I have a long-lived pawn shop.

The shadow of the moon lingered above the forest. The light morning mist passed over the beech treetops and flowed slowly along the quiet lake. A few trout were hiding in the waves. The light red fish tails were lifted, and the water splashed, raising a circle of sparkling silver light.

Northern Front, temporary headquarters on the outskirts of Douai, Bottero-Artois Department.

Bottero borders the Caffa Empire to the west and north, and the Korba Federation to the east. As a small country sandwiched between the two, its national strength cannot be compared with its powerful neighbors, and it is also a strategic location, which is in danger of being destroyed at any time. Therefore, before the war, Bottero always tried to please both sides, and it had been so smooth for many years... But it was safe for so many years not because of the rulers' superb means, but because Caffa and Korba wanted to maintain a delicate balance. Now that the balance is broken, Bottero will no longer exist in an instant.

At this moment, this country is like a cork relative to the entire continent, and every piece of land is soaked with blood.

Emperor Odin was an extremely courageous "dictator" who would even personally command the front line. Generally speaking, emperors who were used to staying in the rear often did not receive any preferential treatment from experienced veterans. Although they had to maintain superficial respect, this could not prevent the generals from privately doubting and worrying. Who could guarantee that every monarch was an outstanding military strategist? Most of the time, the monarchs of the royal family who were overconfident but poor in actual ability played a role of dragging their feet.

But Emperor Odin was different. He rose to power through a series of rebellions. Apart from his status as an emperor, his brilliant military achievements were enough to make any general respect him. Moreover, this monarch trusted his people and delegated power to Marshal Marton Lawrence. With the silent efforts of old Marton, the cumbersome and bloated military system of the Kafa Empire was eliminated. He reorganized the army, equipped them with new weapons, and built a railway system that extended in all directions, pushing the Kafa Empire to become a truly efficient military machine.

The battle of St. Gallen was just an appetizer. It took only half a month from the beginning of the war to the end. After old Marton led his army to a lightning victory, Emperor Odin used high-pressure means to force his officers to quickly accept the new model of military planning proposed by old Marton.

In the past, there were too many improvisations in war plans. Now some officers have been selected to form a staff, and they will theoretically formulate different war plans, and these war plans also take into account many factors.

The General Staff does not directly command the front-line operations, but it must always conduct battlefield simulations based on the latest intelligence obtained, deploy supplies and troops, liaise and command mechanical and naval forces, and formulate corresponding response plans for possible accidents.

Emperor Odin was the direct controller of the General Staff, but the northern, eastern and southern fronts were directly led by their respective chiefs of staff and commanders. His Majesty's whereabouts were erratic, and he would often appear in front of the most difficult fronts. Commanders and chiefs of staff would mostly only receive news when Emperor Odin was about to arrive. This ant-moving-like behavior not only confused the spies' judgment, but also showed that the emperor did not intend to be an arbitrary tyrant from beginning to end in marching and fighting.

Except for some critical and unexpected moments, he would make the most decisive decisions with an irrefutable attitude - those decisions were often proved to be correct afterwards, or at least able to obtain the greatest benefits. At other times, he played the role of listening to many ideas and then giving his own evaluation and opinions.

"If the Korba Federation intercepts us from Skaven Island, they can easily cut off our maritime connection with Flyer and control the entire Astana inland sea route. I think under the current situation, we still have to be prepared to deal with such emergencies..."

"Mr. Farina, I don't mean to question your judgment, but I think it's a bit strange that you made such a judgment based on a 'sea defense line' that none of us know about..."

There was chaos and noise in the operations meeting room.

Emperor Odin stood in front of the battle map in silence, as if he was thinking. The fingers of his left hand tapped on the broad and smooth chestnut-black table in the conference room. The war sandbox in the center of the table was filled with chess pieces. Emperor Odin and the officers deduced the battle situation. Hundreds of people died under those detailed orders, but the emperor was always as calm as if he was playing a game of chess with an old friend.

Until a letter arrived.

Odin saw the letter in the herald's hand and the silver and blue wax seal on it - only urgent letters from the "Saint of Sin" project would be stamped with such an emblem.

After opening the letter and quickly reading it, the emperor put the letter in his hand down and looked up at the herald.

The messenger understood his look and said, "It was sent from the intelligence personnel at the Perpetual Motion Institute headquarters. There is no problem with the process."

The emperor rubbed his forehead and put the letter down. He actually sent someone to remind that all candidates for the "Saint of Sin" would be assigned to the killing corps and sent to the battlefield after two days of rest, while Abigail would be assigned two days later to contact the Black Cross Legion first.

As a result, the Countess never returned after entering the Perpetual Motion Institute headquarters, and never went to the Black Cross Legion base. According to intelligence personnel, she was detained:

Count Abigail tried very hard but still failed to leave. Two female mechanics who specialized in electrical engineering simply held onto the Count's clothes and lay on the ground, unable to get up. They said something like "You are the key to my thoughts. I am willing to accompany you to complete the rest of my life journey, as long as I can listen to your teachings by your side." When the mechanics who were about to give up saw this scene, several of them stopped beside them involuntarily, and seemed to be very tempted by this idea...

——That group of mechanics successfully transformed the headquarters, which represented the pinnacle of technology, into a salon dance hall, and got everyone to join in the fun. The messy performance art was all over the place, and all the serious and formal plans were disrupted by them.

