Risel City? Li De’s brows furrowed. The Progenitor’s memories contained mention of that city. It was founded by descendants of the royal family of the Risel Empire several thousand years ago and had quite a reputation.
The scholars of the Risel family were famous throughout the Nolan Empire.
The Vampire Progenitor had once hesitated between infiltrating Green City or Risel City. Given Risel’s powerful background and deep magical heritage, it was not a place to be underestimated.
In the end, however, he chose Green City because of the Transcendent there. The Vampire Progenitor had always viewed that figure as a foe, aiming to understand him in order to one day defeat him.
Of course, that Transcendent likely didn’t even remember having nearly exterminated a vampire clan. After all, beings of that level only hunted the most powerful of lives, at the time, the vampires weren’t even qualified to be remembered by such a figure.
“The beastmen want to conquer Risel City?”
“Uncertain,” Harrison shrugged. “As of now, the beastmen are merely gathering their forces. They haven’t actually launched an attack.”
“Niko, what do you think?” Seeing the girl had been secretly glancing at him without speaking, Li De turned toward her with a smirk, amused by her behavior.
Caught off guard by Li De’s sudden question, Niko looked like a child caught stealing candy. Her delicate face turned slightly red.
“I… I think the beastmen’ target isn’t just Risel City, or rather, Risel City is simply the first city they must take.”
Li De’s interest was piqued by that bold statement. He encouraged her with a look. “Go on.”
Niko’s confidence gradually returned under his gaze. She turned, retrieved a colored map of the border from the room, and laid it out on the round table in front of Li De, pointing to it as she spoke with enthusiasm.
“Risel City spans the middle of the border line. Just 500 li behind it lies Green City.
If the beastmen take Risel City, their army will be in a position to directly threaten Green City.”
“If the beastman prince wants to establish prestige, what could be more glorious than conquering a human core city with over a million people, even one guarded by a Transcendent?”
Li De’s heart skipped a beat at that daring hypothesis. He glanced at the clearly marked locations on the map, his expression subtly shifting.
He fell into deep thought. Could Green City really be conquered?
Even the civilians in the border villages would scoff at such a suggestion.
But… what if the beastmen were serious?
In terms of national strength, the beastmen certainly couldn’t defeat the Nolan Empire. But if they managed to capture a major city while the empire was caught off guard, it didn’t seem impossible.
It all depended on how determined the beastman Empire truly was.
Suddenly, Li De felt a sense of looming crisis.
At present, Dawn City’s rapid development heavily relied on the Crimson Mage Tower’s continuous resource support. The tower was his financial lifeline. If Green City were taken by the beastmen, it would be like having his arms and legs cut off.
Dawn City’s development would fall into serious trouble.
Without Green City supplying it, Dawn City couldn’t leverage its industrial system to grow. The current momentum of development would come to a halt.
There was also Dark Pact, the underworld powerhouse had been supplying him with rare materials recently. The armor for Kosso and Castro had used rare metals purchased entirely by Dark Pact.
Even the intelligence pinpointing the Dwarf Valley’s exact location had been obtained through their efforts.
Not to mention, Dark Pact was now building the intelligence network he urgently needed.
His foundation was in Dawn City, but his expansion was inseparable from Green City, especially now that he had already put down roots there.
After a brief contemplation, Li De’s expression grew increasingly grave. Although the beastmen were currently only mobilizing and hadn’t attacked Risel City yet, the consequences of this hypothetical scenario were too severe.
If the beastman prince truly sought prestige to inherit the Beastmen Empire, then this was not a war that could be judged by conventional logic, he might not care about casualties and only want results.
“Add this hypothesis to City Hall’s contingency response plans immediately. Have someone begin evaluating the beastmen’s possible objectives and prepare corresponding emergency measures.”
Hearing the seriousness in Li De’s tone, both Niko and Harrison were taken aback. But they were smart people. After a moment’s thought, they too recognized the gravity of the situation.
Their expressions gradually became solemn.
“Harrison, inform Grote to pay close attention to recent developments in Green City. Also, make sure Craig verifies the authenticity of this matter.
I need to know everything about the beastman army gathering near Risel City.”
“Yes!”
The two responded in unison, their expressions solemn.
Just moments ago, they had been watching from the sidelines, treating the matter as someone else’s problem.
But in the blink of an eye, the opposing army might threaten their own territory. Li De’s mood plummeted like a rollercoaster, leaving him with a profound sense of frustration.
He immediately decided that Dawn City must personally step in to verify whether the information was true.
Due to the beastmen’s long history of invasions, humans had become numb to their troop movements. If the beastman prince was truly planning such a move, the chances of success were not low.
Especially given his special status, even though Green City had a Transcendent, the beastman prince might not lack such protection either. He might even be guarded by multiple Transcendents.
This was a war launched by the crown prince of an empire for the sake of building prestige. It absolutely could not be evaluated with simplistic logic.
So long as the goal could be achieved, the opposing side likely wouldn’t care about any cost.
Green City, the most radiant city in the South, would be the most glorious badge of honor.
He took a deep breath.
He had just managed to catch a break and planned to use this winter to focus on strengthening his forces, but he hadn’t expected to run into something like this.
Although everything was still speculation for now, the consequences were too dire, so dire that he had no choice but to act, even while the matter was only a possibility.
“Good thing I upgraded the magic spells beforehand. If I had gotten this news earlier, there’s no way I would’ve had the peace of mind to enter seclusion for a whole month.”
As the two left with heavy expressions to carry out their tasks, Li De turned his attention to his own status panel.
The two newly completed spells stood out brightly.
Refined: Scorching Fireball (Extreme Enhancement)
Refined: Dragonscale Shield (Extreme Enhancement)