Thales stared blankly at Lumba's half-unsheathed sword.
This is not the first time he has been in danger.
According to Thales's understanding of the world, I'm afraid it won't be the last time.
But he really didn't know what he could do when he was in the same carriage with the murderous Grand Duke of Lombard and there were countless soldiers outside the carriage.
Use the so-called magic power again?
Thales stretched out his hand and squeezed Little Slippery's hand.
"You are Nun's granddaughter, little girl." Lumba turned his sword blade over and said calmly.
The two of them froze slightly.
Thales' palms were cold and he didn't know how to react.
He found it.
Grand Duke Heisha looked at the old sword in his hand steadily, his eyes full of strange emotions.
"When Nunn went out to fight the disaster, he took you and her with him, the two most important bargaining chips. This move really exceeded my expectations." Lumba said to himself.
The little slipper was so frightened that he couldn't even speak.
Thales took a deep breath.
What should he do?
No.
Since it's the end.
He needs to at least figure something out.
Thales slowly raised his head and looked directly into Lumba's eyes: "I think your actions probably exceeded Nunn's expectations."
"killer."
"Whoa!"
There was a crisp sound of metal friction.
The little slipper's head shook slightly, and Thales was also startled.
Lumba turned his head, and the sword blade in his hand had returned to the scabbard.
"Don't you understand yet? Whether it's Nunn's death or the current chaos, Archduke Ba's eyes were very complicated, but Thales couldn't read much emotion in them. He only heard the Grand Duke say: "All of this is...
You brought it."
"Me?" Thales raised his eyes in shock.
Rumba's expression fluctuated on the bumpy carriage, changing in light and dark as the light changed.
"If everything goes smoothly and develops according to the plan of Aaron De and I," the Grand Duke said calmly, "then both stars and dragons will be reborn."
"Until you ruin everything."
Lumba's eyes became sharp and cold, pointing directly at Thales.
"In the stars, you turned Arlend, who was destined to be the king, into a prisoner. In the Broken Dragon Fortress, you blocked my last escape route. In Exeter, you used Nunn's anger to drive the Black Sand Territory to destruction.
On the edge," the words of the Black Sand Duke became extremely cold, making Thales shudder: "It was you who forced me to choose the most drastic method."
Thales gritted his teeth.
"A coward's excuse," the prince tried his best not to look at the old scabbard that was polished and polished, and said without taking a step back: "Why don't you ask yourselves why you want to assassinate Prince Morar restlessly and covet the throne?
Woolen cloth?"
"Even after the plan failed, you didn't have no other options, but you chose the most extreme one."
Thales gave Lumba a cold look:
"The regicide archduke."
Lumba stared at him motionless, and then gave a rare sneer.
"When I was your age," Lumba's lips tilted slightly to one side, his eyes shining: "My mother took Harold and me back to Longxiao City. At the city gate, I watched a prisoner being executed with my own eyes.
.”
"The moment before the execution, grandpa's warrant came: he wanted to pardon the prisoner."
Thales frowned and glanced outside the carriage with his peripheral vision.
No.
Still no chance.
"As a result," Lombard continued: "The executioner chopped off the prisoner's head with an ax before the warrant was read out and before the king's order took effect."
Little Huitou was still very frightened, but as she listened to Lumba's story, she unconsciously showed a listening look.
"The executioner was a strong warrior, his techniques were clean and neat, without any delay. I still remember the head raised high and the blood spilled, as well as the scene of him taking the king's order without hesitation with his bloody hands.
.”
The Grand Duke paused, lowered his head, and lowered his gaze to the sword in his hand.
"In the carriage, Harold kept comforting me who was so frightened that I cried." Lombard seemed to be in a daze, and he said silently: "That was the first time I understood what death is and what killing is."
He raised his head and turned towards Thales.
However, this time, Lumba's eyes did not turn to Thales.
Instead, he threw it behind him.
Turn to the little girl.
Thales' heart tightened, and he couldn't help but squeeze Little Slippery's hand.
