Chapter 296 Did you get there first?
The conversation ended quickly.
Whether it was because the huge amount of information took time to digest, or because the councilor's time was too expensive to stay for a long time, Count Karan Watus did not hold Luo Yan to talk for a long time.
After confirming that the "servant who was caught in the storm" as mentioned by Luo Yan was not in danger of life, the elegant and calm chief secretary stood up and sent Luo Yan to the door personally.
However, just when he reached out to hold the doorknob and was about to open the door for Luo Yan, a frustrating impact came along the doorknob -
There seemed to be a not very smart ear hidden behind the door.
——Ouch!”
With a short wailing cry, a pink-haired girl fell to the ground and sat down on the ground. Her nose was red and her tears were almost painful.
It seems that even for a succubus, the bridge of the nose is a fragile place.
Looking at the "little ancestor" sitting on the ground, Count Kallan's calm cheek suddenly twitched slightly, but he still maintained his polite smile.
"Ms. Mia, I think... you probably got the wrong door, right?"
Mia originally opened her mouth and didn't know how to explain it, but when she saw a ladder being handed over from the other side, she immediately rolled downhill.
「I, I...that's right!」
Eavesdropping on the conversation between the director and the devil was originally a very serious disciplinary issue. Another devil would have had to go to the funeral parlor in the suburbs to report the matter the next day... But no matter what, she was Festin's daughter, and Karan and the gentleman were old acquaintances, and they had always regarded Mia as half of his daughter.
After giving Mia a meaningful look, Karan said a mild "I won't do it next time." Then he said goodbye to Luo Yan, who had a headache on his face, and turned around to leave.
It wasn't until the count's back disappeared at the end of the corridor that Luo Yan looked at Miss Succubus, whose cheeks were so red that she was about to smoke... He didn't expect that she would be embarrassed as well.
While running around in his back garden, he thought this guy would be more confident.
“You are so courageous, you even dare to listen to your boss’s door.” Luo Yan stretched out his hand to pull Mia up from the ground, and Luo Yan teased with a smile.
"I haven't waited too long," Mia patted the dust on her clothes. She lowered her mouth and lowered her head aggrievedly. She kicked her heels and muttered, "You were taken away as soon as you came back. You stayed in the door for a long time and didn't come out..."
She was too embarrassed to say the real reason.
Count Karan Watus rarely appears in the Demon King Management Department, and every time he appears, it means something big has happened.
Seeing Luo Yan being taken away, she subconsciously did not think about the good side.
Especially because Luo Yan always told her nothing. After everything was over, she suddenly realized how terrible the danger he had experienced.
So in a hurry, she made this move, but she didn't expect that her head would come into close contact with the door panel as soon as her ears were pressed against it.
Normally, no matter how lawless she was, she would still be willful within the rules and would never do such a thing as eavesdropping.
Unexpectedly, the first time I did it, I was caught on the spot.
And he is also an old friend of his father.
Thinking of this, Mia couldn't help but feel discouraged. She always felt that she was becoming more and more useless... No wonder he didn't say anything to his useless self.
Luo Yan subconsciously took out his pocket watch and took a look. He saw that only ten minutes had passed. He wanted to tease her, but he saw that behind the aggrieved eyes, it seemed that there was something else besides the pain in his nose.
Putting away his pocket watch, he put his hand on Mia's head and patted it gently.
"Okay... I don't mean to blame you."
After a pause, he continued.
"I didn't talk much with Count Vatus. He just asked if the big storm would have any impact on my Demon Lord's Territory... Because it involves the issue of subspace, the Demon City takes it seriously, so it's not a bad thing for me."
Mia raised her head blankly, not expecting that Luo Yan would take the initiative to tell herself these things that obviously had nothing to do with her.
Why?
Could it be that... you are afraid that I will be worried? !
Wait a minute!
How did he know? !
The burning cloud on her cheeks crawled all the way to the tips of her ears, and her voice also stuttered.
"What's wrong with me?"
Mia hesitated for a while before speaking in a low voice.
"Can you read minds..."
Luo Yan was stunned for half a second, and then laughed.
"...What nonsense are you talking about? How can there be that kind of magic."
In this world where the spirit can interfere with matter, it is the only realm that even gods cannot invade.