The several notebooks given to them by Count Abigail were treated as treasures. At least three people were discussing with the Countess at each time period - yes, they even arranged a schedule thoughtfully to squeeze every minute of the Countess - it was as if Abigail conquered the Perpetual Motion Institute in one day, bewitched them with incredible charm, and became the queen of their salon...

Emperor Odin stared at the letter, his eyes twitching slightly. It seemed that everything involving the crazy people at the Perpetual Motion Institute headquarters was full of twists and turns, and soon after each incident, the situation would strangely slide into an uncontrollable abyss. If the person facing these things was a control freak, he would soon be emotionally broken.

The emperor sighed softly, lit a fire and burned the letter. He had not rested for a day and a night because of the battle on the front line, and his eyes were full of fatigue. He was an old man after all, and although the psychic used his power to maintain his health, running around in so many places and issuing so many orders still greatly consumed his physical strength.

The chief steward Bangdang had been staying beside the emperor. He stared at Odin's face, and kept hesitating whether to persuade this monarch who did everything by himself to have a rest. As the war progressed, he became more and more in awe of this old man. He controlled the royal family and nobles of the small country like the most skilled puppeteer controlling a group of puppets. A powerful person who controlled countless silk threads... was like a giant spider sitting in the center of a spider web!

Without Emperor Odin's iron-fisted approach, the Kafa Empire would not have been able to gain such a huge advantage over opponents of the same level.

"Go and find Xisian and have him wait in the suite outside my living room." The emperor suddenly ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The emperor nodded, left his staff to continue the discussion, and left the meeting room with the chief steward first.

This temporary headquarters is actually a small castle in a remote location. There is only a small village and a large lake nearby. The castle was probably used as a resting place for nobles when hunting, so it is not big and there are not many bedrooms. The general manager Bang Dang spent a lot of effort to prepare a bed that is comfortable enough, hoping that the emperor can have a good sleep.

It was a large cherry wood bed with thick and soft cushions, a silk quilt on the velvet sheets, and gilded patterns of flowers, plants, birds and animals on the edges. The bedroom was filled with a faint scent of benzoin, and comfortable silk robes were hung in the closet. The beige wool carpet with gold embroidery was very thick, and one felt as if one would sink into it when stepping on it. Even someone who was not sleepy would feel sleepy because of this environment.

When Cicero, following Bondang, was allowed into the bedroom, he thought he would see the emperor taking a nap on the bed, but Odin was not resting. He was standing neatly by the window, looking at the lake in the distance.

In the past, when there was no war, many nearby farmers liked to fish in this area when they had nothing to do. Even at night, nobles seeking pleasure would row their boats through the morning mist. The warm yellow light on the bow of the boat looked like a dream in the milky white mist - but it was obvious that this scene had not appeared for a long time.

The lake was desolate and silent at this time. The scattered and hazy stars and the morning light roughly outlined the shape of the water ripples. The water ripples in the summer during the war looked even colder than those in the winter, as if they still carried the breath of blood and fire.

"Xisian, hold the [Mirror Image Exchange] ceremony. Let Bangdang give you the matching secret key. I want to see what went wrong with the Perpetual Motion Institute." Emperor Odin walked from the window to the desk and sat down. He gently rubbed his forehead, closed his eyes and slowly opened them again. "Just outside the living room. There are no extra rooms here."

Ciceron is a psychic who is proficient in rituals and has the ability of "healing". He pretended to be a devout believer in God and worked as a priest in the Vatican for ten years, restoring the health of God's believers to spread God's glory. He was almost promoted to cardinal because of his great contribution. Unfortunately, after concluding that he could not get more from the Vatican, Ciceron simply faked his death and left the Vatican - he was actually the son of a minor noble secretly cultivated by Emperor Odin. There was no telling how many pawns like him there were, some of whom might even be orphans or beggars. Like some black crows, they were managed by the department in the shadows.

The emperor used these pawns to control the situation of monasteries in various places, and also selected his own "personal guards" from these pawns. There are few powerful people in this world who are not afraid of death, so they hope to have a group of "death warriors" around them who are loyal to them. The "personal guards" are the product of this wish.

Although they surrender their lives to the objects of their loyalty and are even scornfully called "executioners" and "rulers' dogs" by many, from the perspective of proportional risk and reward, the closer one is to the king, the easier it is for them to access the power that can change their own destiny and even the destiny of their family.

Cicero was a sufficiently useful and loyal "personal guard".

After hearing Odin's order, without any doubt, Cicero followed Bondang and left quickly. There was a special secret room in the castle to store the relics of the Age of Gods. It was on the floor where the emperor lived. Apart from Odin himself, only Butler Bondang, who was holding his token, could approach the secret room. Anyone else who got close would be shot dead by the guards.

Cicero quickly picked out the items he needed from the dazzling array of items, and signaled to Bondang, and the two hurried back to the suite outside the living room with the items, not daring to delay for a second. Because as the emperor's close ministers, they all knew their king's character very well. The old man always had a mountain-like aura that oppressed them. In front of this aura, they could only obey silently, without thinking, and just complete all the emperor's instructions as soon as possible.

[Mirror Exchange] is not a prayer-type ritual. It has high requirements for materials, but not for the ritualist. The steps are quite simple and not too dangerous. The trouble is that it needs to be prepared in advance - the mirror hanging in the center of the conference hall is actually part of the ritual. The psychic uses nightmare rose powder and fresh blood as materials to carve runes on the mithril mirror and add a unique and appropriate secret key to the runes to ensure the accuracy and stability of the communication channel.