Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 73: Crisis at the Jade Court
The whole night , there was no peace outside the hotel, and groups of elf patrols passed by the road outside the window from time to time. Fortunately, the riots at the dock did not spread to the city, and at dawn, the city finally returned to normal.
However, there were many more patrol soldiers on the streets, so the Emerald Royal Court was still in a tense atmosphere.
The sheriff, who had been outside all night to gather information, came to the Three-Car Inn along the eaves. At this time, an elf patrolman was talking to the inn owner. The sheriff carefully avoided the patrolman's sight, bared his teeth at the patrolman's hound provocatively, and quickly went into the inn.
The hound tried to give chase, but the patrolman grabbed the leash.
"Mr. Archer... the royal court issued an order this morning that no gatherings of more than eight people are allowed in public places in the royal court within two days. As a business operator of the hotel, please be sure to comply with the royal order. We will come to check at any time."
Archer replied, "As a human merchant who comes to the Emerald Court to do business, I will certainly obey the king's order and restrain my guests from gathering. Can you tell me what happened so that I can explain it to my guests."
The elf patrol said: "I can't tell you exactly what happened, just obey. The ban will not be enforced for a long time, I believe the royal court will find a solution to the problem soon.
Please note that although Wang Ling does not prohibit residents from going out, if there is no need for anything during the next two days, it is better to stay in your room."
"I understand. I will tell my guests about Wang Ling right away."
"May the Elf Lord bless you!"
The elf patrolman who came to give the notice left with the hound. Archer looked around and turned back to the inn.
At this time, the sheriff was in the clear sky room.
He lay on the table, licking the milk in the plate with his tongue, while describing in vivid detail the news he had heard.
Last night's riots did not just occur at the docks, but many factories in the port area were impacted and damaged to varying degrees.
The news of the appearance of headhunters in the forest has reached the Emerald Palace. The elves' lack of understanding of the headhunters has increased their fear of them. It seems that the Emerald Forest is full of headhunters and the Emerald Palace has been surrounded by them.
The forest protection organization took advantage of this opportunity to define the emergence of the headhunters as a punishment from the elven god, a punishment for the elves abandoning their traditions and succumbing to human civilization.
The Elf God is abandoning the forest elves. If the forest elves do not repent, he will give the Emerald Forest to the headhunters!
The sheriff complained at the end: "The Emerald Court's ability to control information is really too poor. They should learn more from the Imperial Secret Service. Now the news that the Emerald Forest has been occupied by the Headhunters has spread uncontrollably in the city. It is useless for the Emerald Court to block the news.
When I came back, the port area had been tightly sealed off by patrol soldiers. Factories were shut down, docks were closed, human workers were ordered to stay in factories or homes, and elves would be arrested if they gathered.
By the way, when I came back, I heard... the Emerald Court was discussing the migration of the entire forest elves out of the Emerald Forest.
I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
The forest elves are migrating as a tribe!
Has the situation become so serious?
Qingkong said: "Let's go find Princess Dai'er now and let her leave here first..."
There was a knock on the door at this time.
Shelley at the door opened the door after getting Qingkong's permission.
It was Archer who came in. He first told the elf patrol the king's order, and then said: "The dock has been blocked, and all ships are not allowed to leave Emerald Harbor. We had no choice but to find a small airship that should be able to take Her Royal Highness away from the Emerald Court.
Once we reach the open sea, we can find a ship to take the princess back to the empire."
Block the port and prohibit ships from leaving...
Does the Emerald King's Court really want to move all the forest elves out of the Emerald Forest?
"I understand." Qingkong said, "Go prepare a carriage, and we'll go to the Emerald Magic Academy."
"Yes, Master Starsky."
While Qingkong was riding in a carriage to the Emerald Magic Academy, a meeting concerning the future of the forest elves was held on the shores of the Emerald Lake in the old city of the Emerald Royal Court.
On the lawn covered with green grass and flowers, many elves sat around a round conference table. Elf King Garret XVII sat on the throne with his back to Emerald Lake, and the other elves were all elders.
The conference table was not full, with about one-third of the seats vacant, indicating that some elders were absent for some reason.
