King

In the agricultural era, food production was a country's top priority. The increasingly severe locust plague soon attracted the attention of the Alpha Kingdom.

In the Emerald Palace, with the frequent urgent reports from various places, Caesar III was not in a good mood.

"Have you found out about the locust plague?

Is it a natural occurrence?

Or man-made? "

Facing the king's soul-like torture, all the ministers lowered their heads.

If the cause of the locust plague was so easy to find out, I guess the problem would have been solved long ago. The provinces are not in such a hurry now.

Unlike other things, the royal capital can also send experts for reinforcements. Faced with a locust plague of this level, even if all the experts from across the country are gathered there, there is no guarantee that it will be extinguished.

All everyone can do is to find the insect king who transformed into a monster as soon as possible. For the remaining insect swarms, we can only resort to simple methods: burning with smoke and burning with fire.

Of course, organizing manpower to hunt and kill is also indispensable. Using cloth, net, and... to capture are all routine operations.

In the world of the Lord of the Morning, an unfashionable existence like the Locust God cannot scare the nobles.

"Your Majesty, the locust plague came so quickly and violently that it almost broke out in several provinces at the same time, and then quickly spread to all directions.

Just judging from the corpses of the killed insect kings, it is indeed possible for some insect kings to be artificially cultivated.

To be sure, we need more samples. It would be best to catch the Insect King alive.

However, even if it is determined to be man-made planning, based on the existing intelligence, it is difficult for us to determine which force is responsible. "

The Grand Duke of Newfoundland replied bravely.

When encountering a strong king, the prime minister's life is destined to be difficult. Caesar III was too shrewd, and the routine bureaucratic operations of making mud and doing Tai Chi would not work here.

Even though he knew the true answer was unsatisfactory, the Grand Duke of Newfoundland still revealed the truth.

"As long as it is confirmed to be man-made, that is enough. There are many powerful forces capable of planning this matter, but not many will do evil things to us.

Either the orcs did it, or the Holy See did it. Even if they act in the name of a cult organization, they can only fool the children.

Send the order and the insect king catches as many alive as possible. Since they can do such a thing, it is no wonder that we retaliate. "

Caesar III said coldly.

The truth often doesn't need to be so accurate. Anyway, there are only two suspects in total, and the specifics of who did it are the same.

Other major forces either have no enmity with Alpha Kingdom, or they need Alpha Kingdom to be a good gatekeeper.

There is no motive for committing evil acts. You can't wait until you are full and just jump out for excitement, right?

You know, creating a locust plague also costs money. If you want to make some noise, you must at least cultivate an insect king.

Most locusts only have a lifespan of two to three months. If you want them to be promoted to Warcraft in such a short period of time, the price they need to pay is not a small amount.

Even if the Insect King is created, this thing cannot be controlled. The wise Warcraft Insect King will not let others manipulate him stupidly.

It is the instinct of living things to set off a locust plague, but in which direction to release the disaster and when to set off the locust plague are all decided by the Insect King himself.

Some insect kings can even cross several countries on their own before launching a locust plague army.

Regardless of the fact that it is the Alpha Kingdom that is unlucky now, if it fails to contain the disaster. It is unknown how many countries may be affected in the future.

The probability of planning such an action and shooting yourself in the foot is not low at all.

For example, now, just because he suspected that the locust plague was man-made, Caesar III felt that he would also prepare a share for his enemies.

Happiness lies in sharing.

How could the locust plague, such a rare thing, be enjoyed by the Alpha Kingdom alone?

Even if it's a mistake in judgment, it doesn't matter. After all, the enemies are all being tricked, and no matter how big a mess it causes, it is a happy event worthy of celebration.

“Your Majesty, you still need to be careful about revenge!

It’s just the Holy See, that’s all. Anyway, everyone has turned their backs now. Even if the Holy See discovers it, they can't do anything to the kingdom.

As long as no evidence is left behind, all countries in the mainland will also see that the Holy See is weakened. No one will take their side.

But the Orc Empire is different. Once there is a locust plague, it is very likely that the orcs will invade the south in advance. By then, the kingdom will..."

Before the Grand Duke of Newfoundland could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Caesar III.

“Counting the days, it’s almost time to launch a new round of orcs’ southern invasion war.

Emperor Behemoth, the immortal old man, has passed his 300th birthday, and his youngest son has also been forcibly promoted to the position of crown prince.

