Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 370 Conspiracy! There must be a conspiracy!

Backlund, West End, the Hall family's luxurious villa.

When Audrey returned, Earl Hall was still in his study talking with Hilbert, Mother was tallying the family's assets and stockpiled supplies, and the servants were handling their respective tasks in an orderly manner.

When Audrey returned to her room, her golden retriever Susie was sitting in front of the door wagging her tail, and no one noticed that she had been gone for a while.

No one knew that just moments before, she had witnessed the deaths of two demigods and even personally hunted one of them. This pleased Audrey somewhat, as it would significantly reduce the war pressure on Rune's side and decrease casualties.

-

Between Sea County, Constance Front.

"What exactly is going on?"

On the Rune position, Alfred, as the commander, gazed at the endless Fusak fleet on the distant sea and couldn't help but frown slightly.

He had, of course, noticed the unusual behavior of Fussack's conquest fleet.

Just now, the Conquest Fleet suddenly stopped bombarding the Rune position, which undoubtedly caused heavy losses to the Fusak landing force that had lost artillery support. The Fusak troops that had finally managed to break through the Rune position were also driven back to the beach.

The most critical issue was that the conquest fleet not only ceased its bombardment, but also failed to make any move regarding the landing troops that were supposed to be delivered to the beach.

Alfred's first thought was that something must have happened to Fussac's conquest fleet. Several demigods had assassinated the conquest fleet's commander, Franz Einhorn, which was undoubtedly a good opportunity for Rune to retaliate!

But a second thought immediately made Alfred suppress this impulse. He did not rashly order his troops to change their course, but continued the previous deployment, gradually eroding the Fussack landing force that was besieged on the beach.

He was worried that this might be a trap.

After all, Franz Einhorn is a Sequence 3 'War Bishop'! With the support of the entire Conquest Fleet, how could he be so easily killed unless an angel himself descends?

Less than two minutes have passed since the anomaly occurred. Even if the opponent is incredibly powerful, surely Franz, the 'War Bishop,' wouldn't be unable to last even two minutes?

It was precisely because of this consideration that Alfred worried that this might be a trick by the Fussacks, perhaps intending to lure them into an attack, into a trap set by the Fussacks, and then wipe them out in one fell swoop.

That's why he chose to remain still and consolidate his position—he'd rather do nothing than make a mistake.

This is actually not in line with Alfred's character. The reason he was able to be promoted to army colonel at such a young age was because he was brave and daring when he served in East Bayron, preferring to make mistakes rather than do nothing.

But the longer he was involved in the war and the more troops he commanded, the more cautious he became.

Because the pressure he was under was just too great!

He had to be responsible for the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary soldiers under his command, for Conston behind him, and for his family and friends far away in Backlund, under his protection!

Therefore, he would never be reckless; as long as he held the position, he would consider it a victory!

Alfred had thought so, until he discovered that the frequency of battles between the demigods was decreasing, until the demigods belonging to Fussack's side suddenly withdrew from the battlefield without warning!

These Fussack demigods abandoned tens of thousands of Fussack landing troops on the beach and fled alone!

The demigods of Runefang, who had lost their opponents, were also puzzled. However, most of them subconsciously thought that there might be a trap involved, so they did not rush to chase after them. Instead, out of caution, they returned to the command post to discuss countermeasures.

Alfred looked at the old man who had returned to the command post first and asked in a deep voice:

"Singer of God, do you have any clues about the unusual movements of the Fusak people?"

The elderly man, dressed in a long black robe embroidered with storm symbols and wearing a black soft hat, with unusually serious silver eyes, frowned and said:

"Something seems to have gone wrong with Fussack's conquest fleet, but I suspect it might be a trap set by the Fussacks."

Alfred nodded silently; this was just as he had guessed.

Emperor Roselle the Great, who single-handedly established the Republic of Intis, once made a comment about the Fussacs:

Fussack's soldiers were fierce and cunning, and Fussack's generals were cunning and fierce.