Garrett XVII is also known as the Three-Leaf King. As a middle-aged elf, the Three-Leaf King has some wrinkles on his face. The handsome Elf King is no longer his label. What is more, he is calm and charming. He wears a gorgeous robe, silver hair, and an emerald crown.
The atmosphere of the meeting was not good. The elders looked at the empty seats from time to time, revealing sadness.
After a period of silence, King Sanye said, "I have to admit that the Emerald King's Court has absorbed too many elves, leaving large tracts of forests without elves' supervision. This is the main reason why we did not discover the headhunters in time..."
Before the Three-Leaf King could finish, an elf elder said angrily, "No! The main reason why the headhunters appeared in the Emerald Forest is that the elves gave up our own civilization and introduced the filthy human industry into the naturally holy Emerald Forest.
Alchemy pollution is very serious, and mysterious energy is generated to create strange things. The thick smoke from the steam engine makes it difficult to breathe in the forest, and the greed brought by humans has caused many young elves to fall.
The headhunters are a punishment from the Elven Lord. Only by correcting our mistakes immediately can we regain the Lord's favor. "
The elf elder's speech was recognized by some elders.
King Sanye said: "It was my decision to accept human industry into the Emerald Forest, and I never thought that this decision was wrong. The emergence of the headhunters should be a scientific issue, and it cannot be attributed to the punishment of the elven god without any basis.
Currently, the Emerald Magic Academy is collecting information and looking for ways to eliminate the headhunters. The Royal Court patrol is investigating the distribution of the headhunters in the Emerald Forest and actively rescuing the elves and other intelligent races trapped in the forest.
I called the elders here to resolve the crisis, not to assign blame.”
King Sanye has a high prestige, and some discordant voices are suppressed.
Another elder said, "The patrols of the royal court have discovered more and more territories of the headhunters. They are spreading very quickly, and many elven settlements have lost contact with the royal court. The scale of the headhunters this time is larger than that of the ancient war, and we do not have the support of the dragons.
I think we should implement the migration plan as soon as possible while there is still time. Send more elves to a safe place so that we can preserve our strength and come back when we find a way to eliminate the headhunters."
The elder's words made King Sanye hesitate.
The headhunters are growing stronger every day, and at a very fast speed, they are already out of control.
There are many reasons why the headhunters that appeared during the ancient war were quickly eliminated. At that time, the elves were in a state of war and were very alert. They were able to quickly mobilize elite troops when they discovered the headhunters.
And there is also the support of the dragon.
Now the elves of the Emerald Forest were too comfortable. Not only did they discover the headhunters late, but they also did not have an army that could immediately engage in battle.
The patrol soldiers used to maintain public order and search for illegal immigrants have exposed too many problems these days.
The meeting was filled with a pessimistic atmosphere from the beginning to now.
Just now an elder suggested asking for help from the Dragon Kingdom.
There are suggestions to build a high wall around the Emerald King's Court to keep the Headhunters on the other side of the wall.
There is a suggestion to organize a suicide squad to go deep into the Emerald Forest to find the Headhunter Queen and kill her.
Among various measures, moving the entire family out of town has become a more reliable option.
But how should the millions of forest elves migrate out?
Who is willing to receive it?
Seeing that King Sanye was unable to make a decision, an elf elder said, "Last night, elves attacked the docks and factories in the port area. News of the headhunters is spreading rapidly in the city. Even though the royal patrols are trying their best to control it, they can't stop the panic from spreading.
Your Majesty, you must make a decision as soon as possible. Even if the decision is wrong, it is better than doing nothing."
King Sanye finally said: "My decision is related to the life and death of the forest elves. Please give me a little more time, maybe there will be good news.
Order the royal court patrol soldiers to continue to enforce the king's orders and focus on watching the port area to ensure that no major disturbances occur again.
Send a spirit to count all ships in port.
Take inventory of the granary.
Send more elves into the Emerald Forest and bring back as many of our compatriots as possible to the royal court."
The elders said together: "It is your will, my king."
King Sanye finally said to his followers behind him: "Send the elves to the Emerald Magic Academy immediately. I hope the scholars carefully trained by the royal court can bring me good news!"
