Steel steam and flame

"I don't know what's going on with the group leader now." Hessler stood behind Delya, also looking out of the store, and said after a while, "I thought of the time when I found the group leader and was about to join. At that time The regiment leader is very young, a student in a military school. Now if I count the time carefully, six years have passed like this, without even noticing it."

"It is indeed very fast." Delya continued to build and play with the bouquets around her. Although most of them cannot be sold and will eventually be thrown away and go to the trash can, "I knew the leader back then when he was a student. At that time, he was on a mission in Blino, and because of some connections, I have worked with him before. But from then on, the leader seemed to have the attributes to attract all kinds of big events."

"When I went to the gray area of ​​Brino, I destroyed a big station there. Although I only participated in it, the main reason was definitely related to him. After that, on the one hand, I couldn't survive in Brino. , after all, I was involved in many things. On the other hand, the leader happened to have the idea of ​​developing his own power, so under a semi-invitation, I became the second member of the Steam Knights established at that time."

Delya breathed a sigh of relief at this time: "Like you, no one would have thought that in a few years, the Knights and the business would develop to what they are now. Of course, you and I certainly would not have thought that the dangers accompanying the leader would also It’s going to get bigger and bigger.”

"Just get used to it." Hessler didn't care about this kind of thing. "Maybe it's because I rarely participate in various events of the Knights. Most of the time, I use it as a force to solve some troubles that ordinary members can't solve. There’s no real sense of it.”

"Everyone is used to it, me and you, Waters, and the others in the Steam Knights. Otherwise, we wouldn't continue to stay in the Knights now. This kind of experience will be very exciting if we recall it occasionally - it turns out Many times, among the various news and events that are spread in the dark world, I have actually been one of the unknown participants." Speaking of this, Delya laughed naturally, looking extremely happy. .

"Unknowingly, I also like this kind of life." She continued later. Seeing that the time was approaching half past five and the sky was getting dark, she took care of herself and hid her joy in her heart. "There are still a lot of things that need to be moved. We will say goodbye to this place as soon as possible in two days."

"Huh..." She took a deep breath, "Next, there will be no leisure time. In the past, we have been avoiding the searches of various powerful families and hiding ourselves. After that, no matter how cautious our plans and actions are, we will always Traces will be caught somewhere. This is actively exposing yourself, and danger will follow. But we must delay the time of being discovered as much as possible!"

"Isn't this the same as my plan not long ago?" Hessler said, "Fake the illusion that the leader is alive and has returned. However, in my plan, it is unknown whether the leader has returned. Now, it is certain status."

"Do you know what I want to know most right now, or what I'm most looking forward to?" He asked suddenly, with a strong interest in the smile on his face. "The group of people in the empire finally analyzed this from various intelligences. How will you feel when you get the results, and what kind of expression will you have on your face?"

Delia shook her head and sighed, but did not answer. But in her heart, she actually had the same idea as Hessler. This is just a normal human emotion.

She still reminded Hessler to keep this interest in mind, and when the time comes, there might be unexpected gains.

"The first thing we need to do next is to go back to the empire. I don't know if the people we arranged for the Imperial Military Department to recruit soldiers in large numbers can help complete it. In addition, the people who developed in the empire and Manoma During that time, we did not evacuate Tusinni with us, but among those who stayed, whether we could also find the person who conveyed the message. This step requires careful and cautious thinking."

"I can do this." Hessler interjected, "I haven't been back to the empire for a long time, so I might as well go and have a look."

Delia immediately shook her head: "I will consider you later, but not now." Hessler could only wave his hands and continue to carry things to the box-type vehicle next to the flower shop, leaving Delia holding the scissors there. There was a "click" sound, but from beginning to end, not a single branch or leaf was cut off and fell to the ground.

,,,,,,

"Sir, it has been determined that the ninth main transport team was attacked by the enemy, the goods were intercepted, and all members of the transport team died." At nine o'clock in the evening, under a street lamp in the airport, the person in charge smoked half a cigarette in one breath, and then reported The message he received.

"Yeah." The words on the other end were still calm, "Just hurry up and make up for the weapons and equipment that should have gone to the front team."

"I know..." Before the person in charge could finish speaking, electronic noise reached his ears. After glancing at the communicator, he finished smoking the cigarette and lit a second one with a sigh of relief.

