Gavin's action was far more efficient than they imagined. Before they could evacuate the people in the monastery, he arrived with a large number of spellcasters, more than a hundred in number, because he brought more than just extraordinary druids. , as well as various other professionals, and even several non-human beings.
His thoughts are so meticulous, and he considers more things than the seven members of the Misty Valley discussed.
Regardless of whether the fire was aimed at him or not, since it happened at this juncture, he must investigate clearly.
This kind of generosity really shocked the seven members of the Misty Valley. The Conqueror Army can have such a big name, and it is by no means a wasted name. If so many extraordinary people can be mobilized in a short period of time, there will probably not be a single cent in the Valley. Valley can do it.
With the joint efforts of more than a dozen extraordinary druids, not only did it rain heavily over the central warehouse, but also the entire Golden Wheatsheaf Valley began to rain lightly, in preparation for possible subsequent fires.
Supreme Councilor Harisk told Gavin about the possibility of a serial conspiracy they had previously discussed.
After Gavin was silent for a few seconds, he suddenly asked Janella a completely unrelated question, "Patriarch, before we do this, can we meet with the warehouse manager of the Central Warehouse? And the one who first discovered the fire people."
He was planning to start with the fire in the middle granary, peel off the cocoons, find more clues from it, and judge the nature of the whole thing.
Janela said with a heavy face: "Sister Greta, who was the first to discover the fire, has been found, but Brother Kragg, the manager of the central warehouse, is currently missing. The last person to see him was Sister Greta. It is said that he was on his way to the central warehouse for inspection, and he may have unfortunately died in the fire.”
The monastery patriarch has begun investigating the cause of the fire in the warehouse, which coincides with Gavin.
"Have you tried to use resurrection to resurrect Brother Kragg?" All extraordinary professionals will have a backup plan for resurrection, and these priests are no exception.
They will have a special secret storage room to store parts of their monks' bodies, not necessarily limbs, but also hair, to prevent various accidents.
"I've tried it. I tried it myself. I didn't sense the soul belonging to Brother Kragg." Janela's face became darker.
Because when this happens, there are only two possibilities.
Brother Cragg is either not dead, or his spirit is gone.
Either way, it's not good news for Golden Sheaf Abbey.
If it is the former, it means that there is something wrong with Brother Kragg. There is a problem with the central grain warehouse he is responsible for, and the person involved is missing. It is possible to think any way.
If it is the latter, it means that the Golden Wheatsheaf Monastery has lost an extraordinary priest. No matter how powerful the fire in the Zhonggang Barn is, it is still a mortal fire. It is impossible to burn a person's soul to pieces. Only those special means targeting the soul can do that. to this point.
"It seems that if you want to determine the nature of this fire, you have to go deep into the sea of fire." Gavin said solemnly. He did not have time to wait until the food in the central granary was burned out. This would take at least several days.
"Deep into the sea of fire?! How to go deep into it? The fire is so strong!"
"Could it be that you have equipment or spells that can make you immune to fire? In this case, you can go deep into it."
"Even if you have a fire escape method, it is still very dangerous. It is very unstable and there is a possibility of explosion at any time."
The seven members of the Misty Valley were stunned for a moment, and then realized that for ordinary people, there is really nothing they can do with this level of flames, but for powerful spellcasters, it is not impossible to think of them. As long as they have the ability to avoid fire, Even if you can swim in magma, what does this little fire mean?
It's just that such spells and equipment are very rare. Each piece is priceless and hard to come by.
"There is no need to be immune to fire. We enter from the etheric plane. As long as we are always in the shallow layer of the etheric plane, we can peek into the situation inside the warehouse from the etheric plane. This is enough for preliminary investigation." Gavin has obviously thought. Once you have a good strategy, as long as you are willing to use your brain, there are many more ways than you imagine.
"This is indeed a way, but the duration of the transformed spirit body is too short, and it must be done with a nine-ring companion traveling in the spirit world."
"Could it be that Sir has a quasi-legendary spellcaster who can cast the spirit world?"
The seven members of the Misty Valley were surprised and delighted. They had not thought of this method before because they did not have such a powerful being among them and could not find suitable helpers at the moment.
The etheric and material planes completely belong to two worlds. Even if the two sides are close at hand, in addition to the force field effects, solidification effects and protective spells that can be extended to other physical powers and magic effects, this huge fire is no exception. , let alone an explosion, even if the entire mountain collapses, as long as their spell continues, it will not have any impact on them.
"Yes." Gavin nodded and said, "Patriarch Jannilla, this matter still needs your cooperation. You are most familiar with the Central Warehouse. We need you to lead the way. If the mist barrier is still there, we also need you. Authorized passage.”
"No problem, I am fully responsible for this matter." Janela nodded without hesitation, "But before that, we'd better ensure the safety of the grain in the other two warehouses. After all, the grain in the Zhonggang warehouse is difficult to recover. , you can trace it sooner or later, but if there is another problem with the food in these two granaries, the failure of our transaction will be small, but it will have a big impact on the Jazz's overall plan."
"That's fine." Gavin thought about it for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alhashan, I'll leave this task to you."
