Trunks didn't follow up either. With a sigh, he said, "As a member of the Valley of Sunshine, I am deeply saddened that such a tragedy has occurred, but the first and most important thing is to find out the truth. Otherwise, we'll suffer a series of attacks if our enemy attacks us again after this. It will be unbearable for all of us!
None of the leaders present believed a word of Trunks' lamentation. The huge events in the mountain valley hadn't affected the Soul Destroyers in the slightest. They didn't believe that Trunks wasn't laughing at their disaster. Of course, they wouldn't be stupid enough to provoke Trunks, especially when he had just shown that he had the strength of a Great Swordsmaster.
After an uncomfortable moment of silence, Laureton finally spoke up, "I think the perpetrator's target was all the powers in the Valley of Sunshine. The Soul Destroyers were lucky enough to avoid disaster. None of the people I sent to the mountain valley returned. Perhaps our Valley of Sunshine will be in great trouble this time.
The troops had been engaged in a bloody battle only a few days before. They wouldn't be having such a friendly discussion if they hadn't inflicted so much damage on each other. Florida glared rudely at Laureton, his face clouded with resentment, his voice cold and sinister, "So what do you think we should do?"
Laureton took a deep breath and seemed to choose his words carefully. His eyes, as big as bronze bells, swept over everyone's faces. Finally, he said in a low voice, "Let us put aside the grudges between us for the time being and find out to whom the Hand in the Dark belongs to. The power to control the Valley of Sunshine will go to whoever finds out the truth first. What do you all think?"
As the person who had always held the most power in the Valley of Sunshine, Laureton wasn't the most generous person. In fact, he was famous for being as stingy as he was mad. Truth be told, those words shouldn't have come out of his mouth.
However, the strength of Cairo's mercenary band was now much weaker than before due to the huge change in the mountain valley. On the other hand, although the other three major powers had also suffered heavy losses, the Cairo mercenaries still wouldn't be able to resist their combined might, even if they had the advantage of superior terrain in the Valley of Sunshine.
In that case, he'd be happy to let go of the privilege he no longer had. The power over the Valley of Sunshine could be the bait to seduce the three great powers, causing the alliance to break up over this elusive advantage. Laureton was no simpleton, despite his brawn. This fellow was definitely a great schemer, as he was able to occupy the highest position in the Cairo mercenary band.
The moment Laureton's words fell, the eyes of Adam Menlo and Katar, who'd been following Florida's lead, flashed with wild ambition. The two glanced at each other in silence for a few seconds before agreeing, seemingly unaware of Florida's desperate eye signals.
The small forces that had been working with Laureton hesitated for a moment before nodding their heads in agreement. Trunks readily agreed when he saw the majority of the forces nodding in agreement. All eyes then fell on Florida. Originally, Florida would have been able to get this power as long as Adam Menlo and Katar were supporting him. He secretly cursed these two former allies and their families in his heart. Although Florida was bitter inside, he could only nod his head in agreement.
The great decision had been made. Even Florida couldn't oppose it!
"Very good. Then we can discuss the details and even draw up an agreement. All forces in the Valley of Sunshine will be the supervisors, in case someone refuses to admit it later!" Laureton grinned blandly as he made a serious suggestion.
This arrangement was as ridiculous as a prostitute claiming to be a virgin, but sometimes it was necessary. Even though everyone knew that the pact would be torn apart if one side became powerful enough, there was still a need for ritual. This could provide some psychological comfort, especially when everyone felt that there was a "secret enemy" lurking in the shadows.
So even the great powers with nefarious intentions had to agree to these terms. The powers agreed to a temporary truce while they made every effort to track down the Hand in the Shadows!
When Han Shuo heard all this from Trunks, he just chuckled blandly without making any comment. He didn't explain anything to Trunks either, and quietly left the Valley of Sunshine, a place where everyone was being sucked into a huge whirlpool of conspiracy and suspicion.
Trunks' hair stood on end when he saw Han Shuo's smile. He saw a hint of pride in Han Shuo's eyes, deliberately revealed but hard to see. Trunks suddenly realised something.
But Trunks didn't ask any questions. As soon as Han Shuo left, he led the Soul Destroyers in a massive manhunt for the culprit. They looked even more industrious than Laureton's band of mercenaries.
