Civilization: Beyond Two Worlds

Military intelligence.

Tina nodded, not surprised.

Ever since she reached an agreement with the nobles and businessmen in the north of the Empire, her popularity had become better and better. This hired army that was willing to assist Goethe in the battle had obtained the full support of the civilians in the north of the Empire. Apart from a large number of soldiers replenishing and endless resources, the most important thing was information support.

Money was divine. Driven by the interests of the rich, the big shots did not hesitate to pay a large sum of money to hire the assassin organization and the mage group to enter Goethe to collect military information.

Under the pervasive prying of the stealth travelers and the eagle-eyed mages, Tina could always obtain precious information support before the elves. This was because the chives were not finished. The greedy predators hoped that she could last longer—otherwise, if a battle was destroyed, how could everyone manipulate the stock price to earn money?

Therefore, this volunteer army that assisted Goethe could receive all kinds of support from all walks of life in the Empire almost every day. It was completely a grand occasion of a community with a shared future for humans. It seemed that every human was indignant about the invasion of the elves and was willing to contribute to Princess Tina’s path to protecting the country.

Information like this that revealed the various military operations of the elves could basically be received every day.

Tina took the reviewed piece of information from the intelligence officer.

It was precisely because she could receive information every day that she had to carry out the necessary screening. After all, the value of the information varied, and there were even some truths and lies. Moreover, she could not rule out the possibility that the cunning elves would beat them at their own game and set a trap.

She nodded slightly. “It’s been hard on you.”

The officer lowered his head deeply. “It’s my honor.”

After returning to the tent, Tina unfolded the scroll. Sword Saint Snowfall asked, “Military information? Didn’t the invasion army already slow down their attack and wait for the next order? What other information?”

Tina looked at it a few times and a smile appeared on her lips, followed by a trace of worry.

The Sword Saint saw this. “What’s wrong?”

Tina replied, “It’s still the previous dispatch pattern. Most of the elf army has already stationed in the nearest city. The large legion continues to disperse. The field and siege attacks everywhere have basically stopped…”

“Come and eat something.” Sword Saint Snowfall pushed the wooden plate on the table and said disdainfully, “The elves are afraid of being beaten up. They hid in the city and took the commoners of Goethe as hostages, and they scattered the main force to prevent your husband from suddenly attacking and reenacting the scene of the Battle of Valentine… They’re also afraid.”

Tina blushed, but she did not refute a subtle word, or rather, she did not have the time to refute it. She did not sit down and eat. Instead, she continued, “Apart from that, the elves are still increasing their troops. The docks of a few port cities have discovered new signs of feed transportation. It’s not the golden clams and spirit wood whiskers that feed land battle beasts, but the dried meat spiritual herbs that feed pegasuses and horned eagles. In other words, the elves have increased their air force by a large amount.”

She read the scroll and frowned gently, “The newly unloaded goods and heavy supplies are tightly wrapped and escorted by mages. They look like some kind of heavy magic equipment…”

Sword Saint Snowfall thought for a moment and still sneered, “The Air Force and heavy magic equipment are probably still wary of your husband. After all, the information of the battle of Valentine has already been spread. Everyone knows that your husband rode a huge eagle out of the city to release a forbidden spell and summon a sword of light to bombard the ground. They probably want to defend and intercept him against this… Heh, the dignified Twilight Dynasty has been forced to this extent by a human.”

Tina held the scroll and pondered in silence.

As the only survivors of the Glory Sand Incident, she and Kang De had both obtained huge and painful growth. The couple had obtained the same characteristic, which was paranoia.

They no longer believed it easily.

“What are you thinking?”

Facing her aunt’s question, Tina came back to her senses and pursed her lips slightly. Then, she said, “There must be more than that for the elves. I think they’re targeting Kang De…”

“There’s no need to think. It must be. Otherwise, with the strength of the invasion army, who do they need to specially guard against?”

Sword Saint Snowfall casually pinched a piece of roasted soft bread and dipped it in the lamb soup before sending it into his mouth. He said vaguely, “Only a sudden and powerful attack on the army like Kang De is the source of their fear and terror. This attack method means that all the field troops, even the fleet, the port, and even the homeland of the Elven Invasion Army have become unsafe.”

