I will be crowned king

Beluga Harbor, suburban wilderness.

Just as everyone in the city gathered in the Parliament to celebrate the New Year in the 102nd year of the Saints' Calendar with ecstasy, three "traitors" and "remnants" of the Faithless Knights were huddled in an abandoned barn. Shivering in the cold wind in the hall.

After surviving the long night, experiencing the attack of the evil god, sneaking into the Rune Mansion, the death of Phil Cressey, assisting Louis Bernard in resisting the indigenous fanatic believers, witnessing Anson Bach's "resurrection from the dead", the Apostle After the arrival... and various information and events that constantly challenge reason and are full of weirdness and madness, the trio, who originally had objections to the uncertain future, reached a consensus in unprecedented unity:

They want to run away.

This was not a hasty decision made in an abnormal state of mind. In fact, on the contrary, the three people calmly examined their current situation and the information they had, and made a judgment that was in their own interests.

First of all, the identity of the Faithless Knights - Phil Cressy is dead. The Cressy family and the power of the Knights have basically disappeared. Bearing the name of traitors, they no longer need to consider the issue of being hunted down. Previously, Anson Bach's excuse to blackmail them no longer existed.

Secondly, the cooperation with Anson is already in name only for the same reason, and it is completely meaningless to continue.

As for the value of utilization... It cannot be said that the three talents are worthless, but they are dispensable compared to the current Anson, and they are a drop in the bucket compared to the above. There is no shortage of high-level thugs like them.

Finally, and most importantly – they know too much.

The secret of Rune Mansion, the grand plan of the Old God Sect, the unexplainable relationship between the apostle and Anson...all these, combined with their own way of saving others and their understanding of Anson Bach, the three people invariably had the same adventure in their minds. The term "catastrophe is imminent" was coined.

So after "escorting" Louis Bernard's carriage from Beluga Port, they did not return, but stayed in this empty abandoned barn... The reason why they did not leave with Louis was because they were worried that the target was too big. After all, now The Free Confederacy is full of spies from Anson Bach and the Luen family.

The three people's plan was to avoid the limelight for a while, and then wait for an opportunity to quietly leave Beluga Harbor after Anson had probably forgotten about them or given up on searching for their whereabouts.

This barn was a carefully selected location for the three of them: it is located in the wilderness, close to the woods, and there is a road to Beluga Harbor within a few steps. It also satisfies the two advantages of "darkness under the lamp" and "remote location". , greatly reducing the possibility of discovery.

But it wasn't long before they discovered there was something slightly unsatisfactory about the barn.

It's...haunted.

Sometimes the locked door will open automatically, sometimes there will be a sharp whine coming from the cracks in the wall, a mouse that has been frozen to death for several days will come out as if nothing has happened, and the shabby linen bag will emit the cry of a dying person. Coughing sound...

If these prank-like things happened in an ordinary house, the family might be shaken to their core, but when they happen to "professionals" like the Faithless Knights, they, well...

Even more scared.

The three of them rummaged through the entire barn, but couldn't find even a trace of magic reaction or the breath of any gifted person. Everything seemed normal and completely consistent with natural phenomena. There was nothing worth making a fuss about - such as freezing to death. The mice can still run around and so on.

Apart from these, they were still very satisfied with the dilapidated-looking barn, especially after gradually adapting to those commonplace natural phenomena.

"...So when are we leaving this damn place?"

Wrapped in the old coat that had been taken off the dead man, the Wild Hunt Knight held the rat that had long been frozen to death. The stiff corpse struggled in his hands like a toy: "It has been more than ten days... I am almost frozen. died!"

"If you just freeze to death, I don't think it will have any impact." Sir Carno said casually, pushing his long blond hair behind his ears:

"Look at the little friend in your hand. Maybe it will be more lively than it is after you die."

In response to his companion's sarcasm, the Wild Hunt Knight rolled his eyes disdainfully: "Yes, but I don't know which one froze to death first - the one who was as skinny as a stick, or the one who inherited the blood of the Wild Hunt Knight. Himself?"

Carno remained unfazed: "The stronger the body means the greater the basic amount of consumption, so I think the answer to this question is not controversial."