"Later, mother told us that the executioner was her brother, our uncle, Prince Noon Walton."
Lumba said expressionlessly, staring at the little slipper with a pair of sharp eyes:
"Nun Walton VII, your grandfather, my uncle was born to be a killer, ruthless, tough and stubborn, unable to tolerate weakness and hesitation, especially after his coronation."
The little slipper just stared at Lumba blankly, not daring to say anything.
"He has always liked to be simple and rude, and to deal with his enemies vigorously and resolutely." Lombard said calmly.
Thales' eyes moved.
The scene of King Nun killing Perfit, poisoning Alex, and exiling Michael without any delay in the Hall of Heroes is still vivid in my mind.
But what impressed him most was when the old king took out the 'Triumph' and put it into the hands of the little slippery man.
"He did this to the Glacier Orcs, to White Mountain, to the Freedom Alliance, and to the Kingdom of Stars. And now," Lumba looked out the window again, with a heavy tone that Thales could feel: "He did this to Black
The same goes for Sand Collar.”
"The only solution to facing him," Lumba put his fingers on the scabbard slightly harder, and his words suddenly turned cold: "is to be faster than him, and destroy him first before he destroys me."
At the same time, Thales sighed.
"I understand," the prince suddenly said, his words full of exhaustion and hollowness: "Start from the fortress."
Lumba looked at him and raised his eyebrows slightly: "What?"
"Your conspiracy," Thales leaned on the carriage, feeling a little depressed: "It started when I was assassinated in front of the fortress and then entered your military camp, right?"
"You knew very well at that time that if you failed to capture the Broken Dragon Fortress, what awaited you would be King Nun's terrifying and violent revenge."
Thales raised his head, met Lumba's eyes, and said with certainty: "From that time on, you made up your mind to completely destroy Nunn - before he destroys you."
Lumba's eye sockets narrowed slightly.
It seems a bit unexpected.
"Tell me about your plan," Thales raised his eyebrows and exhaled through his nose, "It must be boring to complete an unprecedented feat with all your heart, but no one to talk to."
"Tell me, how did you accomplish all this?"
Lumba's eyes still stayed on him, motionless.
The carriage turned a corner, and the inertia caused the prince and the little slipper to tilt slightly.
Thales decided to take the initiative and let him lead the conversation.
Just like those dreams in previous lives, countless field surveys and interviews.
"So you proposed to form an alliance with me in the camp," the prince said calmly: "Actually, you don't have good intentions? Maybe you want to arrange something through me?"
For example, it would be more convenient to blame King Nun's death on him - just as Rumba is doing now.
Thales thought of the days in the Black Sand Military Camp.
An ally's stab in the back is always more effective than an enemy's in-your-face attack.
He thought of Serena Corleone.
The femme fatale who taught him to be wary of his allies.
Finally, Lumba snorted lightly.
"No, I really wanted to reconcile with you at that time, and I even thought about sharing my plan with you." The Grand Duke shook his head and his tone turned cold: "It's a pity."
Thales' brain started to spin.
He has identified the beginning of this conspiracy.
so……
"Perfit," Thales said with a look in his eyes, "When you were investigating your magic gun unit and my assassination, you claimed to have found the Sword of Disaster, but this news was known to King Nun."
"Now it seems that this is information you deliberately leaked to King Nunn, right? You know that King Nunn will first deal with this enemy who is very close at hand." Thales thought of the thrilling duel in the Palace of Heroes: "Perfitt
, he was actually betrayed to Longxiao City by you."
Lumba snorted coldly.
"Kaslan," he said calmly amidst the sound of the carriage wheels scraping the floor: "My uncle used to be in the Tower of the End. He was very interested in the Sword of Disaster. At the same time, he also had a good relationship with Nunn -
—So I revealed the information to him, and Nunn would naturally know it from him."
You can also accomplish some other things at the same time.
"Kaslan doesn't know about your plan to kill the king, does he?"
Thales looked at him quietly, trying to find something out of Lumba's eyes: "I heard that his relationship with you is very bad."