Alfred did not actually agree with many of the words and actions of Emperor Roselle.

But this was the one sentence that Alfred truly agreed with.

As a nation that produces extraordinary individuals who have achieved the pathways of "Hunter" and "Warrior," the people of this country possess a savage spirit ingrained in their very being. On one hand, they consider themselves descendants of giants and are not ashamed of their savagery, but rather proud of it.

On the other hand, many of the hunters among them have taken the names of their sequence potions to the extreme—these seemingly barbaric warriors are not mindless, but rather full of all sorts of schemers.

Especially on the battlefield, the Fusak people are fond of using schemes to lure the Rune into traps. The Rune people have a lot to say about this, because they have learned many painful lessons from it.

Therefore, Alfred remained extremely vigilant when faced with obvious changes from Fussack's side, having learned his lesson the hard way.

The singer of God, Ace Snake, shared the same sentiment, which is why he made the same assessment.

Soon, the demigods from the Church of the Night and the royal family returned to the command post.

The four demigods gathered together to discuss how to deal with this unusual activity, which could very well be a conspiracy.

Ultimately, their conclusions were surprisingly consistent:

Do nothing!

As long as the Fusak conquest fleet remained in the coastal waters, they did nothing.

Because if something really happened to the conquest fleet, even if Commander Franz Einhorn was dead, at least the remaining sailors and officers would have ordered the rest of the warships to retreat, instead of remaining docked within range of the Rune position as they are now.

Therefore, this must be a conspiracy!

The Fussacks were luring them to the Conquest Fleet, to investigate the flagship Admiral Norton, which was sure to hold a trap for these demigods.

Therefore, they don't need to do anything.

Since the Fusaks used the tens of thousands of landing troops as bait, they decided to take advantage of that bait first.

As for biting the hook? That's impossible!

If Admiral Emilius's interstellar fleet were here, they might be able to probe the area. But now, Admiral Emilius's interstellar fleet is entangled with Fussack's second conquest fleet, and it will be difficult to provide support before dawn.

Since there was no naval support, Alfred didn't even consider probing. Without a navy, it would be difficult to stop Fussack's conquest fleet from escaping, and even probing would only waste soldiers' lives.

Having determined their central objective, Rune's forces quickly launched a large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign against Fusak's landing forces. Meanwhile, without the support of the Conquest Fleet and the demigods, Fusak's landing forces were like ants without a backbone, and were completely annihilated by Rune's forces in less than an hour.

Under the cover of night, the soldiers of the Rune side began to clean up the battlefield and repair the damaged fortifications.

Despite it being war, the latter half of the night was unusually quiet, with only the occasional sound of the coastal defense guns of Rune firing at the conquest fleet.

The conquest fleet remained in the coastal waters, neither retaliating nor retreating.

Even after many ships were destroyed by coastal artillery fire, they remained completely still. This situation continued until dawn, until Admiral Emilius's intermarine fleet arrived on the battlefield and cut off the conquest fleet's retreat!

Even when faced with attacks from both sides, Fussack's conquest fleet remained quietly afloat on the sea, motionless.

Then, Rune's side discovered a startling fact—

The reason the conquering fleet didn't move wasn't because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't.

The entire fleet, hundreds of warships, was completely wiped out! Hundreds of thousands of sailors on board had already died last night in that two-minute-long anomaly!

When Alfred saw it with his own eyes, he was still somewhat stunned, but he quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

The unusual activity last night was not a trap; the Fusak people have indeed suffered huge losses.

But he doesn't regret his decision.

Even if he had ordered a counterattack back then, the outcome wouldn't have been much different from what we have now.

-

Early morning, inside the Hall family's luxurious villa.

Audrey was having a fine breakfast with her parents and brother when a servant suddenly burst in and handed a folded telegram to Earl Hall.

When Earl Hall saw the telegram written on special stationery, his expression changed slightly.