“That’s why they slowed down their attack, and that’s why they had the intention to make peace… How awkward. They can’t run, but they don’t dare to fight. They can only stay in the city and transfer the air force from their homeland to defend.”

At this point, a happy expression appeared on the Sword Saint’s face. Such a thing should be forgotten. Therefore, she picked up the bowl and ate a few mouthfuls of soup.

The meat soup tasted very delicious. The ingredients, spices, and chef were all top-notch. Drinking this warm soup under the slightly cold morning light was a pleasure to the stomach and body. The Sword Saint exhaled happily and slammed the soup bowl back onto the table. Her skilled movements were obvious that she often drank alcohol.

She was about to praise the chef when she discovered that she had unknowingly eaten more than half of the meal prepared for her niece, so she revealed an embarrassed expression.

However, Tina did not care. She did not even notice.

The princess still frowned. Her aunt’s words could not reassure her, because Glory Sand’s experience had made her a habit—she had to plan for the worst.

Her tone was worried as she said in a low voice, “What if they don’t make such an arrangement to guard against a possible surprise attack by Kang De… but take the initiative to encircle and attack him?”

Sword Saint Snowfall quietly wiped her mouth as if nothing had happened. When she heard this, she was stunned. She reached out to take the information scroll and looked at it a few times. She could not help but laugh, “I know you’re worried about him, but there’s no need to be so sensitive, right?”

She stood up and walked to the map of Goethe hanging in the tent. She stretched out her hand and held it in the air. The air turned cold and slowly solidified into ice cones. Sword Saint Snowfall raised her hand and threw. Ice cones were nailed to the map. It was the many mobilized elf troops and even the transport port that the information pointed out.

“Do you see that? The Dusk Legion and the other five Dragon Flag Legions were destroyed. The military strength of the southern Valentine line is already extremely empty. Only a few random servant armies are hiding and trembling in the south. Apart from that, a huge military vacuum appears around Valentine…”

She stretched out her hand and pointed, “You said that the elves want to take the initiative to surround Kang De? Not to mention whether they have the courage to do this, even if they do, what about the soldiers? Without mobilizing the army to cooperate, the heavy magic devices transported over can’t be used at all. If they want to deal with Kang De with just an air force, won’t he run?”

At this point, she glanced at Tina beside her. “Moreover, I heard that the person who’s going to Valentine this time is the Phoenix King’s younger brother, Duke Tiling. He’s a famous Legendary Mage of the elves. If the elves have ill intentions, Tagris will think about attacking himself… You’re too suspicious.”

Tina still said nothing.

“Sigh, silly girl.”

Sword Saint Snowfall sighed and pressed her hands on Tina’s face, rubbing it forcefully, causing the girl’s beautiful blue eyes to look at her with cute surprise and struggle.

Then, she looked at her niece and said earnestly, “In short, don’t worry. The elves mobilized these magic devices and troops to carry out the army’s defense. As for you, Princess Battle Axe, if you don’t plan to let Kang De truly understand the origin of this funny nickname, I advise you to recall your innocent and cute stupid appearance earlier and put away your iron blood, paranoia, cunning, and coldness.”

“I don’t want you to scare him…”

“Do you understand?”

Looking at Tina, whose eyes were wavering and her face had turned red, she continued to rub her face. “In other words, Your Highness, the war has already changed. Your goal is no longer to die with the elves and give this world a huge surprise, but to look after your husband.”

“It saves him the trouble of being snatched away by the Cathayan Empress or the Crimson Queen. Also, the Twilight Dynasty has invested such a huge sum. They probably don’t mind sacrificing another elf.”

“Silly girl, you’ll have many troubles in the future. The emperors of various countries are probably jealous of you and your father. If a princess can pull such a human-shaped forbidden curse to her country’s camp, even the emperor of the Human Empire would want to pack up all his daughters and send them over…”

Tina had been listening with a red face. When she heard this, she explained, “It’s not that simple! My relationship with Kang De is not that superficial…”

“Oh, hoho, you’re quite confident. Then let me ask you, if a little b*tch really comes out of nowhere to snatch your husband from you, what will you do?”

“I… I…”

“What are you stammering for? Are you a goose?”

