Although Saphiel has not experienced much actual combat, Lawrence unexpectedly discovered that she has a special sense of battlefield.
For example, less than a minute after Saphire said that those guys stationed on the bridge were probably trying to guard the back road, the radio carried by Lawrence and the others received the telegram sent by the captain just now.
"Look, what I said is right." After quickly deciphering the previously sent secret telegram, Seifer immediately held up the telegram and said to Lawrence.
"The captain's uncle just sent a telegram to tell us that after they returned to the channel and drove forward for more than half an hour, they accidentally discovered a ketch hidden in a bay."
"According to the uncle, the place where the schooner was picked is very good. It is difficult for ordinary people to find the location of the ship. If he had not had a lot of experience in catching smuggling ships before, he would not have been able to see the schooner through the gaps in the hills and woods.
The two tall masts of the ship."
"Ah, if that's the case, then the situation will be right." After listening to Saifei read the contents of the telegram, Lawrence breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, he could always obtain Nora's unilateral battlefield transparency when he acted before, so this situation now makes him feel a little uncomfortable.
"Then what should we do next?" Saifeir asked with some confusion. "It is impossible for so many of us to cross the river from other places without disturbing each other. But if we start from
If we walk on the bridge, it will be difficult for us to ensure the confidentiality of our actions."
"This is indeed a serious problem, but it is not unsolvable." Lawrence thought for a while and said, "We can continue walking north for a while and then cross the river from a place in front where the water flow is gentle."
"After all, the only goal of these people stationed here is to defend their retreat route, so I think if we go a little further forward, the opponent's defense will not be so tight."
Lawrence was really shocked by the defense lines set up in this area and the patrols coming and going, because there are only two situations where so many people can be drawn out to establish a warning circle:
Either they have received strict training and are able to carry out various orders in a completely militarized manner. Or they have so many manpower that they can even deploy enough force in such a secondary direction.
But for Lawrence and the others, either situation is dangerous enough.
Fortunately, the current situation clearly shows that all the guesses made by Lawrence and others were wrong, and those people here are just looking for the main force's way out.
Therefore, Lawrence felt that in this case, areas that were not within the back roads would not have as many patrols as here.
And this is exactly what happened. As they gradually moved forward, those investigating on both sides of the team slowly discovered that the number of guard posts and patrol teams that had been appearing before suddenly became much smaller, and they were not as elite as before.
When Lawrence and the others arrived at the previously scheduled crossing point, they found that there were no longer the previous investigators around.
Soon, Lawrence and the others crossed the not-so-wide river using a few rubber boats they carried with them. Then they followed the path in the mountains and forests and began to move towards their target.
Compared with the road they chose before, this road is longer and more rugged. However, the difficulty of these roads does not hinder their progress.
"We've finally arrived." When Lawrence asked his subordinates to station themselves in a mountain, he, Seifer, and the others climbed up a hill that was not very high to prepare for reconnaissance work.
When a few of them dodged the scattered patrols and crawled to the edge of the hill and glanced down, the scene in front of them made Lawrence sigh softly.
Although for them the entire plan had to be modified due to many unexpected discoveries on the road, fortunately in the end they successfully arrived at the scheduled destination, although it was about an hour later than the scheduled time. But overall,
Said it did not delay their actions.
Because at this time Lawrence saw that the valley below was already crowded with people, and there were many colorful tents stationed on the flat land near the entrance of the valley. At least from Lawrence's point of view, those people were not there at all.
Not here for adventure, but for outing.
However, the masterminds of the conspiracy behind the scenes did not take this opportunity to go out for an outing or play. At least after Lawrence released a large number of insect monster phantoms to investigate the surroundings, he discovered that there were several mountains and forests around the valley.
There are many people hidden in them, and they are all observing the location of the group of people in the valley.
"As we had guessed before, this group of people should have gathered together under an organized group." After a brief investigation of the surrounding area and the discovery of several hiding places, Lawrence said to Saifei and the others beside him.
arrive.
"What is certain now is that the opponent's core looks like an elite group of thieves. It has 5 to 6 extraordinary beings. In addition, there are 12 to 15 thieves groups that they have coerced."
"How can we be sure that the thieves were coerced, instead of attacking collectively after joint negotiation?" asked the half-elf ranger next to Lawrence.
"They must also be cooperating." After realizing that what he just said was not rigorous, Lawrence immediately added. "But other thieves groups are all under the command of that core group of thieves.
To give the simplest example, I found that every thief group other than the core thief group has several members of the core thief group commanding it."
"I just did some calculations and found out that this group of thieves totals about 500 people. I think they are probably a large part of the outlaws around Sword Bay."
After introducing the organizational structure of the thieves group, Lawrence began to introduce the overall situation of the valley and its surroundings. "In addition, the wealthy people in the valley come from about 17 families. I recognized that three of the families came here.
The aristocrats on vacation in this area—"
"One is a carriage manufacturing tycoon in Eagle Castle City." The priest of the Goddess of Wealth Church said after looking at the situation in the valley.
"Because that man is a believer of the Goddess of Wealth. When he came to Sword Bay before, he went to the church of the Goddess of Wealth to offer sacrifices. I happened to meet him in the church at that time, so I can recognize his identity now."
"That is to say, they are all rich people. If they are kidnapped, they can make the kidnappers live a prosperous life." Seifer continued.
Even though she was now a rich person, her thinking was still the same as when she was on the farm. Therefore, Lawrence could hear a certain teasing tone in his tone.
If a serious noble were to hear Sephiel's speech here, he would definitely feel disgusted from the bottom of his heart, but except for Lawrence and his soldiers, there were only some temporarily recruited expedition members around.
For the members of the adventure team, Sephiel's words can actually bring everyone closer together.
"Yes, that's why we have to run all the way here." Lawrence said while looking at the valley below, and then turned to look at the staff lieutenant crawling behind him. "When do you think we will come from here?"
Where is the best place to launch an attack?"
"We may need to make some preparations, because we brought two guns and six grenades this time." The lieutenant lowered his voice and said to Lawrence.
"If there are no accidents, these weapons can cause huge damage to the surrounding bandit groups, but I am worried that the loud sound they make when used will cause unnecessary losses to the group below due to panic."
"Okay, I think you're right." Lawrence looked at the guys below who were obviously planning to turn the adventure into a spring outing and sighed. "We have to find a way to get the group of people below to cooperate with us."