In the course of this open and righteous search for the culprit, Trunks took the opportunity to conduct some convenient recruitment activities. The fame of the Soul Destroyer mercenary group gradually spread, attracting many fine experts to join them.
Han Shuo returned to Ossen City seven days after he'd left the Valley of Sunshine. He gave some instructions to the steward in the mansion before secretly leaving through the transportation matrix in the Dark Mantle.
Brettel City was not a firm, stable city. Since the former city lords were usually weak against the invasions of the seven grand duchies, the guards here had become a motley crew of individuals. Whether it was the city lord or the soldiers, they'd save their strength to run and flee even faster than the civilians when faced with a real attack.
Since Brettel City was often attacked, the Lancelot Empire hadn't wasted much money building a transportation matrix here. After all, if there was such a convenient transportation matrix leading everywhere when the other Grand Duchies occupied Brettel City, no one could guarantee that the blatant invaders wouldn't use the transportation matrices to invade other cities in the Empire. While Brettel City was barren, the Lancelot Empire had many prosperous and rich cities. Theoretically, if the invaders really did use the transportation matrices to invade the other cities of the empire, it would pose a danger that no one would dare to imagine.
Therefore, building a transportation matrix in a place like this, which seemed to be an abandoned city, was a double-edged sword. The result was a never-ending situation of limbo.
"Spring is really here. Too bad the scenery isn't very pleasant!" Sitting in a carriage, Han Shuo lifted the curtain to look at the scenery along the way and muttered to himself.
Since arriving at the transportation matrix in Seamist City, the neighbour of Brettel City, Han Shuo had been sitting in the carriage, slowly approaching his destination. On the way, beggars wrapped in coarse clothes wandered around. Flies flew back and forth over dead bodies on both sides of the road. A thick, foul stench hung in the air.
Seamist City was a rich city with strong defences in the eastern part of the Lancelot Empire. However, when travelling from there to Brettel City, these desolate scenes were like heaven and earth compared to Seamist City. After only three days of travelling, Han Shuo had already discovered a dozen groups of bandits rampaging through the Yin Demons.
These bandits were ordinary robbers from the Lancelot Empire, not the official armies of the seven grand duchies disguised as bandits. Even the steely Han Shuo was a little stunned by such a miserable situation. He had personally killed no less than fifty of these beasts in human skin along the way.
"Bryan, I didn't think your territory would be like this. The tragic sights along the way are hard enough on the human nerves. I think Brettel City will be almost unbearable for you." Chester had disregarded life and death when he begged to follow Han Shuo. He had given up a good mission led by Emily and was even willing to be the coachman so that Han Shuo would not have to go to such a notoriously dirty, chaotic city alone.
Han Shuo chuckled heartily as he thought about Chester's somewhat crazy courage and asked, Chester, why did you follow me after I rejected you?"
Chester's nerves had been shaken by the journey, as he had concentrated on being a coachman. He suddenly whipped the handsome, unusual warhorse to prevent its curiosity from being drawn to a corpse in the bushes. He answered Han Shuo like a philosopher, "If you want to gain more, not only does the will need perseverance, but the vision must be far and wide."
"Interesting thought." Han Shuo smiled slightly at Chester's reply. His elegant voice sounded soft and indifferent as he calmly watched the civilians fiercely fighting for a loaf of bread.
The situation in Brettel City was unbelievably bad. Except for a few people who didn't want to leave their ancestral home, and the nobles and soldiers who couldn't leave due to their duties, the rest of the civilians were trying to shake off the evil shackles by any means necessary, desperate to get to the rich and peaceful Seamist City.
However, the road to Seamist City wasn't peaceful at all. Even if you risked your life to reach the gate, if you didn't pay a huge entrance fee, you would be heartlessly turned away. They would be left to fend for themselves, even though they were also civilians of the Lancelot Empire. After all, the poor civilians who came to Seamist City could only be the lowest of the low, petty beggars. Seamist City couldn't take in too many of these beggars, lest the city's image be tarnished.
Therefore, the only noble merchants who could enter the city were those who could prove themselves worthy of living in Seamist City. Civilians from Brettel City were also allowed to enter if they paid a rather hefty sum. Otherwise, the city guards would watch with cold eyes if anyone died outside the city gates.
"My territory, I have finally arrived!" Han Shuo looked at the wide open Brettel City and muttered emotionally in front of the broken gates.