It’s not that he doesn’t pay attention to the safety of food in the other two warehouses at all. After all, it is directly related to the problem of the conquerors’ army surviving the winter. For at least half a year, the price of food in the valley will only rise but not fall. He is very concerned about the expedition to Tukan’s army. The investment is too big and there is no more financial resources to buy high-priced grains in a short period of time.
It has to be said that the enemy's move this time was very clever and hit him exactly seven inches. Even if there was no way to kill him, it still made him uncomfortable.
"As you command." A large python with a human face emerged from behind Gavin and responded in human words.
"Spirit Naga!"
"Chaotic evil creatures!"
The seven members of the Misty Valley stared at the spirit naga with fear and vigilance. To them, this was a terrifying monster, and the poisonous juice sprayed from its mouth could directly poison them to death.
"Members of Congress, don't worry, he is also one of my subordinates." Gavin simply reassured, "Patriarch Janilla, please open the restriction and let him in."
Their reaction is perfectly normal. Among ordinary people, many concepts are deeply ingrained.
This concept is difficult to change in a short period of time, and Gavin does not need to change it. He only needs to ensure that the spirit naga is easy to use. This kind of task with a relatively high risk factor is best left to it with the ability to resurrect. And both in terms of intelligence and ability, he is quite impressive.
If there is really a trap in the east and west granaries, it is highly likely that it can break through it on its own.
"Okay." Janela couldn't refuse, so she could only hand over a holy emblem of Shantia with a special mark to the spirit naga, which was the key to freely entering and exiting the fog barrier of the East Warehouse.
The spirit naga got in through a not very big gap in the east warehouse and slid all the way into the darkness.
The waiting time was the longest. It obviously felt like a long time had passed, but when I looked at the time, it was only a few minutes.
After dawdling for a while, Patriarch Janilla couldn't help but said: "No matter what caused the fire in the middle warehouse, we have no way to trade this batch of grain in full this time. Sir, how do you think this matter should be handled appropriately?"
If Gavin had roared in anger, Janella might have felt better.
But from the beginning to the end, he was silent and cold, which made her heart feel like a big stone, a little breathless, and she was completely different from before.
Such a thing as power does exist, and it has little to do with age. Personal strength is only one aspect. Power and money will provide him with great bonuses.
Janela's uneasiness stems from the fact that the other party has the power to completely destroy them, and even the entire Misty Valley.
Gavin didn't answer but asked, "How much food do you have in your remaining two warehouses? How much food is stored in the middle warehouse?"
"The remaining two warehouses will not exceed 3,000 tons when fully loaded. The middle warehouse originally had the same number." Janilla answered truthfully. They had only traded most of the grain with Gavin before, leaving at least 1,000 tons. For backup.
Then the patriarch added: "We cannot trade all the remaining three thousand tons to you. We need to keep at least five hundred tons of grain for our own use."
Twenty-five hundred tons.
If calculated based on one kilogram of grain per person per day, the conqueror's army could last for about two months. However, they carried a month's worth of food, and they had saved a little in advance in the Land of Three Rivers.
But all these things combined were only enough to feed them for four months.
Don’t forget, there are nearly 20,000 kobolds in the Land of Three Rivers. The conqueror’s army just counted a population of more than 40,000. It did not include nearly the same number of livestock, let alone the calculation. Later, affected by the conqueror’s army, they came on their own. of immigration.
And now it has just been the third tenth day of October. It is difficult to survive this winter with this food alone. The harvest of large quantities of food will not be until May or June next year at least.
In other words, there will be a shortage of food for at least three months.
It doesn't sound like much, but if you add in their huge size, it's not a small amount.
I was just preparing to live a comfortable life for a few days, but I didn't expect to have to tighten my belt again.
Gavin couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
As for the huge food gap, he was just a little uncomfortable with it and was not particularly worried.
It’s not like when I was just starting out, I had no resources, no connections, no connections, so I had to do my best to move around.
There are many ways that I can think of now, such as increasing the development of Yewen Pond and using the rich aquatic products here to make up for part of it. It is not easy to make up for the entire gap. It should not be difficult to make up for it by interspersed with one or two months. .
The Great Forest of Cormanthor can also be included in the list of food sources, and hunting and gathering can also supplement part of it, but this option is ranked very low for Gavin. After all, he is somewhat inferior among natural races such as elves and fey. Famous.
It was extremely hard to establish this kind of fame, and it was blessed by the power of fate, being enemies with all the evil gods, and being appreciated by the God of Nature, Zhuan.
But if you want to destroy it, it is extremely simple. You only need to cut down and hunt randomly. It won't take long for his reputation to be bad. Most of the felines will dislike him, let alone be used by him.
Although Forest Lady Mielikki appreciates the restrained mining and use of forests, this restraint is very learned.
What do you mean by moderation?
Different people have different standards, not to mention different species.
Many things that are considered moderate by human standards are already regarded as deforestation in the eyes of the fey.
As for the fey's restrained use of forest resources, in the eyes of other intelligent races, it is extreme nature protectionism.
If Gavin wants to take care of everything, he must adopt a relatively narrow concept.
