Chapter 146: Not Over Yet? |
Three days later, Levi and the others left the Orens Mountains once again aboard a Reconnaissance Airship.
When they set out, there were five of them; when they returned, there were four people and—a corpse.
Creed was dead, as was to be expected.
As a side note, when Levi woke up the next morning, he found that the massive stone gate had completely collapsed, and Creed had died inside his own tent. According to the investigation, Creed had apparently died of a sudden illness.
As another side note, except for Levi, everyone else had completely forgotten that dream.
And as a final side note, they had actually slept for a day and a night, waking up so hungry they nearly died.
Of course, even though the others had forgotten the dreams, some faint residual impression seemed to remain. No one appeared overly panicked by Creed's death, though they were a bit saddened since he was their companion after all. But for an archaeology team, every expedition brought various accidents. Being able to bring a whole corpse back was already considered a decent outcome.
Hearing the old Professor's lament, Levi maintained a blank expression while silently mocking them in his heart. What kind of godforsaken places do you people visit every day? It's one thing to have people die, but you usually can't even leave a whole corpse behind...
Are you guys really a legitimate archaeology team?
Although this trip had yielded nothing for the rest of them, Levi had gained quite a lot.
First of all, at the final moment, the System had still issued a mission. He had then killed Creed and completed it, earning 50 plus 50, which equaled 100 days of Lifespan.
Based on the amount of this reward, the difficulty of the mission was not high, and in truth, it really wasn't. After all, the Goddess of Night had granted him a buff. If this were an RPG Game, it would basically amount to a scripted plot kill.
As the saying goes, only a storm can knock down a great tree.
Conversely, the other reward was excellent. Levi had once again received an opportunity to upgrade a skill level. Without hesitation, he chose to raise the level of Puppeteer again, upgrading it from Level 3 to Level 4, which unlocked a second special ability.
Mimicry Control!
This ability was actually quite simple. Previously, when Levi used his Puppeteer ability to manipulate other puppets, those puppets would only move while he was actively controlling them; they would remain motionless if he didn't.
For instance, the Puppet Bird that Levi most frequently used as a drone would just sit blankly on a tree branch like a dead object if he didn't control it. In fact, it truly was a dead object.
But with Mimicry Control, things became different. Even if Levi didn't actively control the Puppet Bird, it could hop around on branches by itself, performing actions similar to those a living bird could make. Levi could even give it simple commands.
For example, he could command the Puppet Bird to scout a certain person and inform him if they were found. The Puppet Bird would then take off and automatically head to the search area, immediately notifying Levi if it discovered the target.
From this perspective, Mimicry Control was equivalent to granting the puppets an ability similar to artificial intelligence, except they couldn't think for themselves and still acted strictly according to Levi's commands.
Aside from this, Levi's final harvest was the Persuader, which had been given a new skin by the Goddess of Night.
As for what use this skin had... Levi had stared at it for a long time but completely failed to see any function, and the System provided no explanation. In short, it certainly looked beautiful enough, though it seemed no different in other aspects.
Furthermore, Levi's journey to the Orens Mountains could be considered a massive success.
Although the Goddess of Night had not told him many things, Levi was certain that at least in this world at present, more than one deity was definitely active. Moreover, the Goddess of Night did not seem to harbor too much malice toward humanity. Despite leaving behind some harsh parting words at the end, in Levi's view, it felt more like she had been provoked to anger by him.
After all, based on how the Goddess of Night had initially appeared, she had seemed to want him to become her believer or subordinate. She never expected Levi to possess such a lazy disposition, which angered her to the point of speechlessness, leaving her with no choice but to drop a harsh line and depart.
However, her behavior had already given Levi some clues. That is, the return of the gods might be true, but judging by the attitude of the Goddess of Night, no matter what these deities wanted to do, they were at least not in a completely hostile relationship with humanity. At the very least, when the Goddess of Night spoke with Levi, she was open to discussion, while still carrying a hint of a deity's majesty.
If Levi were a native of this era, he might have been so fooled by her that he would have bowed down in worship.
Unfortunately, Levi was a transmigrator from another world. Even if things like gods existed, he was mostly just curious and did not possess much reverence.
Not to mention, the Goddess of Night had only chatted with him like old friends until the very end, so Levi naturally would not act with too much reverence. After all, judging from how the Goddess of Night had changed the skin of his Persuader earlier, she probably needed something from him.
Therefore, Levi should strive to seize the initiative rather than surrender it to others. As for what exactly the Goddess of Night wanted to do... Levi believed she would tell him in the future.
Originally, in Levi's view, the matter had already come to an end. That strange ruin had been destroyed, the Phantom Killer had been eliminated, and his mission in Merisia was complete. Now all he had to do was go back, join up with the Imperial Army for a victory celebration, and everyone would return to Mist City together.
