"Have you finished the inventory? The party is about to start..."
"Right away, there's a batch of spare clothing in aisle 4, wait for me..."
Perlis secretly looked out from the gap between the trapdoor and the ground. What appeared in front of her was a huge circular room. The room was full of goods on all sides, and there were countless passages leading into the room on the walls. Those passages were much wider than the one Perlis was in, and could accommodate hand trucks.
Wait... the path below me is a combination of a trapdoor and a ladder, this doesn't make sense... do they have to climb up with the goods on their backs...
All signs indicate that the road under Polys is indeed not a so-called freight channel, at least its original design intention was definitely not a freight channel.
This is definitely an escape route... definitely...
So, how many poor workers transported goods here before this road was abandoned...
Perlis sighed, and her eyes scanned the circular room through the gap, and finally saw the two people talking in front of a pile of cargo boxes:
"Oh, the clothes don't matter. Those servants don't need new clothes. Just leave them there for now. That stinky young master will be mad if he doesn't get a report on time..."
They were two well-dressed men, one looked like a butler and the other looked like a servant.
"Well...what else..." The servant looked timid and seemed to have just started.
"No more, no more. Let's go quickly. We still need to make sure the kitchen has enough supplies. Hurry up."
"well..."
Under the butler's scolding, the servant-like man left in a hurry holding a notebook.
The butler glanced around the circular warehouse, and his eyes passed by the trapdoor where Pearlis was. Pearlis subconsciously clenched her butterfly knife.
But the butler didn't seem to notice the abnormality of the trapdoor. He looked away and sighed:
"Alas, the harvests of the past two years have all been wasted here. I have to send some food back home for the winter..."
Then the housekeeper left the room and closed the door.
There was deathly silence in the circular room. Perlis listened quietly for a while. After making sure that there was no one around, she pushed open the trapdoor and stepped onto the solid ground.
This circular room was obviously the warehouse of the Iron Fortress. The whole room was almost the size of several halls in the Monarch Mansion and was filled with goods. The exits were marked next to the passages on the walls. This was obviously a direct passage for transporting goods from all corners of Wanren Mountain to the Iron Fortress.
But obviously, the original purpose of this room was not a warehouse.
Secret passages leading to various parts of Wanren Mountain, huge halls, hidden trap doors...
After a little consideration, Perlis came to the conclusion that this was most likely a marching hall used for stealth combat during the warlords' melee before the War of Unification.
From here, the former owner of the Iron Fortress could deploy troops to any corner of Wanren Mountain without anyone noticing.
So the passage that Perlis took was not an escape passage. If we had to give it a proper name, "invasion passage" would be more appropriate.
The Thebits...really built everything on war...
Perlis sighed. She began to feel a little troubled about the guys in the Iron Fortress.
However, now that they have successfully entered the Iron Fortress, the next step is naturally to find Ivar and end this journey that has gradually made Perlis tired.
Perlis lowered her head to check the factor bracelet. Most of the factor energy reserves had been consumed in the duel with Yelena at Monark Mansion. Now the remaining ones could only barely maintain her factor shield, and it was impossible to attack by force.
If he wanted to sneak in, the "banquet" mentioned by the butler just now seemed to be a good entry point. If Ivar was in the Iron Fortress now, he would most likely go to the banquet.
Is there any good way to sneak into a party without anyone noticing?
Perlis lowered her head and looked at her shirt and skirt which were covered with dust and stains from the journey. Even though the shield could protect her from the cold, it could not protect her from the mud on the Wanren Mountain. She was so sloppy that she would definitely not be able to fit in at a formal banquet.
Perlis gently picked up a bunch of pure white hair on her shoulders and gently rolled it between her fingertips. This long white hair was too conspicuous. Not to mention others, Ivar would definitely recognize her at the first time, and then there would be no way to kill him without anyone noticing.
What should I do?.. ?
While thinking, Perlis's eyes swept across the box containing servants' clothes that the butler and the servant had counted earlier. She walked over and picked up a maid outfit from it.
Uh... Although this may seem a bit hurtful to my self-esteem, if I pretend to be the Iron Lord's maid, will I have a chance?
Holding the maid uniform, Perlis hesitated for a moment, then sighed helplessly.
After confirming that there was indeed no one in the warehouse, Perlis slowly began to take off her clothes. After taking off the regular clothes she had been wearing since the battle to recapture Charon, she chose the smallest one from the pile of maid outfits and put it on.
Perlis looked down at herself in the maid outfit. She had to admit that it actually fit her well and looked pretty good, but...