It seems that the situation is good, and the main peace faction has firmly gained the upper hand. But how long do you think that old immortal can live now?

Even if the old guy doesn't die, it will still be the same if Crown Prince Alex dies.

The Behemoth clan is naturally warlike. Any young crown prince who takes the throne will be a representative of the main war faction.

Although Emperor Behemoth has a high prestige, he is still old after all. The emergence of a war-fighting crown prince can also break the current balance.

This is true for the Behemoth Imperial Court, not to mention the other imperial courts. All of us have long been unable to bear it any longer. The day when the orcs invade the south is not far away from us.

Whether there is a locust plague or not, it will not change this. Instead of waiting to be beaten passively, it is better to cause them some trouble first.

At the very least, a great famine can reduce the number of their vassal races. It saves them from always engaging in sea of ​​beast tactics, which is disgusting. "

War is even more necessary in disaster years.

Although it may sound difficult to understand, politics is so magical.

If the locust plague is not harmful, the Alpha Kingdom, which is still building strength, will naturally not cause trouble at this juncture.

But once the disaster expands and even affects the food production in the coming year, then there is no choice but to go directly to war!

Asking for aid does not necessarily mean that you can get food from various countries. But once the Orc Empire invades the south, none of the surrounding neighbors will dare to say that they will not provide food.

As one of the few powerful countries in the human world, once the Alpha Kingdom collapses, the probability that its surrounding neighbors will be able to block the Orc Empire's forces is not much higher.

At that time, it will not be a battle of loyalty and interests, but a life and death battle between the two races of humans and orcs.

Countless races suppressed by the human race may take the opportunity to launch a counterattack. If you are not careful, the human race's position as the continent's hegemon will be lost.

At a more serious level, there is even a risk of genocide.

It can be said that this is a big gamble. The stakes are not only the Alpha Kingdom, but also involve the fate of the entire human race.

It seems a little irrational, but for the Alpha Kingdom, they must participate in such a bet.

It was precisely because of the courage to gamble and the ability to force all the human nations to join the gambling table that the Alpha Kingdom blocked the orcs' military front for hundreds of years.

If it had been weaker and faced the threat of the orcs, cutting off one city today and losing two cities tomorrow, the Alpha Kingdom would have disappeared into the long river of history.

…

Early the next morning, Hudson was awakened from his sleep by the maid. After a quick meal, he joined the assembled team.

Both knights and magicians all mounted their horses. Under the leadership of Earl Pierce, they headed straight for Qiaomu County.

The feeling of galloping on a horse is really fascinating, but my kneecaps hurt a little and my buttocks were a little hurt.

At one point, Hudson even wanted to give up his horse and ride a bear instead. At least the Bear Stearns is stable enough to run, so you don’t need to worry about being bumped off.

Just look at everyone riding war horses, even the legendary fragile magician lady, now showing off the demeanor of a female knight.

Sure enough, the legends are all lies. The magician's body is fragile, but that is only compared to the knights of the same level. Compared with ordinary people, the body bones are still much stronger.

There are fragile magicians, but those weaklings are not qualified to appear here.

We are going to kill locusts, not go out for an outing. The kind of mage who casts a few spells and then is exhausted is simply a burden.

Poor self-esteem made Hudson give up the idea of ​​riding a bear.

After all, there were so many people present, many of whom owned Warcraft, and all of them chose to ride war horses.

The public reason is that the monsters run with too much momentum and may disturb the residents along the way.

Noble sir, since when did you pay so much attention to people's livelihood?

Hudson said his knowledge was somewhat insufficient. Compared with this reason, he is more willing to believe that these guys can't command their own magical beasts.

Highly intelligent creatures, who has no dignity?

If you dare to use Warcraft as a coolie, you must be prepared for someone to trick you to death on the battlefield.

Just like his own bear, which time has he not paid for his appearance?

We insist on fair trade and everyone gets what they need, so as not to repeat the tragedy of the unlucky Chi You.

Fortunately, a war horse with a trace of Warcraft blood has greatly enhanced endurance and explosive power. A journey of several hundred miles begins in the morning and arrives in the evening.

Except for the Knights, which are all composed of knights, only the Air Force has such speed. If other troops dared to run like this, they would have to toss the soldiers to pieces.