Mia's face was completely red as a lantern, steam seemed to be wafting from her ears, she changed the subject in a panic, and spoke without hesitation.
"Yes, yes, it's almost dinner time! You haven't eaten yet? How about... go to my house to eat? My mother misses you." As soon as these words came out, she clenched her toes in embarrassment, wanting to find a crack in the ground to crawl in and cover herself to death.
What does it mean that mother misses you...
What does this mean? !
Luo Yan didn't think much about it, especially when he realized that there was indeed something he needed to talk to Mr. Festine Padridge, so he nodded.
"Then, let's go!"
She turned her head and jogged a few steps, then as if remembering something, she turned back to Luo Yan with a red face and walked side by side with him.
Perhaps Miss Mia's appearance is too strange. Along the way, demon colleagues frequently cast strange or gratified looks towards us.
Finally someone can cure this plague god.
Normally, Mia would not have been so patient, but now all she could think about was how to explain the misunderstanding just now - to make Luo Yan understand that it was herself who invited him, not Mrs. Serena who she blurted out in a moment.
However, unfortunately, this topic seemed to be over. She spoke rashly and seemed abrupt, so she could only worry about it by herself.
Luo Yan gave her a strange look. This time he really couldn't guess what she was thinking, so he could only silently follow her all the way downstairs to the Demon King's Management Department.
Just as they were about to leave the gate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and get on the carriage parked at the door, a familiar voice suddenly came from not far away.
"Luo, Senior Luo Yan?!"
There seems to be only one person who would call him that.
Luo Yan stopped and subconsciously looked not far away. He saw a handsome young man standing under the streetlight with a suitcase, waving to him excitedly.
It is a face that is beautiful enough to make women jealous, with thin red lips and long eyelashes, especially the puppy eyes with downward curves at the end, which look harmless to humans and animals, just like a deer in the forest.
Most people would probably mistake his gender when they first saw him, even though he was wearing a rather manly military uniform.
As for why Luo Yan recognized him at a glance, it was naturally because he was a straight man who was harder than steel and straighter than a ruler.
At the same time, this person was also one of the few friends he had when he was studying at Demon King Academy——
"Ige?"
Luo Yan said in surprise as he looked at the classmate Ige trotting over.
"You're back from the front line?"
…
Magic City, Cabinet Building, Office of the Minister of Military Affairs.
The heavy oak door was tightly closed, and the slowly burning fireplace flame cast a long and tall shadow on the bookshelf.
Facing the map hanging on the side of the wall, Caesar Colin frowned, his sharp eyes like daggers, fixed on the red cross drawn in the middle of the vast ocean.
That's where the big storm happened.
There are no specific coordinates, only a general orientation.
Hits around the red cross is a vast gray fog, just like hell's intelligence about that sea area——
They have no idea about it.
It is difficult to reach even your eyes, let alone stretching out your hand.
However, in such a lonely place outside the sphere of influence of hell, the minister of religion Golikou showed extraordinary persistence——
The old guy insisted on asking the Ministry of War to make every effort to advance the front before the empire established contact with the so-called people of the Dragon God.
Caesar scoffed at this.
This guy simply didn't wake up.
How can the Ministry of War cross the front line of the empire, send organized troops to a completely unfamiliar battlefield, and defeat an opponent who cannot lose to the empire in a frontal decisive battle?
This is simply impossible!
Moreover——
Colin doesn’t think the people of the Dragon God are the enemies of hell...if the storm really blew out those guys.
ˆAccording to the intelligence agency, the aftermath of the "Great Storm" swept across almost all the empire's ports on the eastern coast of the New World, so much so that the logistics supply on the front line was severely affected, and the direct and indirect economic losses were immeasurable!
Because of this, the empire cannot wear the same pants as the Dragon God. Instead, it will regard this trouble that suddenly appears in its back garden as a new threat.
There is no doubt that this is an opportunity.
The enemy of an enemy is not necessarily a friend, but he must be worth winning over. Rather than provoking them, it would be better to draw them into the hell camp and deal with the empire together.
What's more, even if this factor is not considered, now is definitely not the time to open a new front.
At present, the empire's ports in the New World are paralyzed, and the frontline troops are facing supply shortages. It is time to launch a large-scale attack to expand their advantages and compress the empire's territory in the New World!
