Halfway through this cold winter, life is getting harder for those living in border areas.

Gesong Town is a wealthy and prosperous place, at least until this winter - it is located near the Winter Fort and is one of the transportation hubs for several trading markets on the border from Tifeng. Even before the so-called "transnational trade" emerged, this place was an important destination for merchants to gather.

Merchants from south to north brought considerable income to this place, and merchants made the town prosperous and prosperous. After the trade opened up, those smart people with a keen sense of smell turned this place into a land of gold within one or two years, and even made it faintly become a big city. However... the good days did not last long.

The war broke out.

Although it has not yet reached this place for a while, the prosperity and prosperity scene has disappeared forever. Cross-border trade has stopped. Merchants have avoided this place of right and wrong from afar. Important transportation hubs have been requisitioned by the empire. Now the chariots and horses full of money have been replaced by chariots and troops that have been constantly stopped day and night. The locals who originally relied on business trips to and from north to south now have to "relax".

Simpson, who runs the hotel, sat down next to the window, rubbing a brass pipe in his hand with some sorrow. There were no tobacco in the pipe. The shiny bucket body was spinning in his hand like a play piece. A layer of water vapor condensed on the crystal glass window next to it, making the scene on the street look hazy. The cold wind whistling through the streets and alleys swelled outside the window. Some cold air blew in through the not-so-sealed window cracks, making the middle-aged man who had already started to lose his hair and shrank his neck again.

He looked up and saw that there were only a few people sitting idle in the hotel lobby - the layout of the hotel in the town was similar. In addition to receiving guests, the lobby on the first floor also provided some wine and snacks, but since the outbreak of this damn war, he could sell here basically only the spirits mixed with water and the rough and hard cakes.

A middle-aged man with a beard sat on a table closest to him, looking only one step away from being drunk. He put a few empty bottles in front of him. The choking smell of inferior ale penetrated from his dirty coat, with many other suspicious smells mixed in between.

Simpson frowned and shouted at the other side: "Savile! You've drunk enough today!"

The unshaven middle-aged man had almost fallen on the table. After hearing the shouts, he just waved his hands randomly, and didn't even raise his head.

Simpson shook his head, feeling that he had done his duty as a "good citizen", so he continued to lower his head and rub his brass pipe, but a rhythmic sound of footsteps suddenly came from the side, causing the hotel owner to raise his head again.

His expression of sleepy and impatient faded quickly, and instead showed a smile, he saw a beautiful lady in a dark cloak in winter hunting suit about to walk through the aisle next to her, her brilliant blonde hair seemed to warm up the bad winter, and her sharp ears exposed from under her hair reminded others of her origin.

"Ms. Saldelin, are you going out?" Simpson asked with a smile. "It's not a good weather outside now..."

"I'm leaving in the afternoon," said the elf hunter known as Ms. Saldelin, with a neutral magnetic voice. "I want to see if I can hire a carriage to the pass while the weather is not too bad..."

"You're leaving?" Simpson couldn't hide his loss, but his loss was more due to financial losses. Since the outbreak of this damn war, few travelers have settled here, and a huntress who did not get involved in this war was an extremely precious "quality guest" of this period - staying in a better room, requiring exquisite food, not as rough and difficult as the passing soldiers, and most importantly, never owed money... From a money perspective, this elf hunter lived here far better than the twelve drunken Saviles.

"After all, I'm just passing by, and my tribe is still waiting for me." Sald said casually with a smile, and looked at the door. The identity of the elves is a good cover here, because the elf stronghold responsible for maintaining the magnificent wall is located near the northwest border of Tifeng. It is natural for an elves traveling abroad to appear in this area. As long as you are cautious and not provoke the mage sentry and managers of big cities, "she" can easily sneak into a loosely managed border settlement like Gesong Town.

But we can't let go of our vigilance because of this: as the battlefield gets closer and closer to the headquarters of the Winter Fort, tensions in this area are escalating, and the large air battle three days ago has had a profound impact on the entire battle situation. Now the entire Winter Fort area is becoming a frontline. The agents affiliated with the Tifeng intelligence department and the security forces under the name of the Earl of the Winter Fort seem to have smelled something, and are frequently checking people, and I... have been stranded in this place for a long time.

The necessary information has been sent away, and the Rangers who are active inside and outside the city and the Military Intelligence Bureau operators who need cover have been evacuated in batches. This place cannot be kept.

"Well, that's right," Simpson shrugged helplessly, "You should return to your tribe. This rough and bloody war is not suitable for a graceful elf lady like you..."

After hearing the hotel owner's words, Sald "Lin" just smiled and did not correct the other party's cognition errors - many humans seem to have misunderstandings in this regard, believing that elves are an elegant and war-weary race. When various "ugly" wars break out in the human world, beautiful elves will hide in the paradise jungle and praise peace and nature... This misunderstanding is particularly serious in the northern region.

However, in fact, the elves' ranger troops are one of the most powerful combat-capacity in the world. The Silver Empire also relied on war to capture a vast territory. There were countless wild and bloody tribes in the jungle of ancestors. The silver elves did not rely on art and music to make those voodoo tribes able to sing and dance... But there is no need to explain too much about such trivial matters to a human who runs a hotel near the border.

"She" just nodded to Simpson and was about to leave here, but before taking a step, a sour smell floated over from the side, which made "She" unable to help but stop and look at the direction where the smell came - drunk Saville was already asleep on the table, muttering a vague curse in her sleep.

"He seems to be here all these days," Sauld "Lin" asked casually, "It seems to be your acquaintance?"

