Governor Goya firmly denied that the golden cross was worn by Catherine. Although he recognized it at a glance, Governor Goya immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.
Originally, he was immersed in the grief of losing his daughter, but the appearance of the golden cross made him immediately realize that Catherine was not dead. The joy rolled in his eyes for a second, and he immediately suppressed it.
The problem is serious.
"Governor Goya, my future father-in-law, what are you hiding from me? Do you know how I felt after discovering this cross? This is a conspiracy, this is a betrayal! A shameful betrayal! Oh, I almost
Forget, this is who you are. You can betray anyone, this is what you are good at." Alfonso sneered and mocked Governor Goya mercilessly.
Goya shouted: "Alfonso, don't say that about me. I didn't betray anyone. Even if this cross belongs to Catherine, so what? That can only make me more sad. There is no body left of her, only this
Something, my poor daughter."
Alfonso did not intend to go around in circles with Goya. He sneered: "Come on, your poor daughter took advantage of the opportunity to visit Almeida and saved him and escaped. Governor Goya, if you don't know, then I can forgive you.
You. As long as you find them with me. But if this is a conspiracy arranged by you,
I think you know the consequences. I would rather you tell me the truth honestly than play tricks on me. Do you know how I feel now? I feel like I want to kill a few people to vent my anger.
I will not tolerate someone playing such tricks on me under Alfonso's nose."
It took Goya a long time to explain to make Alfonso believe that this incident was not his doing or his instigation. Then there was only one possibility. Catherine took advantage of him and made this amazing action. Although at present
It is not confirmed that she rescued Almeida from the dungeon, but it is certain that she did it deliberately.
"Mr. Alfonso, Catherine is young. I believe this is not something she can do. She does not have the courage and means. I suspect that someone sneaked in, held her hostage, and forced her to do this. In any case,
, what needs to be done now is to find them, and I am willing to assist you in searching for them. My followers will be at your command at any time." Goya said.
Alfonso sneered. This old fox was still trying to excuse her daughter at this time. She thought she was a fool and an idiot who could be deceived. With Catherine's character, how could she be coerced unless she joined voluntarily?
She must have taken the initiative and actively participated in the planning.
But one thing is certain, and that is that this matter is definitely not the fault of Catherine alone. If nothing else, Almeida is half-dead, and it is not an easy thing to get rid of him. The problem should be
The entourage and coachman who followed Catherine in may even be Captain Kaka and the others. Who knows? In short, it is not something that Catherine can do alone.
Moreover, they must have made a detailed plan. After they succeeded, they wanted to risk evacuating from the military port. They rescued the people without anyone noticing, creating the illusion that everyone was buried in the sea of fire. But unfortunately, there were too many flaws in it.
Let people see through it.
The other party's responding ship was discovered by the soldiers on the lighthouse, and the fleet warships on alert immediately dispatched to drive them away. Although they did not chase them too far because they were worried that it was a trap, this move should have disrupted their plan.
Then, nine times out of ten, they will be hiding in the woods on the hillside, or somewhere nearby.
A large-scale search operation began at noon. Alfonso mobilized hundreds of his men, together with dozens of personal knights from Governor Goya's bodyguard, and began a dragnet-style search.
In view of the large area of the hillside above the entire port and the complex and steep terrain, we had to adopt a strategy of segmented containment and group search. To put it simply, the large forest was divided into small pieces, and the soldiers walked through
Surround it, and then send out a small team to conduct a blanket search of the surrounded area. Every gap in the vegetation, rocks, and even the top of the tree crowns will be spared.
After the search of one area is completed, move to the next area. Finally, the search of the entire area is completed.
In addition, cavalry patrols and alerts are maintained at various intersections and river gates in the Western District to prevent them from trying to rush out. On the sea, more than a dozen warships were dispatched to patrol the entire area.
The people on the warships observed the hillsides at sea through telescopes. If they found any suspicious signs, they reported them immediately.
This arrangement can be said to be like a dragnet, completely blocking all escape spaces. Unless Catherine and the others turn into birds and fly away in the breeze or disappear, or they are not in the forest at all and have already escaped. But as long as they are on the hillside and woodland,
There is absolutely no escape.
Alfonso firmly believed in his judgment, and even had a premonition. The cross fell in the direction of the hillside. Catherine and the others must be hiding in the woods.
Alfonso personally led dozens of soldiers, Governor Goya and several of his retinues to form a search team and personally participated in the search. His search direction was from the location where the cross fell, through the wall to the south of the hillside
.He believed there should be some clues to follow.
Sure enough, when the search went into the afternoon, Alfonso and others found a piece of white lace rag hanging on the thorns in the forest on the hillside. The fabric was a very high-grade silk and satin, and it was obvious that he had an identity.
There were fragments of the dress worn by the woman. At this moment, Alfonso became energetic. That meant that the person was in this area.
By late afternoon, the encirclement had further narrowed. Then news came that many suspicious traces had been found near a cliff halfway up the mountain.
Alfonso and his men quickly went to the location pointed out by a group of Franco soldiers. They saw broken coconut leaves, large scattered leaves, and many traces of trampling on the ground next to the small water pool next to the cliff.
.