"I think so too." The Wild Hunt Knight glared back unceremoniously: "Only if someone has something that can be consumed!"

The two people, who were facing each other tit for tat, looked at each other and at the same time pushed back the undead that came out of the wall behind each other.

"You have been silent since the beginning, Ian." Carno looked expressionlessly at the (former) knight leader who was huddled in the corner with his back to them as if he was autistic: "Did you find something?"

The Wild Hunt Knight, who looked like a fried lion just now, also turned his head and looked at the guy's back strangely. Usually at this time, the other party would immediately stand up and shut up. What happened today?

Then... they saw the huddled figure slowly turning around, revealing an expression full of panic: "I... I just... just suddenly realized that this barn is very... possible yes……"

"Dong dong dong!"

A heavy banging on the door came from outside, interrupting the conversation of several people.

Carno quickly exchanged glances with the Wild Hunt Knight. The latter immediately picked up the weapon and walked towards the door. Carno, who picked up the spear, stood beside the frightened Ian, looking out from the shadow in the corner. Zhong stared at the back of the Wild Hunt Knight.

"Dong-dong-dong! Dang-dong-dong!"

"coming!"

Impatiently interrupting the impatient knocking on the door, the Wild Hunt Knight pressed the hilt of the knife at his waist with one hand, and at the same time used his right hand holding another sharp blade to open the door - hiding the weapon in the blind corner of his sight, and taking advantage of the opponent A head-on attack before you realize it.

But when he saw the figure of the visitor clearly, he was stunned: "You, you are..."

"I am a servant of the Luen family." The figure who knocked on the door said expressionlessly: "Excuse me, is this the residence of Mr. Derek, Mr. Carno and Mr. Ian?"

He was wearing a black swallowtail windbreaker and a half-top hat, with a striped vest and a light-colored turtleneck shirt underneath, and a delicate silver pocket watch hanging on his chest. He was no different from most wealthy Clovis butlers.

What really stunned the Wild Hunt Knight was the other things on his body... There were thick snowflakes piled on his shoulders, head and clothes, his legs were sunk deep in the snow, and his face was glowing dark purple - if there was no disguise, the opponent might have already I have been standing outside the door for at least four or five hours.

And the three of them didn't notice anything!

"Yes, yes." The Wild Hunt Knight, who had no time to recover, said subconsciously: "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

"Nothing, I just came to visit you on the order of the Luen family." The servant said solemnly: "And if possible, please return to Beluga Port. The family master has arranged a new residence for you, which is far better than here. Much warmer and more comfortable.”

"Of course, you still have the right to choose whether to go or not. The Luen Family is only giving you a choice. We will never force anyone to work for us or accept the conditions we offer - the premise is that you have Enough courage."

After saying that, without waiting for any reply from the Wild Hunt Knight, the servant turned and left; when he finally regained his senses, the other man's back had disappeared into the late night wind and snow.

"Derek, Derek?"

Sir Carno's voice came from the warehouse behind him: "Are you okay?"

"I……"

Derek was about to answer when he accidentally noticed a round and reflective object where the man was standing just now.

He subconsciously thought it was a pocket watch that the other party accidentally dropped, but when he actually touched it, he discovered that it was much smaller than the pocket watch, and it was almost spherical, with small sections of "branches" connected to the back.

That's an eye.

The blue eyeballs still maintain lifelike vitality, and the residual warmth can still be felt in the connected nerve parts. Through the shape of the pupils, it seems that the emotions frozen in the last moment can still be seen.

Derek was shocked, and suddenly his hair stood on end!

………………

Shooting Army camp, early morning.

Standing outside the barracks door, William Gottfried looked strangely at the chief of staff walking side by side with the clerk in the distance. The two seemed to be whispering something, but they both pretended to be not talking to each other. appearance.

When he was finally almost in front of him, the little clerk carrying the document bag deliberately dropped a few steps and trailed five or six meters behind Lieutenant Colonel Carl Bain, as if the two of them had never met.

This weird scene caused several questions to pop up in the technical consultant's head, but when he thought it had nothing to do with him, he shrugged and turned his head away.

