Who taught him to restore the country like this?

"These lunatics!" Ian cursed through his teeth.

He really didn't expect that the two families were so decisive and actually wanted to drag the Zi Yang Kingdom into the game.

It is easy to invite the Zi Yang Kingdom, but it may not be so easy to send the Zi Yang Kingdom away afterwards.

I am afraid that when the time comes, the snipe and the clam will fight, and the fisherman will benefit.

Didn’t those two idiots ever consider the consequences of doing this?

Can't we wait two more days?

Anger made Ian's face darker.

Now that Silver City was in decline, in two days, he would surely be able to capture Silver City and unify the Thorn Territory.

However, those guys didn't give him the time.

If the Zi Yang Kingdom were to attack the royal capital as agreed, it would inevitably pass through the Thorn Territory.

Could the other party be simply passing by?

This is obviously impossible.

He and Leo were both injured in the fight. Now is a great opportunity for the Zi Yang Kingdom to occupy the Thorn Territory. How could the other party miss it?

If he continued to attack Silver City, he would end up becoming someone else's puppet, and he might even die there.

What should I do?

Put aside your prejudices temporarily, make peace with Leo, and unite against the enemy?

Do not!

Ian immediately rejected the idea.

This was tantamount to chronic suicide. Leo's reputation in the Thorn Territory always surpassed his. Once the Ziyang people were driven away, he would be the next to be liquidated.

He would never allow this to happen.

What's more, with the Thorn Territory's current depleted military strength, even if they join forces, they may not be able to stop Zi Yang's iron hoof.

"The only option is... to leave the Thorn Territory!"

Ian suddenly stopped in his tracks, a trace of cruelty and determination flashing across his eyes.

He was unwilling to accept either handing over the Thorn Territory to Leo or having it forcibly occupied by the Zi Yang Kingdom.

Since the ending cannot be changed, before leaving, leave behind some "gifts" that will make them anxious and disgust them!

……

Silver City.

Leo was worried about Ian's continuous attacks in recent days when he suddenly heard an urgent report from the guards.

Ian is out of action!

Leo's heart tightened, and his first thought was: Have troops from Baimu City sent support?

Given the current situation in Thorn Territory, only Whitewood City can rescue Silver City.

As long as Baimu City sends a troop to harass Ian's rear, it will inevitably slow down Ian's pace of attacking Baiyin City.

These days he had been hoping that Mr. Thompson, who was highly praised by the guards of Baimu City, would do something amazing again.

Now, has Baimu City finally taken action?

Leo suppressed his excitement and ordered his scouts to closely monitor Ian's movements. If Ian turned to attack Baimu City, he would immediately lead his troops to support him.

As long as he can hold Ian back on both ends, he can slowly turn the situation around.

However, he had no idea...

At this moment, Shiraki City is enjoying a rare tranquility.

……

Whitewood City.

"Teacher, that... the position is wrong, it needs to be a little lower, yes, right here, slowly..."

In the morning light, by the river, Tallulah leaned against a thick tree trunk, her chest heaving violently, her forehead and snow-white neck covered with sweat.

In the middle of the river, Ron rolled up his trouser legs, leaned over and stood in the cool river water, with one hand firmly pressed on the riverbed.

Following Tallulah's instructions, Ron found the correct position and constructed the last alchemical circle, injecting life energy and the magic circuit of the water magic Tidal Embrace at the same time.

hum-

The magic circle was instantly illuminated! The calm river suddenly surged, and the turbulent water seemed to be pulled by an invisible hand, quickly converging and shaping, and finally condensing into a nearly two-meter-tall humanoid puppet composed of pure water.

"Success!"

clap clap clap...

Tallulah applauded and looked at the elemental puppet Ron had transformed with amazement. "That's amazing, teacher. Thirteen primary alchemy circles and you've transformed a third-level elemental puppet. You're truly an arcane genius."

There are usually two ways to transform elemental puppets: one is to use mithril rods or special alloys as carriers, which is relatively simple.

The second method is to directly extract substances and transform them through complex alchemical arrays, which is extremely difficult.

The latter requires a deep understanding of the nature of matter.

Ron stared at the first magic circle puppet he had transformed with his own hands, but he was not satisfied.

Because mixed in it is not only life energy and water magic, but also the elemental spirits of the White Lion's Heart.

"The elemental spirit that has merged with the White Lion Heart is only at this level. It seems that the method of activating the White Lion Heart by material transformation will not work." Ron thought to himself.

The Lion's Heart has two forms, a jade form for auxiliary use, and a ferocious beast form for independent combat.

Even if it is just this small piece in his hand, if it can activate the beast form, it will be enough to burst out the combat power comparable to the top seventh-level strongman.

However, in order to activate the ferocious beast form of Lionheart, an item is needed. That item is in the inheritance place of Lionheart, which is where the royal family of the Lionheart Kingdom discovered Lionheart.

Ron knew the location of the inheritance site, but at this point, such items would have been taken away by someone else.

It was precisely because that person got that item that the three dukes rebelled. They overthrew the royal family for the sake of the Lion's Heart controlled by the royal family.

