Chapter 736: 第734章 重返黑焰山口

Chapter 734 733.Return to Black Flame Pass
Colonel Fraser sensed something big was up when he realized Ron and Robinson were missing, and he even borrowed a portal that only foreigners use on a large scale to rush back to the Scarlet Fortress to try to get back to the Pathfinder Fortress to stop Ron from doing something stupid.

But as he was preparing to leave at Scarlet Fort, he received a message from the Pioneering Fortress.

He was one step too late after all.

The war heroes of Black Flame Pass, Major Ron Rolmar Soros and Captain George ‘Ironhand’ Robinson, had been dismissed from all their military positions for attempting to start a rebellion, and were currently being held in the cells of the Pioneer Fortress awaiting further court martial, and Field Marshal Loren had personally instructed that Colonel Fraser should return to the front lines of the Phantom Valley immediately to Supervision of the war.

It was clear that Fraser was not allowed to participate in this matter.

To be honest, when he received this news, Fraser really had an impulse to go back to Pioneer Fortress now, but he was a sensible person after all.

With the marshal’s temper, if he didn’t shoot these two assholes on the spot, it means that there is still a chance to salvage the matter, and General Soros, as a long time comrade of Marshal Loren, wouldn’t just sit back and watch his own son become a prisoner with an unclean identity, therefore, the outcome of this matter will probably be that Ron and Iron Hands will be swept away by Pioneer Corps.

This is also another sense of merit and demerit.

Fraser’s mind was mixed.

He roamed alone in the Scarlet Fortress, which was not as lively as it used to be due to the wartime regime, and was tempted to find a place to get drunk or something so that he didn’t have to pay attention to all these headache-inducing troubles for a while.

But as he walked, he reached the administrative district of Scarlet Fortress, and after hesitating for a moment, he submitted his request to visit the Scarlet Consul to the gate guards in his official capacity, and then quickly received an approval.

It wasn’t that Consul Miriam had put aside her official duties for personal matters, but after a large number of civil servants from Transylvania had filled the various positions in the government departments, her daily work wasn’t as busy as it used to be, and she could still find a little bit of time to chat with important people from other countries in between meetings to make choices.

After all, the Capay family, which was still providing some support for the war, was an important collaborator of Transylvania in the Kingdom of the Golden Sparrow, and Colonel Fraser obviously had a special status.

Upon seeing Colonel Fraser’s wilted demeanor with her own eyes, though, Miriam knew the man was in trouble.

In the consul’s office, she poured a cup of tea for her senior and listened to Fraser’s story, and after hearing what happened to Major Ron, the scarlet consul shook her head as she said:
“You’re just too anxious and didn’t realize Major Ron’s strategy, doesn’t a guy as shrewd as him know where he’s going to end up on this trip?
He knows better than anyone else, and he’s just using this drastic way to put the Short Man Marshal on the shelf at this delicate moment, and for the express purpose of pushing this matter, which may be snowed under for the time being, to the forefront by himself, and forcing Marshal Loren to have to settle it at once.

He had skillfully exploited the need to publicize public opinion within the Goldfinch, and had taken the worst of it.

This matter was now making waves within the Pathfinder Legion, and if it wasn’t dealt with well, Marshal Shortman couldn’t say that he would lose the heart of the army overnight, at least his prestige would be hit for sure.

For a soldier who focused on honor, this kind of stain would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Although in my opinion, Marshal Loren is to blame and deserves to suffer, I have to say that I really underestimated that Major Ron.

Not only is he shrewd, but he really goes out on a limb at critical moments.

In comparison, you seem a bit indecisive.”

“Me.”

The colonel wanted to retort, but in the face of Miriam’s explanation, he couldn’t say anything for a while, and in the end, he could only hold his teacup and sigh, saying:
“It’s also like I’m getting to know Ron for the first time, the intense side of his personality actually manifests itself in this way, if it were me, I would indeed have trouble making up my mind.”

“There is no need to be like this, you are the first eldest son, he is the second son of the family, the duties you undertake are very different from the life he is destined to live, naturally they cannot be compared together.”

Miriam was truly much more mature than before.

She persuaded Frazier while saying:

“I guess the reason why Major Ron dares to be so direct is also because he is certain that his departure will not affect the operation of the Pioneer Battalion, in other words, he trusts that the mess he made can be handled appropriately by you, which is also a trust in another sense.

Don’t let your brother down, be careful in the upcoming battles, your father will definitely make terrible waves once you are in danger or fall into a worse situation.

It’s an unnecessary disturbance in today’s situation.

Do you need me to arrange for a psychic to transport you back to the front lines? Or should you rest in the city for the night?”

“I’ll leave in a while, we just got a position in the Valley of the Shadow, and the soldiers’ morale needs to be maintained, and there’s a lot of things to do as we have to hand over to the next commander sent from the Pioneer Fortress.”

The Colonel took a sip of his tea, he glanced at Miriam and noticed the ceremonial saber the other man wore at his waist, he whispered:
“So, are you also ready to step into the fray when necessary?”

