Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 365 Raymond's Ambition
Upper town of Grey Rock Fortress, Balcony Garden.

The air was fresh in late spring, and the flowers and trees were in full bloom. The neatly trimmed rose wall was covered with pale pink buds, and the fountain in the lawn slowly emitted a fine mist.

In the distance, one could hear birdsong and the sound of horses' hooves; the entire upper town resembled a tranquil painting.

Duke Spencer Raymond stood in the center of the garden.

The deep blue dress with gold trim was spotless, the gold threads shimmering in the sunlight, and the neckline was dazzlingly white.

He stood upright, his smile gentle and measured, as if no impolite behavior could exist in his presence.

A charity ceremony was held at Greyrock Castle today.

Noble ladies, merchant representatives, and maids surrounded him, and a long table was set up in the courtyard, laden with bread and warm soup.

Raymond raised his silver cup and said gently to the crowd, "Let them remember that Gray Rock not only has great strength, but also warmth."

Applause followed.

The children from the orphanage were led into the garden, holding flowers and handmade dolls in their hands.

The youngest girl was running too fast and almost fell, but he gently steadied her.

At that moment, everyone around him held their breath. His movements were natural, as if he genuinely cared for these children.

He took the bouquet of white roses and said softly, "This is the best gift."

He then placed the flowers in a vase on the table and smiled at the nobleman.

An even louder round of applause erupted from the crowd, and a lady said with tears in her eyes, "Your Excellency is the most benevolent nobleman in the empire."

Raymond nodded slightly and ordered his men to open the chests in the storage compartment.

The neatly stacked flour sacks, medicine box, and leather boots inside the box gleamed softly in the sunlight.

The attendants distributed the items according to the list, and he patiently inquired about the needs of each director, even personally signing the relief agreement for the next quarter.

The nobles and merchants whispered among themselves, and even the maids were praising his nobility in hushed tones.

When the last child finished presenting flowers, the musicians began to play, and the light melody floated in the air.

Raymond stood at the highest point of the garden, looking down at everyone, as perfect as a holy icon, bright and flawless, making people afraid to look directly at him.

Just then, a knight strode in and whispered a few words in his ear.

Raymond smiled, put down his silver cup, and said, "Excuse me, everyone, please allow me to take my leave. My food is ready, and I wish you all peace."

He ended the conversation politely and perfectly, turned and left with the knight, his footsteps echoing softly on the stone floor of the corridor.

The sunlight chased after him until the nobleman's figure disappeared into the shadows.

…………

The heavy door to the study closed, and the light immediately dimmed.

Raymond unfastened his gloves, sat by the fireplace, and accepted the envelope presented by the knight.

He unfolded the letter, read it carefully, and finally his gaze lingered on those few lines of text.

"The Frostdragon Territory meeting has concluded. Prince Astar has perished. Louis will oversee the reconstruction of the North."

He stared at it for a long time, a slight smile playing on his lips, a smile that carried an undeniable mix of complex emotions.

"This Crimson Tide Lord... is indeed more ruthless than I thought."

The knight whispered a report: "The intelligence I received confirms this. The barbarians attacked Frost Dragon Territory, and the Crimson Tide Army retaliated with lightning speed."

I've heard that Louis, outnumbered but mighty, slaughtered the barbarian chieftains in a single battle, and the old nobles all knelt before him. Afterwards, he held a swearing-in ceremony, forcing the northern lords to sign an alliance, and now the flags of the Red Tide fly throughout the North.

Raymond remained silent for a long time.

The firelight from the fireplace reflected in his eyes, making him see what appeared to be a figure rising in the distance.

“He used blood to subjugate the North…even his enemies had to call him a savior.” He said in a low voice, “But that wasn’t savior, that was control.”

The knight hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "I've heard that Louis has been working tirelessly on government affairs, rebuilding the military, reorganizing the merchant guilds, and even the northern refugees call him the Sun."

Raymond chuckled softly, his tone slow: "The sun? Ha... He's a monarch putting on an act for everyone."

The knight continued his report: "My subordinates have obtained more detailed intelligence. During the Northern Conference, a barbarian attack occurred, Prince Asta was killed on the spot, and the old nobility was almost completely wiped out."

Louis rebuilt the Northern system with the Northern Reconstruction Order, restoring military defenses, food supplies, and trade routes. Now, the hearts and minds of the people of the North have turned to the Reds.

Raymond lowered his eyes in thought: "A barbarian attack? It's ridiculously coincidental. Asta died too cleanly, like a perfectly orchestrated drama."

