Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 410 Home was stolen
The torrential rain continued to pound the capital, but inside the temporary official residence of the Gray Rock Province in the capital, it was as quiet as if it were isolated from the outside world.

Raymond sat by the fireplace, his expression quiet and elegant, showing no sign of having just participated in a coup that would overthrow the empire.

Unlike the Second Prince, whose eyes were bloodshot from the fighting in the Imperial Hall, his fingers were completely unblemished.

It can be said that Raymond was the biggest beneficiary of this coup.

The years of planning were like a huge chessboard, and the nobles, princes, and legion commanders were just pieces being pushed around.

Rhine was too soft, and Karen was too impulsive; only he stood outside the chessboard, securing everything with the most secure approach.

He even felt a slight sense of pleasure deep down...

The empire was so vast and ancient, yet he alone could easily control it.

Those self-proclaimed intelligent royal offspring, preoccupied with vying for the throne, never realized where the true source of power lay.

Several of the latest appointment documents were spread out on the table.

One of them reads: Raymond Grace, conferred the title of "Hereditary Grand Marshal" of the Empire.

The paper was cold and solemn; this title had never been bestowed upon any nobleman in the past five hundred years.

This means he has gained the legal right to mobilize all the Imperial Legions except the Praetorian Guard.

It wasn't symbolic; it was the kind of power that allowed knights to immediately mount their horses and take action upon receiving an order.

On the other end of the desktop is a brand new map of the empire.

The three counties were painted in the colors of the Greystone Province.

That was the three fertile prefectures surrounding the capital, the core area of ​​the empire's granary.

The second prince kept his promise and handed over the empire's most fertile land to him.

The Gray Rock Knights will be stationed there to stockpile food, train troops, and expand their planned new army.

But Raymond reached out and pushed the several gleaming award certificates aside.

Those reward registers recorded titles, medals, jewels, territories... things that would make all the nobles in the capital fight tooth and nail for.

But to Raymond, these were like candy thrown to children during festivals, only good for fools who had never seen the world.

What he really wanted to take was in a black iron box to his left.

The first layer contains all the exploration maps of the "Ancient Dragon Ruins" from various dynasties.

Each one is incredibly detailed, marking the specific locations of the magical flow, rock strata, and dragon bone remains.

As Raymond looked at the pictures, the calm in his eyes was as if a missing piece of a puzzle had finally been put on.

The second layer contained a fragile parchment book, its cover bearing the faded inscription: "Dragon's Blood."

This is a record of the serum extracted from the remains of the ancient dragon by these emperors over the generations.

This plan proves that the royal family has been trying for centuries to prolong their lives with dragon blood, and even to pursue a breakthrough in some level of life.

But they failed because the "dragon" they possessed was not a true dragon, but merely a sub-dragon.

The dragon corpse possessed by the Grayrock Province is the true ancient dragon and the only key to completing the entire plan.

With these documents, the Dragonblood Warrior project, and even his own dragonification experiments, finally had a chance to take a step further.

Raymond's breathing paused slightly.

He then gently closed the parchment book, as if putting away a sacred object.

Raymond slowly closed the box and stood up.

Thunder rumbled outside.

He walked to the window, looked at the night view of the capital city illuminated by the fire, and gently exhaled.

The second prince thought he had won, that he was the one who had ascended the throne, but he was nothing more than a puppet, a puppet he had created himself.

Raymond murmured, "Finally, we've arrived."

The words were still echoing in the air when a cautious knock on the door broke the silence inside the room.

He frowned in utter disgust, but instead of turning around immediately, he slowly rolled up the scroll and tucked it into a hidden pocket in his sleeve.

Only after everything was in place did he slowly turn around and say, "Come in."

The Second Prince's personal guard captain appeared at the entrance.

The man who strangled Duke Simmons on the execution ground was ruthless, yet under Raymond's watchful gaze, sweat beaded on his forehead and his legs were as stiff as lead.

"What is it?" Raymond's voice was as cold as frost.

The captain of the personal guard swallowed hard and bowed deeply: "Grand Marshal, Consul... His Highness has urgent military news. He's throwing a tantrum in the command room, smashing two cups, and insists that you come immediately."

"Furious?" Raymond chuckled, a dismissive laugh as he heard a hungry dog ​​barking in its cage.

The captain of the personal guard dared not raise his head: "His Highness said that troops must be dispatched immediately, but he... needs your instructions."

Raymond let out a soft breath, as if to confirm that the beast on the other side of the chessboard was still obediently trapped in its frame.

He straightened his cuffs, his tone eerily calm: "Very good."

The voice was soft, yet it sent a chill down the spine of the captain of the guard.

Raymond looked at the trembling captain of his personal guard in front of him, a hint of amusement and scrutiny flashing in his eyes, as if he were observing whether a small dog soaked by the rain could still stand firm.

He knew all too well what Karen's current state was like.