This is the price that must be paid if you want those natural races to be used for your own use.
Nothing in the world is perfect.
In addition, Gavin also has a trump card - using cloud rays to transport food by air over long distances.
There is an old saying that goes, grain cannot be transported thousands of miles.
But this matter must have a prerequisite, that is, there is no convenient transportation conditions.
Transporting grain from Cormyr and the Valley to Cesk has long gone beyond this scope.
That's because with the Falling Star Sea, they can carry out large-scale shipping through ships.
Therefore, food prices are soaring now only in the countries along the Sea of Falling Stars. Tethyr, which is thousands of kilometers away from the Sea of Falling Stars, has only seen a slight rise in food prices, far from the exaggerated three-fold increase here in the valley.
If ordinary land transportation is used to transport grain on a large scale from around Tethyr and Amn, even with the convenience of the Conqueror's Road, most of the grain will have been eaten by the grain transporters before it arrives.
But Gavin has access to air vehicles that ordinary people don't have.
After actual test comparisons, it was found that Cloud Ray's airborne carrying capacity is much more exaggerated than Gavin's initial estimate. Its light load limit is 100 tons, the medium load limit is 200 tons, and the heavy load limit is 300 tons. .
They now have not one cloud ray in their hands, but two.
After the trio of thieves witnessed Gavin's terrifying power in Blood Gap City and Colossus City, they made the wisest choice and accepted his employment to collect cloud rays, flying dragons, hippogriffs, and griffons for him from all over the world. , spiny tailed lion, giant eagle and other traces of these aerial monsters.
The first trophy they contributed was the male cloud ray on the green field.
Magic monsters like cloud rays do have natural camouflage. Even with the help of the black-winged flying dragon, it is difficult to track and detect them with the naked eye.
But Faerûn is a magical world, and there are gods who specialize in tracking priests.
Whether it is tracking-related special abilities or magic, there are too many to say, but at least they are not particularly rare.
The three thieves have the ability and magic equipment in this area. The half-elf thief is not a believer of Max, the god of thieves, but a follower of Guilun, the god of tracking. He relied on the biological tracking ability given by the god to chase The female cloud ray ran for more than half a month, crossing the entire Troll Mountains and Giant Plains.
This was the reason why Gavin was willing to spend a lot of money to hire them. If they were just a group of ordinary thieves, they wouldn't be worthy of him looking at them differently and recruiting them personally.
With the black-winged flying dragon as a convenient air vehicle, they could be said to be even more powerful. It didn't take them too long to locate the male cloud ray.
Needless to say, the rest of the matter basically goes without saying. After his first successful experience, Gavin followed the same method and easily captured the male cloud ray. The process was even simpler than capturing the female cloud ray.
Because the female cloud ray in the Giants Plain is obviously abnormal. She is at least half the size of the male cloud ray.
The female cloud ray is 38 meters long, while the male cloud ray is only 25 meters long, barely entering the super giant category.
This is not a difference caused by male and female. All adult cloud rays are about the same size, ranging from 25 to 30 meters.
The problem lies with the female cloud ray itself. It is affected by the special laws of the Giant Plains and has a size that exceeds that of its kind.
In other words, it has not fully grown up yet, and its current size is not its limit, if the rule of doubling the size of the Giant Plains is followed.
Its final size will break through the normal limits and reach super giant +, with a wingspan and body length of at least fifty meters, making it an end-to-end giant in the air.
But that is for the future. No one knows whether it will take several years or more than ten years for it to grow to that size. It may be just a theory. It has no ability to break through the size limit and can only be limited to super giant.
It is not without reason that the material world only classifies the size of biological organisms into super-giant ones.
Because this represents a kind of limit, and beyond that, it is no longer what ordinary things can grow into. It is the patent of those divine creatures and ancient evil things.
The small size means that the body can hold less cloud ray energy, and the upper limit of the carrying capacity is also small. The carrying capacity of the male cloud ray is almost the same as Gavin's original estimate, with a light load of 50 tons, a medium load of 100 tons, and a heavy load of 50 tons. 150 tons.
Together, the two cloud rays have a carrying capacity of at least 250 tons. For long-distance transportation, medium loads are generally used. Heavy loads are a taboo. Not only are they slow and take more time, they will also cause serious loads on biological vehicles. And overdraft, it will become useless if you are not careful, so you must use it with care.
Despite its slow speed, the cloud ray has advantages that ordinary flying creatures do not have when it is actually used for long-distance transportation. It can float forward 24 hours a day. Its speed is also affected by the wind, and it travels in the air. , as long as there is no special weather such as violent storms, the walk is basically a straight line.
From Darauma to the Land of Three Rivers, it is nearly 3,000 kilometers along the Conqueror's Road, but it only takes 1,500 kilometers to fly.
If everything goes well, it only takes five days and five nights.
If things don't go well, it won't last more than eight days and eight nights.
This is the last choice, because they are strategic weapons in Gavin's hands, and they will definitely follow him to the front line. It is impossible to move them to the rear at will.
And many things depend on the development of the situation.
(End of chapter)
