Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest

"...Very good, Luo Xiu."

Albert nodded and walked towards the room.

His eyes first glanced at the thick stack of files on the table. He put his broad palm on it and asked Luo Xiu:

"What did you find?"

"It's all here - the transfer order about Zaska, the map of Kaffrey Fortress, the defenses of surrounding fortresses and towns, and the list of guarding 'executors', etc."

As Luo Xiu spoke, he picked up a file from the table and handed it to Albert, who reached out and took it.

When you unfold it, you will see that it is the "Caffrey Fortress and Surrounding Topographic Map (Military Use)". It is a map drawn on gray-white cowhide, with various marks on it using complex symbols.

Luo Xiu only understood those symbols, and was a little confused about some of the symbols like three circles and inverted triangles - but it didn't matter, as long as Albert could understand them.

Albert's eyes wandered over the newly obtained map, and an excited look gradually appeared on his face.

"well……"

Albert murmured, "With this extremely detailed map, we can formulate expedition plans and make strategic deployments in more detail."

"In addition to this," Luo Xiu then said to Albert, "there is also the general situation of the residents in Caffrey Fortress, the statistics of heavy weapons and various supplies, all recorded in this side of the file. "

As he spoke, Luo Xiu's hand pointed to the other side, to the cowhide file on the other side.

Albert rolled up the previous map first, put it in his arms, and then looked in the direction Luo Xiu pointed.

On the yellow cowhide, densely written text was written in black ink, recording in detail all the basic information about the Caffrey Fortress.

This includes - there are currently more than 24,000 residents in Caffrey Fortress, more than half of whom have a social status of "slaves."

Slaves have no freedom at all, let alone any rights as "human beings". Most of them are refugees who escaped from other places or were displaced due to natural or man-made disasters.

Perhaps due to various reasons, they were not accommodated by the Norland Empire, the Golden Kingdom Federation, and the Holy Tower Theocracy, and ultimately had no choice but to come to the Dark Principality. And because they were penniless, they could only turn to the "Executioner" here. "They sold their freedom in exchange for low-quality food to survive.

And more "slaves" are prisoners of war snatched directly from the battlefield by the Dark Army. Under the "Black Teeth" and "Houshou" under the executioner, they are engaged in the most basic and humble coolies. .

——For example, they go down to mine without any protective facilities and are only allowed 4 hours of rest a day; they are arranged to raise cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock, but they can only eat the same feed as these livestock; as an experiment on the latest taboo technology products, were eventually transformed into "monsters", or died in the forbidden laboratory, etc...

During the "Judgment War", the Dark Principality also set up a slave army, specifically recruiting strong "slaves" to undergo extremely rigorous training to serve as cannon fodder at the forefront of the war, attracting firepower.

Luo Xiu had encountered those "slave armies" who were not afraid of death several times.

Most of the "slave soldiers" have been brainwashed by the extraordinary people of the principality. When they rush to the battlefield, the only thought in their minds is fight, fight, fight.

They have the same armor system as the Black Army, but the internal materials are much different. When these slave armies charge, they are sometimes much more ferocious than the regular army, and they indeed bring a lot of trouble to the empire.

And among the "residents" of Caffrey Fortress——

There are also 40% of people whose social status is "untouchable", that is, the lowest status except being directly deprived of human status like "slaves".

Although the "untouchables" have the minimum personal freedom, in fact, they have been taxed by the "lords", "executors" and "city lords" of the fortress or town where they are, and they will not be able to pay it back after their death. degree--

"Tax has been collected a hundred years later" is not an exaggerated slang for the "untouchables", but a real situation.

In order to pay taxes, their best way out is to join the Dark Army and plunder more slaves or wealth for the Dark Principality.

Part of the slaves and wealth they plundered can be given to them as rewards. Later, this part of the rewards will be used as deed taxes and paid to the lords, city lords and executioners.

Only a very small number of "untouchables" can pay off their debts by joining the war.

And among these people, there are indeed some who have achieved a rise in status through "war" and become "Black Fang", "Hunter" or even the new "Executioner".

In the end, only about 5% of the residents are qualified as "citizens" of the Dark Principality.

Although they can't be called nobles, at least they don't have as terrible tax debts as the "untouchables". They usually have about four or five slaves under their hands, which allows them to pass through the "slaves" without having to work personally. Earn the necessary money.

There are indeed precedents for "untouchables" to eventually become "citizens" of the principality, but they are still rare.

Most of those who became "citizens" of the Dark Principality were originally wealthy gentry or nobles from other countries, and most of them came from the "Norland Empire" and the "Golden Country Federation".

However, because they committed a serious crime or offended those in authority, they were aware of the disaster before it was imminent, so they packed up all the money they could take away, took with them as many relatives as they could, and fled their original country.

