Volume 2: Empire Chapter 129 Ice Cave
Dongdu spent the Winter Hunting Festival in a happy and peaceful atmosphere. The failure of the abandoned factory forced Bingku to re-evaluate the strength of Qingkong. Luke and Dale played for a whole day without encountering any trouble.
However, on the second day after the Winter Hunting Festival, the Ate County Federation immediately announced a nationwide conscription order, requiring all male citizens of appropriate age to register at the recruitment offices and be ready to be called up to join the army at any time.
The tension wiped out the post-holiday joy, and the shadow of war hung over this snowy city.
As usual, Luke accepted a day's maintenance mission from Mrs. Yolanda, and then led the Norton team into the underground.
The good old Norton was in a very bad mood today. He kept complaining in the rail car: "Isn't it said that everything is going well on the front line? The Queen of the Golden Shield Empire has been surrounded in the Snow City. The war analyst of the newspaper said that within a month, the county coalition army will be able to break through the northern border defense line of the empire, and then they can march towards Saint Lun City.
Yesterday was the Winter Hunting Festival, and today is the conscription day. This doesn’t mean the war is going well.”
Luke was sitting in the rail car reading today's Winter Capital newspaper. Sure enough, there were reports of victory. The army of the County Alliance was advancing triumphantly and sweeping away the corrupt Imperial Army.
However, Luke can obtain real information about the northern battlefield through the Imperial Secret Service's station in Winter City.
After all, the northern defense line was run by the empire for many years. Although the troops were insufficient, the morale of the empire's northern army was very high because the queen came to Snow City in person. Now the two sides were fighting around Snow City. The imperial army occupied the fortified city and fought with fewer troops, so that the county alliance's army had been attacking for more than ten days without any progress.
At the beginning of the invasion of the North, the Golden Shield Empire began a national mobilization, and the first batch of 600,000 conscripted soldiers were receiving weapons, training and reorganization.
All nobles in the territory received war orders, requiring them to fulfill their ancestors' promise and recruit soldiers from their own territories to form a noble army, which must be able to go to the north to fight before the end of winter.
On the southern front of the empire, General Joshur launched a winter offensive, using offense as defense to deny the Celtic Duke any room to take advantage of the war in the north.
I wonder what the Celtic Duke would think if he knew the normal timeline at this moment.
Originally, he should have been able to lead the noble army to tear apart the Twilight Empire, but Luke appeared at the beginning of the timeline.
The civil war in the empire broke out ahead of schedule, and the living Emperor Augustine had a very strong deterrent effect on the nobles of the empire. Luke went to the West Territory and asked all the nobles in the West Territory to pay their allegiance to Emperor Augustine .
The Abyss Temple that the Duke of Celtic relied on also suffered heavy losses under the repeated attacks of the Clear Sky. He now only had a barbarian army, and the external assistance he received became less and less after the Raging Waves City Fleet annihilated the Rio Navy.
Now that the Tedega Hills are stabilized, the Empire will have more energy and resources to focus on the war in the north.
I think At County United has also seen this.
Expanding the army is to prepare for a protracted war after winter.
Luke looked at the contents of the newspaper, comparing it with the intelligence he had obtained, and did not respond to Norton's complaints.
Rebecca asked, "Captain, have you received a call-up? We are the company's security guards, do we have to go to the battlefield too?"
The snowman Amao roared at this time.
Norton said: "I am on the waiting list. I have to go to the military camp for training every day after get off work. I may be in the next batch of recruits. A Mao is the same as me...
I really don’t know what the big shots above are thinking.
Overthrow the royal family of the Golden Shield Empire and make it a free world. What does it have to do with us whether the people there are free or not? Why should we risk our lives for it? "
At this time, the thief Harry said in a low voice: "I have received the enlistment order and will report to the military camp tonight. This is my last day working with you."
Harry's words made the already heavy atmosphere in the rail car even heavier.
Thieves often serve as scouts in the army. Faced with all kinds of strange magic traps, the death rate of scouts is very high.
When the railcar stopped, no one said anything to comfort Harry.
Luke folded up the unfinished newspaper and put it in his briefcase, then said, "If you don't want to apply, I can arrange for you to leave here."
Norton immediately asked: "How to leave? Where to go?"
