain-eating worm I once saw among the Sequoia natives, so I can directly discover it with my spiritual power."

"If nothing else, this kind of monster should be more afraid of slight psychic interference, because their thinking ability completely relies on low-level psychic energy to read the memory of the parasite's brain."

"My suggestion is to activate Nauman City's psychic tower immediately to shock the whole city. In this case, if there are second or third lurking monsters, they should be discovered soon."

"How much do you think the number will be."

Colonel Mayowa nodded, and he seriously asked Ian for his opinion: "If this kind of monster is already lurking in all important departments, do we need to set up a trap to attract more important targets to recover the losses, rather than alerting the snake?"

Ian shook his head: "There won't be too many. Colonel, it's very difficult to control the number of monsters like this, and I'm afraid it will be expensive to build."

"And it has great weaknesses. Once one is discovered, it's easy to catch them all. The risk is too great - I personally think there may be only one monster."

"In other words, this may be an experimental battle in Feiyandi. This monster is already dead and we have already alerted the enemy."

"You are a professional."

The colonel had no doubts. He decided to do as Ian said and praised: "I remember your friend is Isengard of the Ellen family, right? Indeed, the Light Refining Dragon is also a powerful parasitic bloodline. No wonder you are so interested in So sharp in that regard.”

"It makes sense for my father to speak so highly of you. Ian, you are indeed a top talent who can identify and solve problems."

"Don't worry, I will find a way to deal with your territory. After the investigation is completed, I will contact my father to contact you later."

"Thank you Colonel for your consideration."

Ian leaned forward slightly and saluted, expressing his gratitude.

And Colonel Mayowa began to issue orders, preparing to conduct an inventory of the entire city.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The extremely loud bell resounded over the entire Nauman City, and the buzzing with psychic fluctuations came from the top of the psychic tower. It kept ringing under the gradually dimming twilight, and the slight psychic fluctuations invisible to the naked eye were like a uniformly spreading wave. The water waves spread in all directions throughout the city.

Pedestrians walking on the street were at a loss when they heard the bell ringing. They did not know why the bell was ringing.

Groups of knights and city defense troops quickly walked out of the military camp and lined up on the street.

The guard knights led the team and patrolled the city on a large scale. Under the echoing bells, the uniform commands of the knights and guards could be heard, making the city that should have been silent gradually become noisy.

In Nauman City, ordinary people are not affected in any way, because they have no souls, and this slight psychic shock has no effect on them at all.

But most of the first-level sublimators have unhappy expressions on their faces. Although they do not have souls, the spiritual matter in their bodies is being nurtured, and they can feel very loud auditory hallucinations ringing in their heads.

But everyone knows that if the Governor's Mansion can make such a decision, something big is definitely going to happen.

Ian followed Colonel Mayowa and nodded slightly as he watched the entire team commanding Nauman City deal with this major parasitic crisis in an orderly manner.

Whether it is the Empire or the Flying Flame Land, there is a screening and elimination process for monsters and psychic monsters that can parasitize intelligent creatures and deprive their identities for their own use, and even psykers.

Unlike Earth, on Terra, there are not a lot of insect swarm hives and even mind monsters. There are also many forces that want to use this technology to steal intelligence. They always expand quietly in the early stages. They cannot attract attention, but once discovered, all countries and even major forces can easily eliminate them.

"Let me just say that the Huaiguang Church has wiped out seventeen swarms of insects. This world must be resistant to this kind of parasitic flow, which means that the level of flesh-and-blood shapeshifters is higher and can perfectly simulate personality. Otherwise, if there is any clue, it will be It’s time to start an inventory.”

Ian shook his head slightly. When he first dreamed about the insect swarm's path, he was still wondering why he didn't secretly parasitize Harrison Port at that time, and then lurk the key foreshadowing in major cities, and wait until he launched a full-scale attack to let those Those who have been parasitized should cooperate internally and externally to seize key positions.

Come to think of it, I must have tried it, but was picked out.

After all, the parasitism of the insect swarm only has the effect of making a sudden attack on civilizations that have never been seen before. It is still a little bit useless to deal with a post-apocalyptic civilization with high technology like Terra.

In the evening, after Ian had dinner with Colonel Mayowa, the comprehensive investigation of Nauman City ended.

The results were pretty good.

There was only one flesh-and-blood shapeshifter in the Governor's Mansion, but in addition, they also discovered seven key personnel whose memory and thinking had been affected by psychic powers. These personnel generally suffered from personality deformation, memory loss and severe thinking disorders. .

They had been possessed by a powerful psyker.

"The one who controls the flesh-shifting monster should also be this psyker."

Colonel Mayowa put down his knife and fork. Unlike his father, he still preferred to use normal tableware, but he still carried this tableware with him.

It's a family tradition.

And Ian was quite satisfied with the dinner - a carefully cooked roast calf topped with black pepper mushroom sauce; South Sea swordfish staggered into a cross shape, with a plate of spices on the side as a dry dish for dipping; There is a rather exquisite honey tree bud cake as the staple food, and the drink is Snow Valley tea from Canaan Moore.

