I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 425 Shit Pit
Diu Ni Rem had no idea what decisions Charles and other high-ranking officials in Miniscia had made, but he and the Holy Expeditionary Army had indeed enjoyed some benefits.

While marching along the coastline, Diu Ni Rem had anticipated that his forces would encounter attacks and harassment from Miniese warships.

For example, a sudden artillery barrage, or a surprise attack by a small group of men at night.

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, the Holy Expeditionary Army would send out three times the number of scouts during marches, and when setting up camp, they would try to stay as far away from the coastline as possible, or set up camp in batches to prevent night raids that could lead to riots or similar incidents.

This approach naturally reduces the efficiency of marching, but it is safer.

To avoid such trouble, the only option is to leave the coastline. However, if the army does not march close to the coastline, the supply of supplies for the Holy Expeditionary Army will become a problem... Yes, the reason for choosing the coastal marching route is actually for the convenience of supply.

The Kingdom of Bagnia now has a navy.

Although the navy's fleet was not large, with only five 1,000-ton warships launched in the autumn, these five warships, along with some merchant ships that Chris had secretly purchased from Miniese merchants, were enough to form a maritime transport fleet to supply the Holy Expeditionary Army.

Therefore, strictly speaking, the Holy Expeditionary Army was not a simple land force, but a combined land and sea army group.

Strangely, the Holy Expeditionary Force not only sailed smoothly at sea, but the players and NPC sailors, who were navigating cautiously in coastal waters and ready for battle at any moment, did not encounter the expected attack.

Strange as it may be, a smooth march is a good thing. When the Holy Expeditionary Army finally arrived near the Suvano region, stopping five kilometers outside the Serpent Swamp to set up camp, Diu Ni Rem finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Being the supreme commander of this Holy Expeditionary Army is too difficult. Even with a professional team of advisors helping him, he still feels exhausted.

Tired.

Now that we've finally arrived at the Snake Man Swamp, Rem feels like she can finally breathe a sigh of relief... As long as the fight starts, everything will be alright.

In high spirits, Tou Ni Rem had his advisors oversee the construction of the Holy Expeditionary Army camp and the assignment of tasks to other players, while he himself led a few people and rode off on horseback towards the Serpent Swamp.

After running for twenty minutes, Diu Ni Rem climbed a small hill with withered plants, and the view suddenly opened up.

Ahead lay no longer the sparse coastal forests or desolate villages they had seen along their journey.

What came into view was an endless blanket of strangely dark green and murky gray-brown, stretching to the horizon and meeting the equally gloomy sea and sky.

This is the Serpent Swamp... a terrifying place in the Suvano region born from an alien blasphemy ritual.

The ordinary reeds and shrubs near the swamp have been distorted here; they are unusually tall and dense, with branches and leaves displaying an unhealthy, greasy dark green, even with eerie blue-purple or inky black spots.

Diu Ni Rem ventured to ride his horse closer to the swamp. He dismounted and took a close look at a century-old tree growing on the edge of the swamp.

Its form has become drastically distorted, its branches twisted like dying arms, and thick, dark green sap seeping from the peeling bark, emitting a sweet, rotten smell.

Just by looking at it, I can tell that this juice is poisonous.

He turned and observed the swamp up close, seeing countless ponds of varying sizes scattered throughout, the surface of the water as still as solidified ink, covered with a thick, multicolored film of oil that reflected a nauseating sheen in the dim light.

Beneath the surface, there seemed to be murky undercurrents, occasionally surging up a string of huge bubbles that emitted a sulfurous smell.

Even more deadly is the visible pale green or grayish-yellow miasma rising from the depths of the swamp, flowing slowly like a living thing among the low vegetation and twisted trees, gathering to form low-hanging curtains filled with poisonous gas.

Even from a distance, those on the edge of the swamp could smell the pungent, dizzying odor carried by the wind—a mixture of rotting plants and animals, chemicals, and some indescribable sweet-smelling smell.

"Something's not right, this swamp is very abnormal..."

One player gasped, then felt nauseous from the breath.

"Of course I know it's abnormal."

