Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 163 - 67 The Eve

Chapter 163: Chapter 67 The Eve

The bombardment had lasted another three days, and though the trees of Olympia swayed perilously, they showed no signs of toppling.

Out of sheer spite, Bernifax ordered the remaining mortars undergoing repair in the warehouse to be deployed for a "thunderous barrage" to swiftly shatter the defensive system of Olin City.

The tense preparations for battle within the city also persisted for a long time, yet the focus of each side’s preparations was strikingly different, making it all very cryptic.

That afternoon, Hood was sitting on a bench outside, watching television, when suddenly, the screen was filled with a fleeting snow-like static.

The static vanished quickly, and the screen returned to normal.

A moment later, the entire screen was once again covered with snow-like static.

Is there something wrong with the TV? Hood took the wall-mounted television down and began to dismantle it to check.

The inspection revealed that all the electronic components appeared to have unstable resistances.

As Hood scratched his head in puzzlement, Aske’s voice came from the doorway of the room.

"What are you doing?"

"The TV’s broken," Hood said. "Looks like these parts all need replacing, which is troublesome."

"Oh, the TV is broken," Aske said suddenly as if recalling something, "Broken? All components have issues?"

"Yeah, maybe it’s internal aging," Hood said uncertainly. All components aging simultaneously? That indeed was a strange occurrence.

Aske immediately called all the girls out and solemnly announced,

"Everyone, take out your phones."

The girls: ???

"Make a note of any important information from your phones in a notebook for backup. Get any drawings printed as soon as possible. There’s no help for audio files. Listen to them while your phones still work."

"Aske?" Nora asked, puzzled, "Why do we need to back up our phone data? Is someone going to confiscate our phones?"

"No," Aske began to explain, just as Quintus walked in from outside the barracks.

"The Magic Tide is coming earlier than expected, estimated to arrive around 6:30 tonight. Has Miss Peggy mastered her swordsmanship?"

"Not yet," Aske shook his head, "It’s coming too fast, likely too soon for our plan."

Quintus sighed, unfastened an object from his waist, and handed it over.

"What’s this?" Aske asked.

"Golden Finger," Quintus said.

"What Golden Finger?"

"Something to enhance Miss Peggy’s Stealing Ability," Quintus explained.

Aske took the object and realized it appeared to be a golden-cast index finger. The nail, the pad, the fingerprint... every detail was exquisitely replicated.

"Try it?" Aske handed it to Peggy.

"How do I use this?" Peggy asked.

"Just activate it with Spirituality," Aske said.

Peggy extended her Spirituality and as soon as she touched the Golden Finger, her mind unfolded like water, and her senses seemed to sharpen considerably.

She could even "see" all the high-value items in the room, such as her Hot Melt Blade, Aske’s Imperial Eagle by his waist, and the small pendant inside Eleanor’s lingerie. In her vision, everything flashed with a "high-value" Radiance.

All it took was concentrated attention to roughly estimate the other person’s value.

However, the brightest radiance still came from Nora, whose seemingly ordinary clothes, dress, shoes, undergarments, the watch on her wrist, the hairpin in her hair, and the notebook and pen in her backpack, all shimmered with the terrifying glow of "astronomical prices."

Peggy was almost blinded by the sight.

"What’s the matter?" Seeing Peggy’s eyes red and teary, Aske quickly asked, "Why are you crying?"

If these Extraordinary Items are brought out and still have no effect on you, that would really be troublesome.

"It’s nothing," Peggy wiped her eyes, "just feeling the sting of poverty."

Aske: ...

Refocusing attention back on herself, Peggy concentratedly meditated on her own image and then, with her "Stealing Ability" surged, she yanked it forcefully outwards.

"There it is!" the girls cheered.

Peggy glanced over and noticed a "herself" standing beside her, identical in facial features, body details, as well as clothing, pants, and boots.

There was a strange feeling linking the two, and Peggy could sense that the other originated from within her Mind Body; with a slight thought, the other would make corresponding movements.

"That’s great." Quintus said eagerly, "Come with me to the treetop to prepare our defense."

When The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps arrived at the treetop, they saw mages busily running around.

It was about 6:20 in the afternoon, and the bombardment from the Crusaders at the mountain’s base seemed to have weakened. Judging from the wisps of smoke rising from the plain, they were likely taking a meal break.

In Olin City, there was no mood for dinner; mages adjusted Arrays, calculated modeling and sentinels and Guards were constantly rushing about, carrying equipment here and there as directed by the mages.

The Spartans, meanwhile, led their subordinates to various points within the city to reinforce defenses.

The girls of The Azure Longsword Mercenaries, bored atop the treetop, backed up information and watched the artillery fire from below the mountain explode upon the scale Array outside the Olympia tree, blossoming into beautiful flowers made of gunsmoke and firelight.

"What’s the Magic Tide like?" Nora, sitting beside Aske, asked curiously.

"When the Magic Tide’s upper limit rises from Lv5 to Lv10," Aske replied, "your cell phone, pad, laptop, and any other device containing electronic components will all combust during this period."

Nora: ...

"What should we do then?" she asked, puzzled.

"That’s why I told you to make backups on paper," Aske said. "Don’t trust anything electrical; everything will be destroyed during the surge of the Magic Tide. The only things that will survive are your written notes and your brain."

No sooner had he finished than all the surrounding lights went out.

Olympia City had ceased all electricity-dependent production activities and had cut off all power supply.

"Olympia City has blacked out!" As the light around the Olympia tree dimmed, such news began to spread wildly among the Crusaders.

They firmly believed it was their artillery bombardment that had overwhelmed Olin City’s power supply, leading to the city-wide blackout.

Thus, the Crusaders’ offensive grew even more fierce.

At the treetop, Nora, boredly looking at the darkened sky, suddenly pointed upwards and said:

"Hey, Squad Leader!"

"Hm?"

"Look at the moon tonight, doesn’t it seem a bit red?" Nora asked.

"Indeed." Aske observed carefully, noting that the moonlight did seem somewhat tinged with red.

"And it seems bigger than the usual moons," Nora said, puzzled.