"Good morning, His Excellency Wilhelm Gottfried." Carl Bain stepped forward first, smiled and extended his right hand to him: "Sorry for the slight surprise, I didn't expect you to come so early."

"I just didn't sleep last night."

After shaking hands politely, William glanced at the little clerk who was slowly following behind him: "Today is the day we agreed to hand over weapons. Where is the Commander-in-Chief?"

"Well, regarding this issue..."

"Due to a temporary emergency, the Commander-in-Chief had to stay in Beluga Port City and was unable to attend the weapons handover site in person."

Just when the Chief of Staff was embarrassed, the little clerk who "happened" to arrive at the same time immediately stepped forward to "rescue": "But there is no need to worry, because the Commander-in-Chief has given full authority to Chief of Staff Carl Bain, and I will be responsible for recording the handover and testing. The entire process will proceed as planned.”

"An emergency?" William rolled his eyes: "What emergency?"

"The so-called emergency situation refers to an immediate event that exceeds expectations or occurs completely unexpectedly." The little secretary explained unsmilingly:

"In short, these large-scale situations called 'problems' are often sudden and unpredictable, and bear the brunt of structural damage to the original plan, and have a strong impact on the handlers. In response, the most concise reply and handling method must be given without preparation and careful planning; if a reasonable response cannot be made, it will cause inevitable delays in planned actions."

"That's it." William nodded expressionlessly:

"Thank you, I understand completely."

You know there is a ghost... Karl couldn't help complaining in his heart, and he suppressed the twitching of the corner of his mouth and took a half step forward: "Time is running out, let's start as soon as possible."

William said nothing, turned around and walked towards the gate with the other two people.

At this time, there was already a full battalion of shooting corps soldiers in the center of the military camp playground on standby. You could see from a distance that they had formed a six-row square formation in accordance with the requirements of high-intensity training.

Because of the indigenous soldiers' atrocious ability to understand tactical instructions, Karl had completely given up on letting them master shooting and assault formations, and uniformly trained according to the square formation, which took into account the firepower of the volley and the depth of the formation charge.

Of course, conversely, it can also be said that there is neither firepower nor depth, but this is the best result that the shooting army can achieve, and there is really no way to expect anything more from them.

"...Just because I want to take into account the characteristics of the shooting army, I made subtle adjustments to the weapons." William introduced to the two of them as he walked:

"The Commander-in-Chief has clearly requested that the Shooting Army be equipped with a different kind of infantry equipment that is simple enough and powerful enough at the same time - traditional infantry equipment is light in weight and not compact enough in structure. It is acceptable for ordinary people, but it is not suitable for ordinary people. Obviously there are not enough indigenous soldiers."

"So I increased the weight of the equipment and made it as integrated as possible, minimizing the number of parts. Not only does it look, but it's twice as heavy as ordinary infantry equipment."

"Ordinary infantry weapons are equipped with bayonets, which are lightweight and widely used, but it is still too early for the indigenous soldiers. What they need is a simpler and more weighty weapon that can achieve a fatal blow or make the enemy lose it." Combat-capable equipment.”

"Of course, at the same time, I also retained the bayonets, but used them and grenades as secondary weapons for the shooting army soldiers. With the arm strength and wrist strength of the indigenous soldiers, my suggestion is that it is best to design an accurate weapon for them. Thrown weapons.”

"Finally, because they must fight in groups and it is difficult to cooperate with each other, the equipment must have the characteristics of being more practical in individual combat, so it cannot be designed to be too long. At the same time, this can take into account the issues of weapon balance and weight."

William paused for a moment, turned around and introduced to the other two people: "Please see, this is brand-new infantry equipment specially designed for the shooting army!"

Following the direction he pointed, Karl looked at the full camp with a tangled and complicated expression. He hesitated for nearly a minute before slowly speaking:

"That, His Excellency Wilhelm Gottfried."

"Um?"

"About the...original infantry equipment you designed..." the chief of staff raised his trembling right hand:

"No...it's what the soldiers have...the ones that lumberjacks often use..."

"...Long-handled ax, right?"