"Hahaha, they stayed here not long ago. Look, someone has stayed here. There is gauze here and medicine on it. It was for Almeida's treatment. Well, they were in the recess of the cliff.
I've been hiding, and there are still traces of someone lying down here. Hey, let's see where you are going to escape? The person must be nearby, search for me!"
Alfonso laughed proudly and ordered everyone to gather together and conduct a blanket search near the cliff.
Governor Goya frowned and remained silent. He was very conflicted in his heart. Everything has become a fact. Catherine and the others are nearby, and they may not be able to escape. If Catherine is caught, I don’t know how Alfonso will torture her.
She, Catherine, was involved in this matter, and Alfonso also took advantage of her. From now on, I am afraid that I will be firmly in Alfonso's hands.
Although Governor Goya was angry at what Catherine had done, at this moment he actually hoped that Catherine and the others would not be caught. One was for his own sake, and the other was because he was worried that Catherine might be tortured by Alfonso if caught.
He had no way to save her at that time and could only let her be killed by Alfonso.
Although Goya is a profit-driven and treacherous person, Catherine is his daughter after all. He actually still loves Catherine. After all, father and daughter have been dependent on each other since childhood. These emotions cannot be erased.
The soldiers searched all around the cliff, but could not find anyone hiding. So the only thing left was the top of the cliff.
This cliff is the protruding part of the steep hillside. Although it is not high, it is as steep as a knife and an axe. The rugged rocks stick out of the hillside like a screen, and the gaps in the rocks are filled with dense thorns and miscellaneous trees.
To describe it as airtight.
The cliff is only a hundred paces long and less than ten feet wide. Even if the trees are dense and thorny, if one hides on it, it will be a dead end.
"People are stuck on the cliff, unless they grow wings and fly away. The musketeers look for vantage points to take aim, Lieutenant Kane. Take your men and search forward along the cliff." Alfonso shouted loudly.
Lieutenant Kane and more than 20 soldiers began to climb up from the low end of the cliff, and soon arrived at the northern end of the cliff. They carried muskets and Western swords and filled the gap between the rocks and trees.
groping forward and searching all the way.
Not long after, they had searched more than halfway and arrived at the middle of the cliff. Suddenly, they heard a loud bang, black smoke rose from the cliff, and rocks and debris flew. Accompanied by loud wailing and screams, several people
A French soldier fell from the cliff and died immediately. Some of the remaining dozen were injured and screamed loudly. Seeing that the situation was not good, Lieutenant Kane immediately led them back rolling and crawling.
.
Alfonso was shocked that the other party actually had such a firearm. It was obviously a kind of explosive thrown by the military. It was also found in the French army. This meant that the other party was extremely dangerous, and Catherine was definitely not alone.
"Damn it, damn it. Shoot me. Shoot randomly." Alfonso yelled and cursed.
Hundreds of musketeers began to fire into the rocks and thorns above the cliff. For a moment, the vegetation broke off, smoke and dust flew from the rocks, debris flew, and fire exploded.
But this kind of shooting is actually not very effective. After all, shooting without sight of the target is just to intimidate the opponent, vent anger, and try your luck.
After firing several rounds randomly, Alfonso ordered the gunmen to stop. The forest and thorns in front of the cliff were quiet, and nothing happened.
"Continue searching." Alfonso ordered.
All the French soldiers looked at each other and did not dare to come forward. Lieutenant Kane even hid far away. But after all, there are brave men, and this is the time to show off. Still, more than a dozen people began to crawl along the stone wall slowly.
Search forward.
When they arrived at the location where they were attacked last time, the same scene happened again. A smoking golden melon thunder was thrown at their feet. Amidst the roar, all the soldiers screamed and fled back, leaving behind
A dead body and four injured people. The injured crawled back wailing, and were dragged back by force.
Alfonso was so angry that his eyes almost popped out of his head. But this time he saw the position where the grenade was thrown, just behind a dense thorns at the front of the cliff.
This time Alfonso raised his musket and personally participated in the random shooting. He beat the thorns to pieces and exposed the exposed boulder behind them before stopping the fire. Because the rock was a huge barrier, and people could not hide.
There was nothing behind that rock. No matter how many shots were fired, it was useless.
Alfonso frowned angrily and thought about countermeasures. The opponent was huddled in such a position with firearms and explosives in his hands. If he attacked forcefully with manpower, he would probably cause a lot of casualties. It was obviously unwise to do so. But if he could not be caught quickly
It's hard to let go of the hatred in my heart even when I see them.
Alfonso turned his head and saw Governor Goya standing far away under the tree. He was frowning and looking at the top of the cliff with concern. He seemed extremely worried about Catherine's situation.
Alfonso sneered, walked over slowly, and suddenly grabbed Governor Goya by the collar. He had a sharp dagger in his hand and pointed it at Governor Goya's neck.
Goya was startled and shouted: "What are you doing?"
Alfonso did not answer, and dragged Governor Goya to the open space next to the waterhole on the side of the cliff. He shouted loudly: "Catherine, your father is in my hands, why don't you come out and surrender quickly? If you can't hide anymore,
I then killed Governor Goya. He is your father, can you bear to have him die here?"