When Lord Wells and his subordinates hurried to the top of the city walls, it was already deep into the night. In the distance, two shimring points of light were winding their way toward the fortress.
"What on earth is that?"
Watching the moving lights in the distance, Lord Wells and the others exchanged puzzled looks. As a Legendary Powerhouse, although Lord Wells appeared to be in his seventies or eighties, he was still robust. Even in the dark of night, he could tell that it seed to be so sort of strange Magitech Vehicle, but unlike the carriage-like Magitech Vehicles he had seen at the White Tower, this one had an oddly flat body like a waffle, and it was actually fitted with six enormous wheels... What kind of design was this? What odd contraption had those Mages from the White Tower tinkered up this ti?
The strange-shaped Magitech Vehicle was not slow in speed, and as Lord Wells was lost in thought, he saw the vehicle roaring towards the fortress on the road. Then, with the screech of friction, everyone saw the Magitech Vehicle skid to a stop not far from the fortress gates, and then its side doors opened (they actually opened upwards), and a young nobleman got out of the vehicle and waved at them.
"Who are you?!"
Gazing at the young man below the city wall, Lord Wells asked in a low voice. The young man, however, just waved his hand and then imdiately began to reply.
"My na is Fang Zheng, invited by the Sanctuary to aid the Northern Fortress... Can you open the gates?"
"...Fang Zheng?"
Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s answer, Lord Wells furrowed his brow and recalled for a mont. The na seed familiar, yet he could not rember where he had heard it. However, since he had an impression of the na, it ant this person must have a not-so-shallow connection with the Sanctuary; after all, Lord Wells was the Knight Captain, and the nas of ordinary nobles and soldiers would certainly not be worthy to reach his ears.
"Do you have docunts from the Sanctuary?"
"Of course."
Upon hearing Lord Wells’s inquiry, Fang Zheng took out an envelope from his breast pocket. With a flick of his finger, the envelope shot out like a bullet, flying over the several dozen ter-high city walls towards Lord Wells.
"Oh?"
This display piqued Lord Wells’s interest in the young man. A common person wouldn’t dare such a feat. To send a letter into his hands over such a distance with a re flick suggested the young man below was not lacking in strength; at his age, this was enough for Lord Wells to look upon him with respect.
As this thought flashed through Lord Wells’s mind, the Old Paladin too reached out and dexterously caught the flying envelope, then carelessly opened it and carefully examined the contents. As Lord Wells had anticipated, it contained a docunt from the Sanctuary, but the content was sowhat unexpected. It ordered Lord Wells and the Northern Fortress to cooperate with this young man nad Fang Zheng, to jointly repel the oncoming Demon Beast tide.
Cooperate?
Seeing this, even the Old Paladin doubted whether he was seeing incorrectly or reading a fake docunt. His Legion had been guarding the Northern Fortress for decades, and now he was expected to act in concert with such a young man? Had it not been for the stamps of the Pope and the Highest Bishop, he would have doubted the authenticity of the docunt.
But then again, even if it were a forged docunt, it wouldn’t make up such preposterous content, right? Indeed, the docunts treated the other party not as a subordinate, but as an equal to the Sanctuary. Yet in the Old Paladin’s mory, save for the Magitech Nation, no such forces existed. Could it be the Kingdom of Fla or the Land of Wealth? This was indeed puzzling.
"Open the gates!"
After confirming the docunt was authentic, Lord Wells imdiately issued the command. Upon hearing the order from the Old Paladin, the tightly shut gates slowly opened. anwhile, Fang Zheng climbed back into his vehicle, and soon everyone heard the strange Magitech Vehicle roar into life, then it spun around on the spot, and with a "whoosh" dashed into the fortress.
Who exactly was this young man?
With such questions in mind, the crowd hastened down from the city walls. They were quite curious about this; the current Northern Fortress was a dangerous place, and ordinary people couldn’t co here without the Sanctuary’s permission. And here was this young man, driving such an odd Magitech Vehicle... what was he here for?
"Hm, this is the Northern Fortress... the air is quite fresh."
Stepping out of the landing vehicle, Fang Zheng stretched languidly as he looked at the Northern Fortress before him. He was "well-acquainted" with the Northern Fortress; after all, his initial journey to the Dark Marsh was a result of the Cultists destroying the fortress’s logistical base and then getting caught by Fang Zheng and Fina.
