Casting spells

After a short rest, early the next morning, this army of monsters continued to march south along the empty wilderness.

In order to hide, they did not choose to take the main road, but crossed the river beach that had just thawed.

A few unlucky hunters and rangers who accidentally bumped into each other ended up becoming food in the stomachs of wargs and winter wolves...

Chapter 456 Battle at the Sea ([-])

On the sea tens of kilometers away from Luskan, a huge fleet of pirates has assembled.

As the nominal monitor sent by the Arcane Brotherhood, Zhang Cheng is currently sitting on the deck of the flagship, flipping through the esoteric books borrowed from the library, while eating the freshly baked fish in the kitchen, completely unafraid The navy of Waterdeep, which is full of vigilance everywhere, is in the eyes.

Of course, this is not because of his arrogance, but due to the lack of artillery, the naval battles in Faerun are mostly completed by ballistas, catapults, bows and ship mages.

Especially mages, often a three-ring arcane - fireball, can cause unimaginable damage to a battleship in an instant, and it is normal to be almost sunk directly.

So there is no need to panic too much before feeling the magical power.

In addition, Xini, an apprentice who inherited the power of the queen of the deep sea, was present. Unless the other party was driving a high-tech or powerful magic warship that could escape gravity, otherwise, when a huge wave went down, all of them would have to go to the sea to feed the fish.

From the beginning to the end, Zhang Cheng had no intention of participating in this naval battle. He just wanted to get rid of the ubiquitous eyeliners in the steeple, and then personally planned an attack to clean up Deltagle and the Harper Alliance from Luskan.

Perhaps in the eyes of many people, the root cause of the Arcane Brotherhood's strength lies in those rebellious high-level mages.

But in his eyes, it was these guys who were constantly fighting among themselves that caused the entire organization to be unable to concentrate its forces on the outside. Otherwise, there would be no need to fear the intervention of Waterdeep City with just a few top mages who could cast nine-ring arcane spells.

Although clearing out these high-level spellcasters will cause the organization to enter a short-term weakening, from the perspective of long-term development, it is equivalent to digging out a huge cancer, making the entire organization more cohesive, no longer acting independently as before, and even It's holding each other back.

However, for Zhang Cheng, whether it is Luskan or the Arcane Brotherhood, they are just toys used to vent the lingering crazy thoughts and desires of destruction in his mind.

He hopes to use these things that require a lot of energy to keep himself rational to a certain extent, and then collect and learn complex and profound magical knowledge in a rational state.

Otherwise, he can't guarantee that after his soul leaves this body, he can still remember all the content he has learned.

"Master! The Fleet of Waterdeep City just sent out a semaphore and wants to send envoys to negotiate with us." When Ian came to the side, he reported in a low voice.

When he was talking, he still didn't forget to glance at the pirate captains not far away who didn't know what they were thinking from the corner of his eye.

Although he was elected as the interim commander of the fleet by virtue of the great prestige brought by the plundering of the port area of ​​Neverwinter City, he knew that these old and cunning guys were not convinced, and kept connecting secretly, waiting to see his own jokes.

Zhang Cheng knew that the pirate captains were fighting openly and secretly, so he didn't intend to intervene in the slightest. He just laughed and joked: "Negotiation? Do they think that war can be avoided under the current situation?"

"My lord, you don't know Waterdeep City. These self-righteous guys always like to put on a high-ranking stance, so I think they are likely to exert pressure through negotiations to force you to take the initiative to bow your head and admit defeat." A 50-year-old Around the age, a man with short silver-gray hair stood up and explained.

"Really, it seems that they think that I will succumb to verbal intimidation like those boneless idiots before?" Zhang Cheng pursed his lips and showed a contemptuous smile.

"That's right! In fact, most of the monitors sent by the Spire in the past would choose to back down during negotiations. So over the years, although we have had frictions and confrontations with the Fleet of Waterdeep City many times, we have never really broken out. Great battle. My lord, are you really planning to go to war this time?" The pirate captain tried with a serious expression.

Not only him, but the other captains who rushed over to hold the battle council all raised their heads, with naked ambition and desire shining in their eyes.

Undoubtedly, the pirates no longer want to endure it any longer, and are eager to use a brilliant victory to prove that they are the masters of this sea area.

"Hehe, I like the look in your eyes. Yes, this time I will not back down, let alone choose to endure, so please return to your own ship and prepare for battle. When the negotiation is over, I will send out a signal, and then you will What we do is to launch an attack immediately to completely defeat and annihilate the Waterdeep City fleet. Tell me, can it be done?" Zhang Cheng bewitched with a half-smile.