Sword Saint Snowfall said resentfully, “There are so many women in the Tedrell family, but only you have such a soft personality. If it were any of your sisters, they would be able to tear them apart on the spot. Let me ask you, if your sister comes to snatch your man, what will you do? Will you still cry?”

Tina subconsciously shouted, “No!”

“Why not? Such a good man values friendship and can fight and endure. I even want to snatch him, let alone them.” Sword Saint Snowfall exerted strength with both hands, squeezing Tina until she began to cry out in pain.

“Therefore, show me your domineering aura!”

She shook her head repeatedly, “Where did the energy you used to chop off the elves’ heads go? Where did the ruthlessness of mobilizing the entire army to let them personally beat dozens of spies into meat paste go? Which little hussy came to snatch your man? Take out that aura and tear her apart and let her know that you’re not easy to bully!”

Tina finally broke free from her demonic claws and covered her face as she muttered, “You clearly told me to restrain myself…”

“Idiot!”

Sword Saint Snowfall slammed on her head, “That’s two different things! In front of your husband, you’re naturally a shy, introverted, enthusiastic, and active elegant girl. In front of those sluts with ill intentions, you’re the Battle Axe Princess who carried the axe and cut open the elves without batting an eyelid! Can’t you understand this logic?”

Tina hugged her head and said aggrievedly, “Oh…”

However, her firmness was still slightly insufficient, revealing hesitation and retreat.

The Sword Saint pretended to hit her, but she saw the depression and sigh in Tina’s eyes. Her heart stirred, and she slowly put down her hand and looked at her niece seriously. “What’s wrong?”

The princess slowly cried again.

She said in a low voice, “I want to see him and hug him to cry, but I don’t want to see him or dare to see him… Aunt, do I really have to do this? I announced that I’m his wife. I considered myself his wife and tied him to Goethe to fight for it…”

At this point, huge panic and confusion flashed through the girl’s eyes.

Kang De’s miraculous performance and results in Valentine shocked the continent and rewrote the battle situation of Goethe, giving the struggling Goethe a chance to breathe… However, to Tina, it was a mixture of pain and surprise.

She had previously thought that Kang De was already dead. With huge hatred and anger for the elves, the Empire, and even this world, she had opened Pandora’s box and caused a huge mess.

With the Ponzi scheme and the many concepts explained by Kang De, coupled with her understanding of these concepts, she used the greed of people to weave an unprecedented huge conspiracy…

In her script, when this scam could no longer go on and finally led to the destruction of the chain, she had already welcomed destruction with Tedrell. There was no need to consider the consequences of the reckoning.

However, now, Kang De had turned the tide and used a forbidden curse to deter the elves, turning around the variables of this destined war. Not only did this mean the glory of peace, but it also meant that the scam would continue.

When the outcome was revealed and the scam was exposed, the anger and hatred of the people who were angry from embarrassment and had suffered heavy losses would be aimed at Goethe and Tedrell. The amount of investment and the expected return were so high. At that time, who would be responsible for this scam?

When Tina thought of this, the pain and confusion in her heart were simply indescribable.

She knew that Kang De would definitely take all of this without any hesitation and help her think of a way to resolve it.

However, could she let Kang De clean up this mess for her with a clear conscience?

Sword Saint Snowfall slowly hugged Tina.

This once carefree pearl of Goethe had grown cruelly in just a few months.

Although the Sword Saint was powerful, it was only one person and one sword. When Tina crazily scammed without caring about the consequences, she had also been watching from the sidelines. She was surprised by the madness and terrifying power of her niece’s methods and felt that once this method spread, there would definitely be endless trouble in the future.

However, at that time, the situation of Goethe was dangerous and the country was about to be destroyed. To the Tedrell family, the country was actually the same as the family. Every member would defend this country until they died, including Sword Saint Snowfall. Since she was destined to die, why would she be afraid of causing more trouble? After she died, she would not care about the problems.

However, now… it was very awkward.

Thinking of that terrifying astronomical figure and an extremely large investor, even Sword Saint Snowfall was shocked.

Such a mess was not something a sword could resolve.

Therefore, she understood Tina’s sorrow, regret, and confusion.

This mess was really too big. With Tina’s pride, she would never do anything to seduce Kang De to clean it up for her. This was not only utilitarian but also despicable.