This is the most correct decision!
However, Goligo disagreed, and the reason was nothing more than the cliche - 1,000 years ago, Saint Sith defeated the underworld with the help of the Dragon God and banished them from the surface to the underground.
This is true.
But he still wanted to say that that was all a thousand years ago.
While Caesar Colin was deep in thought, there were two rhythmic knocks on the heavy oak door.
Having heard the footsteps outside the door, Caesar said casually.
"Come in."
The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged official wearing a dark blue uniform of the Ministry of Internal Affairs walked in.
He held a brand new document in his hand, which was an outline of the upcoming Supreme Council. There were still traces of wet ink on the inner pages.
"...This is the latest meeting agenda, distinguished Mr. Colin." The official bowed slightly and put the document on the table.
"Leave it alone." He didn't have the intention to look at this thing for the time being. Caesar's eyes still stayed on the map, his brows were furrowed and his tone was perfunctory.
However, the official did not intend to retreat. After a moment of pause, he carefully added something behind.
"While completing the outline of the meeting, the Demon King Management Department unearthed an important piece of information, which I think you will definitely be interested in..."
"The Demon King of Thunder County, our councillor, Mr. Luo Yan, had a servant who disappeared in the storm."
When he heard the name "Luo Yan", Caesar raised his eyebrows slightly, withdrew his gaze from the map, and signaled the official to continue.
The official did not dare to neglect and continued speaking quickly.
"The man's name is Kedsen, he is the president of the Golden Seagull Chamber of Commerce in the Ostland Empire. The cargo ship Traveler he was on was caught in a storm when passing through the vast ocean..."
"According to Captain Kedson himself, he lost consciousness in the storm and was then washed away... on a strange land."
“A strange land?” Keenly capturing the key information in this sentence, Caesar Colin’s eyes fell on the official’s face, his eyes flashing with sharp light.
The official held his breath subconsciously and continued in a solemn tone.
Kingdom. The locals call the continent where they live "Jana", which means the place where the dragon lives... It seems to be the legendary place where the dragon god and his people live in seclusion! "
The temple where the dragon god worships.
The settlement of the Lizardmen...
The United Kingdom of Gutav?
The astonished expression flashed across Caesar's calm face, and the look of interest in his eyes became more intense.
"That old guy Golikou was actually fooled..."
This tsunami sweeping across the vast ocean is really related to the Dragon God and his people!
I just don’t know whether they did it on purpose or accidentally.
"Congressman Luo Yan...can you be sure that what his servant said is true?" Caesar asked in a deep voice, while thoughts were racing in his mind.
The official hesitated for a moment and answered truthfully.
"This... we are not 100% sure, including Mr. Luo Yan himself. He is still communicating with his servants. However, according to the information provided by his servants, the relationship between the local lizard people and the empire does not seem to be harmonious, and there are constant conflicts between them."
Great!
The expression on Caesar's face was calm, but there was a trace of joy in his heart.
However, his good mood did not last for two seconds, and the official's next words made his mood sink to the bottom again.
The temperature of the room also dropped a bit.
“Their conflict is not only because of their beliefs, but also involves territorial disputes... According to Captain Keidson’s description, there are already colonial strongholds of the Os Empire on that land. And the closest colonial port to him is called "Deadwood Port" and belongs to an imperial Baron."
"Although we don't know how the colonists of the empire set foot on this land that does not exist on the sea map, their flag is indeed flying there..."
"They... seem to have arrived first."
Facing the messy beach, Kedelson was stunned for a long time. It wasn't until the pretentious voice floated into his ears that he woke up from his stupor.
At this moment, he finally truly understood what Teach meant by "a mess".
Broken trees are scattered on the beach, and the remains of huge ship hulls and masts can still be vaguely seen.
This place is full of huge ravines left by waves, and wet sand is piled among the rocks. There is no sign of any reclamation at all... There is no pier, not even a small pier for fishing boats.
To use one word to describe it, it is a mess.
Other than the imperial flag barely floating on the beach and the simple fortress standing on the hills not far away, he couldn't tell that there had ever been a port here.
No wonder.
They stayed on the mountain for seven days and searched nearby for a long time, but could not see any trace of human activity.