He's putting on a show, making everyone see him as the one saving the North. This kind of person... is what the Empire should truly be wary of.

Raymond wasn't angry; his gaze, however, was cold.

"Intelligent, cruel, greedy, and dangerous. Like a wolf in human skin."

This young count is not just an ambitious man, but also possesses the strength to match his ambition.

Louis now has almost complete control of the North. With the military strength and allies left by Duke Edmund and the prestige of the Calvin family, he could be ranked among the top twenty most powerful people in the entire Empire, and that's a conservative estimate.

Such a status would make any nobleman uneasy.

What's even more alarming is that he's only in his early twenties.

A young man who rises to prominence on the empire's frontier has already managed to tilt the entire empire's power structure.

Raymond admitted to himself: This is a truly terrifying young man.

He turned to the knight, his tone low and cold: "From today onwards, increase Grayrock's intelligence budget by one-third and transfer it to the North. Keep a close eye on this person."

"Yes." The knight acknowledged the order and withdrew.

Silence fell in the study once more. Raymond leaned against the window, looking at the gloomy sky, and whispered, "A ruthless hero, a young and terrifying new wolf king."

Raymond pondered for a moment, and a complete map of the empire appeared in his mind.

If the North falls completely into Louis's hands, the trade routes and mining lines of the limestone will be subject to his control.

"We can't let him expand too quickly. First, let him gain confidence, then let him lose his balance."

Raymond quickly sketched out a framework in his mind: use trade and alliances to contain the Red Tide, wait for the resources of the North to flow to the Limestone, and then tighten financial supplies in the name of the Imperial Capital.

If the Crimson Tide Lord truly intends to continue expanding, Grayrock will secretly support a righteous correction, forcing the young man to face reality.

Raymond let out a soft breath, turned around, and picked up his coat.

“Go tell the butler,” he said calmly, “I won’t be attending the charity banquet. Just say I have business to attend to.”

A voice came from outside the door, the old butler's voice steady and respectful: "Yes, sir. I will arrange the banquet as usual."

"That's good." Raymond nodded, straightened his cuffs, and his gaze regained its aristocratic composure.

He got up, put on a black cloak, and buttoned up his gloves.

Two trusted knights accompanied them as they descended through the fortress's spiral passageway.

The air gradually became damp, carrying with it the smells of rust and blood.

The lowest hall was as bright as the ground floor, illuminated by rows of alchemical oil lamps. Rows of cages stretched along the walls, their iron bars blackened with soot.

The children in the cage were curled up, some were trembling, some were no longer moving, and some were roaring in pain. Thin metal tubes were inserted into their backs, and the medicine flowed through the tubes.

Scattered on the ground were broken pieces of paper and discarded copper needles.

Several alchemists walked silently through the road, adjusting valves and recording data, their expressions focused, as if they were tending to a group of prototypes being modified.

That eerie sense of order is more chilling than chaos.

Behind the central arched iron gate lies the heart of the entire hall: the remains of a giant dragon submerged in a strange pool of blood.

The dragon's body was so huge that it almost filled half the room. Its fangs were curved like sickles and half-embedded in the stone floor. Its hyoid bone was broken, and bubbles were still slowly rising from the remaining part of its throat.

The blood pool was nearly twenty meters in diameter, and the liquid was deep red, shimmering with a dark silver luster under the alchemical lamp.

The dragon's spine resembled a ripped mountain ridge, its broken bone wings suspended by dozens of chains, sinking into the blood and then being pulled out, creating viscous waves.

His chest cavity was open, filled with alchemical tubes and rune arrays, and silver liquid flowed along the bone lines.

Several unconscious children lay by the pool of blood, their bodies restrained, their chests rising and falling slightly.

Alchemists examined the flow of the medicine beside them, and one alchemist turned one of the children over and injected new liquid.

The child's fingertips twitched, and a low, hoarse groan escaped his throat before falling silent again.

The pump continued to operate beneath the dragon's chest, extracting the glowing marrow. The pumping sound was heavy and rhythmic, as if it were breathing for the dead monster.

The entire hall trembled slightly, and dark red ripples spread across the blood pool, as if the dead dragon was being reawakened.

The origins of this laboratory can be traced back more than forty years.

At that time, Greyrock Castle was still under construction when Spencer's father, Duke Audrey Raymond, discovered the legendary remains of an ancient dragon while building the fortifications.

Yes, it was a legendary dragon that no one had ever seen.

For military experimental purposes, he and his alchemy advisory group refined a potion that could temporarily enhance battle aura on the battlefield, which was named Dragon Marrow Extract.