“Actually…”

In her arms, Tina muttered, “It’s not bad if Sister can snatch him away…”

Her calm words revealed a faint determination to die.

Sword Saint Snowfall was shocked and clenched her hands. “Don’t say that!”

Tina said nothing.

The Sword Saint looked up and took a deep breath. She gritted her teeth and said, “Since he thought of this method, he might have a way to resolve it… Tedrell distinguishes gratitude and grudges clearly and will repay kindness. If he can help, we’ll definitely repay him with all our might… As long as he’s around, there’s always a way to repay him!”

The princess’s body trembled slightly and she was silent. After a long time, she nodded softly.

Due to Kang De’s strategic deterrence, the war was declared to be paused. The elves stopped all large-scale attacks and turned to defense on the spot, waiting for further orders. The entire Goethe battlefield was silent.

However, in the silence, the undercurrent was still surging. The elves would not admit defeat. Moreover, starting a war was pushed by the pro-war faction. If they gave up easily, they would definitely attract a full-scale counterattack from the peace faction.

No one was willing to bear such consequences and responsibility.

Therefore, the hidden schemes, struggles, and efforts continued.

On the one hand, the pro-war faction was pretending to be forced to agree to send the peace signal, but the giants of the council were still looking for a plan and tactics to continue the war. They thought that this was only a new political battle and challenge and firmly believed that the elves would definitely win. The other party was only a mere human who grasped special power and was momentarily arrogant.

However, what they did not know was that the hard work of the council, the private transactions, the attempts and strategies of the pro-war faction, and the strategic deception and conspiracies seemed to be another open and covert battle between the internal parties of Twilight, but they were actually being pushed and… used by a mysterious force they did not know.

“The information has been sent?”

“Yes, Princess Tina personally received it.”

In an Empire city hundreds of kilometers away from this mercenary army, a chess player had obtained the information he wanted. On the larger chessboard, perhaps he was only a pawn, but now, he was the player.

“That’s good. I’ll leave this to you.”

The hooded man whose face was hidden in the shadows stood up. “Send the new information over a day later and tell Princess Tina that the Elven Expeditionary Force will launch a surprise operation against the capital of Goethe. Only when she asks Kang De for help will that Forbidden Spell Envoy believe…”

At this point, the corners of his mouth covered by the hood revealed a cold smile, “What will happen then? The Cathayan will be furious and think that he has been deceived by the elves. He will either fight the envoys, rush to the capital of Goethe in the starry night, or go straight to the elves’ homeland to take revenge.”

“The first is that he and Duke Tiling will both suffer heavy losses and will be captured by the lords who rushed over to capture him. The second is that the Elven hunting team that came to help from the local starry night will give him a huge surprise and let the lords clean up the situation… No, it’ll make the situation even more chaotic.”

“As for the third… Ha, the Twilight Dynasty will suffer an unprecedented heavy blow.”

“No matter what, we’re always the winner.”

The noble in luxurious clothes standing at the side bowed humbly. If Tina was here, she would definitely know this person. He was one of the most powerful figures in the north of the Empire.

Now, he was as respectful as a servant. “Yes, we’re always the final winner.”

“Alright, I’ll leave this to you. Continue to support our pitiful little princess in protecting the country. Hope after despair, and despair after hope. This is the sad fate of mortals.”

The hooded man sighed, “Therefore, transcending fate is our eternal pursuit and belief.”

The other party still replied respectfully, “Yes, transcend fate.”

“Speaking of which…” The hooded man recalled something, “You’ve done well for that so-called shares. She can actually think of this method. As expected of the smartest Princess of Goethe… Goethe is destined to be destroyed. This princess probably won’t survive. I can learn her method and make the Empire more chaotic.”

The other party nodded and said, “Yes… we’ve gained a lot. This is not the end of everything. When it ends, many middle and small nobles and businessmen will go bankrupt. We can even take the opportunity to buy their businesses at a low price. This method is really very magical.”

“Yes, this is very beneficial to us. We can even consider other methods… You can think about it again. I should leave.”

With that, the hooded figure turned into an ethereal cloud.

“It’s time to prepare for the lords to descend to the lower realm…”