Chapter 766: A plan within a plan

"You believe the words of a devil?" Gavin turned around and comforted, "He only said things that are beneficial to him. Why didn't he say that there are many spells in this world that control souls and make people do things against their hearts? Again, before everything is investigated clearly, we should not jump to any conclusions to avoid misunderstanding good people or letting bad people go."

"Sir's fair and calm way of dealing with things is really worth learning." Janela said apologetically, "and this is not all bad news, at least the food was not all burned, and there is still some Some of it is in the hands of those grain thieves. If we can catch them, maybe we can get some back. "

"I'm afraid it's difficult." The dog demon spoke again, "I smell the scent of hobgoblins, orcs and gnolls here, but no humans. Thunder Peak is not far away."

The Golden Sheaf Monastery is located to the west of Misty Valley, closer to Thunder Peak. The back mountain where they are now is not facing the Cormanthor Forest, but Thunder Peak, which is known as the Beast Country. The snow-capped giant peak stands not far away like a majestic giant.

This monastery and the Helm of Pyrdin, a small fortress a few kilometers away, form a horn with each other, guarding the west gate of Misty Valley.

"You mean, those food thieves are monsters from Thunder Peak?" Janila said thoughtfully, "Could this be done by the Storm King of Thunder Peak?"

"Storm King?"

"In recent years, the monsters of Thunder Peak have tended to unite. From time to time, small groups of goblin troops would emerge from there, under the banner of the Storm King, asking us to pay tribute, but they were all defeated by our Misty Valley cavalry.

Not only our Misty Valley was harassed by this goblin tribe, but similar small groups of monster troops also appeared in Deep Forest Valley and High Valley.

It is said that The Storm King is a powerful and evil cloud giant warlock. He built a black fortress on Thunder Peak and is building a monster army of his own.

We once sent out scout rangers, but there were too many monsters on Thunder Peak and they were too powerful. They failed to get in, but one thing is certain, the monsters there have indeed stopped fighting each other and there are signs of unity, and on the hillside of Thunder Peak, we saw the shadow of a black fortress.

If you want to build an army, food is indispensable. "The information given by Janilla was a bit vague.

Not to mention for ordinary people, even for those extraordinary professionals, the Thunder Peak Mountains are an extremely dangerous place.

In terms of area, the Thunder Peak Mountains are not as good as the neighboring Storm Horn Mountains, but in terms of steep terrain and complex mountains, the Storm Horn Mountains can't catch up. Thunder Peak is the first peak within a radius of thousands of kilometers, and the snow here never melts all year round.

There is an older and more terrifying legend about this place. It is said that the reason why this place is covered with ice and snow all year round is because a terrifying ancient evil creature is sealed here. Once he is released, he will freeze the entire continent of Faerun.

In addition, this place is also surrounded by the Great Forest of Cormanthor, the Hurek Forest of Cormier and the Guangze Swamp. It is difficult to use large-scale troops here and completely wipe out the monster tribes here.

The only way is to let the monsters breed here. When they are far beyond the capacity of this place, they will rush out in groups and destroy them in places where humans have an advantage. This process will inevitably cost a lot of blood.

In comparison, the Misty Valley is the least attacked by these monsters, because the main peak of Thunder Peak is on their side. Even for those monsters, Thunder Peak is difficult to climb over, and drilling into the Great Forest of Cormanthor is not what they like.

In comparison, the High Valley, Bow Valley and Deep Forest Valley, which are adjacent to the relatively open and flat southern end, are better targets for invasion. Sometimes they even lock their sights on Cormier, but such fools usually die quickly.

"Whether it is or not, we will know soon." Gavin asked the dog demon, "Is their breath lock locked? Can it be tracked?"

The dog demon has an ability called infinite tracking. Once it locks someone's breath, as long as it is in the same plane, it can hold on to it and not let go. It is most suitable for this kind of mission.

"Locked." The dog demon's orange-red eyes flickered involuntarily, and it looked like it wanted to say something but hesitated.

"If you have anything to say, just say it quickly, don't hide it." Gavin has already completely understood this evil subordinate who followed him the earliest.

"This..." The dog demon hesitated, "I have a private matter, I need to discuss it with the lord, it's my personal ability that has reached a bottleneck."

"You demons have a bottleneck in your personal ability?" Gavin said in surprise, "Don't you just keep eating souls to become stronger?"

The dog demon put on a look that he would not answer this question if there were outsiders present.

Janilla took the initiative to say, "I'll look for other places to see if I can find other clues."

"Okay." Gavin did not force the dog demon to order. Although the other party looked like a monster, it was so intelligent that even many legendary wizards would admit defeat. It was more cunning than lotus roots. The personal problems were fake, and the other discoveries that were inconvenient for Janilla to know were real.