The attendant replied, "Yes, my king. I will go to the Emerald School of Magic myself immediately."
King Sanye nodded and asked his followers to leave, and the lakeside meeting continued.
The Emerald Magic Academy was built on the top of a mountain, with only one road connecting it to the Emerald King's Court. During this extraordinary period, the Emerald King's Court sent out an elite patrol to set up a defense circle in the forest around the top of the mountain.
The only way up the mountain also has checkpoints.
The carriage that Qingkong was riding in was stopped outside the checkpoint.
Archer, acting as the coachman, went to negotiate, but the elf patrol refused to let him go.
"I'm sorry, human driver! I don't mean to make things difficult for you. It's because the royal court has ordered that we must protect the safety of the teachers and students in the Emerald Magic Academy.
If you have a legitimate reason to enter the academy, please go to Emerald Lake to apply for a pass first."
Archer had no choice but to come to the side of the carriage and tell Qingkong about the difficulties he encountered: "Sir, it seems that we can only go to Emerald Lake to apply for a pass first. If necessary, I think we can reveal Princess Dale's identity to the elves. The relationship between the Empire and the Emerald Forest is friendly, and the elves should not embarrass us. "
Clear sky looking out through the window.
The straight road goes up along the mountain ridge and is connected to the castle on the top of the mountain by a suspension bridge. Griffins and Pegasus are hovering above the castle.
You can vaguely see that a protective shield has been opened on the outer layer of the castle.
He looked as if he was facing a formidable enemy.
"We don't know how serious the crisis is. We don't know what obstacles we will encounter when we go to Emerald Lake. The most important thing is to see Dale as soon as possible." Qingkong took out a parrot beak and handed it to Archer: "Go talk to them again. I think they will let us go this time."
"Yes, Master Starsky."
Archer didn't know what the parrot's beak in his hand was for, but he had to follow his superior's orders, so he turned around and found the elf patrolman who had set up the checkpoint again.
The patrol captain saw Archer coming over again and said impatiently, "Did what I just said go in your right ear and out your left ear? Emerald Lake is not far from here and the road is very flat.
Go quickly and don’t disturb our work.”
Archer spread his palm to reveal his parrot’s beak: “My guest came by ship from far away, just wanting to enter the Emerald Magic Academy and see his friends who are studying here.
Please let us pass.”
The patrol captain looked at the parrot's beak in Archer's hand and thought he was trying to bribe...
At this time, Jennifer, who was in the carriage, had completed the arrangement of the auxiliary words of the secret technique, and Qingkong whispered the secret words.
“A silver tongue”
The patrol captain was about to drive away the bribed human driver, but as the parrot's beak turned into powder and disappeared, the captain turned to the other patrolmen and said, "Remove the roadblock and let them pass."
The elf patrolmen stationed here immediately carried out the captain's orders.
The roadblock was removed, Archer jumped into the carriage, cracked the whip, and drove towards the castle on the top of the mountain.
Keep going up along the flat mountain road.
The slightly steep road did not make the two horses pulling the cart feel strenuous. They looked so relaxed as if they were walking on a level road.
Qingkong observed the mountain road with great interest and explained to Jennifer the principles of how the road was built.
"Gravity is a downward force. This mountain road contains a magic circle that cleverly uses the curved function axis of the Berl force field to combine with the power of the carriage to form a forward force during the spiral rotation.
For such a long mountain road, every angle change requires a new calculation of the function axis, and it is a very high-precision calculation. The mathematics department of the Jade Magic Academy is very strong. We can invite the mathematics professor here to come to our place and talk about the process of paving this road, which will definitely give us a lot of inspiration. "
Because of Qingkong's explanation, Jennifer suddenly became very interested in this mountain road. She took out a small notebook to record and used measuring tools to use magic distance measurement from time to time. If it weren't for the mission, she would definitely get off the car to do more detailed measurements.
Shelley on the side just stared blankly with eyes wide open.
Because I couldn't understand, I couldn't understand at all, and I didn't know how a very "ordinary" mountain road could make Miss Qingkong and Jennifer so engrossed in talking and listening.
Fortunately, the journey was not far, and after crossing the suspension bridge, we arrived at the gate of the Emerald Magic Academy.
