Atlas Battle Song

The morning glow is as bright as gold leaf, and the golden chariot of the sun god gallops across the sky, bestowing golden light on the dome of the empire.

It was dawn on the western plateau.

"This guy, Egg... must have gone to play..." Trand sighed, leading a group of children on the streets of the Golden City of Calder.

Trand was questioned by the guards when he entered the city.Because he was dressed in silk and satin, with a big gold chain hanging around his neck, but behind him was a group of poor children in ragged clothes, who looked like a human trafficker.Trande didn't want to expose his identity in advance, so he didn't show the emperor's imperial order and imperial edict.He lied that he was a businessman and met robbers in the wilderness. Fortunately, a group of mercenaries passing by rescued him and the group of abducted children.The guards were skeptical, but after accepting a little bribe, they let it go as if nothing had happened.

"In short, let's put these children there first, and then help them find parents." Trander thought.

Trand walked on the street, and the familiar scenery, perfume and sweat came back to his heart.The air was full of the smell of dust, and when I opened my mouth, I could taste the moisture of the mist.Women in colored gauzes returned from the well holding cool water jars.Everyone wears shiny copper armbands on their arms, and belts embellished with gold beads. Walking in a variety of ways, horseshoes and bells are ringing from far to near. The family shop is gradually opening.

This is the real beauty - Calder, the city of gold.All the familiar things made Trander excited, and his back went numb.

This is also his hometown.

The golden city of Calder, the largest and most prosperous oasis city in the western plateau, was also the capital of the former Gulbaiti dynasty.

1000 years ago, the Gurbaiti Dynasty was very prosperous.Legend has it that the goddess of beauty once turned into a snake and guided her descendants to a clear spring deep in the oasis.Thus, the Gushan people, dressed in lapis lazuli and gold, established their country here and ruled the western plateau.The Gulbeti Dynasty traded with the ocean overlord Ibane, and was once one of the wealthiest countries on the continent.The business routes are prosperous, the culture is prosperous, and there is an endless stream of business travelers from various countries. The caravans bring jewelry and dyes, and transport crystal cups and fragrances to various countries.

The pearl of the plateau, the land bestowed by the god of beauty, the capital of mermaids—from ancient times to the present, in order to describe the beauty of the dynasty, the poets of the western plateau have exhausted their Chinese poems and brocades.The poems praising kings and beauties are like strings of pearls, full and bright, continuous, dotted with night and oasis.

However, nothing is permanent in this world.

After the tsunami, the ocean empire Ibane was destroyed.The Sibyls were exiled to the west side of the continent.But the sun was scorching in the south, and the Sibyls could not survive.The mainland countries were also afraid of the blood-drinking Sibyls, so they sent troops to hunt them down.As a result, the Sibyls united and established an empire. The brave and brave cavalry marched northward, and the golden snake ring flag of the empire with a blue background was raised in every city.

Under the iron heel of the empire, the Gulbaiti Dynasty, the "descendant of the beauty god", collapsed, but the local culture, social system and economy were all preserved.

Afterwards, the empire established the vassal states of the Western Plateau as a province and appointed a governor to rule.

Trande Muawia's father was an imperial nobleman, and his mother was a dancer from the western highlands.He was born here, and he was humiliated because of his native land and impure blood.

And now, he is back here as the new Governor of the Western Plateau.

The sun climbed obliquely, passing over the terraces covered with multicolored blankets and the watchtowers of the barracks.The city is buzzing.Before the temperature turned hot, Trand finally found the "tavern".

"Hey, this master, come to drink early in the morning?" The boy in the waiter was cleaning the table, showing two small canine teeth when he smiled.

Trand smiled.

"Boy, go ask your boss, 'Doggie, what time is it, Doggie?'"

"what?"

"Go ahead, bring me a glass of wine with ice cubes, take these little devils to sit in it, each with a bowl of milk, add oatmeal and raisins."

Trand sat down with his legs open and flicked his thumb.The waiter boy hurriedly caught it with both hands and found out it was a tip!The boy smiled all over his face, and quickly ran to the back kitchen.

After a while, a strong man with a beard opened the curtain and came out from the back kitchen.Obviously, he is the owner.The shopkeeper's skin is white, only reddened by long-term sun exposure, unlike the dark skin of the West Plateau people.When the innkeeper saw Trander, he was surprised and delighted, and ran over screaming like a little girl and hugged Trander hard.

"you--!"

"Hahahaha, long time no see, 'Silver Bear'!" Trander was also very happy, and patted his old friend on the back vigorously.

The two were comrades-in-arms who went through life and death together.Trand was not only a gifted general, but also a charismatic leader who treated his men like a brother and was loved by his soldiers.How many times, on the harsh battlefield, Trande and his knights were supported by their love and belief in each other, gritted their teeth and survived together, dedicating the victory to the emperor.