As expected, after Janilla walked away, the dog demon immediately said in a very low voice: "Lord, among these auras, I found the smell of a familiar person."

"Whose?"

"Delila."

"High priest of the immortal Nemesis?"

"That's her."

"This thing is getting more and more interesting." There was no trace of shock or anger on Gavin's face. On the contrary, the corner of his mouth was slightly pursed, revealing a hint of excitement.

Finally caught the fox by the tail again.

Now not only are the believers of the Immortal Furies obsessed with taking revenge on Gavin, Gavin is also thinking about them and stripping more valuable things from their bodies.

Although he killed the most powerful corpse spider elf last time, due to Gavin's lack of skills, the necromancer Dilila who was the instigator and his other powerful servant, the undead knight, escaped, and even his home base of Blood Horn was gone. No more, hide yourself deeper.

However, Gavin knew that they had not escaped, and were still hovering around him, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge.

Combining the information in his hands, Gavin couldn't help but come up with an extremely bold hypothesis.

Burning the granary of the Golden Wheat Sheaf Monastery and leaving his own breath here is probably a new plot laid out for himself by the treacherous High Priest of the Immortal Nemesis.

She has personally seen her own strength. Even if she borrows part of the power of the Immortal Vengeance, she cannot kill herself, let alone that she will soon successfully bring the conqueror's army to its destination. Just by herself. If she doesn't have the strength, then it's even more hopeless. She can only use external force.

There are many evil forces around her that can lend her strength, and they all conflict with Gavin, such as the Zhentarim and the merchants of Sembia.

But for Dilila, these two forces are too powerful. When they get there, it is not certain who controls whom, and they are definitely not the first choice.

After many calculations, the monsters in the Thunder Peak Mountains were her only choice. She had probably taken refuge under the so-called Storm King and actively advised him to steal the Golden Wheatsheaf Monastery. Food, because she calculated that she would have to buy a lot of food after bringing so many immigrants to the valley.

Stealing the food in advance will kill two birds with one stone.

First of all, she can use the stolen food as a ladder for her advancement and prove her worth to the Storm King.

As Janela just said, food is indispensable for any force that wants to grow and recruit countless subordinates, and monsters are no exception.

Secondly, she used this food to draw her attention to the Storm King, thereby triggering a conflict between the two parties. No matter who wins or loses, she can sit back and watch coldly, no longer like the last time. , charging on the front line.

This devil had obviously thought of this, but the dog devil understood his attitude towards him, so he did not dare to make any assumptions. Therefore, he pushed Patriarch Janella away and presented him with all the information in his hands, asking him to Come to it on your own.

It has to be said that all devils are born to be masters in understanding people's thoughts.

"Very good, you did a good job this time." Gavin fully affirmed the dog demon, "Your next task is to keep an eye on Dilila's line. It doesn't matter how much food they stole. Never mind where the food ends up.

Collect as much information as possible about that Storm King. If necessary, you can disclose some of my information to them in exchange for their trust. I don’t think I need to teach you how to do it specifically. "

Food, a daily consumable, has entered a state of consumption the moment it leaves the grain depot.

The possibility of getting them back is slim, so it is better to recover the losses in other ways.

For example, the high priest of the Immortal Nemesis, or the Storm King in the Thunder Peak Mountains.

After hearing the news about the Storm King from Janella's mouth, Gavin was not afraid, but felt a little secretly happy.

If you want a group of outsiders to integrate into the local people as quickly as possible, what could be easier than a joint resistance against foreign invasion?

Although there are evil Sembian merchants in the south, their merchant characteristics determine that they are better at intrigues and intrigues than large-scale wars.

Whether it was the young red dragon attacking the Land of Three Rivers, or the goblin frontier dark forces uniting to besiege the conqueror's army, they were hiding behind the scenes, using money to clear the way, and they themselves never came to the surface.

The invasion of the Tukan nomads attracted all the energy of these profit-seeking businessmen. They scoured the world for strategic materials and resold them on the front lines to make huge war fortunes. For the time being, they had no time to pay attention to Gavin.

It’s not that they didn’t care about Gavin, but the methods they adopted were relatively mild, such as sending envoys to the conqueror’s army to try to negotiate a peace and win over Gavin.

Gavin took a cold approach and left the Sambian envoy there without saying anything about seeing or not seeing him.

For another example, they used their influence in the valley to sow discord and spread rumors, trying to arouse the fear of the conqueror's army in Bow Valley, Taser Valley, Deep Forest Valley, Feather Valley and Plowing Valley, and create a desire to resist.

Because of the addition of more than 40,000 people, the Battle Valley has become the largest sub-valley in the entire valley, and Gavin has gained a reputation along the way, and the lord of Scar Valley, Rashan, has learned from the past.

