Roland put down the report and remembered what Kabradhabi had told him.

The demons had an enemy from the Sky-sea Realm.

Were the demons too busy dealing with that enemy from the Sky-sea Realm to monitor the status on the Fertile Plains?

The General Staff was also inclined to this theory. No matter what the demons were playing at, at the end of the day, the party with greater power dominated the war.

The Magic Slayer had come all the way to the forest and caught Leaf offguard. However, this had also exposed his traits and ability. Sylvie could now sense him even without the Magic Eye. She could see a "red fleck of light" hover around the ruin and feel the slightest fluctuation in magic power immediately.

In short, unlike Neverwinter where the soldiers and witches were still continuously upgrading, the demons at Taquila had put all their cards on the table.

Since there was plenty of food, the Administrative Office started another round of conscription to recruit soldiers from all parts of the country. The consolidation of the administration inst.i.tutions in Graycastle significantly increased public productivity. Based on Barov's initial estimate, the number of new recruits might very likely exceed 5,000 this time, which was the total number of the First Army soldiers two years ago.

Calvin Kant was very proactive in responding to this campaign.

After the officials at the secondary City Hall were trained and became comfortable enough to rule a territory, they would be able to recruit more soldiers.

Meanwhile, bolt rifles were gradually replacing revolving rifles, thanks to increasingly skillful workers. The new rifles were very similar to the weapons used by the sniper team, with the only difference being the lack of a scope.

Although the revolving rifle was fast, its speed, shooting range and firing accuracy were quite limited due to its mechanical structure. A revolving rifle would be a perfect weapon to kill a knight, but it was definitely not ideal to kill a Mad Demon who could spear at 100 to 200 meters. The bolt rifle, on the other hand, fixed that problem, enabling soldiers to fire from a distance.

The research and development for the anti-demon rocket-propelled grenade designed to kill the Senior Demons and the Spider Demons was now close to its end, and they had just started with the ma.s.s production. There was no technical difficulty in manufacturing this type of simple and cheap weapons. In fact, it was even easier than manufacturing bullets. Based on the current production rate, they would have ample time to produce tons of grenades before the final battle.

Although the First Army lacked related training on how to use a grenade, unlike a cannon, a rocket-propelled grenade was pretty user-friendly. It was indeed a very common practice to test them out directly in an actual war. Therefore, Roland was not too worried about whether the weapon would work.

No noticeable change had been found in the demons. Agatha and Phyllis judged that the number of the demons would be between 3,000 and 5,000 based on the amount of Red Mist, which was definitely a big number for the Union. However, for the First Army, the demons were exceedingly outnumbered.

Since the Red Mist was the lifeline of the demons, Roland believed this estimate was truthful and accurate.

This was also the information the General Staff relied on to make their a.n.a.lysis.

Roland trusted the judgement of the General Staff. There was no point of overestimating or underestimating the enemy, for evidence spoke for itself. He would rather place the matter in the professional's hand than issue commands himself.

Roland knew he was by no means a commander. That was why he felt a little unsettled.

He thus decided to wait as things came, quite sure that his every question would be answered when the war broke out. At these thoughts, he heaved a deep sigh, his hand uncontrollably reaching for his throbbing forehead, when a pair of hands gently rested on his temples. Nightingale started to rub his head with just the right amount of strength.

He instantly felt much better.

Over the past four years, Roland had reached a mutual understanding with Nightingale that transcended words. Such an understanding constantly reminded him that he was not fighting alone.

As a king, he used to picture a life of debauchery. However, when he really had a right to have a corrupted lifestyle, he realized his work just piled up. He worked way much longer than eight hours a day, and sometimes, even sleeping became a part of his routine. He did complain about overworking but rarely took a real break. Perhaps, this was because someone was always looking over him.

Obviously, he was working toward his personal goal.

But he was also working toward everybody else's dream.

After a short ma.s.sage therapy, Roland's eyes traveled to another report on the desk.

This was regarding the discovery of the Giant Armored Scorpion and a mysterious ruin.

Although the information had yet to be further confirmed, from the enclosed strange stones, Roland thought the news was true.

He was intrigued by this report. He had antic.i.p.ated that there would be some sort of relics of an ancient civilization around the Endless Cape according to the murals in the temple, but he had not expected that they would find them so quickly.

The tablets in the cave reminded him of the piles of corpses depicted in the murals. If that was really a ruin of a civilization thousands of years ago, these corpses should have been reduced to ashes by now. It was not likely that people would monumentalize the defeated party. So, why were there so many tablets?

All the samples had been sent to Celine for a safety test. Considering the enemy of these dead people had used radioactive elements as a weapon, Roland had to make sure there was no safety issue.

Apart from that, he was also very curious about its discoverer. The discoverer was not a Fjords merchant or any explorer but instead a member of the so-called Society of Wondrous Crafts.

Roland remembered the killed pilot Margaret had told him.

He thus immediately instructed the garrison at the Festive Harbor to bring these two people to Neverwinter.

Roland was burning with curiosity.

As for the Giant Armored Scorpion, Roland suspected it was just a type of hybrid demonic beast, which was the exact reason it was so humongous. As the chief of all the clans, Roland did not care much about the sacrifices to Three G.o.ds. He would simply leave the scorpion to the First Army.

Just then, he heard a shuffle of footsteps, and then the office door was flung open.

"Is that the test result? Give it to me..." Roland said as he looked up, his words caught in his throat. Roland thought it was the guard who sent Celine's report, but much to his surprise but only to find a raging Tilly Wimbledon, her eyebrows slightly raised in quite a dangerous way. Apparently, she looked very unimpressed.

"Um..." The next moment, Roland knew the purpose of her visit. "I have a few new Chaos Drinks here. Do you want to try — "

"Well... His Majesty, you have used this trick on her before," Nightingale whispered into his ear.

"No!" Tilly snapped as she walked up to the mahogany desk and leaned forward threateningly, her fingers splaying across the desk. "You promised to give me a glider in half a month. Now, how long has it been since you said that?" She stood on her tiptoes and laid a stress on every syllable. "Where's my plane, brother?"