Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 1327 - 1325: Terminating Cooperation

As Richard pondered, the Magic Knights went farther and farther, carrying the unconscious spy through the Command Room of Kasha City, heading to the prison.

Inside the Command Room, the on-duty advisors and civil servants watched the passing Magic Knights with curious eyes — previously, they were so busy they barely had time to sleep and had no mood to investigate such unrelated matters. However, there hadn’t been any military actions in the past month, and dozens of combat plans had been made and shelved, leaving them extremely bored, so even a small incident could pique their interest.

"Who did they catch?" an advisor asked.

"It should be a spy," answered one advisor who had heard some news. "I heard the Sika spies attempted a large-scale infiltration tonight, but our defenses were tight, and they gained nothing."

"Good! Those Sika looking for trouble got what they deserved — we’ve been more than generous by not causing them problems, and yet they try to infiltrate us?"

"Maybe it’s precisely because we’ve been inactive that they’ve racked their brains trying to figure out why and had no choice but to try to investigate."

"If they do find something out, that’d be unbelievable. We don’t even know what’s going on. It’s been so long, and the General keeps saying prepare, prepare, and prepare again. When will the preparation be considered done?"

"No choice; we’re just advisors without military power. So, we continue to work on plans, hoping General Soron suddenly gives the order for a full attack someday, and they come in handy."

"I hope so..."

The group of advisors and civil servants discussed it for a while.

In the corner, Noble Advisor Nate listened, gazing outside the Command Room at the empty space where the Magic Knights passed by, frowning slightly as if thinking about something.

"Clang!"

At this moment, the door of the Command Room was suddenly pushed open. The Magic Knights who had just passed by escorting the spy returned from the prison, entered solemnly, and asked, "Who is Advisor Nate?"

"Ah?" Nate was stunned and spoke with some surprise, "I am; what’s... the matter?"

The Magic Knight Captain approached, gave a military salute, and said, "General Soron is looking for you; he has something to ask."

"Looking for me?" Nate was even more surprised, "What does the General want to ask me?"

"I don’t know," the Magic Knight Captain replied, his tone somewhat icy, "and even if I did know, I couldn’t tell you as it’s a military order."

"Alright then..."

"Well, then, please!" The Magic Knight Captain gestured outward invitingly.

Feeling the eyes of everyone in the room focused on him, Nate’s expression changed slightly, but he indeed had no reason to refuse. He pursed his lips and spoke, "Alright."

Having said that, he took steps with the Magic Knight and walked out, disappearing beyond the door.

As soon as Nate and the Magic Knight left, the advisors and civil servants inside exploded in discussion — the intensity of their speculation soared, questioning why Soron had called Nate away, especially as Soron had appeared in the Command Room only a handful of times in the past month, and seldom summoned anyone alone.

This certainly signaled something major was happening.

The more they discussed, the more excited they became, turning the Command Room into a chicken coop.

The White Robed Staff couldn’t stand it any longer and stepped in.

"Quiet!" Kun Dalci, dressed in a white robe and acting as the chief advisor, called out, pressing both hands downward, and said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, please watch your manners. This is a Command Room, not a marketplace or tavern. The General merely summoned an advisor, so please don’t make a fuss. I know you’re curious, but please restrain yourselves!"

After speaking, the White Robed Staff surveyed everyone in the Command Room, his gaze extremely stern.

The people remaining in the room were slightly taken aback, lowered their heads, and stopped talking — but only for a short while, as within minutes, they resumed muttering softly. Curiosity made them unable to control themselves, but they didn’t dare speak as loudly as before.

Feeling somewhat helpless about the situation, the White Robed Staff, despite being the chief advisor, was only half a rank higher than the other advisors and had no authority to manage them.

Yet he didn’t bother too much with it, since he was even more curious about the recent happenings than the others.

Squinting as he looked out of the Command Room, connecting various prior events in his mind, he seemed thoughtful.

The night outside the door grew deeper and deeper.

...

In the dead of night, when the night sky, like ink, nearly descended entirely upon the earth, there was movement on the plains outside Kasha City.

A Black Shadow appeared, standing cautiously beside a withered tree, surveying the surroundings vigilantly. Soon, he saw a Grey-robed person rapidly approaching and landing beside him.

Without any nonsense, driven by inner urgency, Black Shadow directly asked the Grey-robed person, "How is the situation?"

"Very bad," the Grey-robed person replied.

"Very bad?!" Black Shadow exclaimed, quickly pressing further, "How bad?"

"The entire operation failed, your people, our people, most were captured, only a few managed to escape."

"You!" Black Shadow’s eyes widened, his tone turning angry, "This is completely different from what you promised initially — you clearly said there’d be an explanation within two days, is this what you call an explanation?"

"I know, we made a mistake," the Grey-robed person didn’t defend himself, his tone calm. "But war inherently contains many unexpected events. I really didn’t foresee that the Alliance, instead of relaxing during their pause in offensive operations, would instead become more vigilant, which led to this infiltration failure.

However, from this failure, we gained experience. I’ve identified the Alliance’s troop distributions, and in the next operation, we can definitely bypass their defenses, successfully gather the desired intelligence, and help your Sika people turn the situation around."

Black Shadow wasn’t easy to convince, and with a cynical laugh, he said, "And what if the next attempt fails too? Another third operation? And if the third fails, a fourth? I don’t know what you think of us Sika people, but I regard them as compatriots, not disposable pawns. You had our cooperation this time and it failed; do you know how great our sacrifice was?

The sacrifice is already more than enough; we don’t wish to continue this way. In other words, this action is a turning point; we’ve reached a consensus that if issues arise again this time, we won’t let you direct us anymore. As I told you a few days ago: if there’s no hope to be seen, then we’ll change our approach.

The Sika people aren’t rigid relics, though there may be a small handful who are. The rest of us have reached a consensus to break away from you and deal with the Alliance using our own means. So, from now on, you go your way, and we go ours. Of course, before that, you must find a way to rescue our captured operatives — because that’s what you owe us!"