We meet again now.The two friends embraced and slapped each other hard on the back as if competing with each other.

Trander looked up and down with a smile: "It seems that you have become more handsome than your brother."

The strong man put his hips on his hips and laughed: "Hey, of course! I opened a shop in the West Plateau and I am nourishing it. Look, there are beautiful women everywhere, and there are beautiful legs everywhere. You can see it after walking around the street. It's not like my brother. 'Golden Bear', in the military camp, I can only look at men's big hairy legs and big chest muscles every day, and I am so depressed hahahaha."

"Tut tsk tsk." Trander shook his index finger and said with a smirk, "I'm not that inhumane! The five big and three thick guys will really get bored after watching them for a long time. I still often invite my brothers to drink. The girls love these innocent foolish knights, and they have had so many affairs. The happiness of the brothers' life is very important. Besides, if they have any troubles in love, I can help you. Look, that Neil boy No...hehehe!"

"Hey hey hey! Captain...ah no, Trand, you are still so bad."

The two men laughed foolishly for a while, drank two glasses of wine happily, and then settled down to talk about business.

Trander pretended to be nonchalant and looked around.

"Don't worry, it's absolutely safe. I'll close the shop after you come." Yin Xiong reconfirmed that there was no one else around, and said in a low voice, "According to your instructions, the 'guests' are already in place, stay here." upstairs."

"How many people are here?"

"I have 50 people here, what about the other 'hotels'..." Silver Bear took out a sheepskin map and pointed to various locations in the Golden City, "There are three other 'hotels', each with 3 people... There are a total of 50 people, all of whom are elite soldiers, loyal to you, and on standby at any time. Everyone pretends to be ordinary residents, and they live in one after another without being suspected."

Trander looked at the map, considering where the soldiers were stationed and the location of the Governor's Mansion.He frowned and pondered for a long time, and finally nodded:

"Very well, the layout is good. So the signal..."

"It's the same one from before, when we were first in the cavalry. Captain... This time, all the brothers volunteered to follow you. We will always follow you!" Silver Bear said emotionally.

Trander was also very moved, and tightly held the old subordinate's hand.

"It's just... His Majesty actually deprived you of your military power..." Yin Xiong gulped it down in distress, "Just to satisfy the nobles of the Pure Blood faction, right? What is the bloody crown prince capable of? Obviously the captain has done a lot of battles! The entire Seventh Knights was led by Captain Trand himself. I really don’t know what His Majesty thinks!"

Trande shook his head: "It's hard to say, His Majesty is naturally far-sighted."

At this time, a few middle-aged men came down from the stairs. They were shocked when they saw Trander, and they immediately stood at attention and saluted, their eyes gradually turning red.

"Long time no see, boys!" Trand walked over and hugged his former subordinates

"team leader--!"

"I'm sorry brothers, you're all retired, and I summoned you to the Western Plateau." According to the custom of the empire, Trander kissed the cheeks of his subordinates one by one: "It's just that the Western Plateau is not stable recently, and the power struggle is fierce. , for fear of mutiny... Your Majesty has also lifted my military power, and I cannot mobilize the active knights."

"Captain Trand, you still have us!"

"Yes, fortunately there are you guys... It's been so long since you've retired, why are you guys still so dumbfounded!"

"And the captain is still young and flirtatious."

"Hey, there's no way...the golden gun won't fall!" Trander twisted his waist triumphantly, and the men burst into laughter.These retired knights are all ordinary human beings, and the vicissitudes of time have turned them from hot-blooded boys into middle-aged people.And Trand's face remains the same, and Sybil's blood remains youthful forever.

Friends are still in love.They sat around, drank freely, chatted about what happened in the military camp before, and also talked about their lives after retirement.

"Speaking of...Captain, are you still married?" Someone suddenly asked.

Do you want to tell the truth?Trand made a hundred turns in his mind.In the past, in order to protect Yi Ge, he had been hiding his love affair from the outside world, pretending to be a frivolous You Yan, even his closest subordinates didn't know about it.But now...he has become the governor of the Western Plateau.Far away from the mainland of the empire, as long as he can stand firmly on the western plateau...he is the supreme ruler and has enough ability to protect Yi Ge.

"Yes! Of course the man is going to get married!" Trander laughed happily, "Guess who it is with!"

"Neil Bernhard!"

"roll!"

The knights slapped the table vigorously: "Tell me, tell me, who is your secret? Who is your fiancée? Which beauty is it that makes our chief lose his mind and can't sleep at night?"