"This is a private channel. I promise it's very safe. As for where to go... leave Art County United, you can go wherever you want."
Harry said, "I want to go to Wrath of Waves."
"Can."
"Can I bring my family?"
"Can."
"How much does it cost?"
Luke laughed: "I'm helping you because I consider you my friends. Just keep your money to help you adjust to your new life."
"Thank you, Mr. Luke. If I die, my father will surely die too."
Harry stood up and saluted Luke.
Luke asked Norton, "Are you leaving? Or are you staying?"
"I..." Norton hesitated and said, "I'm leaving! I have nothing to miss here."
"Then come with me! Harry will report to the military camp tonight. We will arrange things as soon as possible so that you can leave tonight."
Norton asked worriedly, "If Harry and I disappear at the same time, it will definitely cause trouble for you?"
"Trouble is only trouble. The worst case scenario is that I will be fired by Harut Heavy Industries. I am a steam engineer and it is easy for me to find a job in Winter City." Luke walked out of the rail car and asked Rebecca, "Are you going or not? I can arrange for you and your family to go to Raging Waves City."
Rebecca said, "I will stay and protect you."
"I can make arrangements whenever you want to go. Norton, find a car and let's go to the biker bar."
Luke took Norton's team to find Chiyan's brothers and asked them to arrange for Norton, Harry and their families to leave Dongdu.
The demon Chiyan has a smuggling channel that passes through Hell, and usually accepts smuggling business. Now that the investment of 600,000 gold coupons is about to be implemented, both parties are in the honeymoon period, and it is not a piece of cake to let Chiyan send a few people to Nutao City.
After everything was arranged, Luke asked Norton and Harry to go home and prepare, and he took Rebecca to complete the day's work.
When I got home in the evening, I was surrounded by a group of people wearing windbreakers and felt hats as soon as I entered the door.
"Who are you? Why are you in my house?"
Luke asked calmly, his eyes searching for Mina.
She is not here.
"We are agents from the Ice Cave. We have a few questions for you to answer, Mr. Luke..." A gloomy-looking young man sat on the sofa in the living room. He stared at Luke when he entered the room. "Sit down first. These are just a few simple questions. Don't be too nervous."
When Luke heard that the other party was an Ice Cave agent, he first wondered if his identity was exposed.
But if it is exposed, not just these few people will come.
Then listen to what they want to do.
Luke took off his coat and hung it on the coat hanger along with his briefcase, then took off his hat and placed it on the hat rack before sitting down opposite the young man.
"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Russell Enoch, and I'm the senior commander of the Ice Cave." Enoch pointed at the clothes and bag that Luke had just hung up and said, "Can I have my people search them?"
"Okay..." Luke said casually, "But please return the items to their original places after searching. There are a lot of Harut Heavy Industries documents in there. If they are lost, you will be responsible."
"Of course! You are a steam engineer at Harut Heavy Industries, and you are already enjoying the respect we give you." Enoch waved his hand to let his men search the clothes and briefcases on the hangers, and then said, "Can you answer my question now?"
"Ask me whatever you want. As long as it doesn't involve company secrets, I can cooperate."
"Now let's get started... Was Mina the maid you hired upon arriving in Winter City?"
"Yes." Hearing Mina, Luke guessed something: "At this time, she should be home and have prepared dinner for me. She's not here. Did something happen to her?"
"I won't answer your question." Enoch kept his eyes on Luke, trying to determine whether he was lying. "The second question is, why did you hire her?"
"When I first arrived at Dongdu Railway Station, she tried to steal my suitcase. Then I learned that her family was in a difficult situation. Her father had injured his leg and the family had no income. I felt sorry for her, so I hired her as a maid to take care of my daily life while I was working in Dongdu.
The sheriff can vouch for me."
Luke pulled out a business card from a drawer of a nearby lamp cabinet, the same one the sheriff at the train station had given him.
Enoch took the business card, looked at it carefully, and then put it away.
"You are a kind gentleman. Did you repair the faulty steam pipe in the B36 mine?"
"Yes. Mr. Kunden, the supervisor of the B36 mine, gave me some money to repair the pipeline. Although this is against company regulations, it should not be the responsibility of your Ice Cave."
Enoch smiled and said, "Of course, this is none of our business. Do you know Mina's father?"