For this type of people, the Dark Principality is the most welcoming - as long as they pay 80% of the money and belongings they brought when they fled as tribute, the Principality can grant them the status of "citizens" in the name of the "Dark Duke" , and rewarded them with relatively healthy slaves.

They will not be assigned forced labor or forced military service. The 20% of their money they are allowed to retain can already allow them to live quite comfortably in the principality.

But the principality will also not give them real "power" - "Black Fang", "Hunter", "Executioner", "Executioner" and even "Chief Executioner" are all without exception. Standing out from war or bloody poison-raising training.

Money alone cannot impress the Dark Duke - those who have not undergone the baptism of blood are not qualified to ascend to high positions.

This is the Dark Principality, the most basic social stratification.

The same applies to the current situation at Caffrey Fort.

At this time, Albert's eyes were carefully browsing the entries about the residents of the fortress.

"..."

"Ariel Sigalia..."

Albert pointed to the name of a person listed at the front of "citizen" on the cowhide file and said:

"I know this person."

"I remember that he should be a businessman from a large chamber of commerce in Songyuan City."

"——Sigalia Chamber of Commerce. They accumulated nearly 10 million imperial gold coins at that time, and used this as original capital to establish the 'Sigalia Bank'."

"'Sigalia Bank'...are they from the Golden Kingdom?" Luo Xiu asked casually.

"Yes." Albert nodded.

With a thoughtful and somewhat playful expression on his face, he said:

"I was just a 'Knight of the Throne' at that time, but I also have an impression of what they did at that time."

"The ambitions of the Bank of Sigalia expanded infinitely, until finally, it even wanted to get involved in the military industry of Songyuan Territory and establish a military monopoly."

"..." Luo Xiu scratched his head.

He could probably imagine what the senior executives of Sigalia Bank thought and made such a decision——

Monopolizing the military industry of the entire territory will indeed bring immeasurable huge profits, but on the other hand, if there is no truly high-ranking person, that is, the "Lord of Songyuan Territory" Marquis Vizia Bakar, to endorse it, then what should be done well? Prepare to die violently.

Apparently, Bank of Sigalia ended up violently dying——

"[Supreme] discovered their plot very early."

Albert then said, "After they conducted three arms transactions worth over one million gold coins, we officially wanted them, arrested them immediately, and confiscated their ill-gotten money."

……really!

"But we did not capture the founder of the 'Sigalia Bank'. There seemed to be an informant who placed him in the round table at that time."

Albert went on to say:

"He got the news in advance. The night before the knights of the Round Table entered his mansion, he escaped with his family. He seemed to be disguised as an ordinary merchant from the Kingdom of Gold who had just arrived in Songyuan City."

"At that time, the Round Table sent knights to hunt him down, but we never found any trace of his escape - he seemed to have already contacted all the relevant people on the escape route, as if he had already prepared for this day. Prepared.”

"..."

"So," Luo Xiu also pointed to the name on the file and said, "The founder of Sigalia Bank is this 'Ariel Sigalia'?"

"...Yes." Albert nodded.

But his face was still calm, even calm, and he did not have any emotional fluctuations due to the discovery of this 'fugitive'.

After all, Albert was not involved in that case at that time. He only heard about the entire incident and its results from his colleagues.

"No offense intended."

Luo Xiu suddenly smiled and said:

"To be able to do such a thing from the hands of the [Supreme] and finally successfully escape from death, Mr. Ariel Sigalia is actually quite powerful."

"He is indeed quite powerful." Albert also said and nodded in agreement.

But then, he added another sentence:

"Because at that time, I was not the person responsible for arresting him."

"If it were me, I would never let him escape."

"..."

There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!

Luo Xiu glanced at Albert, and saw the strong self-confidence and arrogance in his eyes that were shining with dark red light.

"indeed."

I wanted to complain about something, but after thinking about it, I held it back. Luo Xiu echoed Albert and said something.

He continued:

"Caffrey Fortress has been put under martial law, and because the fortress was breached very quickly, it should be difficult for Mr. Ariel Sigalia to escape."

"I have issued an order to my priests and the [Supreme] Knights you entrusted to me. Until tomorrow, all the original residents of Caffrey Fortress are not allowed to go out. If anyone who violates the prohibition is found on the streets, All residents of Caffrey Fortress will be arrested.”

"You can go meet this 'old friend' later, Lord Albert. He may be in his mansion or in prison - but in any case, as someone who escaped to the Dark Principality early and successfully obtained the status of 'citizen', we may be able to learn more from him."

Luo Xiu said this, and then he continued to show Albert other sorted files.

Some trivial but unimportant files were quickly sorted into another pile and piled on a half-high low table next to them.

Because Luo Xiu always dealt with such complicated matters, it didn't take him and Albert to finish these files together.