"Oh... Unlucky Savile, I have some friendship with him," Simpson glanced at the table opposite, sighed and shook his head. "He used to be a hotel runner, but he was at the other end of the town, but unfortunately he was stunned by the wealthy businessmen who traveled from north to south, which made him lose his unrealistic fantasy. He borrowed a lot of money, even mortgaged his hotel, and exchanged for the right to use the three cars and a franchise license... Just this winter."

Sald "Lin" listened to Simpson's sympathy and couldn't help but look at the drunk man again.

The destructive power of this war outside the battlefield became more and more obvious day by day. Saville, who was lying between the bottles, was just a small microcosm.

"She" shook her head and said casually as if she was talking to herself: "I hope this war will end soon."

"If this is true, I have to thank the gods," Simpson couldn't help saying, pointing his fingers on his chest that had just wiped his brass pipe, making a prayer gesture. "I really don't know when this bad day will end..."

Sald "Lin" did not respond to the hotel owner's words. "She" pulled up the hood of the cloak, tightened the straps, and turned around and walked towards the exit of the lobby.

The door of the tavern opened and closed, and a cold wind blew from outside swept across the interior space. Simpson felt the cold wind blowing in his neck, and couldn't help but shrink his neck again. At the same time, he subconsciously looked out the window - he wiped the window glass and tried to find the figure of the elf hunter from the street, but only saw the empty streets, the misty sky and distant mountains outside the town. Between the daylight and the shadow of the mountain, an iron-gray giant, as if covered in armor, was wandering in the void.

Simpson felt his heart suddenly hit by something. The hazy shadow made the blood in his body stagnate for a moment. After a few seconds, he took a breath and regained his ability to think like a resurrection. In his panic, he hurriedly looked out the window again, trying to find the figure of the giant. However, in the background of the mountains, there was no iron-gray armored giant wandering...

It seemed like just an illusion just now.

"Savile, Savile!" Simpson knocked the table with his brass pipe, trying to greet the person closest to him, "You just saw... forget it, I'll ask you what you do."

...

Saldrin walked around several street intersections and drilled into the alley. His breath was completely restrained. Even the patrol wizards passing by did not notice that a "hunter" had appeared in his sight.

After confirming that the surroundings were completely safe, he stopped and looked at the direction of the mountains outside the town thoughtfully.

He thought of the "illusion" that people mentioned occasionally in the town in recent times, and his face became a little serious, but soon he restrained his expression and returned to his cold and indifferent state.

After observing the surrounding environment again, he quickly found a hidden place to change his clothes: the elf's clothing is complex and difficult to distinguish in the eyes of humans. The special clothes changed their form after a slight change. He turned the original cloak and turned the gray side outward, completely changing his slightly neutral dress. Finally, he reached his hand to his head. At this step, the high-level ranger finally couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, but a sentence from his friend many years ago came to his mind: A real strong man will face the bleakness of life...

He pulled off his wig and quickly put it away - the winter wind is so cool.

At the intersection on the other side of the street, a carriage was already waiting here. Saldrin walked out of the alley and confirmed the situation around the carriage in less than a second. He came to the coachman with Gu Jing Wubo's expression on his face.

"Master Delin," the coachman immediately jumped out of the car when he saw his employer, with a respectful and flattering smile on his face: The elf monk is a mysterious profession. This excellent and knowledgeable traveler is said to be no more than a thousand people on the entire continent, let alone the other party paid twice the car money. This is worth taking out all the etiquette he had accumulated from his mother's womb to this day. "Let's go now?"

"I've been waiting for a long time," Saldrin nodded slightly and said in a deep voice, "Let's go and leave the city directly from the west."

...

An order from Cecil City made the technicians of Solinburg and Bell Tira himself completely busy. Those who were busy with them were also technicians who came from Cecil City on a plane and were specifically responsible for the Psychic Singer Project.

In the center of Thorin Giant Tree, in a square on the west side of the trunk, Wendy, who rushed from Cecil City and several other technical experts were standing with the technicians of Solinburg. In front of these people, Selena Gerfen, holding a lantern, gradually appeared like a spirit body entering reality from a dream world.

The "Lantern Saint" raised his head and looked at the strange thing floating in the middle of the clearing in front of him. Finally, he couldn't help but look at Wendy on the side: "Do you think this thing will not cause a huge psychological impact on our own soldiers first?"

Wendy opened her mouth and was about to speak when a slightly husky voice like a rubbing wood came out of the bushes next to her: "It's so weird to say this sentence from the priest of the Eternal Sleeper who is good at mental attacks and professionally creates nightmares."

Selena looked in the direction where the sound came, and saw Belltila's figure rising from the bushes. The twisted and wriggling flower vines condensed into an "incarnation" that was almost not much different from the real person in an incredible way. This incarnation was walking towards this side by relying on the moving roots and vines of the lower body.

"We just create some illusions from the spiritual level - you are something that can scare in the real world," Selena shook her head helplessly, pointing to the things floating above the square - it was a huge artificial brain with a diameter of more than two meters. The grayish-white, slightly pink flesh and blood tissue floated several meters high in anti-gravity. Its uneven surface covered with gullies was even slightly squirming, swelling, and a large number of tentacle-like nerve cords extended from its bottom, accompanied by the floating of the body, and it was squirming and curling. "In terms of the ability of disgusting people, you are more powerful in biochemical activities."

"...It's really that serious?" Belltila thought for a while and said helplessly, "But I think it's a little cute..."

The technicians behind Selena suddenly showed an almost terrifying look, and Wendy couldn't help but hold her forehead-
Chapter completed!