A mad dog that has just tasted blood is sensitive and irritable, eager to announce to all living beings that it has become the new king.

That expanding sense of power would make Kaleon extremely dangerous for a short time, and at the same time... extremely easy to exploit.

Karen still needs this madness to purge the civil service, to bear the stigma of being a tyrant for him, and to fight desperately against other forces on the front lines in the future.

If Karen were to feel sidelined and manipulated right now...

This dog might bite its owner back, so you have to be extra careful.

“Give him face,” Raymond thought to himself, “let him be in power for a few more days, let him bask in this illusory glory.”

Once he has killed all his opponents and crippled his army... I will slowly replace his guards, cut off his sources of income, and mix the potion into his food.

August's bloodline has rotted. The future empire doesn't need a crippled madman sitting on the throne. It needs a true dragon with dragon blood flowing through its veins.

His mind was filled with countless calculations, but what Raymond showed on his face was the helplessness and gentle tolerance of a loyal subject.

He walked to the door and casually patted the captain of the personal guard on the shoulder: "Lead the way. As a subject, I can't keep Your Highness waiting too long."

…………

The Second Prince's command room was brightly lit, with candle flames flickering wildly in the draft, illuminating the massive imperial sand table as if it were a wild beast being torn apart.

Kalen stood with his back to the crowd, his shoulders rising and falling with his breath, like a volcano about to erupt.

An atmosphere of tension hung in the air. All the knights and scouts stood taut against the wall, yet no one dared to utter a sound.

Until Karen slowly raised his hand, his voice hoarse and low: "Say it again."

The scout's voice trembled so much it was almost unrecognizable: "Reporting to the Consul... the Fifth Prince Lampard has fled to the Southeast Province! Yesterday, with the support of the heretical Papacy, he announced the establishment of a new regime: the Holy Eastern Empire!"

The entire room fell silent.

The Golden Feather Flower Church is a heretical sect regarded as an eternal enemy by the Iron-Blooded Empire.

Kalein whirled around, his voice booming like thunder: "He dares to side with heretics?! He dares to let traitors plant their flags on the land of the Empire?!"

The scout shuddered and continued, "The Fifth Prince has issued a 'Proclamation of Punishment,' accusing the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince of murdering the Regent... The Southeast Province has opened all its passes to the Papal Army." The sand table trembled, and dust flew everywhere.

Kalein slammed his fist down, gritting his teeth, his chest heaving violently: "That spineless coward! To save his own life, he even dared to sell his ancestral ashes to heretics!"

Raymond slowly closed the scroll and gently raised his eyes.

He glanced at the furious Karen, then at the scout kneeling on the ground, and a faint smile slowly curved his lips.

"Your Highness summoned me late at night, it turns out it was for this trivial matter." He walked to the sand table and picked up a glass of red wine from the side.

"Does Lampard think he can revive a country with a few bottles of holy water, a few heretical bishops, and the Calvin family's ambiguous attitude? He's just concentrating the empire's traitors in one direction, making it easier for us to burn them down."

Raymond gently swirled his glass, not even glancing at the newly planted golden feather flag in the southeast: "Ignore it. Once I've integrated the Central Army and absorbed the remaining forces of the Rhine, next spring I will personally lead the knights to raze those heretical temples to the ground."

Karen's anger churned in his chest, but Raymond's composed demeanor calmed him down somewhat.

However, the next moment, a violent commotion suddenly broke out outside the door.

"Urgent military situation! Urgent report from the North!"

The guards entered, knelt on one knee with a standard military salute, and held a swift bird message tube covered in white frost above their heads.

The copper casing developed tiny cracks from the long flight, and touching it with your fingertips felt like feeling the cold wind blowing from thousands of miles away.

This is an emergency military report used only in the highest-level combat situations.

Kalen raised his hand, indicating that it should be read aloud.

The guard pulled out a thin letter; the runes and ink gleamed faintly in the candlelight.

He took a deep breath and read out the general's words one by one, following the prescribed procedure:

"Urgent report! Earl Louis Calvin of the North has led his army south and has made contact with the Imperial Seventh Legion, Fourteenth Legion, and Seventeenth Legion in the Graystone Fortress defense zone."

Raymond's nerves, which had been tense due to the rebellion in the southeast, relaxed upon hearing this.

He scoffed, "Is Louis insane? Nearly ten thousand regular troops are guarding the fortress. Does he really think he can just throw his meager resources at them? Like throwing an egg against a rock?"

Some people in the staff couldn't help but chuckle to themselves, clearly believing that this was nothing more than a reckless probing conflict.

However, the next sentence cut the smiles off everyone's faces like a blade.

But the guard's voice trembled noticeably, yet he still read on, sticking to the script: "The engagement lasted only one day, and the three legions... suffered a complete rout. Graystone Fortress fell on the third day... and has now been lost."

"Clang."