“I’ll be a burden to the others if I go into battle, I haven’t learned much about combat systematically after all.”

Miriam laughed and ruffled her re-grown long red hair as she said in a sardonic gesture:

“I’d rather not go messing with the warriors if I can help it, but if the war really needs me to be a part of it, then I suppose I shouldn’t say no. I won’t lie, I may change to a more intimidating form as I step into that arena of males.”

“A vampire?”

Fraser raised an eyebrow as he put down his teacup and said:

“All that determination? You do realize that with your current status and position, even if things do go to the worst, both countries will be willing to set aside a refuge for you, right? You can choose one of the two sides and form a government in exile”

“And then be traded by King Louis or the Wolf Girl as a political bargaining chip?”

Miriam shook her head as she said decisively:
“No, that’s not a fate a Transylvanian would choose, and that would be a desecration of all the efforts my companions and I have made in the past, I know deep down that I’m not in this position because of how good I really am, I’ve just been pushed here by destiny and helped by a lot of dedicated people.

I have worked hard to make myself worthy of the title of ‘Scarlet Consul’.

War or death in battle is also a reflection of that effort.

Of course if men like you are good enough to get glorious victories on the front lines, then I wouldn’t have to leave a suicide note or anything in advance.

Uh, perhaps I shouldn’t say something so ominous in front of you, anyway, I wish you all the best in your battles afterward, and may the light of victory live on around you.”

“Thanks for the blessing.”

Fraser took a sip of his tea and pulled out his pocket watch to check the time, he stood up and bid farewell to Miriam:
“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to my rant, your analysis is important to both Ron and I. It seems I need to put my reckless brother in the right place in life after this.”

“A lean mercenary corps might be just fine, or perhaps the squire army that the Carpe family uses for war advancement.”

Miriam said softly as she walked Fraser to the door:
“Ron isn’t really sick of war, he just chose the latter between duty and friendship.

Although his behavior seems reckless, the fact that he can act like this for Dunn and those dead warriors proves that he values friendship more than anything else, which means that you can trust him.

Even beyond superior and subordinate, the kind of trust between true brothers, just as there are always things that the great ones are not comfortable doing on their own.

Anyway, congratulations, Colonel, you have the best pair of bloody gloves ever used.

Ahem, don’t get that look on your face; with your level of grammar, you’ll naturally be able to tell that I’m not using it in a derogatory way here.”

“I understand.”

Fraser frowned and nodded.

Without further ado, he said a gentlemanly goodbye before striding out of the Executive Mansion. Miriam came to the window to watch her senior leave, and she noticed just now that Fraser had the scarlet revolver he had given away in his holster.

Alas.
The consul sighed, slapped herself lightly on the cheek and said:
“Miriam, you little goblin, you really have a knack for seducing men.

Never mind, let’s work, let me see the documents that need to be dealt with urgently . Well, Boss Huo of Hidden Treasure Bay purchased 30,000 landless serfs in the Great Wilderness Region in his private name and contributed them to the Administrative Division to fill manpower in the name of Hidden Treasure Bay.

Well, with 300 slaves in hand, Governor Murphy will be pleased.

That said, Boss Huo and Boss Cat and Rabbit, through a series of operations since the start of the war until now, had already gotten nearly 50,000 manpower and 500 foreigner quotas for Transylvania on their own.

They may not be on the front lines, but this kind of contribution already deserves an ‘Executive Baron’ badge, work harder, both of you, and I’m looking forward to personally hanging the Earl’s Medal on both of your chests after the war is over.”
—
“The concentration of foul psychic energy on the outskirts of the Black Flame Pass position has dropped to near the safety threshold, I think we should go back and check it out!”

In the large tavern run by the Shadow Elf vampires in the Valley of Shadows, where the members of the Silver Moon Regiment who had just completed the mission of clearing out the Jackalese stragglers from the vicinity of the Barren Mountains were gathering, little Vikrama, clutching a wine glass that was about the size of her head, said to the others as she drank apple juice from the cool contraption:

“I flew over there last night to check it out, and the psychic black shadows on the outer positions have cleared up a bit, and while there’s still no way to get close to the center side of the position, I think we might be able to explore around the eighth position if we use Blaze to open up a path.

That’s where Lord Heather transformed in two, so maybe we can find some relics and do some battlefield reconnaissance. I thought the pass over there had been leveled, and after that the jackals just needed to clear the ground to come all the way over without any obstacles?
Should we plant some anti-infantry mines or something there?”

“It’s not the right time yet, the Black Flame Pass position will definitely be re-cleared afterward, and that’s the best time to lay large-scale mines.”

Sipping her cocktail, Sister Pomegranate shook her head:

“And the Silver Dwarves have said that they can’t be sure what exists in the complex structures underneath the position, and that astral tear was so large that it’s a guarantee that something dangerous will be dropped from the astral plane.

Like those astral creatures we encountered earlier in the ruins of Cadman.

Astral tigers, lizards, whatever.”

“Now we’re not afraid, we’ll just kill them when we encounter them!”