Satisfied, Trent put his hips on his hips and patted his chest with a smile, "Let me ask you, who is the most beautiful person you have ever seen?"

"Neil's wife."

“操，你们几个欠揍的吗？银发小美人结婚了，当然不可能是他。”特兰德不甘心，继续卖关子：“再给个提示，我爱的是一位地位尊贵的美人。 "

"Duke Wurkan hahahaha!"

The subordinates continued to babble, and Trand was so angry that he punished them to drink.

"Let me tell you, my sweetheart..."

"I heard that that beauty beat you up during the duel." The knights clinked their glasses with smirks. "Love is like a wound in the heart. Which hero can bear it?"

Trander shook his ears: "Brats, how much time do you have after retiring from the army! After finishing the work, let's see how I train you and see if you're okay."

"Not less than the year!"

The knights drank and sang happily as before.

The brief reunion was fleeting, and Trand and his subordinates began to discuss the plan of the operation until noon.

The temperature has risen, and the heat is getting hotter.Trand felt that it was almost time to call the wandering cat home.He called the boy he had saved before.

"Fox boy, are those little ghosts settled? Let them live here for the time being, and my friend will help them find their parents."

"Yes sir, thank you!"

"You are a kid from this city, I want you to do me a favor... go and call the puppeteer and let him perform at the entrance of this tavern."

The boy was very confused: "A puppet? A marionette? I do know a master, but..."

"That's it, let's go." Trander waved his hand.

The boy was confused, but went to work anyway.After half an hour, he really found a craftsman who performed a puppet show.According to Trand's instructions, the puppeteer performed on the side of the road, and after a while, a group of children gathered to watch the fun.The puppeteer is superb, manipulating the puppets of the dragon and the knight, and vividly performing the story of the knight turning into a dragon.

"Master, do you want to watch a puppet show?" The fox scratched his head.

"I'm going to call Egg back. It's too hot for a Sybil to go outside. I'm going to get him back to take a nap."

"Mr. Egg? But..."

"Wait." Trander folded his arms and waited against the wall.

After a while, they saw a guy in a cloak standing at the outermost edge of the crowd, who seemed to be watching a puppet show.Trander walked over, grabbed the man by the back collar, took off the hood and took a look—it was indeed Egg Swards!

"The running cat is back, catch it." Trander smiled softly.The boy next to him was amazed.Egg was sweating from the heat, but still focused on watching the puppet show.

The noon sun was scorching.

The two were already in the hotel room preparing to rest.

Trander still regarded Egg as the young master as before.Everything was arranged properly by him.The room was the best in the tavern, and the bath water was prepared ahead of time. The sheets must be new, and Trander went to roll on the bed first, otherwise Egg would definitely just sit on the chair and sleep.

Now, he was washing Egg meticulously.

"Ah, my young master, what good thing did you do again! Why is there blood all over your body?" Trander sighed.

"Walk around."

"What the hell is going on with this blood?"

"When I met a thief, I played for a while." Egg had no expression on his face, and let Trander wipe his body.

"Did you kill someone?"

"Totally dead."

"Hey... you bastard..." Trander said in a tone of teaching children: "You can't kill people casually, do you understand, Egg?"

Yi Ge wanted to refute, but couldn't give any reason: "There is no casual... serious killing."

"Why do you fight with others? Did that bastard offend you?"

"That guy was a hitman hired to kill a rich man. They're all pretty dark."

"Assassins? Is the law and order in Kald so bad? There are assassins killing people in broad daylight... whose home is that? Is it some kind of lord? What else did they say?"

Egg shook his head, thought for a while and added: "The cats raised by that family are very cute."

Trande pondered for a moment: "The new governor is about to take office, the city is now in a state of turmoil, and all forces are ready to go... This matter may not be easy, I will send someone to investigate later."

"I didn't intend to kill him either, I was just playing around."

"Okay, okay... Our young master didn't do anything bad, it's all because the bad guy is too weak, he will die if he kills him." Trander smiled wryly.

Egg was happy.

Trand undid Egg's braids, combed the long hair smoothly, and then applied cool mint powder.The back of his neck felt cool, and Egg sneezed.Trander took the opportunity to pull his lover into his arms, nibbled the bare neck from behind, kissed all the way to the still wet earlobe of his lover, and said with a smile:

"It's very cool now, and an ice basin is placed in the room to cool down. Why don't you sleep with me? Young master."

"Okay, good afternoon, silly lion."

After Egg finished speaking, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Ah...really, the hint failed." Trander smiled wryly, carried Egg to the bed, took off his clothes and lay down.

He thought about the current situation and official duties, hugged his lover, and gradually fell asleep.

Just like when they were children, the two boys took a nap together, breathing softly together, sharing the quietest peace.