Diu Ni Rem pinched his nose, regretting that he hadn't worn a mask or a breathing mask; the smell here was too awful.

Besides the smell, Diu Ni Rem also noticed the excessive stillness in the swamp. There were no birdsong, no insect chirps, and even the sound of the wind seemed to be swallowed up by the thick air and miasma.

He now has some doubts about whether the group of players who set off half a month earlier to scout the swamp were all wiped out.
"What do we do now?"

"What else can we do? Let's go back and talk about it later..."

Diu Ni Leiming glanced at the swamp again, and deep inside, he seemed to see some eerie shadow moving behind the thick swamp mist.

"We've probably been discovered. If we don't leave now, we won't be able to leave later."

As Diu Ni Rem and his group rode back to the bustling camp in the swamp, he received a notification from the player.

"what happened?"

"Barbarossa is back. He said he has important intelligence."

"Come on."

The command tent, which served as the headquarters of the Holy Expeditionary Army, was the first and fastest tent to be erected in the entire army. When Diu Ni Rem entered, the spacious tent, which was empty at the moment, was already filled with people.

These players are all elites in the Holy Expeditionary Force, leaders of major battle groups, renowned chief warriors, or guild leaders with special skills.

Their equipment varied, but they all exuded the aura of battle-hardened veterans.

At this moment, everyone's eyes were focused on the travel-worn figure in the center of the tent, who was almost blending into the mud.

Barbarossa looked extremely disheveled. His dark leather armor and cloak, which were originally meant to provide concealment, were almost completely soaked in dark green, foul-smelling mud. Many parts of the mud were corroded and had holes, with dried, blackened bloodstains along the edges.

His face was covered with a thick layer of insect-repellent mud, but it couldn't hide his sunken eye sockets and deep fatigue.

On the war table in front of Barbarossa lay a map sketch drawn on a waterproof tarpaulin, with distorted lines and symbols outlined in charcoal and various scribbles.

The air was filled with an indescribable stench of swamp emanating from him.

"...The situation is not good."

When Rem came in, Barbarossa was getting to the heart of the matter; his voice was hoarse but powerful.

"The situation inside the swamp is terrible, ten times worse than what you've observed from the outside!"

Diu Ni Rem walked to the edge of the crowd and responded instinctively.

How bad is it?

"The two players who were with me died long ago. As for the other squads, according to the original plan, they were supposed to sneak into the swamp from the north half a month ago, then meet up with me on the shore and retreat together. But I waited for two days and didn't see a single one."

"Are they all dead?"

"Someone asked in surprise." Barbarossa shrugged, casually taking off his dirty cloak and throwing it on the ground.

"I logged off and asked them. Most of them had died, a few couldn't make it to the designated evacuation point, and two unlucky guys were captured alive by the snake people."

He pointed to the center area of ​​the sketch.

"The core area, near the ruins of Suvano City, is no longer a swamp. It has become a huge, writhing lake of slime, with dark green water that is as viscous as melted asphalt and constantly bubbling with poisonous bubbles."

In the center of the lake lies the ruins of Suvana, where most of the stone buildings are submerged, and the exposed parts are covered with slippery, glowing moss. Human remains float on the surface of the lake, and countless bones lie at the bottom.

I took a quick look, and it would take at least ten thousand people hanging below to create this scale!

Barbarossa's voice carried a barely perceptible hint of anger.

"The snake people's lair is right in the very center of that slime lake. It used to be the central castle of Suvano. I observed it from a high point on the outer perimeter with binoculars. There are a lot of snake people activity traces on the lake shore. They crawl in and out of the lake, and there are a lot of them!"

Barbarossa emphasized his words.

"And the snake-men are not ordinary grunts. I have encountered them several times. They are extremely fast, especially in water and mud, as slippery as eels! Their claws can easily tear through skin, and their teeth are highly venomous!"

More importantly, they are organized, wear rudimentary armor captured from the enemy, and use human weapons. The patrols even communicate using whistling, snake-like sounds—they are incredibly efficient!

He drew several circles on the map.

