Lords of the Heavens

Chapter 332 The Desperate Ice Duke

Two more days passed in the blink of an eye, and the weather cleared up completely, with the snow on the sunny slopes even beginning to melt.

Ah-Dai has brought back a large amount of defensive supplies from the territory's main camp on two separate occasions.

This includes, but is not limited to, 20 One-Star Life Elixirs prepared by Liang Yuzhi in an emergency, which can restore 100 health points within 12 hours and has a certain chance to repair severed limbs and damaged organs.

Two-star blood resistance drug × 20.
20 two-star stamina potions.
In addition, an enchanted war chariot was urgently dismantled, and 20 enchanted three-star crossbows, each as thick as an adult's arm and three meters long, were made overnight by Zhao Xuanxuan. These were the kind of giant crossbows used for defending cities, with a maximum range of 3000 meters, supersonic firing speed, and the kind of terrifying thing that could directly penetrate a 30-centimeter-thick reinforced concrete wall and cause an explosion.

The remaining supplies were the stock at the territory's main camp: a full 3000 steel armor-piercing crossbow bolts, as well as 10000 steel arrowheads and corresponding feathers.

These supplies were all delivered via resource cards.

In the past two days, Javier, Sith, Pol, and Jocelyn have each selected nine team members and conducted modular training on them. They have also developed several hunting plans to address the possibility that the target enemy may include a five-star cross-border expert.

All four of them were outstanding city defenders, and they had summarized several key experiences in teamwork. Li Wei was full of praise for their ability to coordinate attacks based on the fortress, and he even felt that he himself might not be able to withstand their combined attack.

Of course, Li Wei must be present, because his high perception can lock onto and delay the enemy. With him in charge and full coordination, it is possible to achieve remarkable results.

In short, everything is ready.

But the Nepalese remained silent.

Li Wei also did not send Ah Dai to the south to scout, so as not to alert the enemy.

Time passed day by day, and before we knew it, it was mid-February. The heavy snow that had fallen earlier had almost melted away, and the daytime high temperature had risen to minus two or three degrees Celsius.

But there's still no movement.

Hey, what are these nuns up to?
While Li Wei felt utterly puzzled, he wasn't too bothered, because with each additional day of training, their chances of winning would increase.

In addition, he has been frantically cutting arrow shafts and wooden spears these past few days. Now his Woodcutter Destiny has reached 55, Hunter Destiny 57, Scout Destiny 18, and Farmer Destiny 22. The power of the resonance of the four Destinies is still steadily increasing.

At noon that day, Li Wei was dozing off when suddenly a thought struck him, and he saw two announcements appear across the entire territory.

However, Zhao Kewu finally bound himself to his title of Baron of the Earth, established the Earth Knights, and successfully started the hidden city-building quest.

"Has this guy been delaying for so long? Is he busy building the tavern? Or has he recruited the players he wants through the tavern?"

Li Wei didn't take it seriously; he was more interested in when Hathaway would make a nationwide announcement.

Perhaps it was a case of what you keep in mind eventually coming to pass; around 3 p.m. that day, a nationwide announcement was issued.

[Player Hathaway, number 3, successfully killed the Duke of Black Mountain fifteen days ago, and thus obtained the rare title of Baron Black Mountain.]

She successfully captured a scavenging camp today and obtained a Pioneer Card!

Hathaway successfully established the Knights of the Black Mountain at Black Mountain Fortress.

She initiated a hidden quest—to build a city.

-

That makes sense. It turns out she obtained the rare title fifteen days ago, at the end of last month, and now she has finally fused a Pioneer Card. Not bad at all.

Hathaway's pacing was actually pretty good, even though she was already three months behind Li Wei...

"Ok?"

At this moment, Li Wei suddenly had a strange feeling. He hurriedly rushed out of the fortress, went to the top of the third floor, and looked up to the east. He saw countless dark clouds gathering in the distant sky, and golden lightning crackled. Although he could not hear thunder, he knew that something had happened over there.

Is this the territory of the Ice Duke?
Just as Li Wei was thinking this, she suddenly had a sense of danger.

"Everyone, get into the fortress! No, go underground!"

Before Li Wei could finish speaking, it was too late. An invisible shockwave swept across the entire world. He felt as if he had been hit by chaotic magical particles, and his mind went blank for a few seconds, as if he had been mentally assaulted.

Fortunately, there was no harm done, but what the heck is this?

After recovering, Li Wei didn't have time to think much and hurriedly went into the bastion to check. Fortunately, everyone felt a momentary blankness in their minds before recovering quickly.

“My lord…” Javier’s face showed a look of horror. “Fifteen years ago, something similar happened. At that time, everything was normal, but suddenly, a shockwave swept across the globe, and the apocalypse came. Has something changed again?”

