Quadruple split

"How much do you know about Dismal Swamp?"

Xiu immediately started the topic as instructed and asked this question in a brisk tone.

Mo Tan casually took out a bottle of soda from his bag and took two sips. He wiped his mouth and held his chin lazily and said: "I don't know much, I just remember that it is a swamp east of your Violet. It’s quite big, and once you get past it, you’ll see the sea.”

"that's it?"

Xiu raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked curiously: "If it were you, you should know more, right?"

"Only if I'm interested."

Mo Tan yawned, shook his head and said: "Don't forget that I am only an alien after all, and even among aliens, I am the one with relatively little time. There are too many things in this world that attract me, and That swamp... maybe I will investigate it casually after you finish mentioning it today, but it didn't attract much attention from me before."

Xiu nodded slightly and suggested with a chuckle: "So, in order to save Mr. Tan Mo's time, do you need my help to do some popular science?"

"Quickly fart, my dear Your Highness."

Mo Tan looked at the regent on the magic crystal screen expressionlessly and urged him unceremoniously.

In the next few minutes, the regent, who suddenly became precious about time after talking about business, quickly gave Mo Tan some science knowledge and briefly told the latter some more in-depth content——

As Mo Tan said before, the Gloomy Swamp is a large swamp located in the southeastern corner of the mainland and east of the Violet Empire. Although the location is extremely remote, it is only separated from the Free Capital by a baroka territory, and it is not too far away from the civilized world. Too far away.

Of course, the so-called 'not too far away' refers to the physical distance. In fact, the unaffiliated swamp itself has no traces of civilization at all. The nearest population center from that place is hundreds of miles away. Moreover, it is a sentry guarding the eastern border of the Violet Empire, which is the 'frontier' where no one wants to be assigned despite the heavy responsibility.

One of the superficial reasons why that swamp was not designated as its own territory by the Violet Empire was that the swamp was very dangerous. Not only did it inhabit a lot of lethal 'native products', but it was also surrounded by miasma all year round. For ordinary people, Even middle- and low-level professionals are a big threat. Coupled with the 'swallowing' trait that every swamp has, it is extremely difficult to open up wasteland. Moreover, even if it is filled up, the land that has been eroded by miasma for many years will also be destroyed. Not suitable for living and working.

As for another superficial reason, this area is quite attractive to most forces in terms of land area, but for an empire with a special system like the Violet Empire, it is a bit tasteless.

To be precise, it was a bit useless in the eyes of the great dukes who had been running their own territories for hundreds of years.

Throughout the ages, the territorial area has always been a sensitive topic within the Violet Empire. Every Grand Duke is worried that the balance will be broken, and even more worried that the foundation of his family will be shaken. To this day, there are intrigues and exchanges of interests between them. When a balance point has been reached, 'starting a business' is no longer the core purpose in everyone's eyes, but 'keeping a business' is.

As for the land of Dark Swamp, based on the various reasons mentioned before, no matter who in the empire openly wants to take over that area, others will probably support it, and then legitimately distribute the benefits in God knows how many years in the future. reduce that company’s share.

Don't ask, just ask - 'You have taken such a big piece of territory, you can't even have to be like the big guys, right? ’

This result is by no means difficult to predict. Anyone who has the ability to sit on the position of the head of the family can predict it. Everyone is not a fool. Naturally, they will not do the kind of stupid thing that is so low-cost that it can make their ancestral graves smoke. , so for hundreds of years, the Gloomy Swamp has always been the Gloomy Swamp and has never belonged to the Violet Empire.

The above are the superficial reasons that can be grasped with a little investigation.

"Besides that, there is another reason that, although it is not a secret, not many people know about it."

Xiu took another sip of the golden liquid in the goblet and whispered: "There is a fog area on the edge of that swamp."

Mo Tan nodded lazily and asked without interest: "What's the misunderstanding?"

"It's not a misunderstanding, it's an area composed of thick fog, just on the southeastern border with Baroka Territory."

Xiu, who knew that Mo Tan had misunderstood, corrected him lightly and explained calmly: "The theoretical area of ​​that area is not too large, but its nature is not simple. I have sent people in several times to investigate, but regardless of the No matter how elite the team is, they all enter in a daze and come out in a daze. Although they have some gains, they are very limited."

Mo Tan smiled with interest and asked to save face: "What about?"

"For example, the area inside the fog area should be many times larger than when viewed from the outside."

Xiu drank the cup of potion in his hand and said leisurely: "For example, the flow of time inside seems to be different from the outside world. For example, when you are in there, you cannot contact the outside world by any means. Another example is It is said that even with the assistance of various professional props, normal people will still lose their way inside."

When he heard the last sentence, Mo Tan's eyelids twitched and he laughed dryly: "So, you, the emperor who is committed to reorganizing the Violet Empire into a whole and is destined to be famous in history, finally couldn't help but stretch out his claws and want to Take that swamp without a single hair as your own?"

Xiu didn't speak, he just spread his hands with a smile, saying nothing.

Obviously, as Mo Tan speculated, the situation in the Violet Empire has suddenly changed, the Marshall family has been destroyed, and Dantès and Crystal Wolf have successively submitted to the royal family. Now, as a result of breaking the balance, trying to fundamentally reform the empire. The regent, His Highness Hugh Bresne, has enough reason to set his sights on that swamp, because in his blueprint, there is no such situation as 'everyone is fighting over a piece of territory'.

Xiu, who had been paying attention to that area during this period of time, did not burn out too many brain cells. He just simplified things that should be very complicated in theory and summarized two basic points.

First of all, when everything is on track, an empire with only one voice is not too much territory.

Secondly, although it looks like just a barren swamp, it still contains secrets that are of concern, and I don't want to have such a 'neighbor' who hides secrets.