Looking at the familiar faces that came out to greet him, Hudson felt extremely cordial, as if he had encountered the warmth of spring.

Don't be a stranger, don't enter the same house.

Teaming up with a bunch of cultivators was also a form of torture for Hudson.

Either you don't speak, but once you speak, the topic will basically be about cultivation. Even if we don’t talk about cultivation directly, after a while everyone will automatically shift to the exchange of cultivation experiences.

This made Hudson, an intermediate magician/knight, very hurt. Just listen, you don’t understand, and it’s easy to be led astray by these guys.

Especially some weird ideas, which are simply constantly challenging Hudson's cognitive limits. If you are accidentally deceived and practice according to the ideas they discussed, no one knows what will happen next.

Although these guys kept claiming that it was their original cultivation method and that they had achieved their current strength because of using these methods, Hudson firmly believed that these were all nonsense.

Who would be so foolish as to hand over their own cultivation methods, if they were not relatives? This is the skill of eating and passing down the family, and even the disciples may not be able to teach it.

Even the details are explained so clearly, it is clear that he wants to trick the mice into practicing and provide them with data reference.

If you don't listen, these sounds keep coming to your ears. For a time, Hudson thought that these guys wanted to plot against him and set him up specially.

It was only when he saw Earl Pierce with the same depressed look on his face that Hudson gave up the idea. The indiscriminate attack was clearly meant to fool all the talented juniors into it.

The effect is naturally not very good. Geniuses are not fools. If you haven't finished learning your own inheritance, how can you be a guinea pig for others?

If you are so stupid, you deserve to die. At the very least, he was deceived now, and he was the only one who died. If someone deceives you in the future, the whole family will be in trouble.

Meeting old friends should be something worth celebrating. But now that the locust plague is about to break out, everyone really can't be happy.

In order to recharge our batteries, the welcome banquet was skipped. All activities were kept simple, and even old friends who had met before did not come over to reminisce at this time.

This is undoubtedly a wise decision. After a day of hard work, my body is almost falling apart. Hudson was like that, and the others weren't much better.

The strong have a strong will and can endure pain that ordinary people cannot bear, but this does not mean that everyone will not be tired.

Arriving at the county town does not mean the mission is completed. Tomorrow we have to go out to intercept the locust army. In order to reduce losses, it is inevitable to go deep into neighboring provinces.

The Governor's Office has come forward to communicate in this regard, and it is not Hudson's turn to worry about it. Now we just need to be prepared for battle and not to be held back if we encounter an army of locusts.

As for fighting, that's a bear thing. Most of Hudson's combat prowess lies in his bow and arrow.

There are people who bend their bows to shoot at giant eagles, but who has ever seen people who bend their bows to shoot at locusts?

There are no banquets, but small gatherings are still indispensable. As the owner of the main combat force, Hudson was honored to be present.

…

"The situation has changed. I just received a magical message from the royal capital. There is a possibility of human control of this locust plague. Let us catch the insect king as alive as possible when we encounter it.

Reinforcements are on the way, but don't get your hopes up too much. Our mission is to find the King of Insects from the army of locusts. Luck is more important than having a few masters. "

This is a fact. The locust army is not a big threat to everyone present. In all previous locust plagues, it is rare to hear of a master being killed in battle.

As he spoke, Hudson clearly felt everyone's eyes focused on him. His intuition told him that these guys would place the heavy responsibility of finding the Insect King on him, the "son of luck".

At this moment, Hudson suddenly understood why he was so valued. In addition to being a bear that can be beaten emotionally, everyone is also interested in his luck.

Personal sequelae broke out.

Too many legendary things happened to him. Although most of them are artistically processed to make the stories legendary, there are so many coincidences that everyone cannot help but not believe them.

In normal times, this kind of "luck" persona is the easiest to shock people.

As a last resort, no one wants to face the "Son of Destiny". Historical experience tells everyone that a head-on confrontation with the son of luck usually does not produce good results.

After enjoying the dividends brought by "personality", you must bear the corresponding backlash. Fortunately, this time we are only looking for the Insect King, so safety is guaranteed.

Locusts, those little pods. Even after being promoted to a Warcraft, its combat effectiveness is still at the bottom among Warcraft.

If it weren't for the fact that the Insect King flies fast and can command an army of locusts to fight, its meager combat effectiveness would not be taken seriously by everyone.