And when they finished processing these files, Luo Xiu showed Albert about the large amount of money and rare treasures that Zaska had hidden in the official residence.

However, these money or treasures were not very important to Luo Xiu or Albert. Albert just took a general look, estimated their approximate value in his heart, and put them aside.

According to the agreement between Luo Xiu and Albert, most of these money and treasures will belong to the church, and Luo Xiu will distribute half of them to the "Saint Guardians" of the church as a reward for their fearlessness in carrying and detonating the "Skull of the Martyr".

Albert naturally did not notice that a scroll of "Ancient Heritage" had been lost in it.

Albert's reaction seemed indifferent, which was also the result that Luo Xiu was happy to see.

He then acted very indifferent, and just closed the thick lid of the last treasure chest, letting the dazzling light inside continue to sleep.

Then, he and Albert took away several files that should be "top secrets", and walked out of Zaska's room and the official residence with Albert, and came to the courtyard.

When Luo Xiu and Albert arrived at the courtyard of the official residence, the bodies of the "Black Fangs" and "Fang Heads" that were lying here before had been cleaned up by the throne knights standing guard outside.

However, there were still traces of blood in the courtyard, which were splashed on the flowerbed or twistedly smeared on the wall corridor. It seemed that through these remaining traces, one could still guess what had happened here before.

When the "general" Albert of the side court and the "bishop" Luo Xiu of the church walked out of the official residence together, the three "throne knights" Haburgen, Shar and Ignaz came to them together and bowed respectfully to the two high-ranking people.

Luo Xiu smiled and nodded in response to their courtesy, while Albert just nodded slightly, and then ordered in a deep and low voice:

"Harburg, you can go in, clean up the extra traces inside, take away the files left on the table in the innermost room, and deal with those things that cannot be made public."

"Then, Ignaz. You go find the "Royal Knights" patrolling nearby and prepare to confiscate the money and property in this mansion, as well as some equipment and props."

"Shar, you remain in the courtyard and monitor any possible remaining enemy's prying nearby."

"After Ignaz leads the "Royal Knights" to arrive, you select four "Royal Knights" to continue to stand guard, and then go in with Ignaz and lead the rest of the "Royal Knights" to take out everything you can take away."

"Understood."

"Throne Knights" Harburg, Shar and Ignaz bowed and nodded at the same time, indicating that they had received and understood General Albert's order.

Then, following Albert's order, the three throne knights took action.

Albert and Luo Xiu left the courtyard of the official residence at the same time and went to the "Border Court" and "Church" garrisons respectively.

There was nothing worth noting in this official residence.

They should also return to their respective positions and make some necessary arrangements for the knights of the "Border Court" and the clergy of the "Church" after they entered the Kavri Fortress.

...

After that, after Albert and Luo Xiu returned to their respective garrisons and arranged for the Border Court and Church personnel to enter the Kavri Fortress, Albert sent people to investigate "Ariel Sigalia" at the same time, and this old financial tycoon was indeed still hiding in the mansion of the Kavri Fortress.

When the knights sent by Albert finally found this "Ariel Sigalia", he was lying on a hard bed that looked quite simple, and there were various medicines on the bedside table, and a basin full of blood and phlegm under the bed.

He was nearly eighty years old at this time, and he was seriously ill, half paralyzed, and could no longer get out of bed.

Now Ariel Sigalia, he needed to rely on others to serve him for food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Although Ariel had already received the news of the Red Maple City expeditionary force through his channels, and had the judgment that the expeditionary force would sooner or later break through the Kaveri Fortress, he really didn't want to run anymore.

It's not that he didn't want to, but he really couldn't run anymore--

According to the report of the knights who went to the Sigalia mansion at that time, when the knights found Ariel Sigalia, he behaved very cooperatively and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the "Bianting" to take over the Kaveri Fortress, but only asked not to put him in prison-his body couldn't stand the tossing now.

Albert did not respond to Ariel Sigalia's request immediately, but asked the knights to keep Ariel under strict supervision, and he had to do more important work first.

...

Until noon.

Main Street of Kaveri Fortress - In a hall diagonally opposite the original official residence, "Expedition Commander" Albert Perez, "Bishop" Rossu Carlos, and "Great Knowledge" Irfan and Eureka, gathered here.

At the same time, all the extraordinary people of the expeditionary army with "Triple Destiny" and above gathered here, but not including players who have been promoted to this level.

They gathered here to discuss and finally decide the direction after the "Expedition" -

"Our ultimate goal is to conquer the capital of the border - the deserted city, 'Fafnir City'."

Albert said first:

"We have taken the first step and captured the 'Kaveri Fortress'."

"Next - we will go to and capture the first town since the expedition."

"-'Latama City'."

"This is our next goal of the 'Expedition'."

...