However...
"What's the situation? It's not over yet?"
Returning to the airship, Levi looked at Henry with a bewildered expression after learning about the current battle situation.
"The Merisians are that resilient?"
To be honest, hearing this news only made Levi feel as though he had misheard. What kind of international joke was this? Given the thunderous momentum of the Imperial Army's strike this time, combined with their absolute crushing advantage over Merisia, three days should have been enough to secure victory, if not wipe out the entire rebel force. Yet they were still at a stalemate?
"Did they summon some kind of monster?"
"Not quite... if that were the case, it would actually be simpler..." Henry let out a sigh. At that moment, Anthony, who was beside him, spoke up.
"It's actually the commander's order."
"The commander?"
"Yes. At the very beginning, our Imperial Army was indeed unstoppable, quickly breaking through several rebel cities and capturing them. However, resistance from the southern cities, led by the second largest city, Noyock City, was extremely fierce. To avoid unnecessary casualties, Admiral Howe decided to negotiate with the rebel leaders, demanding that they open the gates and surrender on their own initiative."
"..."
The so-called "not afraid of a god-like opponent, but afraid of a pig-like teammate." Levi now understood why both of these men looked so dejected. If they were inferior in skill and couldn't win, that would be one thing, but if their own commander refused to let them fight, that was a different matter entirely.
"Not only that, General Howe also proposed to the rebel leaders that if they choose to surrender, the Empire might recognize the political status of the Continental Parliament."
"No, is he insane?"
Hearing this, Levi was already dumbfounded. The Continental Parliament was currently viewed by the Empire as a rebel organization, and the commander was saying that as long as the other side surrendered, the Empire would recognize the political status of this bunch of rebels?
True, Levi admitted that fighting a rebellion required striking one group while drawing in another. It was impossible to just slaughter all the Merisians; saying such things was gratifying but brought no benefit to the Empire.
But the problem was, you have to identify the right target for your united front! It wasn't as if Merisia lacked Royalists who favored the Empire. You ignore your existing supporters and offer benefits to the enemy instead? Insane!
"How could the Cabinet send such an idiot?"
"It's not exactly that Admiral Howe has a bad brain," Anthony snorted coldly. "Actually, a few years ago, Noyock City built a monument for Admiral Howe's older brother, who died in battle in Merisia. Therefore, Admiral Howe still has a bit of goodwill toward Noyock City."
"Not only that, there are actually military issues as well." Henry was clearly unwilling to get entangled in these confusing political affairs and quickly shifted the topic. "The current problem is that the main body of the rebel forces has hidden themselves in Braze Mountain outside Noyock City. They are numerous and concealed within the forests of Braze Mountain, where the vegetation is dense. Even with a Reconnaissance Airship, we cannot determine exactly how many troops are inside Braze Mountain or where they are hiding, so the general cannot act rashly either."
Anthony immediately followed up, "Of course, I admit this is also a reason. After all, the Imperial Army is indestructible and invincible in the eyes of the Merisians. If a battle breaks out inside Braze Mountain and the Imperial Army suffers heavy losses as a result, even if we achieve victory in the end, the gains will not make up for the losses."
"Well, this reason is a bit more reliable." Levi nodded.
Indeed, what was most important for the Empire right now was not just winning, but winning beautifully. However, fighting a guerrilla war in a dense, deep mountain could be said to flatten most of the military advantages of the Imperial side. No matter what Aerial Battleships or heavy soldiers the Empire possessed, they had no good solutions when facing thick forests and rugged mountainous terrain.
And once the Imperial Army suffered severe losses here, the Merisians would definitely start making moves. At that time, if all the rebels in Merisia fled into the forest to fight a guerrilla war, the Imperial Army would be completely left in the dark.
Analyzing it from a military perspective, Levi understood the reason behind General Howe's decision. If there was no way to deal with the rebel forces stationed inside Braze Mountain, then the Empire either had to risk being bitten by the opponent to enter the mountain, or choose to force the opponent to nod at the negotiating table. No wonder General Howe could propose such absurd peace terms.
"So, did the rebels agree?"
"Of course they wouldn't agree."
That made sense. The rebels were not fools either. Even if General Howe claimed the Empire would recognize the Continental Parliament, it didn't mean it would let these people off. Finding a pretext to arrest them and execute them together would not be very difficult.
The rebels also knew that their deterrence lay in that army inside Braze Mountain. If they chose to surrender and withdrew that army, the Empire would move without hindrance throughout Merisia.
"So, as long as we find and eliminate that army hidden inside Braze Mountain, the rebels will be completely finished?" Levi quickly reached a conclusion.
Henry nodded. "That is exactly right."
"Alright then." Levi pondered for a moment and made a decision. "Give me a Reconnaissance Airship. I will go to Braze Mountain to scout it out."