However, for that reason, Fang Zheng had never actually visited the Northern Fortress since then, only heard others ntion it. Now observing it firsthand, there didn’t seem to be anything special about its exterior: the walls were a bit taller, there were more soldiers around, and it seed to have a few Magitech Conductor Turrets set up... Hm, seed to be all?
"Ugh..."
At that mont, from another side, the other girls also stumbled out of the vehicle. Natsuse’s complexion was slightly better, as she stepped down from the co-driver’s seat as if she were floating. However, Tina and Fumie Busei were deathly pale, leaning against the window as if they were on the verge of departing this world.
Nobiru was even unluckier. She staggered trying to step out of the vehicle, only to trip over the car door and fall headfirst to the ground with a "thud"—and then she didn’t get up again.
"Ah, these kids really can’t take it."
Looking back at Fumie Busei, Natsuse, and the others, Fang Zheng shook his head helplessly. Clearly, the youngsters were still too tender, not understanding the joy of speeding.
"Greetings, Mr. Fang Zheng."
Just then, Lord Wells also descended from the city walls with his subordinates and approached Fang Zheng. He glanced at Fang Zheng before him, then at the girls behind him who were still panting for breath, his eyebrows imperceptibly furrowed. Nevertheless, the Old Paladin spoke.
"Welco to the Northern Fortress."
"Ah, you must be Lord Wells, I have long admired your reputation..."
As he looked at the old Paladin in front of him, Fang Zheng also hurriedly shook hands with him. Before coming to the Northern Fortress, he had heard of Wells’s reputation—a rather old-fashioned Paladin but one with a strong sense of honor. Not to ntion the fact that he had been able to guard the borderlands of the Land of Order in this forsaken Northlands for decades, sothing beyond the capability of most.
Furthermore, Wells was one of the few Knight Captains of the Sanctuary, not soone exiled to the frontier due to political struggles. With just a word from Wells, he could return to the prosperous Holy City and enjoy a life of ease, but the old man was able to resist such temptations and stoically defended this place for many years. That alone spoke volus about his noble character.
"Mr. Fang Zheng, I have already seen the docunts from the Sanctuary... Frankly speaking, our current situation is indeed not great, but..."
While speaking, Wells glanced at Fang Zheng and the vehicle behind him.
"...I would like to inquire about the reinforcents ntioned in the letter... Is it just a few of you?"
"Of course not."
Fang Zheng shook his head.
"It’s just that we heard the front-line situation is urgent, so we ca ahead to help solidify positions. I wouldn’t want our reinforcents to arrive only to find this place in ruins... Well, it seems we’re still in ti..."
"I see."
Relieved by Fang Zheng’s answer, Wells knew the Sanctuary would not send just a few people as reinforcents—not for an order signed by both the Highest Bishop and the Pope.
"Although it seems a bit late, would you mind if I asked about the current situation?"
"Of course not."
Wells was clearly not one to waste ti; with every second counting, he had no ti to conduct a welcoming ceremony. So, as soon as Fang Zheng asked, Wells imdiately nodded and turned to walk towards the fortress.
"Co with ."
"Alright."
Fang Zheng hurried to follow Wells, and he also didn’t forget to gesture to the few girls with him to rest.
"Rest up for a bit, and wait for my command to act."
"Yes... Big Brother..."
After following Wells to the command center and being introduced by the old Paladin, Fang Zheng quickly understood the current situation.
"So, you plan to completely abandon the first line of defense?"
Looking at the map before him, Fang Zheng frowned, and Wells nodded.
"Currently, we do not have enough manpower... and... the wall of the first line of defense is about to be breached, we don’t have enough ti to repair it."
"But if we abandon the first line of defense, the horde will swarm in... Can just this line of defense hold them off?"
"Indeed, it will be tough, but we are not entirely without..."
"Thud thud thud!"
Before Wells could finish, a series of urgent knocks on the door sounded. Then, without waiting for Wells to respond, a soldier hurriedly pushed the door and rushed into the command center.
"Report to Master Wells! A report from the front line says the Demon Creatures are amassing again, and an attack will soon be launched! Furthermore, according to the report, there seem to be Lord-Class Demon Beasts among the horde!"
"What!?"
Hearing this, Wells’s eyes widened in shock, and then his expression changed.
"That’s bad!"
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