This potion allows a knight to unleash his fighting spirit when his life is in danger, maintaining his maximum combat power for three minutes.

However, the side effects are extremely terrible—severe pain, exhaustion, and even death; using it more than three times will inevitably lead to death.

Old Raymond considered it a last-line battlefield secret, strictly forbidding its mass production, leaving only a warning: "This is not a power that humans can control."

However, after inheriting the title, Raymond saw not risk, but opportunity.

The capital was undergoing tremendous changes, with the emperor missing and various factions vying for power. He keenly sensed an unprecedented gap in power.

An opportunity that could elevate him to the core of imperial power and even allow him to rule the entire continent.

He knew that this chaos would create a new order, and that a new order would require power.

He knew that Grayrock possessed the secret of dragon marrow, and he would never let this opportunity slip through his fingers.

For him, morality, prohibitions, and bottom lines are all like toilet paper that can be thrown away.

As long as it allows him to climb one step higher, even if it's a sea of ​​blood beneath his feet, he'll walk over it with a smile.

So he burned his father's warning, leaving only the formula and experimental records, and ordered the advisory group to restart the research, codenamed "Project Limestone Blood Refining".

He was not satisfied with tactical medicines; he wanted to establish strategic factories capable of mass-producing power.

By using dragon marrow extract to create a stable catalyst, human flesh and nerves can be reshaped, allowing ordinary people to permanently possess battle qi circuits.

All the adults died in the experiment, and only teenagers aged ten to fourteen survived briefly.

Thus, the "Gray Rock Garden" on the ground, nominally an orphanage, became the material repository for this laboratory.

The children were recorded, numbered, and then sent underground to become new materials.

Alchemist Miral stepped forward and bowed: "My lord, the second-generation samples have been injected, and thirteen people have successfully adapted. Among them, four people's battle aura awakening values ​​have exceeded expectations, and they are expected to be put into actual combat testing in three days."

Raymond asked casually, "Side effects?"

"It still exists. The average lifespan is probably less than six months."

"Six months is enough." Raymond nodded slightly.

He turned and looked at the row of numbered children in the cage, his gaze as calm as if he were inspecting weapons.

"The potency still seems a bit insufficient. We can increase the dosage further, and we can ignore the side effects."

Miral lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly: "Yes, sir."

Raymond added in a cold, hard tone, "Remember, you must not let this get out."

Then he left the underground hall without looking back, without glancing at the child in the cage again.

When he returned to the ground, the sun was already shining obliquely into the limestone square.

The sound of children singing hymns drifted from afar; the air was fresh, and golden light shone on his neat coat.

Raymond smiled as he stepped out of the shadows, raising his hand to nod to the crowd, still the "benevolent duke."

No one knew that just a few hundred meters underground beneath his feet, the hearts of those children were still beating in unison, propelling his empire to new heights.

…………

The morning light of late spring streamed through the car windows, casting a warm glow inside.

The fire flickered gently in the corner, and the air was filled with the faint scent of pine.

Louis awoke from a light sleep, first hearing the rhythmic sound of wheels rubbing against the ground.

The slight tremor made him open his eyes, and the light from the fire in the stove reflected a pale gold in his eyes.

Louis first raised his hand to rub his temples, exhaled a long breath, and felt the warm smell of charcoal in the air.

He stretched his shoulders, leaned back in his chair, and his gaze lingered for a moment on the worn map in front of him before finally settling on the mark of Frost Dragon Ridge.

This is the third day since we left Frost Dragon Ridge.

He left almost immediately after the preparatory meeting for the establishment of the Northern Territory had just ended.

There was nothing there that could keep him, and no need for social interaction. At this reconstruction meeting, he had already secured all the leverage he could.

The Sixth Prince's shady dealings actually helped him, allowing him to win over more than half of the nobles in the Northern Territory.

The Red Tide system had already managed to bring together a quarter of the nobles in the North, and now more than half of them had joined, which was a much better result than he had expected.

To be honest, even if all the northern territories nominally submitted, it would actually be a problem, as he didn't have the resources to support so many territories immediately.

The wisest path is to first stabilize the nobles already in the system, then slowly squeeze out those who haven't joined the Northern power circle, wait for them to weaken and die out, and then take over their territories and people.

“The door is open,” Louis muttered to himself, “but that’s just a polite way of saying it. What’s missed is missed forever.”

Then Louis raised his hand to summon the daily intelligence system. A pale blue screen flickered in the air, and lines of messages appeared, reflected in his eyes.

[Daily intelligence update complete]

(End of this chapter)