"Don't panic, it's not a big problem—"

Before Li Wei could finish speaking, lines of information were already crashing down on his heart like hammer blows.

[Because five of his trusted subordinates and former friends were killed in quick succession, Duke Frost despaired, believing that humanity had no future and could never return to the past. Humanity had to change. Therefore, he made a desperate decision with unknown consequences: he activated a damaged spacetime teleportation device inside a mage tower, creating a spatial rift. Unfortunately, he didn't know what it was, but the occasional messages transmitted from the other side made him believe it was the voice of divine salvation.]

However, this move could very well bring unforeseen consequences, because a portion of the northern barbarians who worship ancient magicians will be able to infiltrate this world through the spacetime rift. The northern barbarians will cooperate with the Ice Duke, and they will more effectively help him train his superhumans, forming a superhuman legion to wipe out all the survivor bases in this world.

[Warning! All pioneering players claiming to establish a city will be prioritized for attack by the Ice Duke's Psionic Legion.]

[Warning: Pioneer No. 11, Baron Li Wei of the Flames, is wanted by Duke Frost, who has issued a top-level kill order!]

[Warning: Pioneer No. 1, Baron Zhao Kewu of the Earth, is wanted by Duke Frost.]

[Warning: Socrates, the Pioneer No. 2 and Baron of the Valley, is wanted by the Duke of the Frost.]

[Warning, Ron...]

[Warning, Hathaway...]

[Warning: An elite vanguard of northern barbarians may have infiltrated ahead of time.]

[The Strategic Department of the Royal Capital of Locke has issued a Level 5 difficulty warning. Due to Duke Will's defeat on the front lines, which has led to serious consequences, the forces of the northern barbarians are infiltrating. This pioneering mission world has also become part of the third-line war zone. Therefore, some weak pioneers may choose to settle their missions and leave immediately, lest things change.]

[Duke of Ver's Bounty: A generous reward will be given for each northern barbarian invader killed, and an even greater reward will be given for each group of northern barbarian invaders wiped out.]

[Duke of Verl's warning: This is the ultimate form of the pioneering mission, and only the second time this has happened in the past three hundred years. Therefore, based on basic humanitarian considerations, even players who have accepted the pioneering and city-building mission can unconditionally exit and proceed to the settlement. Please make your choice within three minutes.]

[Friendly reminder: Trailblazers can choose to cooperate; the weaker ones can side with the stronger ones.]

-

So that's how it is! We've encountered a once-in-three-hundred-years special situation!

Li Wei was speechless, but her heart remained calm and undisturbed.

"Thomas, Javier, guard the fortress well. Remember, even if I return, you'll need to give the code. The code is the third sentence we said when we first met!"

Li Wei looked at Thomas, who widened his eyes and asked, "At this point, are you still going to go out?"
Little did they know that Li Wei had remained restrained before because he didn't understand the situation. Now that he did, what was there for him to be afraid of?

All that patience and restraint over the past period has been for this moment.

After adding Ah Dai directly to his five-star pet card, Li Wei slipped out through the hidden door, heading north to bypass the blind spots where the Neanderthal hunters might be, and then circling around to the south bank of the river.

The ice on the river has begun to thaw. If the Nepalese don't make a move soon, when the ice jams start, they will have to detour to the bridge 600 miles downstream.

Of course, another possibility is that they will not act alone, but will infiltrate the superhuman legion under the Ice Duke, disguise themselves as superhumans, and only then can they carry out a methodical attack.

Otherwise, if it's exposed directly, it could very well trigger a deus ex machina!
This isn't exactly a frontline war zone; Duke Will could easily wipe it out with a single elite force. It's the sneaky, shifty infiltration that's the most troublesome.

Of course, as can be seen from the information announcement just now, the situation has not collapsed. It seems that the Locke capital is not very satisfied with Duke Will, and this time they have even intervened directly.

Duke Will, however, remained stubborn, issuing a bounty while claiming that this was only the second time in three hundred years and the ultimate form of the pioneering mission.

In short, the weak can leave, while the strong can stay and see if they can turn the tide.

While Li Wei was pondering, he had already arrived at the designated reconnaissance location. It faced the riverside fortress, and the thicket of thorns and bushes at the foot of the mountain was the place where the Neanderthal hunters usually scouted.

However, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon, and according to his usual reconnaissance habits, he should have left long ago.

After thinking for a moment, Li Wei did not approach the bushes. Instead, he went around in circles, changing his reconnaissance position several times. After confirming the location from multiple angles, he finally approached the bushes.

However, just to be on the safe side, Li Wei switched to the Tracker title, increasing his perception by 5, because the situation had changed.

That Neanderthal hunter probably won't come here to scout the river fortress anymore, so for an experienced hunter, it would be a failure not to leave some traps here.

(End of this chapter)