Lombard glanced at him curiously.
Thales had no choice but to withdraw his observation gaze.
I saw Lumba slowly shaking his head: "I knew when you were assassinated that this was Perfitt who was framing me. That selfish and cowardly guy naively thought that what we were playing was just a game where we could take back our chips at any time.
, the game of exit and stop loss.”
Thales sighed: "He paid the price - betrayed his allies, and finally died because of his allies' betrayal."
"As you said, the purpose of investigating this matter was just to leak the news to Nunn. Of course, it was also to fill the holes in my army. In fact, it was this investigation that gave me an unexpected discovery." Lombard
His fingers lightly brushed against his sword.
Thales raised his head: "What discovery?"
Lumba looked at him mysteriously and shook his head.
Thales looked at him quietly, but the other party had no intention of explaining.
The prince could only sigh secretly in his heart.
"So, you used the discarded piece of Perfit to attract the attention of King Nunn." Based on his interview experience, Thales chose to skip this point and continue the topic, "And you are busy preparing your conspiracy, such as
Using the excuse of my assassination, you can openly send troops to escort me northward, and even contact allies like Shres, right?"
Lumba looked at his sword with cold eyes.
"This is the last role that coward in Fengzhao City can play," the Grand Duke said slowly: "To draw some attention and delay some time - meeting, banquet, duel, I heard that Nunn was playing in the Palace of Heroes.
Very happy.”
Thales' tone lowered: "At the same time, I also lost my vigilance towards you."
"In the half-day that Perfit's death gave me," Lombard nodded, his eyes filled with piercing sharpness: "I must seal the victory."
"Betray allies, distract enemies, seek alliances, take advantage of the opportunity to send troops, prepare plans, and finally strike a thunderous blow." Thales sighed: "It happened to be a night of chaos caused by disaster - you are really a madman
.”
He raised his head and looked at Lumba with disbelief in his eyes: "Do you know that no matter which link here goes wrong, you will be forever doomed?"
Lumba paused slightly.
The carriage drove over an uneven ground, and the carriage shook violently!
The little slippery head, who was already nervous, couldn't help but scream.
Lumba suddenly raised his head!
"Is it irreversible?"
The Grand Duke of Heisha raised his voice loudly, and Lumba's sharp eyes were filled with coldness: "Child, you don't know anything."
"do not know anything."
Thales frowned.
I saw Lumba locking his eyes with unprecedented firmness and seriousness, and his tone was filled with suppressed unknown emotions:
"In order to complete that grand plan with Yalunde, we started preparing many years ago, from the connection of intelligence to the mobilization of territory, from the acquisition of contacts to the search and training of talents."
"In order to capture the fortress, I issued a mobilization order that was rare in the entire history of Exeter, and exhausted almost every copper, every drop of blood, and every human being in the territory. The severe cold was approaching, and I had no reserves of supplies.
No wasteland was reclaimed, no grain was transported, I bet everything on this plan!"
Thales was slightly startled.
Lumba continued to speak, and his tone became more and more urgent:
"For this plan, the Black Sand Territory has long been unable to make ends meet in terms of food or funds. It is impossible to repay the money I borrowed from the Kangmus merchants. The finances are about to collapse, and life in the coming year will only become more and more difficult.
"
"I don't have many credible standing troops, two thousand is the limit, and even fewer are willing to fight against Longxiao City - after the dragon appeared last night, I secretly executed a group of vacillators. Even so, I
We cannot directly order them to surround and kill the king, we can only use vague orders to let them fight against the 'enemies of Exeter'."
"As for Longxiao City, the counts on the outskirts of the city alone can recruit an army several times ours. As for Walton's own levies... Once discovered by them, we will be destroyed by the siege of Longxiao City at any time.
Not a single wave will splash.”
"For last night, I braved the coming extreme cold, gnawed on dry food and brought the carefully drilled troops here. The eyes they looked at me were full of exhaustion, depression and confusion, which were only retained by past drills.
