Roland put down the report, and couldn't help but think of the information revealed by Kabradah.

Enemies from the Celestial Seas Realm.

Could it really be that the pressure from that side was too great on the devils, causing them to be unable to care about the battles on the Fertile Plains?

The General Staff was also increasingly inclined to this judgment. After all, no matter what tricks were plotted in the dark, it was still hard power that ultimately determined the outcome of the war.

Although the Demon Slayer's long-distance raid on the Forest Terminus caught Leaf off guard, it also exposed its abilities and whereabouts—even beyond the detection range of the Magic Eye, its magical aura was still conspicuous to Sylvie. Now that flashing "red star" was stationed in the ruins, and Sylvie would be able to sense any movement at the first moment.

In short, the devils occupying Taqila had exhausted all their cards, while Neverwinter City was still adding new chips.

With ample money and food, the Administrative Office launched a new round of military expansion, and this time the recruitment range was expanded to the entire country—Graycastle's mobilization ability had been significantly improved after the administration was unified. According to Barov's preliminary estimates, the number of soldiers provided by various regions was likely to exceed five thousand, which was equivalent to the total number of the First Army two years ago.

Among them, the Northern Lands managed by Karl Kant were the most active.

When the officials cultivated by the secondary municipal governments matured and were able to fully control their territories, the number of recruits could undoubtedly be doubled again.

In terms of weapons, the replacement of the revolver buqiang with the bolt-action buqiang was proceeding in an orderly manner. Thanks to the rapid growth of skilled workers and the improvement of craftsmanship, the buqiang for large-scale replacement and the weapons for precision shooters were almost the same—except for the lack of a scope.

Although the revolver buqiang had a fast rate of fire, its own structure determined that its muzzle velocity was low, its range was short, and its accuracy was poor. It was more than enough to deal with noble knights, but it seemed a bit short when fighting against mad demons whose throwing distance was also between one hundred and two hundred meters. The bolt-action buqiang could effectively make up for this deficiency and regain the advantage of distance for the soldiers.

The individual anti-devil grenades developed for high-level devils and spider devils had also been finalized and entered the mass production stage. This type of weapon with a simple structure and inexpensive materials had no technical obstacles. In a sense, it was even simpler to manufacture than bullets. According to the current production progress, it could completely catch up with the decisive battle a month later.

Although the First Army lacked relevant training, the ease of operation was itself a major feature of individual grenades, which was fundamentally different from artillery. Historically, this type of weapon was also directly put into actual combat and received training and testing on the battlefield, so Roland was not worried about this aspect.

On the other hand, the devils entrenched in Taqila had no more changes. Agatha and Phyllis judged from the transport volume of the Red Mist that the number of enemies should be between three thousand and five thousand. For the Union four hundred years ago, it might have been enough to be called a great battle, but if it was the First Army, this part of the devils had already fallen into a numerical disadvantage.

Due to the existence of the iron law that enemies need Red Mist to maintain their lives, it was difficult for them to conceal or deceive in terms of hard power.

This was also the most important basis for the General Staff to make its judgment.

Honestly, Roland also felt that the judgment was credible—battlefield deduction talked about evidence, and it was no different to imagine the enemy as excessively weak or excessively strong. The only thing he could do was not to give blind orders and let the more professional people be responsible for the frontline battles.

Perhaps he was really not the material to be a commander, that's why he felt worried, he thought self-deprecatingly.

Since he couldn't see any problems, he might as well not guess. When the day of the decisive battle arrived, everything would naturally be revealed. Roland let out a long breath, and was about to rub his aching forehead when a pair of hands were already pressing on his temples, with a moderate and just right strength.

He immediately felt a lot more relaxed.

No language indication was needed, nor did he need to say thank you. This was the tacit understanding formed over four years, and it was also proof that he was not fighting alone.

In the past, he always fantasized that one day he could become a corrupt ruling class, eating, drinking, and having fun all day long. As a result, when he really got to this point, the time he spent busy every day only increased, far exceeding the scope of eight hours, and even sleep became a job. He had complained about it, but rarely stopped his steps, and this might also be one of the reasons.

He was certainly moving forward to achieve his goals.

But that was also the common expectation of many people.

After enjoying the moment with his eyes closed, Roland turned his gaze to another report on the table.

—About the discovery of Armored Giant Scorpion and Mysterious Ruins.

Although further confirmation had not yet been obtained, the credibility was very high based on the strange relics attached to the letter.

This report could be said to have aroused his great interest. It was not surprising to judge from the temple murals that there might be traces of the ancient civilization in the Endless Cape area, but what was surprising was that there was such an amazing discovery so quickly.

The stone tablet wall in the underwater cave reminded him of the mountain-like corpses of stick figures in the murals. If the other party was really an ancient civilization from a thousand years ago, they should have long turned into dust. As the defeated, it was unlikely that anyone would erect a monument for them, so why were there so many monument-like objects, which was particularly concerning.

All the samples obtained so far had been handed over to Celine for hazard testing. After all, their greatest enemy was the Radiant Clan, and there could be no relaxation in safety.

In addition, the identity of the discoverer was also very interesting—the other party was not a traditional fjord merchant or explorer, but a member of what they called the Mechanical Workshop.

He had not forgotten Margaret's pioneer who died for the sake of flying.

Therefore, after receiving the news, Roland immediately issued an order to have the garrison in Daqing Port send the two to Neverwinter City.

He was really full of curiosity about this group of people.

As for the Armored Giant Scorpion, it was the least important part of the report. It was most likely a hybrid evil beast, which was why it grew so huge. Since he had already obtained the position of Great Chieftain through the Holy Duel, the Three Gods Sacrifice seemed insignificant, and it was fine to leave it to the local First Army to deal with.

At this moment, footsteps sounded outside the door, and then the office door creaked open.

"The test results are out? Bring it over to me..." Roland looked up, but the second half of his sentence got stuck in his throat. He originally thought that the guard had brought Celine's test report, but unexpectedly, it was Tilly Wimbledon who came. Moreover, her eyebrows were slightly raised, and her expression looked quite unhappy.

"Uh..." The next second, Roland realized why she had come, "I have a few bottles of new Chaos Drinks here, would you like to try them—"

"That... Your Majesty, that trick has already been used." Nightingale whispered in his ear.

"I won't try it!" Tilly walked to the mahogany table, slammed her hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly, seemingly wanting to make up for her lack of height with momentum, "You said last time that you would give me a flyable prototype in half a month, how long has it been now?" She stood on tiptoe and asked word by word, "Brother, where's the plane I want?"