That kind of stationery was specifically used for writing military intelligence; this was a telegram from the front lines. However, given the current chaotic situation on the front lines of the Kingdom of Rune, it was obvious that this was not good news.

Not wanting to spoil his breakfast mood, and also wanting to give Hilbert a little exercise, he slowly said:

"Give it to Hippel."

The servant immediately handed the telegram to Hilbert, who recognized the style of the letter and opened it with a serious expression.

But soon, Hilbert's expression changed from serious to astonished and incredulous!

When Earl Hall saw his expression, his heart sank, for he had already anticipated that the information in the telegram would not be good.

However, the next second, an uncontrollable joy and excitement suddenly appeared on Hilbert's face, and he said excitedly:

"Father, you must see this!"

"Um?"

Count Hall was taken aback. He took the telegram and glanced at it, its contents coming into view. Contrary to his expected defeat, the telegram revealed a resounding victory for Rune's side!

Fusak's Sunia Fleet appeared near Bayam, the capital of the Roside Islands, last night. It was spotted by a patrolling armored fleet, which pursued it all the way to the vicinity of Nas, causing heavy losses to the Sunia Fleet. Even its commander, Yegor Einhorn, is missing.

Meanwhile, in the Interseas, Rune's forces also repelled Fussac's attack, annihilating hundreds of thousands of enemies, including half of Fussac's conquest fleet! Count Hall realized almost immediately the importance of this battle—the casualties of the army were not important; what mattered was that half of the conquest fleet!

Having lost half of its conquest fleet, Fusak will find it difficult to launch another large-scale offensive in the Interseas. This is because the Kingdom of Rune's Interseas fleet can completely suppress the conquest fleet and even launch a counter-offensive against the Fusak Empire's homeland!

"Okay, okay!"

Earl Hall stroked his handsome little mustache, an expression of excitement barely concealed on his face.

This was the only good news he had heard in the month since the war began.

While this cannot reverse the tide of battle, it can at least reverse the decline and allow the Rune side to hold out longer. And as long as they can hold out longer, even if they are destined to lose in the future and have to surrender to Fussack or Intis, they can still gain more benefits from it.

Seeing that her father was in a good mood, Audrey turned her blue eyes slightly and asked curiously:

"Dad, is there some good news?"

"It's good news."

As Earl Hall handed the telegram to Audrey, he chuckled and said:

"Your brother, Alfred, has done a great service, not only repelling the attack of the Fusacs, but also cooperating with Admiral Emilius to annihilate the invading conquest fleet. This will buy us a much-needed buffer time. The balance of the war may even begin to tilt from this point on."

Although he said that, Earl Hall didn't actually have much hope.

After all, only the navy of Fusak suffered heavy losses, while its army lost only tens of thousands of men, which was negligible compared to the total number of millions. The naval losses only slowed down their offensive in the Inter-Sea and Sunya Sea.

However, the Fursak offensive remained relentless along the Amanda Mountains north of Wintershire, especially with the ever-present threat of Intis and Fennepot. Unless they could annihilate the main force of the Fursak Empire and seize the opportunity to launch a counter-offensive on its homeland, victory seemed unlikely.

Audrey carefully examined the contents of the telegram and discovered that the assistance of the "unknown demigod" was omitted from both battles, as if everything was due to the efforts of the Rune people themselves.

Audrey wasn't surprised by the telegram's contents. After all, revealing the truth would make it seem like the Rune Kingdom was merely the one who benefited, which wouldn't be morale-boosting. The Rune Kingdom, which had been suppressed for so long, also needed a major victory to inspire its people.

"This is a good thing."

Audrey smiled from the bottom of her heart, because this would at least save some lives in the Kingdom of Rune.

Audrey had mixed feelings about the hundreds of thousands of Fussacks who died, but she did not regret it.

This is war, and one side always has to make sacrifices.

She didn't want her family, friends, or her country to suffer the same fate, so she had to let the enemy be the one to sacrifice. Besides, Fussacks were invaders after all; their deaths were better than the deaths of innocent people.

(End of this chapter)