"Lord Shen Mu, we've seen Zhang Bo secretly dispatch his little monsters to deliver messages."
Right in front of Shen Mu, Elder Polo, the Halfling, was respectfully reporting to Shen Mu: "Furthermore, I have arranged for my nephew to personally keep a close eye on that Zhang Bo's little monsters, ensuring that every little monster is being watched by a Halfling."
"Well done, Elder Polo."
Shen Mu nodded with satisfaction and instructed the Swadian Light Infantry attendant beside him: "While our Halfling friends are working, provide them with extra food supplies. Give them whatever they like to eat, and the food allocation will be double the usual amount."
"Understood." The Swadian Light Infantry attendant immediately nodded solemnly and then turned to inform others of Shen Mu's arrangements.
Elder Polo's face also showed excitement. Upon hearing this arrangement, he quickly bowed respectfully to Shen Mu: "Thank you very much for your generosity, Lord Shen Mu. If possible, we Halflings don't need exquisite cuisine, but if we could have a cup of mead chilled with well water with every meal, that would be wonderful."
"No problem," Shen Mu said with a faint smile, "Each person can only drink one cup of mead. No more is allowed. Don't delay the important work."
"Understood, understood." Elder Polo bowed respectfully again and then left the 3rd floor full of joy.
He returned to the kitchen on the 1st floor of the Castle District.
He told the other ten or so Halflings the good news.
Immediately, those Halflings cheered excitedly.
Even Shen Mu on the 3rd floor faintly heard the excited cheers of those Halflings. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "What an easily satisfied and amiable race."
The Halfling race is inherently quite gentle, known for being an amiable race.
Combat is not something these Halflings are good at.
Including adventuring.
Or rather, anything involving danger is not something these short, weak, and physically ordinary Halflings can participate in.
But why are these Halflings so popular, to the point that even the low-intelligence Ogres in the wilderness won't attack them? The reason is that these Halflings can cook extremely delicious food and are quite famous throughout the world.
At least for Shen Mu, after meeting Liu Na and these Halflings, the food he enjoyed truly satisfied him.
Even now, the food he eats consists of basic bread, vegetables, and meat.
However, with the skills of these Halflings, they can still work wonders with these basic ingredients, creating various textures like crispy, sweet, rich, and soft and glutinous, allowing him to enjoy different taste bud challenges with every meal.
Of course, Shen Mu would have a very good impression of these Halflings.
Furthermore, because of the Halflings' short stature and agility, their strength is not bad in a sense. After all, they need to move and jump between stoves and cutting boards to cook food, so they also have sufficient coordination and the ability to read people's expressions.
In the Spiritual Realm, these Halflings can also be specialized as flexible professionals like thieves, assassins, or archers.
Of course, due to the Halflings' physical limitations and racial restrictions, while they can specialize in these flexible professions, they generally won't reach very high levels.
But that's fine.
For Shen Mu, these Halflings can quietly infiltrate the various corners of Deherim based on their physical abilities and racial advantages.
Completing his surveillance mission is enough.
Especially when Shen Mu already knew that Zhang Bo was a spy sent by the Green Leaf Group, he understood that the racial talent of these Halflings had finally come into play.
Of course, Shen Mu also understood Zhang Bo's vigilance, so he didn't let these Halflings track Zhang Bo himself.
To avoid alerting the enemy.
Instead, having these Halflings track the little monsters is quite effective. And with the racial advantages of these Halflings, compared to those little monsters who are better at thinking but clumsier in action, it's simply a perfect match.
And they won't be discovered by Zhang Bo.
After all, in the entire Deherim, only Zhang Bo has little monsters as his Lingjie Follower.
In this way, these Halflings served a surveillance purpose.
This is also why Elder Polo came to his 3rd floor office this evening to report on Zhang Bo's situation.
The main point of the report was that Zhang Bo had arranged for his little monsters to go to the cluster of buildings outside Deherim, seemingly to deliver something similar to a letter.
Of course, to prevent these Halflings from being discovered, Shen Mu did not let them get close for a detailed investigation. He only needed them to keep a close eye on the little monsters and confirm that something was indeed being transmitted.
Anyway, the transmitted information must be related to the upcoming peace talks.
As the person in charge, Zhang Bo would definitely arrange for the Green Leaf Group to cooperate with him in advance to negotiate the terms of the peace talks.
Trying not to let the Green Leaf Group suffer too great a loss.
"Actually, having a spy is quite good. Some plans that are inconvenient to make can be carried out through these spies." A smile appeared at the corner of Shen Mu's mouth, and this smile also carried a hint of disdain and mockery.
Even without the ninth stage task of eliminating the Green Leaf Group himself, Shen Mu would have directly assembled his troops and completely destroyed the Green Leaf Group.
After all, it should be known that the Green Leaf Group launched a decapitation strike against him. If it weren't for the Mount & Blade System secretly supporting him and providing him with a clear outcome.
Giving him prior preparation.
Then the decapitation strike carried out by the Green Leaf Group would have truly caused Shen Mu heavy losses, even putting his life in danger.
Now Shen Mu has recovered.
Instead, he used the Mount & Blade System's clear indication to launch a satisfying ambush.
While suffering no casualties himself, he caused the Green Leaf Group, which had carried out the decapitation strike and surprise attack, to suffer extremely heavy losses, losses that were crippling.
They have completely lost the possibility of competing with him for dominance.
It can be said they are a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
Of course.
Even as a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, the Green Leaf Group still has its foundation.