In the past, that swamp's neighbor was called Baroka, but in the near future that name will be corrected to 'Violet'.

"Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to sleep well?"

Mo Tan smacked his lips and sat cross-legged on the sofa reluctantly. He looked at His Highness the Regent with a warm smile on the screen with empty eyes: "Have you been doing too much recently? You want to get out of the house before you settle down." ...Are you too adventurous?"

Xiu shook his head and said in a very indifferent tone: "I will do this just because I can do it."

Mo Tan rolled his eyes and complained angrily: "If you can do it, just do it. Why are you telling me this specifically?"

"Give you a chance to return the favor so that we can still maintain a good cooperative relationship in the future."

Xiu looked at Mo Tan seriously and looked a little formal: "Think about it carefully, Tan Mo, at least in a short period of time, it is very cost-effective for you to continue to maintain this relationship, because you can help There are too few places to go to me, and there are only a few places where I can help you...heh, at least from the current stage, there are not too many."

"Okay, how about we talk about the price now?"

"I'm talking to you about favors, and you're talking about business with me?"

"Favor? What favor?"

"You owe me a favor."

"Since when did I owe you a favor?"

"What do you think of the help you asked me to do before?"

"You didn't do it voluntarily?"

"I……"

"Did I say something like 'Do me a favor, I owe you a favor'?"

"you……"

"So stop talking nonsense and make an offer."

Mo Tan waved his hand randomly and choked Xiu back.

The latter suddenly laughed after a brief silence, raised his eyebrows and said: "If this matter is solved, all the profits in the process will be yours."

Mo Tan's eyes suddenly widened and he said angrily: "Bad promise?"

"no pain no gain."

Xiu Qi calmly said this, raising the corners of his mouth slightly: "If you don't want to, I will find someone else."

Mo Tan cursed an unpleasant curse word.

Xiuya smiled and cursed back, which was even worse.

Finally, after about two minutes, Mo Tan, who was sure that there was an additional epic mission in his taskbar, nodded reluctantly: "Let's talk about it in detail."

"very good."

Xiu folded his legs and leaned comfortably on the cushions on the back of the chair: "About two months ago, I received a message that the Thieves Guild in Black Tower City took the lead in organizing a team. According to intelligence, , they seemed to have found something that could ensure a sense of direction in the fog of the murky swamp, so they convened a temporary group of people to go and find out. The deeper reason... there must be something, but I don’t know what it is specifically. I don’t know.”

Mo Tan nodded slightly, raised the corner of his mouth in a playful arc, and murmured meaningfully: "Oh... Black Tower City..."

"Oh? Are you impressed?"

Xiu immediately cast an interested look.

"none of your business."

Mo Tan glared at him fiercely and urged: "Go on."

"Alright alright."

Xiu didn't care, and just continued: "Then I recruited some people from [Female Bee] and Archduke Simon, intending to sneak in, and the result was pretty good. Although the selection criteria for that team were very strict, after all, there were still some A very good operator sneaked in."

"Wait a minute, did you just say Grand Duke Simon? When did you take care of their family?"

Mo Tan immediately cast an interested look at Xiu.

"none of your business."

The regent replied calmly.

"Okay, let's change the question."

Mo Tan didn't care, he just coughed slightly and said seriously: "Is the operator who sneaked in a male or a female?"

"female."

"Does it look good?"

"It should be in line with the aesthetics of you aliens."

"Okay, that's okay."

"What would happen if I said it was a man?"

"Add money."

"You..."

Xiu glared at Mo Tan helplessly and shook his head happily. Yes, he shook his head happily. In fact, ever since the Marshall family was settled and he became the regent, he has never been like he is today. It was so relaxing.

The days when he was the second prince and he was not doing his job all day long seemed to Xiu at this moment to have almost become a thing of his previous life, and a person like 'Tan Mo' who could communicate with him on an equal footing and even messed around and was shameless was already very common. This is rare. The most important thing is that the two of them have not had any conflicts of interest so far, and it is estimated that there will not be any conflicts of interest for a long time in the future.

To sum up, the regent decided to use this high-cost method to have a 'video conversation' with Mo Tan from a long distance. The main purpose was to relax a little and take a breath.

It is true that Xiu can relax in front of Emmeline, his fiancée who has opened her heart to him, but it is only a mental relaxation. From another perspective... it is also quite tiring.

Shaking his head and removing his thoughts from the memories of the night before he and Emmeline parted ways, Xiu coughed slightly and shrugged: "In short, my people got in like this, and then there was no more." come out."

"Be precise."

Mo Tan frowned and asked: "Is it because your people didn't come out, or..."

"Not at all."

Xiu said this simply and neatly, with a gloomy expression: "It was as if they were swallowed by the fog. Everyone disappeared without a trace, and the people who were sent by the Thieves Guild to search were all the same as before. Go in confused and come out confused.”

Mo Tan tapped his forehead lightly and asked, "Is there such a possibility that those people have..."

"I don't know about others."

Xiu continued to answer and said in a brisk tone: "But the person I arranged to go in must not be dead. Otherwise, I will have a way to know."

Mo Tan stood up feebly, stretching his body in the posture of a white crane spreading its wings, and said lazily: "So what you are interested in is actually the ability of us aliens to ignore space and distance, and to conduct indiscriminate real-time communication. Friend news?"

"That's one aspect."

Xiu Er smiled and said leisurely: "More importantly, I feel that even among people from other worlds, this is a task that few people can complete, and you have never been among the majority."

"You think too highly of me."

"Well, there's another reason."

"explain."

"I think you should be immune to the disorienting effect of that fog area."

"Shut up……"

"Because you have no sense of direction at all~"

Chapter 1536: End