Greycastle, inner city garden mansion.

Since Roland Wimbledon led a raid on the palace and destroyed the Azure Hall, Tassa's status had risen rapidly. All members of "Pigeons and Hats" treated him with the utmost respect, and the intelligence organization had truly stabilized.

Apart from these core members, more than half a year of operation had allowed Tassa to influence the decisions of the Skeleton Fingers. He was also generally aware of the movements of other rat organizations—whether in the patrol or the black market, he had informants he had bought off. If simply being a well-informed source could earn money, these people didn't care who they were working for. The only place he still couldn't penetrate was the upper nobility, a place that valued family background and titles. Gold dragons alone were useless. However, through rat leaders with intricate connections to the great nobles, some less important news often leaked into his ears.

Like the piece of information he was hearing now.

"Tifico is going to send a team of about five hundred people to block the Redwater River?" Tassa tapped the armrest of his chair lightly. "He's really planning to do that?"

"Yes," Rock Mountain rumbled. "At least half of them are Bloodsail Rats. That's what the boss said himself. Because it's a lucrative job, there was even infighting in the gang yesterday, resulting in five or six deaths and injuries."

"It is indeed a lucrative job," Joker whistled. "Think about it, what will they be intercepting? Merchant ships! And what are the consequences of violating the king's ban? Confiscation of goods, of course, and a hefty extortion! Who is better at doing this kind of thing than the rats? Of course... the patrol isn't bad either."

"Since half of them are rats, I think the other half must be the False King's guards," Hill Fox said calmly. "This morning, someone noticed four Hawkhead ships at the suburban docks."

Tassa couldn't help but frown. Hawkhead ships were inland river warships, slender in hull, with both sails and oars, and very fast. Below the waterline, they had protruding rams, and the sides of the ships were also equipped with iron hooks. Once they caught up with a target, they could lock together tightly, making it easy for the warriors on board to jump over and fight. It was difficult for ordinary merchant ships to escape their pursuit.

"So, putting the information together, the False King plans to send a fleet of five hundred people to block the Redwater River, including four warships and more than two hundred fully armed guards?" He sighed inwardly. "This is not good news."

Tifico's plan to block trade routes had been rumored before the Evil Moon, but at that time, most people thought he would set up checkpoints near the canal, and that completely banning trade with the Western Territory was just talk—after all, the lords of Silverlight City and Redwater City would not be happy to see themselves lose a large sum of money for no reason because of a bizarre order. Forcing checkpoints on the border between the Western Territory and the Central Region would only lead to local lords secretly eliminating these checkpoints.

But with four warships, the situation was different. First of all, other lords had almost no naval combat capabilities. The warships could move freely along the Redwater River, and merchant caravans could be intercepted anywhere. Even if they wanted to secretly strike, they had no way to do it. Secondly, this reaction showed Tifico's determination to deal with the Western Territory—even if it meant antagonizing other lords, he was determined to do so.

Tassa looked at Hill, and the latter nodded at him, seemingly thinking of the same thing. "Tifico is likely not to set up fixed checkpoints, but instead use the Redwater River to attack any merchant caravans they see. They are pirates on the water and bandits on the shore. A force of five hundred is a nightmare for any merchant caravan. In this way, the Western Territory may really be cut off from supplies."

"I will report this news to His Highness as soon as possible," Tassa said solemnly.

Border Town had purchased a large amount of grain, clothing, and mineral resources in the past year, and now it had annexed Longsong Stronghold. In theory, the need for supplies would further expand. If the trade line was cut off, it would inevitably be a great trouble for the prince, and he wondered if he could solve this thorny issue smoothly.

Just then, the sound of flapping wings came from the garden.

Tassa got up and pushed open the small door in the backyard. A gray falcon darted into the room like lightning, circling and landing on his shoulder.

Seeing that it was a letter from the Western Territory, the circus members all placed their hands on their chests and lowered their heads in respect.

Tassa took off the note, unfolded it, and quickly scanned the contents of the secret message. His heart skipped a beat!

"Ha... haha," then he couldn't help but laugh. Although he knew that as an intelligence officer, he shouldn't reveal his emotions, the news was so surprisingly good that he couldn't suppress the joy in his heart. "It seems we don't have to worry about this."

"His Royal Highness already knows?" Hill asked, looking up.

"No, he's about to fundamentally solve the problem," he said excitedly in a low voice.

"Fundamentally?" Joker asked doubtfully. "You mean..."

"That's right, His Highness's First Army has set off, and their target is the capital!" Tassa clenched his fist. "The moment to pull Tifico off the throne has arrived!"

Although he knew that His Highness would launch an operation this year, he didn't expect it to be so soon—for security reasons, His Highness hadn't told him the specific plan of action. It wasn't until today that he learned that the offensive was actually scheduled for the spring, and it was timed perfectly with the spring plowing.

"I've finally... waited for this day," Hill took a deep breath and suddenly knelt on one knee. "If His Highness has any orders, please feel free to command."

The other five also knelt down. "For the new king!"

Tassa's emotions followed suit. That's right, he thought, if Tifico fell, Roland Wimbledon would become the sole heir to Greycastle—he would take the crown, be crowned king, and he himself might leap into the upper echelons of power, ascending to a new stage that he had never even dreamed of before.

As for the odds of winning this war, and whether Tifico could stop Roland, he didn't even consider it. Anyone who had witnessed the First Army in battle would have no doubt about the outcome of the spring offensive.

"His Highness's order is that on the day of the siege, do not approach the West Gate area, and at the same time, restrain the rats as much as possible from taking the opportunity to cause chaos, and restore post-war order as soon as possible." Tassa slowly read the second half of the secret message, "Provide assistance to the suffering civilians within your capacity, such as medical treatment, shelter, and food supply, and hand over to the First Army for processing after the order is stabilized."

"That's... it?" The crowd looked at each other. "Don't we need to trick open the city gates, or set fires everywhere to attract the attention of the garrison?"

"This is His Highness's intention," Tassa put away the letter and smiled. These orders did seem like Roland Wimbledon's style, putting more emphasis on the people and order, rather than forcing intelligence personnel to participate in the battle. In addition, the order also stated that he did not take Tifico's resistance forces seriously at all.