At the same time, on the other side of a small country, in the top floor of a seven-story building, warm lights and heating created two completely different environments inside the house and outside the window.

A man put the microphone on the communication machine and looked at the two adjutants standing by the door.

"Have you found any traces?"

The two adjutants shook their heads at the same time: "All members of the surveillance team following the ninth main transport team were almost attacked together with the people of the transport team. Every five minutes, feedback information will be sent from the surveillance team. When the feedback information disappeared - only three minutes had passed - the two of us rushed there immediately. Counting the time spent on the road, it was only fifteen minutes before we arrived at the scene..." The speaker said Swallow when swallowing.

"Only shell casings, bullets embedded in buildings or the ground, and blood that had no extra time to clean up were left. Not a single body was left. This is the case for the ninth main transport team, and the same is true for our surveillance team that followed."

The man nodded at this time and had already thought about the entire process before and after the attack: "Based on the information about the Cressi area reported by Aiqi, plus the attack that occurred two hours ago, it has been determined that there is someone beside Sicia. "There is indeed a powerful protector. Characteristically, his perception is extremely sharp. He is very good at temperature perception or other perception-related abilities."

"Actually, the surveillance team following the transport team was exposed from the beginning?" the adjutant asked at this time.

"Not only the surveillance team, but the enemies attracted by the information we released were also completely in the eyes of this protection officer. It was precisely because of knowing the location and the time of approach of the two that the enemy attacked the transport team and the surveillance team was attacked , these two unrelated things can happen almost at the same time."

"The result he wanted was to deliberately create the illusion that Sisia had died in the attack." The man laughed and looked at the two lieutenants who were thinking, "Of course, this illusion is to train the Thorn Birds. The field is for our managers here, not for me and for his perceived enemies. He knows that we can guess this based on a lot of intelligence information."

"It's a very successful plan, and it guessed what I was thinking." The man said with admiration, "It seems that if we don't shift our energy a little, we won't be able to deal with these bugs chasing after us from within the alliance." He thought for a moment and said The two adjutants said, "We are gathering our own members now. It will take four or five days for the help of Aiqi and several other allies to arrive in the small country. If the enemy knows this news, the scattered people will be very dangerous."

"In addition, I will write a letter. Tomorrow afternoon, the deputy of Mr. Forno of the Natural Society will pass by. You can help me deliver it to him. I also ask you to help me prepare the gift."

After the two adjutants left, the man left the sofa, poured a glass of wine, and went to the window. The time here is several hours later than that at the airport, and it's not officially night yet. A light snow has been falling for two days, and the cold wind gradually increased at noon, and it may turn into heavy snow tonight.

"I don't know if your preparations are sufficient. The people from the Nature Association are trying to accumulate their own contribution points based on the number of corpses."

,,,,,,

"Next step?" In the hotel, Xicia asked as she closed the door and opened her suitcase. Three long metal boxes were placed diagonally in the suitcase. Two firecrackers and three magazine-type pistols were squeezed into the remaining space. Golden bullets filled the remaining gaps, flashing. Light without temperature.

"Rest, add a lot of meat, and sleep." Cassia gave the answer. "Go buy a communicator early tomorrow morning, and then follow the words of the two captains to try to find the merchants in the dark world who occupy this city and sell three pneumatic Weapons and guns, and enough money to last a long time."

"In addition, collect the latest information. This is still some distance from the border of the Saint Dorag Empire, but all kinds of intelligence can definitely be transmitted here. You need to know a lot of information and have a complete understanding of everything that has happened recently. Even these The information may only be superficial.”

"Are you going to meet Mr. Korkva after that?" Sissia tried to think, "Let's make a plan together against the boss of the trafficking network?"

"No, it's a matter of waiting. Maybe a few days, maybe ten days." Cassia began to correct, "The enemy who attacked the transport team this time was just a test by him. Next time, no one can be sure that the enemy standing in front of us will be His men. Currently, elites from several countries have gathered on the border of the Saint Dorag Empire. Korkwa will also have a headache when he encounters them, and he must be treated with extreme caution."

"The boss of the trafficking network came here some time before us, and he knows the situation there very well. Therefore, it is impossible for him not to take advantage of this group of elites who are there."

"And we have more important things to do than this boss."