“Your Majesty the Governor, if the locust plague is controlled by someone, is the Insect King also controlled by someone?

The insect king is controlled by others, as long as it is willing to hide. They can completely avoid our eyes and ears, pretend to be ordinary locusts, and sneak into our southeastern province from any corner.

It is difficult for ordinary magicians to distinguish the difference between insect kings and locusts, let alone ordinary people. This will inevitably make it more difficult to find the Insect King. "

Hudson decisively resorted to shifting the blame.

Since the royal capital said that the locust plague might be controlled by humans, it would be easy to explain why they could not meet the Insect King.

"Don't worry, Baron Hudson. The Insect King is not that easy to control. Warcraft have their own dignity.

Even if they were forced to sign a master-servant contract, they would not be able to cooperate sincerely. Even the Insect King may take the initiative to reveal the identity of the controller.

Next, we just need to tighten our defenses. I believe that the great Lord of the Morning will protect his believers and will never let the locust plague continue! "

Earl Pierce replied formulaically.

It's all correct nonsense, even the target of blame has been chosen. If the Insect King cannot be caught, it’s because the Lord of the Dawn doesn’t bless him, and it’s not because he, the governor, doesn’t work hard.

…

In the stormy province, a plague of locusts swept across the land, and immature wheat and soybeans... all entered the belly of these demons.

These are still not enough. The locust army, which seemed to never have enough to eat, not only devoured the crops, but also the weeds and leaves in the fields.

The locusts devoured everything they could, and the army passed by, as if the whole world had fallen into deathly silence.

After escaping the front of the locust army, the noble lords organized serfs to go out to hunt the remaining locusts.

The scattered army of insect hunters had despair written all over their faces.

"This is the year of disaster!"

Old farmers with a little bit of experience know that in such a disaster year, not being starved to death is the greatest luck. Wanting to have a full meal is simply a dream.

Without any surprise, the nobles issued orders to reduce rations. Not only did the food standards of the serfs drop, but the food standards of many small nobles themselves were also forced to drop.

Even though they were given the broth at this moment, and the meat particles could still be vaguely seen, everyone still looked at the food in the bowl without any joy.

The locusts devoured everything, and there was not enough fodder on the earth, so the noble man had no choice but to slaughter the animals.

Eating a good meal now means enduring longer years of hunger in the future.

If you look at the food, you will know that rye has temporarily withdrawn from the staple food. Everything that everyone eats has to be snatched back in advance, and it is difficult to store miscellaneous grains for a long time.

In this depressed world, a special caravan is constantly shuttling through the fields.

The main business of the caravan is to purchase livestock slaughtered by noble masters, pickle them, and transport them to big cities for sale.

Most people would definitely not be able to come up with such a genius idea. Other caravans only bought furs, but they didn't even let go of the meat.

Exclusive trading does not mean profitable trading. Unless they are nobles, ordinary people can only enjoy cured meat products.

Especially in a year of great disaster, if everyone has money, they will only give priority to purchasing food instead of luxury meat products.

None of this affects the old man's decision, because even if his business does not make money, he has never made a loss.

No matter how rubbish the product is, there will always be a scammer in the end who will buy it at a price that exceeds the market price.

"Grandpa, these locusts are actually chewing on the wood!"

Walking in this depressing world, the innocent voice of the little girl became the source of joy in the caravan.

It's just that this time everyone really couldn't be happy. Locusts chewing on wood is definitely not a good thing.

If all locusts evolved this trait, the disaster would be even more serious.

Maybe when I wake up, the carriage has disappeared. It is definitely a disaster for the caravans walking in the disaster area.

"Guna is so awesome. You discovered all this. But these locusts are not a good thing. If you touch them, you will be crushed to death!"

As he spoke, the old man flew out and kicked up a pile of gravel and shot it out, killing all the locusts in front of him.

The accompanying guys were also busy, constantly checking whether there were any locusts mixed into the convoy. Once discovered, violent measures will be taken immediately.

"Grandpa, you are lying! Last time I saw..."

Before the little girl could finish speaking, the master covered her mouth and patiently warned: "Little girl, don't talk nonsense!

These locusts have mutated and are all highly poisonous! If you want to eat meat, grandpa can cook it for you, but don’t be greedy..."

The little girl looked at the old man with an aggrieved look. When was she going to eat locusts? It was obviously...