Little Vikrama shouted as she waved her fist:

“But if we can find Lord Heather’s relics, I’m thinking that sending those to Venerable Lord Paying will definitely brush up our reputation, right? Lord Heather is the heir of Venerable Lord Paying!”

“Emmm, makes sense.”

Lumina reached out and rubbed her hand hard on little Vikramana’s head and said:

“You’re really smart for a little head, so, Mrs. Water, what do you say? Going or not?”

“Go, anyway, the second phase of the battle hasn’t started yet, and staying here will only lead to taking on some daily quests to clean up the perimeter without too much grease.”

Lady Water was holding yogurt in her hand, she glanced at Orchid beside her and said:

“Your potential release bar is at 100%?”

“Well, the fourth Ancestral Power – Icebreaking Cold is also unlocked.”

Orchid was holding a cup of Dwarf Great Ale with a helpless face, but the drink in her cup was emitting channels of cold, obviously the marvelous Ancestral Power was taking effect.

Her four Ancestral Powers would not only manifest marvelous in such things, but even had an effect on her appearance, that long black hair was becoming more crystalline day by day, transmitting an icy cold ghostly blue, and there were also channels of ice flowers wrapped around the tips of her hair, and even the color of her pupils had turned into a greyish blue.

This was a manifestation of the activation of the Ancient Nords’ bloodline after the Anti-Ancestralization, and the other thing that was hard to tell was that Orchid found that her pants in the game would become shorter every few days, which meant that her already exaggeratedly graceful legs were still getting longer.

“This Ancestor Power release is amazing too.”

She spat, taking a swig of the barleywine, which had taken ice shavings with it in her hand, and slamming the glass down on the table again, saying:
“Just in time to take advantage of this adventure and finish the Silver Trial.”

“Yay, the first Black Iron in the game was our little Reed name, the best in the Silvermoon group, and the first Silver is still on our side, so let the disgraced Pomegranate Sister try a little harder to complete the first Gold Challenge among the players!”

Little Reed Name cheered and said:
“My potential bar is at 95%, get the fourth Ancestor’s Power to try out as well, Orchid give us a scout.”

“Stop it, I’m at 99%.”

Pomegranate Sister grunted, using her left hand to prop up her chin to reveal an expression of “how lonely it is to be invincible”, her right hand popped out her claw blade to gouge out one small crack after another on the table, and said:
“And I have four Ancestor Powers right now, I intend to gather all six before I advance, I advise you guys not to be in a hurry, according to the NPCs, the completion degree of the Silver Trial will directly determine your progress and end point on the road of chasing the Golden Power.

Instead of messing up a watery silver at a high level, it’s better to get down to business and practice more.”

“You think everyone is as battle crazy as you and Cat!”

Lumina spat viciously:

“Us ordinary players are already fighting for our lives to get four Ancestor Powers, okay? And half-elves like me have a choice to make, I don’t want to give up on either humans or elves.
So I’m either going to wait for Moon Elf or Forest Elf to open up before I switch races again, or I’m going to go with the Kryptonite model!
300% experience drain, uh, should it just be a slower upgrade?”

“You’re overthinking it, the upgrades are all secondary to the speed of skill improvement.”

Sister Pomegranate said quietly:
“It’s already hard to learn advanced skills now, I simply don’t dare to think about how painful it will be to learn high level skills and mastery skills in the future, this 300% experience consumption of yours will definitely become a deadly sinkhole in the later stages.

Switch races, I think the Shadow Elf talent is very practical.”

“Don’t! Shadow Elves have too bad a reputation.”

Lumina crossed her arms and refused:
“You don’t know, those surly guys are starting to engage in special services in Old Huo’s Treasure Bay, and they’re not doing that for money, it’s purely a matter of preference, and one by one those big-headed soldiers who run off to spend money walk out looking like they’ve been sucked dry .
That’s horrible too.”

“Uh, that’s true ha, the Shadow Elves are indeed over the top in that regard.”

Lady Water rubbed her brow with a helpless expression:
“I went to learn skills from the tailoring master of the Mejewa family, but that guy insisted that I accompany her for three days and wanted me to wear weird clothes dog things! My husband almost rolled up his sleeves and punched her, but guess what?

The guy got even more excited when he saw my husband and suggested that the three of us.. Blanch! It was reported to the sheriff on the spot, and when Aunt May took her away, the guy was still winking at me.

It was crazy.

It’s better for those of us who are clean to not socialize with those guys, so let’s finish this round of drinks and get going, bring enough alchemical kerosene and then call out the others to go with us.

It’s a big position. How long will it take us to find something?

Vikrama, you don’t drink. Why are you here?
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.”

“Hmph, you guys are discriminating! What’s wrong with apple juice? Apple juice is healthy, okay? I hate you guys! Mom? Mom! Stop trying to seduce the young and the young at heart and come over here and drink with them and give them a little lesson in husband management!

Your daughter’s being bullied!
Damn it, you said you’d come to keep me company, but now you’re having more fun than I am!”

(End of chapter)