It is false to say that the rulers of the surrounding subdivided valleys are not worried. Thanks to the past six months, Gavin has established a good reputation among ordinary people here, especially his selfless flood fighting and rescue work, which has brought his reputation to a higher level. There was no way for the valleys to unite directly and keep the conqueror's army at bay.

In short, trouble is foreseeable.

It is absolutely impossible to resort to force against other sub-valleys in the Vale. Once this is done, it will just suit the wishes of the Sambian merchants, who will label themselves as tyrants and invaders, and repeat the drama they used against Lord Lashan - the external Sambian merchants, the Dark Intelligence Network and the Kingdom of Cormier will unite, and internally instigate and manipulate the valley sub-valley alliance to strangle it in the cradle.

But if a more powerful and violent monster kingdom rises next to it, far beyond the tolerance of other sub-valleys, will they unite around themselves, a kind member of the Vale? Or seek refuge from the evil and greedy merchants of Sambia, that is self-evident.

Why do those generals who hold great power like to raise enemies?

Only when there are powerful enemies outside can they maintain the existence of the army in a legitimate way.

If all the enemies are eradicated, they will become the biggest threat to the entire kingdom and even the throne, and naturally become the target.

Although the Vale is not a kingdom, the situation is similar.

If the existence of the Storm King and his evil monster army in the Thunder Peak Mountains is confirmed, Gavin can legitimately maintain the complete structure of the Conqueror Army in the Three Rivers, ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

The dog demon couldn't help but grin, licked his nose, and said with excitement in his eyes: "Understood, I promise to find out the origin of this Storm King clearly."

As one of the earliest old people to follow Gavin, he had already figured out the other party's style of doing things.

When the other party began to lay out, it meant that the war was not far away.

And he, who was born in the Shura Field, liked the smell of war the most.

It must be said that although the other party was a human, he had the demeanor of the Shura Field Lord. There was never a lack of war around him, and his growth rate was thanks to his war.

After throwing this task to the dog demon, Gavin didn't ask any more questions. The other party was a master in this regard and had his own way of integrating into monsters. His devil identity was a plus in this matter, even if many people knew that he had been loyal to him.

Because demons will not be loyal to anyone sincerely, they are only loyal to themselves, betrayal is commonplace for them, as long as they have more benefits.

"Tell me, what do you mean by reaching a bottleneck in personal strength?"

Every word of these demons has multiple layers of meaning, including some things that seem to be excuses, but also have their own meanings.

The bottleneck of personal strength mentioned by the dog demon is such a situation.

In fact, Gavin also clearly felt that the growth of the dog demon has almost stagnated in recent times.

Dog Demon

Life: 252 (Life Dice: 19D10+152)

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Size: Huge

Attributes: Strength 24, Agility 18, Constitution 22, Intelligence 22, Perception 22, Charm 23

Spell-like abilities: Use at will - Levitation, Misdirection, Projection.

Once a day - Charm Monster, Charm Human, Anywhere Door and Extreme Fear.

Special abilities: Gnawing (there is a certain chance to eat the enemy's soul, making it impossible to revive), changing appearance (goblin or wolf), moving without a trace, keen sense of smell, damage reduction 15/+1, power burst (strength bonus), teleportation (superb intelligence bonus, once a day), unlimited tracking (superb perception bonus, after locking someone's breath, as long as they are in the same plane, you can track them at an unlimited distance), permanent charm (superb charm bonus, you can permanently charm goblin or wolf creatures and make them loyal to you, once a day), eating alive (superb physique bonus, your gnawing skills will not only work on the dead, but also on those enemies who are in a weak state. Not only is there a chance to completely eat the enemy's soul, but also restore your own vitality in proportion)

Compared to the beginning, his life dice and attributes have been greatly improved, especially the internal attributes, which have reached an astonishing level.

But there is still no way to cover up his overall weakness. Compared with those quasi-legendary humanoids with the same life dice, as long as their equipment is slightly better, he will have to flee.

Gavin had always thought that this was because there were fewer conflicts and wars around him recently, and there were not so many powerful enemies for him to eat. Now it seems that it is not that simple.

"I have reached the growth limit of the dog demon. It is difficult for me to grow by eating. Even if the life dice are increased, it will not bring more enhancement and ability." The dog demon answered truthfully.

Gavin said thoughtfully: "I am afraid that this situation is not unique to you, right? All devils and demons have this characteristic, right?"

This is not difficult to understand. Everything in the world has a growth limit.

Mundane things have it, and those devil angels are no exception, including those extremely powerful giants and dragons.

It's just that their growth limit is much higher than that of mundane things. Many can grow all the way to extraordinary, and some can grow all the way to legendary. The former is called extraordinary species, and the latter is legendary species.

Dog demons are pseudo-legendary species. They are still one step away from legends, and they have reached their limit.

Gavin asked, "How did you break through this growth limit?"