"Go to war!"

"Hahahaha! My lord! What we are waiting for is your words!"

"Yes! Let's go to war! Kill the Fleet of Waterdeep City!"

"Let the bastards of Waterdeep City pay the price! The price of blood!"

……

All of a sudden, every pirate captain on the deck couldn't help shouting loudly, wanting to vent all the grievances accumulated over the years.

They don't care about justice and evil. As long as Waterdeep City is defeated, there will be no decent resistance in the Sword Coast area. All passing merchant ships will be like ducks in the lake, allowing them to hunt wantonly.

Appreciating the greedy looks of these vulgar people, Zhang Cheng's eyes flashed with amusement, he turned his head and smiled and said to Ian: "Remember, let those disobedient guys take the lead in a while, and the Fleet of Waterdeep City will help you clean them up." .”

"Hey! Understood, my evil master."

Ian, who understood, opened his mouth and laughed happily, and at the same time gestured to a confidant.

The latter quickly hoisted a flag symbolizing negotiations, and then lowered a small sampan.

Zhang Cheng jumped directly into the boat, let the four sailors paddle, and slowly sailed towards the enemy's flagship a few kilometers away.

About ten minutes later, he boarded an "advanced" warship with a displacement of about [-] tons and a load of at least [-] soldiers.

Of course, this "advanced" is not according to the standards of the people on Earth, but refers to a series of protective magics attached to the ship, such as protective flame barriers, protective arrows, etc., which can make it defend against common methods used in general naval warfare .

"Welcome, envoy from Luskan." A woman in a gorgeous silk robe bent down and bowed gracefully.

She wore a strange mask on her face. No matter who looked at it for the first time, she would immediately feel in a trance, as if her vision had become blurred.

You don't need to ask to know that this is a magic mask, used to conceal the true identity of the wearer.

According to the gossip from Waterdeep City, anyone who wears this mask has only one identity, and that is the mysterious member of the Council of Lords.

After realizing this, Zhang Cheng also bowed down and bowed back: "Thank you very much. I didn't expect that Deep Water City would send a noble lady to negotiate..."

Chapter 457 Battle at the Sea ([-])

"Hehe, didn't Luskan also send you, the Lord of the North Tower?" The woman wearing a magic mask smiled and revealed one of Zhang Cheng's superficial identities.

However, judging from the quantity and quality of the troops on this flagship, she probably didn't know that the young man standing in front of her was not a human being at all, but a terrifying black dragon. Otherwise, there would be at least one or two high-level mages, warlocks or The priest is present.

You must know that the Lord's Council is an administrative system created by Waterdeep City. It selects qualified talents from all walks of life in the city through a series of unknown and secret methods, and then through observation, screening, and voting, it finally decides who will Someone takes the title of "lord" to the highest decision-making level.

And these anonymous people with the title of "lord" are the highest authority governing Waterdeep City. Some of them may be powerful mages, some may be famous adventurers, and some may be businessmen Or a hawker.

Anyway, apart from the sixteen people in the lord's council, no one knew their true identities, and it was even more impossible to figure out which old lord had retired and which new lord had taken over.

Therefore, regarding the sixteen lords, the attitude of the authorities in Waterdeep City has always been strict protection, for fear that one of them will be attacked and kidnapped, which will directly lead to the exposure of the identities of the remaining lords.

What is the worst fear of a political system that relies on hiding identities to ensure the security of decision-makers?

The answer is undoubtedly identity exposure!

Because once the identity is exposed, it means that there may be endless temptations, threats, and revenge. The lords are likely to do things that are not conducive to the safety of their relatives and friends.

Waterdeep City obviously knew this too, and specially made a magic mask that could conceal their identities, and no matter which lord went out, they would be equipped with a large number of guards as needed to ensure that no matter what happened, the lord could escape safely.

But today, Zhang Cheng didn't feel any person or magic item that could threaten him from this battleship.

This also means that he can capture the lord alive and detonate the most feared political crisis in Waterdeep City.

Thinking of this, an imperceptible flicker of madness flashed in his eyes, and suddenly without any warning, his skill caught the opponent's slender neck, and then he smiled and said to the stunned soldiers and guards around him: "Excuse me, everyone, let's negotiate!" It's over. From now on, Luskan and Waterdeep City are officially at war. As for this distinguished lady, she is temporarily my prisoner."