It’s useless to know who is behind this, because you can’t snatch it away.

Since this road was blocked, Ron had to find another way.

But at the moment, it seems that forcibly integrating elemental spirits into the puppet is not even as effective as directly using it to amplify the power of magic, and it consumes a huge amount of energy.

The magic power and mental energy consumed in manipulating the White Lion Heart to transform its properties are several times greater than that of ordinary puppet transformations.

This can be seen from Tallulah's condition: the girl who used to be energetic even after a whole day of high-intensity training with him, now is sweating profusely and listless after only one or two hours.

"If only I could get a relic like the one in Twilight City..."

Ron just thought about it for a moment and then killed the idea.

The competitor of this thing is the future Demon King, and he can't afford to offend him now.

"Let's stop here for today." Ron stood up and walked onto the river bank in the shallow water.

At this moment, a guard came hurriedly and reported respectfully: "Mr. Thomson, someone wants to see you."

Chapter 125 Chaos

Baimu City, the reception room of the City Lord's Mansion.

The air still lingered with the cool scent of alchemy and river water. Ron, dressed in plain casual attire, sat at the head of the table, his expression calm and composed. St. Regis and Tallulah stood on either side of him, their expressions solemn.

The messenger at the bottom was dusty and exhausted, his armor stained with mud and soot betraying the hardships of his journey. His lips were chapped, his eyes were bloodshot like spiderwebs, and his entire figure was like a taut bowstring.

When Ron nodded slightly, the messenger stood up from his chair almost like a catapult. His hoarse voice seemed to be burned by flames, and every word was scorched:

"Mr. Thomson! By order of Lord Leo, I implore you to move to Silver City to fight the powerful enemy together!"

"Are you doing this again?"

Before Ron could respond, Byron, standing beside him, could no longer contain his excitement. His suspicious gaze pierced the messenger's body like a knife. "Are you another bait sent by Ian?"

The last "Silver City Meeting" almost cost them their lives, and their memory is still fresh.

"Captain Byron, please understand!" the messenger argued eagerly, his voice trembling with anger. "Ian... that damned coward! He took away the money and food of four major cities last night and fled!"

"Abandon the city and flee?"

Byron's brow furrowed, his confusion deepening. "Since you've driven him away, what 'big enemy' are you asking us to deal with?"

"He wasn't driven away by Lord Leo. Instead, he got terrified when he heard the news that the Ziyang Kingdom was attacking him!"

The knight's chest heaved violently, filled with immense anger and fear. "Before he fled... he burned all the food that couldn't be taken away from the four main cities... and destroyed the city gates and walls."

"Even more viciously, he spread rumors that Lord Leo was colluding with the Ziyang Kingdom and intended to sell the civilians of Thorn Territory to the Ziyang Kingdom in exchange for protection."

"He has now made the Thorn Territory a mess, and the people's hearts are..."

"and many more!"

Byron suddenly interrupted the messenger's accusation against Ian, his pupils shrinking slightly, "You just said... the Ziyang Kingdom is attacking?"

"Absolutely true!" The messenger nodded gravely, as if the news itself was of great weight. "The Ziyang army invaded the Lionheart Kingdom's territory yesterday morning. Now... they are heading straight for the border of the Thorn Territory and may break through at any time!"

When Leo learned in the early morning that Ian was planning to escape with the money, he wanted to give chase, but after learning from the rumors spread by Ian that the Zi Yang Kingdom was invading, he had to retain his troops to deal with the threat from the Zi Yang Kingdom.

Since the other two dukes had not yet attacked the royal capital at this time, Leo did not know the real purpose of the Zi Yang Kingdom's invasion.

He believed that the Zi Yang Kingdom was coming for the Thorn Territory and wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Therefore, he did not have the same idea of ​​escaping from the Thorn Territory as Ian.

He believed that as long as he recruited soldiers from all the territories surrounding the Thorn Territory, resisted the Purple Sun Kingdom for a day or two, and waited for reinforcements from the capital, he could resolve the crisis.

He had no idea that the royal capital itself was about to fall into the quagmire of siege by the two dukes and had no troops to send.

"Mr. Thomson." The messenger looked at Ron and pleaded cautiously, "The defenses of Thorn Territory are currently weak. Silver City and Whitewood City are far apart. If the enemy attacks, it will be difficult to protect both ends. Lord Leo implores you to move to Silver City and take command so that we can fight this formidable enemy together."

He was nervous, knowing that Ian's few thousand troops had already made them exhausted. Now facing the enemy's army of tens of thousands, the danger would be more than doubled.

Most of the people in Baimu City are Tiantu mercenaries, and they have limited sense of belonging to the Thorn Territory. If they follow Ian's example and leave, it will be like adding insult to injury for the Thorn Territory.

It would take time for Leo to gather troops from the surrounding areas. If the Zi Yang Kingdom took advantage of this opportunity to launch a fierce attack, considering the dilapidated defenses of Baiyin City and the uneasy public sentiment, it would be very dangerous.