Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 768 - 60 Intelligence_2

Chapter 768: Chapter 60 Intelligence_2 Chapter 768: Chapter 60 Intelligence_2 “`

Logically speaking… if you’re blocking me downstream, can’t I just go upstream to raid?

But the Terdon nobles can’t bypass; they can make small detours, but they can’t maneuver over hundreds of kilometers.

It’s not because they’re stubborn, inflexible, or reluctant to take a detour—in fact, they’re dying to.

Take Tie Chi for example.

When he heard others had entered the Newly Reclaimed Land and made a fortune, and then saw his own livestock growing thinner by the day, Tie Chi’s heart ached as if it were being seared on a red-hot iron plate.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

But Tie Chi could not leave due to the military orders of the fire starters; he had to stay here.

The marching routes of the Terdon people are not merely about “how to walk,” they’re also a means of allocating interests.

...

If Tie Chi were to raid elsewhere, it would be like milking someone else’s sheep.

Only the fire starters, who decided on the marching routes, also have the authority to change them.

Whatever the Kotachiefs decideis as solid as gold; for matters beyond the Kotachiefs’ decision, any attempt to overstep would incur the severest punishment—the alpha wolf would not allow any member of the pack to challenge his authority, not even his own uncle.

The Terdon nobles in the great tent waited eagerly, desperately, for three days, until they finally saw the fire starters.

Everyone was waiting for the fire starters to speak so they could quickly leave behind this tough nut to crack and gorge themselves somewhere easier to bite.

When the fire starters finally spoke, his first sentence was a question: “Is Taltai alive or dead, do any of you know?”

No one knew.

A Kotachief informed the fire starter: “Among the living, there’s none; the dead… the bipeds took all the corpses away.”

“The people of Taltai that you sheltered, give them to me,” the fire starter said roughly. “I have questions for them.”

And no one objected, after all, there were hardly any survivors from the Taltai Division.

“What about Taltai’s horses and goods?” asked a Kotachief.

“Keep those for yourselves.”

Seeing it was only about handing a few people over, there was even less opposition.

The great tent quieted down once again; everyone was waiting for the fire starter to speak, to talk about something more critical.

The fire starter mused aloud, “You and I…”

“Great Khan!” an urgent shout from an arrow tube soldier outside interrupted the fire starter; a military council was in session inside, and the arrow tube soldier did not dare to enter: “The opposite bank has sent a messenger!”

“What?” The fire starter rose abruptly, and in three strides he reached the tent entrance, kicking open the tent curtain: “Where?”

The tent also erupted into chaos, with the Kotachiefs standing up one after another, whispering and inquiring among themselves.

“Silence!” the fire starter bellowed.

The tent suddenly fell silent.

Then they removed the felt covering, opened the skylight, and the tent became instantly bright. The fire starter returned to his seat, while the Kotachiefs sat on either side, and everything was restored to its original state.

The messenger was brought forward.

As soon as he entered the great tent, the messenger fell to his knees, almost burying his face in the carpet.

The fire starter said nothing. The old Translator understood and asked in the common language: “Who are you?”

The messenger spoke, but in Hurd’s tongue, and his voice was so faint it was almost indiscernible.

The Terdon nobles exchanged glances, and ultimately it was Tie Chi who couldn’t contain his temper: “You gelded horse! Speak up!”

“Taltai’s headman! I am Taltai headman’s servant!”

Servant, that means slave. A servant of the house meant a favored and trusted slave.

The fiestarter’s face darkened.

“Taltai?” the old Translator squinted his eyes, asking on behalf of the fire starter: “Is Taltai alive or dead?”

“No no no… I do not know.”

“How did he cross the river?” the old Translator asked the arrow tube soldier escorting the messenger.

“On a raft.”

“Just him alone.”

“Yes.”

Impatient, Tie Chi slammed the table and demanded from the messenger: “What do the bipeds want you to do?”

The messenger, trembling on the ground, answered shakily: “To deliver a message.”

“What message? Speak!”

The messenger’s adam’s apple bobbed, afraid to speak.

“Speak!!!”

With a quavering voice laced with a sob, the messenger stammered out a shout: “The chief from the opposite bank… Major Ronald wants to invite the Great Khan to cross the river and fight him… he guarantees he will not obstruct the Great Khan’s crossing…”

…

While the Terdon Tribe was holding a military meeting on one side, Winters was conducting one in the Niutigu Valley as well.

Compared with the Terdon Tribe, Winters’s meeting was small in scale, consisting of five company commanders plus himself, a total of six people.

“I’ve found a prisoner to send a message to the monkey-faced bastards across the river,” Winters announced with a smile: “In Major Ronald’s name, I’ve invited the monkey-faced chieftain to cross the river and have a decisive battle with me.”

Tamas, Bart Xialing, and other company commanders were first shocked, then utterly baffled.

Swallowing hard, Bart Xialing asked, “But… will the Barbarian Chief agree?”

“I don’t know,” Winters said as he unfolded a map on the table. “Anyway, I’ve promised the monkey-faced chieftain that I won’t intercept him while he’s crossing the river.”

“Ah?” Tamas exclaimed in surprise: “But what if the barbarian actually crosses the river?”

“Of course, we’ll strike the foe mid-crossing!” Winters replied as a matter of course.

First, there was silence in the small room, which was soon followed by a burst of laughter.

“Are you trying to enrage the barbarian chieftain?” Sämukhin asked, blinking.

“If that’s enough to enrage the monkey-faced chieftain, it shows he hasn’t made much progress,” Winters said, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth: “I want to see his reaction.”

“And if the Barbarian Chief doesn’t respond?”

“No response is a response in itself.”