First mate Ai Wen's Adam's apple moved, and a bitter smile appeared on his face after a moment.
"At least... there is food."
He originally dreamed of finding a shelter from the rain and a warm bed here, but now it seems... this place is not as good as the camp they built before.
That storm took away everything.
Unfortunately, they have to start from scratch.
"...Yes, think about it, boys, at least there is no shortage of food, and we will not let you work with empty hands. As for the rest, I believe it is not difficult to rely on your hands."
Teach stood next to Kedson, with his hands behind his back, his eyes slowly swept across the devastated coast, and sighed.
"It's really scary... Fortunately we moved to the mountain, otherwise it wouldn't just be the house that would be blown away."
Kedson swallowed his saliva and said with difficulty.
"Where are the others?"
"You mean my servants? Of course they are still on the mountain, there is nothing in this place, how can I let them come down now."
Looking at Keidson with an idiot's look, Teach continued confidently.
"The food in the empire is not free. Now that you are full, you should start working...if you want to be so full tomorrow."
Kedson almost spat out blood when he heard this.
Good guy.
This is using them as slaves!
"For the sake of Saint Sith, at least let us live with you? What if those lizard people in the forest come out?" The first mate Ewen was anxious. He took a step forward and looked at Teach's argument and said, "You said you would provide us with shelter-"
Teach raised his hand to interrupt his argument.
"Don't worry about this. If you don't provoke them, they will naturally not come to mess with you. We have been dealing with them for a while. Even if you don't believe in their character, you should believe in mine... take a step back and see what they really did. We will avenge you."
Ivin was so angry that he wanted to say something, but was stopped by Keidson next to him.
Looking at the excited men with flushed faces, Keidson shook his head and said.
"That's enough, Ewen, it's not easy for us to survive. They have no obligation to save us. Baron Teach is willing to provide us with food and tools, and allows us to use the resources in his territory, which is already very generous..."
"As expected of a man who has been a captain, you are indeed more sensible than your subordinates." Looking at the angry sailor whose face was flushed, Teach teased in a joking tone, "I am in a good mood today, and I am not as experienced as you, otherwise you would have been hanging on the mast by now."
A trace of fear appeared on Aiwen's face, and he hurriedly lowered his head.
Humbling with his feet on the deck for so long, he almost forgot that the other party was a noble, and at this moment, he was no different from a refugee wandering into the noble territory.
If the other party wants to kill him, there are countless legal or illegal ways, it just depends on how the other party wants to play.
Unlike Ewen who lowered his head, Keidson looked at Teach strangely, with a trace of doubt in his eyes.
What confused him was not the harsh words this guy said, but the previous half of the sentence "I'm in a good mood today."
This is his territory.
Kedson could not imagine any possible reason for him to be in a good mood.
However, this does not seem to be an important thing.
Looking at the row of imperial soldiers carrying muskets behind Teach, Keidson suppressed his dissatisfaction and said with a low eyebrow.
"So, where should we start?"
"It's very simple, of course, I'll give you and your sailors a place to stay first."
Teach's tone was gentle and natural, like a landowner comforting his tenants, pointing to the withered rainforest on the edge of the beach.
"You can build your house there, and remember to keep it tidy. After all, it is your own home, and I hope you take it seriously."
After saying that, he pointed to the fortress on the nearby hills.
"Have you seen that fortress? That is my castle. I will ask my servants to get some convenient tools from there to support you in a while. Then if you encounter any trouble during the reconstruction process, you can also send someone to come to me, and I will have someone come over to help you take a look."
Kedson followed his hand and his eyes fell on the "castle" - it was actually just a simple fortress made of wood and stone, and it seemed that it could be completely destroyed by the next storm at any time.
However, since Baron Teach said it was a castle, let's just treat it as such.
"Understood," Kaedson sighed softly and looked away, "We'll start right away."
Teach nodded with satisfaction.
"Very good, go ahead. I'm looking forward to your performance and hope that Deadwood Port can restore order as soon as possible... We'll go nearby later to see if there are any other guys who are as unlucky as you. This place will be left to you for the time being."
As he said this, he cast his gaze towards the sea not far away and said something with pretense of compassion.
"Holy Saint Sith... I really can't imagine what the ports closer to the storm will look like now."
"May the Emperor bless them."