My chest feels a little... empty?
"Ugh!" Perlis's face suddenly turned red, and then she stomped her feet in annoyance.
Is the average size of Thebit women this big? !
Thinking of the mature appearance of the [Angel] she had fought not long ago, Perlis sighed in frustration.
I probably won't be able to achieve that kind of look in my lifetime...
After calming down, Perlis put away her clothes and hid the butterfly knife in her sleeve as usual.
She found a maid's hat with lace trim, and after putting her pure white hair into a high bun, she used the hat to cover her hair as much as possible, at least making her snow-white long hair less conspicuous.
So, let’s start, huh?
After doing all this, Perlis calmed herself down and walked towards the warehouse door.
......
"What...what are you going to do?"
"I repeat, I'm going to the Iron Fortress."
At the gate of Monarch Mansion, Pace was checking the cargo boxes on the carriage, while Vance was looking at him with an unreasonable expression.
The snowstorm eased slightly, and although the strong winds were no longer as chilling, they still dyed the Monarch Mansion and the surrounding mountains and fields a vast expanse of white.
"Are you...are you crazy..." Vans' voice was a little hoarse, "No...what are you thinking about?"
"Perlis is in danger alone. I can't let her take risks alone."
After everything was confirmed, Pace walked across the snow to Vance, took out the Monarch family emblem from his pocket and handed it to Vance.
"When I'm away, you'll be the head of the Monarch family and take good care of everyone."
Vance took the badge and stared at it for a few seconds as if he was looking at something strange. Then he shook his head decisively:
"No, I can't."
"You have to do it. This is your duty as the second son."
Pace said as he grabbed Vance's hand and stuffed the badge into his hand. Vance stared at the badge in his hand for a while as if in fear, then raised his head, his eyes became empty:
"Then...what about you?" Vans murmured, "What about your duties...?"
Hearing the word "duty", Pace lowered his head slightly and closed his eyes.
Whenever he closed his eyes, that picture always appeared before him.
A dead body by the fireplace.
Over the years, the nightmare scene by the fireplace has accompanied him through countless nights, and he has numbed himself with alcohol countless times to escape from the nightmare.
But now, it's time to put an end to the inner demons with your own hands.
Pace opened his eyes, his gaze was firm. He put a hand on Vans' shoulder, leaned his face closer, and exhaled a breath of hot air in the cold wind:
"Brother, I won't run away this time..."
There was a kind of determination burning in those dark eyes that Vans had never seen before, which made him feel a little unfamiliar.
"I will avenge Lyanna, and I will get Perlis out of there alive."
After saying that, Pace patted Vans on the shoulder and then turned and walked towards the carriage.
As he stepped into the carriage, he heard a heart-wrenching cry from behind him:
"Lianna is dead! You couldn't protect her, and now you're going to abandon us!?"
The cold winter wind blew across his cheeks, and Pace closed his eyes weakly. He didn't have the courage to look back at Vans's expression. He was only worried that it would destroy the determination he had built up with great difficulty.
Without the courage to look back, Pace gently urged the horse under him, and the horse's hooves stepped on the frozen ground, carrying him slowly into the raging cold wind.
Pace looked up and saw the huge steel fortress standing on the distant mountain.
......
6) Blood and Steel (Part 5)
"Across the gullies between the mountains (Thebite)..."
"Climbing the snowy peaks and splitting the clouds in the sky (Thebite)..."
"Send a battle cry to the distant tower, and answer with a code of blood and steel (Thebite)..."
The Iron Fortress, a huge city surrounded by four tall towers, is said to be one of the largest fortifications built since the ancestors climbed the snowy peaks.
The huge city was divided into countless parts. Most of the buildings belonged to the high-level military offices of the [Infinite Iron Legion], and a few belonged to the direct lineage of the Irenforno family. The Irenforno family was located in the huge castle that stood like a giant in the center of the city. In a world that seemed to be covered with a layer of fog by the blizzard, only the millions of windows on the steel fortress were still shining.
On the mountain where the Iron Fortress rests, more than a dozen giant 900mm mountain cannons [Sventovitt] face the Charon Plain. After the Unification War, defected scientists from the Federation transformed and upgraded them, making their range almost reach the territory of Grau Yad in the south of Thebite.
Sitting on the snow-capped peak is such a huge and dangerous ancient fortress. Except for the change of power during the War of Unification, the iron fortress has never been breached.
It is such a fortress with both strategic and humanistic significance. At this moment...