"In the ruins of Suvano, in these places, there are large snake-people altars, all made of bones, black stones and sticky silt. I saw with my own eyes some snake-people dragging captured people onto the altars to kill them, and then the altars emitted a dark green light, and the surrounding fog became thicker."

They are continuously carrying out large-scale sacrifices, and with each sacrifice, I can feel the filthy lake in the center of Suvana expanding a little bit, eroding the surrounding land a little faster!

"besides……"

Barbarossa's voice became extremely solemn.

"I not only saw snakemen, but other players also reported that their teams were attacked when they tried to approach the slimy goo. It wasn't snakemen, but some kind of huge, lurking monster from the bottom of the water, like a salamander magnified a hundred times. It was covered in thick, disgusting slime and warts, and it was incredibly strong."

It leaped out of the water with astonishing speed, instantly killing a player wearing thick plate armor with a single bite. They barely managed to repel it using all their fire oil bombs and crossbow bolts.

Later, I went there myself to investigate, and judging from the traces on the viscous lake shore, there was definitely more than one of those things!

At this point, Barbarossa sighed.

"This swamp is disgusting. Of the more than 100 players who went in, only a few of us and I managed to get out. If we are going to launch a large-scale attack, we must be prepared to defend against poison, miasma, and poisonous insects."

The tent was deathly silent, save for the sound of heavy breathing.

The ease or curiosity on the players' faces had vanished, replaced by solemnity.

Barbarossa's description was far more specific and terrifying than what they saw at the edge of the swamp.

It was no longer just a toxic swamp, but a living hell with an organized system, powerful guards, and a ritualistic desecration that was constantly expanding and bred with unknown monsters!
Players aren't afraid of how powerful the snake people are; as long as they have health bars, killing them is simply a matter of increasing gunpowder and steel production.

The problem is that to kill the snake-men, you have to go into a swamp that's like a cesspool, which is disgusting.

Rem's face was so dark it could drip water.

His earlier relief and the idea that things would be better if a fight broke out seemed incredibly naive now.

Barbarossa's intelligence paints a picture of a nightmarish battle that far exceeds expectations.

The Holy Expeditionary Army is about to step into not only a battlefield against the alien army, but also a cesspool filled with unknown terrors!

"Damn it, what do we do now?"

Even the most skilled and combative players scratched their heads after hearing Barbarossa's explanation.

After pondering for a while, Diu Ni Rem asked Barbarossa.

"If we organize the best players to storm into the center of Suvana and carry out a decapitation strike, could this plan succeed?"

"It's hard to say, because I haven't conducted a thorough investigation of Suvano. I don't know the number of snake people, or whether they have figures like chieftains or priests."

"Could you please make a few more trips?"

The request to throw Rem left Barbarossa with a complicated expression.

"It's best not to. I really don't want to go back in anytime soon... The swamp is disgusting. It's hard to walk in, hard to sleep in, it smells awful, it's rotten, and it's incredibly damp."

Diu Ni Rem thought about it and realized he was right; this was indeed a bit of a problem for Barbarossa.

At this moment, Xiao Dao, who had been observing from the sidelines, offered another suggestion.

"Could we lure the snake people out and kill them outside the swamp, or on the shallow perimeter of the swamp, weakening their numbers to a certain extent, before sending in the main army to wipe them out in one fell swoop?"

"I think this suggestion is good."

"Yes, I agree... Going deep into the cesspool and fighting a bunch of scaly snakes is really beyond my mental capacity."

Xiao Dao's suggestion was immediately approved by many players.

"Old Luo, what are your thoughts?"

Barbarossa shrugged.

"I have no idea... As long as they don't let me in, any plan is a good plan. Let's try it first."

"Right."

Diu Ni Rem nodded in agreement.

"Fortunately, the main quest didn't give us a time limit this time, otherwise, these snake people would be even more difficult to deal with."

“Oh, Dium, I remember Chris sent us several high-level NPCs, like that magic advisor, and the high priests of the Earth Goddess and the Agriculture Goddess. Should we go and ask them?”
They seem to be NPCs in the storyline; they should be able to offer us some advice or provide some crucial assistance.

"...I forgot, I'll ask about it later."

(End of this chapter)