The moment the wine glass hit the ground, Raymond's face looked as if it had been sliced ​​in two by a sharp blade; one half still maintained its aristocratic indifference, while the other half was distorted by anger and shock.

This time, he abandoned all pretense of elegance and roared, "Absurd! Ten thousand pigs, you couldn't slaughter them all in a day!"

The guard struggled to steady his breathing and continued reading the last paragraph of intelligence: "Urgent report, the Northern Army has now assembled in full force and is advancing south, officially entering the Gray Rock Province... The intelligence ends here."

The flickering shadows of the candlelight trembled on the walls of the Imperial Hall, while the hall itself was as still as if no air had been drawn in.

Raymond's expression immediately changed completely, because he finally understood Louis's true purpose.

It's not about serving the king, not about vying for supremacy, not about annexing the north, but about the province of Grayrock.

There lies his family's three-hundred-year accumulation, a treasury sufficient to equip ten legions, countless undisclosed contractual assets, and the Dragon Blood experiment capable of rewriting the empire's military landscape.

If those things fall into Louis's hands...

Raymond's chest heaved violently, but he was no longer as hysterical as before.

He slowly raised his hand and pulled away the thin piece of letter. He forced himself to suppress his roar and pulled his attention back to reason.

He stared at the date on the letter: seventeen days.

Graystone Fortress is extremely far from the capital; it would take the Gale Bird a full seventeen days to reach the capital.

In other words, by the time this letter arrived in the capital, Louis's army had already been marching through the heart of the Gray Rock Province for at least seventeen days.

Raymond's brow furrowed slowly, as if pierced inch by inch by an icicle. His lips trembled slightly, and the sound that escaped his mouth was so low it was almost inaudible:

"Seventeen days... He's been gone for seventeen days..."

He subconsciously began to conduct tactical simulations, which was both an instinct stemming from his years of military service and a way for him to give his fears a foothold.

Self-consolation first surfaced in his mind: his main force was in the capital, but even so, Gray Rock Province was vast and heavily fortified, and the knights he left behind, relying on the passes, might not necessarily lose.

Moreover, although the loss of the fortress was a serious matter, it did not mean that the entire province would be swallowed up in one fell swoop.

wrong.

Raymond slowly closed his eyes, veins bulging on his forehead: "Something's not right. Why would he dare to make a move at this time?"

Raymond's eyes slowly widened, as if he had finally seen the true outline of the nightmare.

Twenty days ago, in order to support the Fourth Prince's coup, he secretly emptied all the main forces of Gray Rock Province.

This operation was so secretive that it bordered on obsessive; the Censorate was unaware of it, the Emperor was completely in the dark, and even his closest confidants only had fragments of information about it.

Only a small number of assassins he personally selected and his eldest son truly knew the whole story.

Meanwhile, Louis, separated by thousands of miles to the North, is a lord who is nominally still trying to protect himself and survive in the North...

They launched their final assault precisely on the day when the limestone was at its weakest.

Raymond's Adam's apple bobbed, and cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck, soaking through his undershirt.

Could there be a mole within the organization? No, that's impossible.

Everyone who knows about the plan is around him, except for his heir... so why would he act at this time?

The thought sent chills down his spine, as if something cold was gripping his throat.

Louis wasn't gambling; he was more like watching Raymond's hand before playing his cards.

Then, like a wolf finally baring its fangs, it bit down without hesitation on his softest, most vulnerable spot.

Perhaps... Louis wasn't the only one baring his fangs at him.

The Southeast Province, the rebel army of the Fifth Prince Lampard, the Calvin family, the new regime supported by the Papacy and crowned by heretics.

If the Fifth Prince and Louis were to join forces and connect the spheres of influence in the North and Southeast, these two lands would be united into a colossal force capable of rivaling the Second Prince's territory.

They may be simultaneously, from different directions, eroding his foundation and connecting his territory into pathways advantageous to themselves.

Once the Gray Rock Province falls into Louis's hands, the Southeastern rebels will take the opportunity to push north.

The two are separated only by a valley, and in the future they can share supply lines, provide mutual military support, and even share the Raymond family's resources accumulated over hundreds of years.

Raymond himself will be completely drained, turning from hunter into prey to be torn apart by the two wolves.

Meanwhile, another important figure in the Imperial Hall, Karen, stood in the shadows, his lips twitching slightly.

He looked at Raymond, at the man who had once manipulated, suppressed, exploited, and led him forward like a puppeteer.

At this moment, in another, more unfathomable hand, he was being tightly gripped by the throat.

At that moment, Kalein felt a long-lost sense of balance.

He knew he would suffer as a result, and he also knew that the defeat of Grayrock meant that the Imperial war situation would spiral out of control again.

But this didn't stop a thought, almost imperceptible yet burning hot, from arising deep within his heart:
Perhaps... this could be an opportunity to get rid of Raymond.

He even felt a strange sense of gratitude towards the wolf king of the North.

(End of this chapter)