"Ah~ Sprinkle the fine wine into the frozen soil as a memorial—"
"Cut this crappy classical music for me!"
In the banquet hall of the Iron Fortress, Venia Irenforno was waving the wine glass in front of the huge table in front of the French window and shouting loudly. The wine spilled on the red carpet in front of the table with his large-scale movements. The classical banquet hall was decorated with fancy ribbons, and the model tree wrapped with lanterns was placed on the same wall with the solemn murals.
Countless lords from all over Wanren Mountain were gathering in the huge banquet hall that had been arranged earlier, enjoying the rich wine and meat on the table. Most of them were wearing leather clothes made of tanned deerskin, and some slightly stronger families were wearing furry bear skins. Regardless of what their clothes were made of, they formed a strong contrast with Venia, who was dressed like a playboy behind the wooden table. In this hall decorated with lights, the lords looked like primitive people entering the city, out of place.
A large number of maids serving the Irenforno family were carrying plates and walking among the guests, providing service. They were all wearing standard maid uniforms, and their faces were all fake smiles like masks. Most of the lords looked sad, and only a few of them could immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the banquet.
"Tsk... you fancy brat, you're just pretending to be your mother..." A certain lord looked at Venia who was yelling behind the wooden table with a look of disdain. But his voice was drowned out by Venia's.
"My Lords! Thank you all for coming to my 21st birthday party!"
Venia stood up with a microphone in his hand. The noisy atmosphere suddenly quieted down and all the lords looked at him.
"We are going through a difficult period. Winter is coming, but the harvest of most manors is not enough to fully support the winter. For this reason, I invite you to enjoy the delicacies and wines at my banquet to prepare for the coming blizzard!"
Venia looked very enthusiastic, but the lords in the audience did not look happy. Most of them looked at him gloomily. If he was not the son of the Iron Lord, he would have been torn to pieces by this group of Thebits who valued strength above all else.
After the Unification War, Iron Lord Mikhail Irenfono brought all the former warlords of the Ten Thousand Mountains under his command and laid the foundation for the Thebite Confederacy. All lords must gather here when the Iron Fortress regime calls, which is one of the rules of Iron and Steel.
However, this principle established to unify strength has now become a means for Venia to host banquets and show off his strength.
After Charon's rebellion, all I-Tran caravans were blocked outside of Loton and could not enter the city to trade, which made it impossible for the lords on the Wanren Mountain to obtain winter supplies. In addition, the inexplicable decrease of the destructive factors on the mountains this year meant that the factor energy base systems of most manors could not protect crops from surviving the cold winter, which made it impossible for most civilians in the lords' fiefdoms to make a living. The current winter has become extremely long.
However, at this time, the food on the banquet table of the Iron Fortress was enough to cover their harvest for two years.
While the rich wine and meat smell, the road with frozen bone.
Seeing that the lords were all gloomy, Venia was not at all upset, as if he had said such words just to make the lords feel unhappy.
Under the gaze of everyone, Venia cleared his throat and clapped his hands:
"Come on, main course!"
......
How ironic...
Perlis leaned against the kitchen door, secretly looking at Venia's smug look.
It can only be said that this did surprise her a little. She thought that a person like the Iron Lord should have a son like him, or... a son who is more "Thebithi"?
But now the stinky young master behind the main table was no different from the fancy rich second-generations that Perlis had seen in Ravis.
A self-righteous attitude, coupled with the large amount of resources received from the previous generation, makes them feel that they are born this way and are born superior to others.
I'm afraid he has never truly faced the cold wind of Thebeth.
While she was deep in thought, a loud roar came into Perlis's ears:
"What are you daydreaming about! Hurry up and bring the food over!"
Perlis turned her head slightly and saw the bad-tempered cook getting angry at her. Most people in the kitchen were running around in a hurry, and the cook was already busy and exhausted. At this time, he was looking at Perlis who was leaning against the wall and taking out his anger on her.
"You lazy bastard, are you still looking? Hurry up and move!"
"Ah! Okay! Sorry!"
Perlis immediately pretended to be timid, then picked up the plate covered with a silver plate cover and walked into the banquet hall.
The classical music that previously filled the hall had been replaced by cheerful pop music, which seemed somewhat out of place in the iron fortress. Most of the lords silently ate the feast on the table as if they had accepted their fate. Most of them wanted to shout out some radical Thebit-style speeches, but when they saw the starving children around them devouring this last sumptuous feast of winter like wolves, they couldn't bear to do it.
