Chapter 597: Trick

Mikros listened carefully to every word the other party said, and engraved it in his heart. Dealing with monster forces requires huge risks, because their styles of doing things are diverse, and there is no moral restraint. It is not too common to go back on one's word.

What is more troublesome than dealing with monster forces is the monster forces ruled by a dragon, an evil colorful dragon. Most of them have a personality similar to that of the dragon, greedy, perverse and powerful, and also have various taboos. If you can avoid these, the success rate will naturally increase significantly.

"Thank you for your help, General. We in Sambia remember your kindness. This is a little thought from our Selkirk family. With this token, you can withdraw 100,000 cash in any chamber of commerce in Sambia." Mikros stuffed a palm-sized metal token to Goster. There was a hidden magic aura on it, and it obviously had the mage mark of a powerful mage to prevent counterfeiting.

"This little gadget is convenient. It can be used just in case. I won't be polite." Goster did not refuse this time and directly stuffed the metal token into his waist bag.

This kind of metal token is not only available to merchants in Sembia, but also to the Zhentarim Chamber of Commerce. It is completely based on their huge economic foundation and business network. However, there are not many of them. After all, every time they are used, it is a huge burden on the liquidity of the local area of ​​the Chamber of Commerce. Only those who have made great contributions to Sembia or Zhentarim can obtain it.

Even for Goster, he had only seen it before, but never had the opportunity to get it.

If 100,000 cash was thrown in front of him, Goster might not even blink, but if it was this kind of cash exchange order, he would collect it as a treasure.

"Time waits for no one. If there is nothing else, I will go first." Mikros took the initiative to resign. The Conqueror Army has entered the Goblin Border. According to their marching speed, it will not take more than three days to reach the vicinity of Thun Swamp. His time is very tight.

"Then I wish you will not become a snack for the Lizard Queen." Goster's blessing was full of black humor.

"Thank you." Mikros did not even return to the Dark Castle. He turned the teleportation ring on his hand and disappeared in a magical aura.

He came to the Dark Castle to scout ahead. If everything went well, the gifts and support from Sambia would have just arrived. There was no need for this now.

Before the magic aura transmitted by Miklos dissipated, the magic aura transmitted by him flickered. A handsome middle-aged man in an old-fashioned black wizard robe appeared beside Goster. Who else could it be but Manmon, the chairman of the Dark Castle.

"Lord of the Castle." Goster was not surprised at all. He bowed and saluted, and respectfully presented the cash exchange order that Miklos had just stuffed into him, saying, "This is his bribe."

"You keep it. This is the prize for this mission." Simonmon waved his hand and said, "Have you explained everything you should have told him? Nothing was left out, right?"

Just as Miklos speculated, this was a play for him from beginning to end, including Simonmon's previous walk away. If not, how could Goster create an opportunity to talk to him?

To be more precise, the game had already begun when Miklos arrived at the Dark Castle and Goster secretly contacted him, with the purpose of leading him to the Lizard Queen of the Thun Swamp.

"Thank you, Lord Enshang, Lord. Please rest assured, we are doing it completely according to your instructions." Goster looked extremely respectful, without any sign of his previous dissatisfaction with Ximanmeng, let alone his previous ambitious look. As for whether that side of him was a disguise or a true performance, only he knew.

"Very good." Ximanmeng nodded with satisfaction, and finally a smile appeared on his handsome face, but it was only a flash. "You must immediately organize the army. Our Dark Castle garrison should not move a single soldier. Gather all the monster tribes under our control to form a monster army."

"This..." Goster couldn't help but raise a question, "Lord Castle, the combat effectiveness of these monster armies is not weak for ordinary people, but for the conqueror army, I'm afraid it will be difficult to exert the due combat effectiveness. I heard that they are very good at using trucks to form a car camp and fight a defensive counterattack, and attacking has always been the weakness of these monster armies."

As the agent of the Dark Intelligence Network in the West, the radiation influence of the Dark Castle is far greater than ordinary people imagine.

They are not just looking down at the Sunset Mountains and the Gray Watcher Mountains. After hundreds of years of operation, their tentacles have already reached the surrounding major cities, including the major cities in the Dragon Coast. How many of those dark forces are supported by their dark intelligence network, and how many have secretly joined the dark intelligence network, only Ximanmeng himself knows, even Mansong is not clear, because this is a small network operated by Ximanmeng himself. This is not a betrayal, but a normal product of the pyramid development model of the Zhentarim. Those capable senior officials are outside the big network and have their own small networks. The two promote each other, influence each other, and are closely entangled.

The dark forces on the Dragon Coast united at an unprecedented speed. On the surface, it was led by Simon's Dark Night Mask, but in private, it was the Dark Castle that fueled the flames in order to drive the Conqueror Army out of there and affect their development layout there.