The veal meat was tender, juicy and crispy. The whole dinner was delicious and delicious, but there was no bread or other grain staples.

Although they say they are setting an example, in fact, sublimators usually do not eat grains with low element content, which is why they are out of touch with the entire society.

"indeed so."

Ian also agreed with Colonel Mayowa's judgment. Obviously, this time the Flying Flame Land sent a very powerful psyker to take charge of the intelligence work on Nanling. It is no wonder that the current situation is so bad.

"The meeting in the Imperial Capital should have finished."

After lamenting with Ian that the intelligence work in Nanling was difficult, with no money and no people, Colonel Mayowa looked at the time, then got up and took Ian to contact the Marquis of Barton: "Although the big meeting has ended, But there are various small meetings after the national meeting, and my father should be reporting to His Majesty on the work of the Inspector Knights recently, and I only have time now."

"By the way, Ian." He looked at Ian's clothes and reminded: "You have to figure out your 'identity'. Although I don't mind, but your father's character... you also understand."

"I understand. I am an officer of the Inspector Knight, not an elite alchemist of the Alchemy Association."

Ian nodded slightly: "Then please, Colonel."

During the meeting, the Marquis of Barton refused to accept any information except the numbers of close people. Colonel Mayowa used his own number to connect Ian. After saying a few words, he handed the communication crystal board to Ian.

【Ian? 】

Marquis Barton's cold voice sounded: [Are you contacting me as a lord or a patrol knight? 】

"Knight Inspector."

Ian said without thinking: "Second-level team leader. It is in this capacity that I contact you, Lord Marquis."

[Nanling is a mess, isn’t it]

Marquis Barton sounded not in a good mood, but Ian didn't know whether he was bringing the emotions of the meeting or pretending, so he said: "It's not chaotic, but there are some things that need to be resolved."

Marquis Barton said: [Very good, it seems you have your own ideas. Give your opinion】

"Reporting to the general, in the final analysis, the rebellious mountain people are just dissatisfied with the imperial policies. The economic system of the mountain people has never been able to be integrated into the empire. The policy two hundred years ago regarded the mountain people as colonized and exploited people, but now they should be part of the empire. But the policy has not changed.”

Ian's preface said clearly: "Only by joining the army can the mountain people have the opportunity to integrate into the empire normally. If the mountain people's high-end military force can be absorbed through the army, then the situation can still be maintained. But now the main battlefield is in the west, and although Nanling is in a state of war preparation , while under comprehensive martial law, it is difficult to obtain military honors, which makes many mountain people leaders dissatisfied."

"Not to mention, the Flying Flame Land causes monsters to riot and reduce food production. The Empire's territory can support food, and Nauman, Three Rivers and Harrison Port all have fish, so they can support it, but the mountain people in the autonomous regions and colonies are still hungry. Where’s the belly? Ordinary mountain people don’t know who caused this situation. They just think that the Imperial people have food to eat and they don’t have food to eat, so they want to rob it.”

"Coupled with the instigation by the agents of Flying Fire Land, the rebellion happened. Things were very clear and simple, so it was not chaotic, but some issues needed to be dealt with."

[Well said] Marquis Barton praised: [How to solve it, how to deal with it? 】

"I can't solve it, general." Ian said without any hesitation: "The only one who can solve this matter is the Governor of Nanling, that is, you, the general. During this trip to the imperial capital, you must want to solve these too decadent policy issues. The structures of colonies and autonomous regions were completely dismantled, all were placed under the direct jurisdiction of the empire, and the development of Nanling was launched—but Feiyandi was a step faster and provoked a rebellion first."

"But this is actually a good thing in a sense. The Feiyan Land detonated the barrel of fire for us. As long as we get rid of them and then inform the mountain people that they are the source of the mountain people's lack of food and clothing, we can use the fastest Quickly win over people’s hearts and achieve subsequent goals.”

"However, I am only the captain of the patrol knight squad. At most, I can only solve some local rebellion problems and do some force work. These problems are not something I can solve."

【very good. Ian. very good】

Marquis Barton sounded very pleased: [In this case, I want to give you some hard work in terms of force, which may offend the mountain people. Are you willing to do it?

"Ha ha."

Ian smiled softly: "Mountain people and redwood natives are fierce? I am from Harrison Port. I have been killing natives since I was eight years old. I have long been used to this kind of thing."

[Hmm] Marquis Barton's tone contained a hint of a smile: [Mayowa, is the army regiment-level establishment of the Nineteenth Army now full? 】

"It's full," Colonel Mayowa said, "but it can be empty at any time."

Mayowa's rank of colonel is not that of the navy or army, but of the armored forces. His status is deputy military level. It is not difficult for him to appoint and remove school-level officers in the corps.

[That’s okay, there’s no need to be so obvious]

Marquis Barton thought for a moment: [Ian, since the establishment of each regiment of the Nineteenth Army is full, I will give you an independent establishment. Independent regiment or independent battalion, it depends on how many people you can recruit in the future]

[As for the military rank... Inspector Knight, who has just entered the second level, his qualifications are actually enough for a colonel]

[But in order to be more secure, even if it is a major]