“I don’t know him.”
"Then do you know Mr. Bai Ye?"
Finally getting to the point, Luke answered: "I don't know him. But when I was inspecting the steam lines in the underground steam city, I often heard this name. He seems to be very famous in the underground mining area!"
"He is just a small person who tries to challenge the order of Winter City. We will catch him."
By this time, the Ice Cave Agents had completed the search and found nothing suspicious.
Luke raised his hand: "Do you need to search me?"
Enoch wanted to search him, but after thinking about it, he decided not to. Steam engineer Luke's itinerary in the underground steam city was very clear, and it didn't seem to be related to the mine incident. The only connection was Mina's employer.
Nowadays, production tasks are heavy and all companies regard steam engineers like treasures and try not to offend them if possible.
Besides, if there really is a problem, sensitive things will not be brought home, let alone carried on the body.
"No, I believe you, Mr. Luke. You are not the same kind of people as those people causing trouble underground. Yesterday was the Winter Hunting Festival. Sir, this should be your first time to celebrate our festival. Did you have fun?"
“Very interesting.”
"Your landlord said that you and Mina went out to celebrate the festival yesterday. Can I know where you went and what you did?"
Luke secretly thought that it was not good. If Princess Dale was involved, things would get even worse.
"My trip was arranged by Mina. We went to see the float parade first, then rented a sleigh and went to the glacier outside the city. We went fishing, grilled fish...
In the afternoon we went to the Underground Steam City, watched a motorcycle race, and ate a lot of delicious food. ”
"Are you just the two of you?"
How to answer?
Luke didn't know whether Mina had been caught by the agents of the Ice Cave, and if so, what had she said?
To be safe, Luke answered, "No, there's another friend who's spending the Winter Hunting Festival with us."
"Who is it?"
"That lady is of a very distinguished status! You asked me so many questions and didn't allow me to know the inside story. I won't reveal her identity and cause her unnecessary trouble."
Seeing that Luke was deliberately concealing something, Enoch felt that he had caught something, and immediately pressed me, "Mr. Luke, you'd better know one thing, the incident that can mobilize our Ice Cave to investigate is definitely not an ordinary incident.
If you have no questions, please answer my questions accurately, otherwise we will have to ask you to come with us.
The iced coffee in the ice cave is not that good! "
Luke took the magic wand out of his sleeve and placed it on the table: “This is the Winter Hunting Festival gift that lady gave me. She made it herself.
Look carefully, think it through, and then decide whether you want to know her identity."
When Luke took out the magic wand, all the Ice Cave agents immediately went on alert. After Luke put the magic wand on the table, Enoch slowly reached out his hand. He first released the detection magic to check if the magic wand was trapped, and then slowly picked it up after confirming that there was no danger.
When Enoch carefully looked at the magic wand in his hand, a look of regret appeared in his eyes.
What a pity! What a pity!
So many rare and precious materials were made into a magic wand using such a flashy technique, which is simply a waste of resources.
The magic wand is a spellcasting prop, so the first thing to consider is practicality, so as to maximize the effectiveness of the material. Beauty is only a post-production embellishment under the premise of ensuring functionality.
But this magic wand is completely upside down.
For the sake of beauty, the magic wand is full of hollow carvings. It is certainly very beautiful when casting spells, but if so much material is not removed, more magic arrays can be placed inside the magic wand, making the magic wand's effect even better.
This is simply...
Enoch tried hard to control his emotions. He might not be able to get such rare materials with the money he earned in his whole life, but it was wasted by a girl.
What kind of family background does such a willful girl have?
A girl from such a family made such a beautiful magic wand and gave it to the gentleman in front of her, and even accompanied him through the winter hunting festival. What is their relationship?
No wonder he could remain so calm even though he knew he was an Ice Cave agent. It turned out he had a powerful backer.
Enoch was somewhat glad that he had not offended Luke from the beginning. If he had annoyed that girl, his fate might not be as simple as drinking iced coffee.
"It is my honor to see such a precious magic wand. Please keep it, Mr. Luke!"
Enoch returned the magic wand with both hands.
Luke took the magic wand and put it into his sleeve, then asked, "Can I ask questions now?"
"Of course, Mr. Luke!" Enoch said respectfully.