Therefore, the Dark Castle knows all the information about the Conqueror's army that the dark forces on the Dragon Coast have, and they also know all the information they don't know, including the speculation that Mikros said before, Ximanmeng is Half a month ago, when the conqueror army reached the Giant Plains, they had already come out.

Even the plan agreed upon by the Sambian Businessmen's Council had been sent to Ximanmeng's desk before it could even be implemented.

There is a reason why the Zhentarim are called the Dark Intelligence Network. Their intelligence is second to none in Faerûn, and no one dares to say it is first.

Mikros tried to convince Ximanmeng with speculation and intelligence. It was just a matter of course, and it was natural for him to be tricked by them.

The troll kingdom on the Giant Plains has proved with its own failure that the monster tribe alone cannot defeat the conqueror army.

Let’s not talk about whether the monster army they organized in the Goblin Frontier will be as powerful as the Troll Kingdom. The army of conquerors is no longer the army on the Giant Plains. Their manpower, material resources, and financial resources are in the giant dragon. The coast has at least doubled in size.

To defeat such an enemy, one must have an absolute numerical advantage, such as hundreds of thousands of monsters.

If he is given a few months, Gost is confident that he can do this with the development and operation of the Dark Castle over the years. Now he only has a few days to organize a monster army with the same number as the conqueror's army. Remarkable.

"Who said we would be enemies with the army of conquerors?" The person who answered Gost was not Ximenmeng, but a cold female voice. A graceful figure walked out of Ximenmeng's shadow. This was a bloodline A pure moon elf with a beautiful appearance, she was wearing the same black mage robe as Xi Manmeng, but she was forced to wear it like an evening dress. Her graceful back was completely exposed, and a precious light shone. The wide outer girdle not only perfectly showed off her slender waist, but also made her breasts appear unusually tall and straight. What she showed in her movements was not the leisure and coolness unique to elves, but that of a human noblewoman. That kind of confident elegance.

"I have met Madam." Gost bowed quickly and saluted, "This subordinate is stupid, please Madam, please clarify."

Only people like Miklos who don't know the internal operating mode of Dark Castle would regard Gost as the second-in-command of Dark Castle. Insiders all know that the lady in front of them is the real number two of Dark Castle. This person's name Her name is Ashmi, who is nominally Ximanmeng’s student. In fact, she also works part-time as his mistress and dark assistant.

Many tasks that were not suitable for Xi Manmeng to take part in person were handled by this person, and he won Xi Manmeng's favor.

"The size of the conqueror's army is too large now. Even if we intervene, the possibility of completely defeating it is less than 30%. On the contrary, all our years of operation will be involved." Ashmi's eyes were focused on The flickering light is very similar to Ximanmeng's. It is the light of scheming and cunning. "Since there is no way to fight against it, we must make full use of their strength to seek benefits for us. Kurgor and her royal court, It has a great impact on our layout in the Goblin Frontier."

"My lord, you want to take this opportunity to completely eradicate the Lizard Queen's court!" Gost suddenly realized that he was not really stupid just because he didn't react for a moment.

"This is the preliminary plan." Ashmi continued with a look that said you are not yet stupid, "This will depend on how the situation develops. We will be like the king of war and always stand on the side of the winner. aside."

The implication is obvious, if the fat dragon gains a war advantage, they will join the war as allies, jointly attack the conqueror's army, and leave it in the goblin frontier forever.

If the lizard queen's army is defeated, it will be a perfect opportunity for them to slay the dragon. If she is slaughtered by the conqueror's army, things will be even simpler. They can just take over her territory directly. .

"The strategy of the castle master and his wife is really beyond my comparison." Gost exclaimed sincerely, "This is indeed the wisest choice, but if the Lizard Queen is really defeated by the conqueror's army, just rely on I’m afraid those ordinary monster armies won’t be able to penetrate deep into the Thun Swamp.”

Those who have never been to a swamp in person can never imagine the dangers lurking here. On the one hand, this danger comes from the unique environment here. The bottomless duckweed mire is just the most well-known one. Many people see it. There is no danger in the area. Once you walk in, you can never come out. It soon becomes a new corpse there. Those who are not residents of the swamp don't even know why they died. There are many reasons, including It may be suffocation by swamp gas, or it may be plague virus. All swamps are natural places for breeding new viruses.

As for the predators lurking in the swamp, there are so many of them, only a few are known to them, and most of them never know who their enemies are until they die, because they tend to lurk in the water or mud. Even the mosquitoes here Flies are more ferocious than those in ordinary areas. When they rush towards a creature in a swarm, the creature is basically not far away from turning into a corpse that has been drained of blood.