Shen Mu was also afraid that they would jump the gun or fight like a trapped beast, going all out and perishing together with him when he attacked.
After all, the life of every Mount & Blade Soldier in his Deherim is extremely precious. If they were to confront the Wood Elves of the Green Leaf Group, which is destined to be destroyed, and perish together, that would be unacceptable to Shen Mu.
Then it would be better to use means to quickly eliminate the Green Leaf Group.
Achieve zero casualties if possible.
If the opponent can be dealt with at the lowest cost, then deal with them in the way that incurs the lowest cost.
"Lord Shen Mu." At this moment, Fatis pushed the door open from outside again: "We have made the arrangements. We can now head to New Uxhall. If we hurry, we should be able to enter New Uxhall by dark."
"Okay, very good, then let's depart." Shen Mu nodded.
This was a plan that had been decided earlier. Elder Polo arranged for the Halflings to keep an eye on Zhang Bo's little monsters.
While he, Shen Mu, would take advantage of this time to go to New Uxhall, where Bandak is located, leaving Deherim to Zhang Bo for detailed planning, and at the same time secretly begin to gather troops in New Uxhall.
As soon as Zhang Bo and the Green Leaf Group determined their considerations for the peace talks and were able to proceed, he would dispatch Zhang Bo to negotiate.
Of course, he would also outwardly grant Zhang Bo great authority, making him fully responsible for this matter.
It could be said he was the person in charge of the peace talks.
But in secret, Shen Mu would absolutely not let the Green Leaf Group off the hook, so he needed a place that would attract attention to gather his troops and form an offensive iron fist.
Now, this New Uxhall is a very good place.
So Shen Mu arranged for Fatis to go to New Uxhall with him.
Arriving at the stables in the Castle District, Holy Tree Knight immediately led Shen Mu's horse.
Shen Mu mounted it quickly and skillfully.
Looking at Fatis and the 20 Holy Tree Knights behind him, he didn't say much, just nodded and waved forward, saying: "Let's go."
Then they all urged their warhorses forward and began to stride.
Passing through the opened connection between the Castle District and the Town Area, they left Deherim through the west city gate.
"Fatis, when we left, did you remind Manid?" Shen Mu rode on his horse, turning his head to look at Fatis, who was half a body behind him: "The defense work cannot be careless, it must be rigorous."
"Don't worry, Lord Shen Mu, I have already reminded Manid, and Lezalit and Bestour will be assisting him." Fatis smiled, without much worry on his face, but rather confidently said: "With Lezalit and Bestour, there won't be any problems. They are also quite professional Generals."
"Well, even if we leave, we must be careful if the surrounding enemies will attack again. After all, those Undead Legions are filling the entire Long City."
Shen Mu saw the confidence on Fatis's face and nodded.
However, at this moment, he also joked with Fatis: "Normally, you wouldn't praise Lezalit and Bestour like this. How come now that they are not in front of you, you are praising them like this? This is not your style."
"Professional matters should of course be left to professionals, and Lezalit and Bestour's professionalism in military matters is also worth praising." Fatis couldn't help but shrug his shoulders here: "Of course, regarding their character, I still have a skeptical attitude."
"That means, Fatis, your character is certainly without any problems, which is why I trust you so much." Shen Mu was very satisfied with this kind of action of recommending the capable without regard to personal feelings.
Of course, if it were enemies, it wouldn't be so exaggerated.
But the good and evil factions truly dislike each other intensely. In a tavern, they might even argue over a single sentence.
Of course, if there were bloodshed, it wouldn't be impossible.
Anyway, the two sides would clash upon seeing each other.
If it weren't for Shen Mu presiding here and bearing the heavy responsibility for the world's safety, they would probably have started arguing long ago.
But the current situation is that both sides can maintain a superficial peace and are working together for Shen Mu.
That's enough.
The sound of hooves echoed.
Shen Mu, Fatis, and the 20 Holy Tree Knights behind them, serving as personal bodyguards, were galloping rapidly on the wide road.
However, during the gallop, the surrounding sky gradually darkened.
It is currently around 5:30 PM.
In about 30 minutes, it will be 6:00 PM, and in this Blue Star World, from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM is a state of absolute darkness lasting for 12 hours.
That is the night ruled under the death spirit rules.
Of course, for Shen Mu, Fatis, and these 20 Holy Tree Knights now, even if night falls, they are not in much danger.
After all, based solely on the combat power of Shen Mu, Fatis, and these 20 Holy Tree Knights.
Even if a Skeleton infantry legion of thousands appeared, before they were completely surrounded and their movements restricted, if they wanted to break out, it wouldn't be impossible.
After all, they are currently in a heavy cavalry state.
Those 20 Holy Tree Knights are the most elite Knights in the Holy Tree Knight Order. Whether it's combat skills, battlefield experience, or the ability to seize opportunities, they are top-tier and invincible.
This is why Shen Mu dared to go to New Uxhall where Bandak was located with Fatis and only these 20 Holy Tree Knights, even knowing it was getting late.
After all, riding a horse to New Uxhall is actually only about a 40-minute journey.
Of course, if they were walking, it would definitely take over an hour.
But the point is, they are currently in a cavalry state.
Their mobility is very fast.
And soon they arrived at the location of the large shopping mall where the Vampire had once been located.
"Have they left?" When Shen Mu arrived at the location of this large shopping mall, he didn't feel his Holy Tree Knight armor warming up slightly.
A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
He knew that after the Vampire Matriarch Isabelle said goodbye to him at that time, it seemed the other party had indeed left here. (End of this chapter)