The instinct maintains the most basic combat power."
"My people, from Lewan to Cambida, from Tulha to Bitz, have all put their lives and heads on the line, restraining the army to follow me into this bottomless abyss."
"And we didn't even think about supplies and warmth for the return journey."
Lumba tightened the scabbard in his hand, with a scary and stern expression: "Because I know that there is a high possibility that we will not even have a way back!"
"This is an expedition with no retreat."
Thales looked at Lumba blankly.
The unsmiling Duke of Black Sand, who was eating venison in the camp, his face flashing and darkening with the light of the fire, and a wine glass was pushed out to him but he mockingly rejected him, began to become three-dimensional in front of his eyes.
"Do you understand, little prince, when you are sitting comfortably in the Fuxing Palace to accept the royal name, and when your father is helping you to clean up enemies like Arend," the Grand Duke of Heisha said slowly: "I
Both the Black Sand Territory and the Black Sand Territory are already in ruins."
"What I did was just grab the last glimmer of hope in a desperate situation that was already beyond redemption."
"I racked my brains to mobilize the situation and atmosphere, mobilized all possible and impossible people and connections, and made countless promises, from the Marquis of Zenliu City to the gang leader, from Comas's business group to Kai District
The intelligence dealers, from Shadow Shield to Sariton, even asked Slys to urge the biggest and fastest, intensifying the conflict between you and Perfit, and..."
Lumba stopped talking, took a deep breath, and adjusted his emotions: "Just to rush again and again, and deliver the final, lightning-quick fatal blow before Nunn notices it."
His Excellency the Grand Duke's eyes flashed brightly: "After going through all this, I can sit here."
"The future of our two countries is firmly in our hands."
Thales looked at Lumba blankly.
It was like meeting him for the first time.
The carriage drove through a street, and the soldiers from the Black Sand Territory drove the way for them in a low-key but efficient manner.
Thales suddenly noticed that compared to the last time they met, Lumba had a lot more white hair, was more haggard, had pale lips, and sunken eyes.
Before the decisive battle with Giza, Black Sword's words came to mind again.
[They seek hope in desperate situations, win reversals from losses, sublimate good times into victory, and turn unexpected events into their own help...]
Thales took a deep breath.
"I understand," the prince closed his eyes: "Strong man, that's how it is."
Lumba narrowed his eyes: "What?"
Thales opened his eyes, and under the curious gaze of the little slippery man, he said calmly: "In your game, in the confrontation between Longxiao City and the Black Sand Territory, you are undoubtedly the weaker party, occupying all the disadvantages, and are in danger.
.”
The prince sneered lightly: "Did you know that after Nunn killed Perfitt, he even threatened to send troops to the Black Sand Territory in the spring to replace him with a Grand Duke of the Black Sands who satisfies him."
Lumba lowered his head and hummed: "As I expected - my dear uncle."
"You know your uncle, your king, and your opponent very well."
"But he doesn't understand you or his nephew," Thales sighed: "You have staked everything, and you have not even left a way out. The agency has made every effort to gather chips.
Fight to the death for survival."
Lumba said nothing.
Thales chuckled, his voice full of sadness:
"In contrast, Nun Walton is the king of the co-existence, sits in Dragon Sky City, holds supreme power and huge strength, even if you killed his son, he still treats you as a weak prince.
.”
Thales sighed softly:
"He is confident because of his own strength. He treats you as a commodity like Perfitt and others, a small existence that can be destroyed with a single hand while talking and laughing."
"In this life-and-death game between Nun Walton and Charmaine Lombard, you are the real strong one," the second prince raised his head and looked at Lombard calmly: "And King Nun's failure
die……"
"It's already been decided."
At that moment, Thales noticed that Lumba looked at him differently.
very good.
The conversation has been opened.
Thales took a deep breath.
"So, there is still one last question that I still can't figure out," Thales said slowly, word for word, under Lumba's complicated eyes:
"Beyond the assassins - why do you want to come to Longxiao City in person?"