"The Lord of the Castle has thought of this a long time ago." Ashmi gave Ximanmeng an admiring look and said, "I just came back from the distant sea swamps and reached a strategic cooperation agreement with the hag gathering there. Once the Lizard Queen Royal Court If they collapse, they will send their own army to assist us and help us seize ownership of Thun Swamp."

There are two large swamps in the Goblin Border Wasteland, which are out-and-out sister relationships, because they come from the same source, both are formed by the mountains surrounding this place and rich underground water, and both are run through by the River Border Wasteland, connecting the two. be linked together.

Originally, the area of ​​the Distant Sea Swamp was much larger than that of the Thun Swamp. However, due to the erosion from the Enook Desert from the north, its area has shrunk by two-thirds from its peak. Now it is only one-half of the Thun Swamp. Once arrived.

Although the two are less than a hundred kilometers apart, they each belong to each other, and their relationship is very tense.

The Lizard Queen has been trying to bring the distant sea swamps into her rule. It is said that she is looking for a powerful magic to sink the land between the two and connect the two swamps.

But in the swamps of the Far Sea, there is a legendary gathering of hags. Their existence is said to be even longer than the formation of the Thun Swamp. They have absolute control here, which makes the Lizard Queen, who has always been high-profile and domineering, only dare to hatch conspiracies, but has no real plans. put into practical action.

Only when three hags of different races gather together can it be called an assembly. In view of the treacherous, selfish and manipulative nature of hags, only hags of equal strength can form an assembly. Otherwise, it is unilateral control and manipulation, which should be called a gathering. It is a hag queen, not a hag assembly. The legendary hag assembly means that it is composed of at least three quasi-legendary hags - the hag assembly is not just a name, but can gather the power of hags to form a more powerful force. The quasi-legendary hags together have a power comparable to that of a legend.

As for the gathering of three legendary hags who are all legendary hags, it is not that there is no such thing in this world, but it cannot be accommodated by a distant sea swamp. Even if they do not expand their influence beyond the goblin frontier, they cannot allow an old man to do so. The black dragon established herself as queen in the Thun Swamp and has long since brought this place under her rule.

"A gathering of hags in the Far Sea Swamp?" Gaust seemed to recall some bad memories, his cheeks twitched involuntarily and said, "All hags are evil and cruel bastards, every word they say, every word Promises carry deadly poison. Once you believe their promises, you are not far from destruction. "

Hags are a name for skinny women who look like human beings. In fact, they are not. They are actually the same type of elves as eladrin. They originated from the Fairy Wilderness, but they represent the evil side of the Fairy Wilderness. However, they are in the material plane. The number of them has far exceeded that of the Fairy Wilderness, especially the swamp, which is their favorite living environment. Not simply because this high-risk environment can provide them with shelter and make them less susceptible to the attacks of good forces.

It is also related to their filthy nature. They are naturally fond of things related to death. All kinds of bones, minced meat and filthy objects are their favorites, including the mud in the swamp. Typically, they regard ugliness as beauty, so they have a deep love for the secular world. The beauties in the witches have inner disgust, so they always help other creatures to destroy or change their beautiful appearance. However, many hags often pretend to be beauty masters, advertising that they can help people in the world stay beautiful for a long time, and attract those stupid beautiful women. If they take the initiative to come to their door, they will soon find that their goal has indeed been achieved, but this kind of beauty is not judged by her standards, but by the ghost woman's - which means that they will bear the ugliness. Amazing face, live forever.

This is just one of their evil deeds, and there are countless worse ones.

"We don't need to believe in the promises of these hags, we just need to believe in their ambitions." Ximanmeng revealed his intentions a little, "The most troublesome thing about these swamp forces is not how powerful they are, but how powerful they are. It is they who hide in the swamp and refuse to come out. This is the case with the Lizard Queen in the Thun Swamp, and the same is true with the gathering of hags in the Distant Sea Swamp. As long as there is enough profit to attract them from the swamp, we will have the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on them. When their After their power is greatly damaged and their control over the swamp is greatly reduced, we will have the opportunity to recruit our own swamp forces, and then slowly encroach on them and bring them under our rule."

Damn it!

The emotional connection between the hags in the Far Sea Swamp is fake, but it is true that they were deceived from the Far Sea Swamp in the name of plotting the Lizard Queen's inheritance.

And the monster tribe he prepared will attack these hags when the time comes.

This conspiracy is simply one link after another. No, this is a network of conspiracy. This network will not fall into the trap of the lizard queen, the army of conquerors, the gathering of sea hags, and the sniper plan of the Sambian merchants. Pocket in.

Not all of them need to be successful, even if one or two are successful, it will greatly expand the Dark Castle's influence here.

The most important thing is that their Dark Castle has always stood on the side of the God of War. No matter how the forces in this web of conspiracy fight for life or death, they will only succeed and not fail. It is nothing more than a matter of success. .