This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 535 - 482 I Come for Peace

Chapter 535: Chapter 482 I Come for Peace

The chill winds of winter finally reached the Emerald River.

In previous years, by this time, the surface of the river would have already formed a layer of ice thick enough to walk on.

But this year was different; the Laine People put in a lot of effort, breaking ice and lighting fires, insisting that the Emerald River must not freeze over.

Now, chunks of shattered ice covered the river, giving the appearance of being frozen, but one step would plunge you straight into a hole.

Ange Watson was not just skilled in leading troops; he understood clearly that war between two countries was a contest of national strength, and currently, the Orcs were in a rather embarrassing predicament.

They were short of food.

As a kingdom with more mountains than plains and primarily reliant on agriculture, the Orcs were already in deficit when it came to food supplies.

With a massive number of able-bodied individuals drafted into the war effort, consuming a great quantity of food daily, the Orcs wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer.

Had they not seized a city from Laine, gaining some supplies, the war might have ended much sooner.

The Orcs were aware of this, which is why they recently managed to pull together a Mage Group and were casting spells from afar, attempting to freeze the Emerald River.

Snowstorms and hail pounded incessantly, turning the surface of the river into blocks of solid ice.

But the Laine People didn’t show any courtesy either, challenging the war of attrition—thinking they could outlast us? Did the Orcs have more mages than the humans?

Who said Priests couldn’t use the Fireball Technique?

Both sides hurled a plethora of magic at the river surface.

Moreover, both sides now had means of aerial reconnaissance. You think you can find a way to bypass the river from upstream or downstream? Useless, the Airships could scan a hundred kilometers of the river in half an hour, and the Laine’s jetpack reconnaissance soldiers were just the same, albeit with a shorter endurance.

The war entered an era of full-map visibility that no one had ever experienced before, necessitating the evolution of tactics on the battlefield.

Though Laine held a temporary advantage, the timing was on the side of the Orcs.

Ange Watson stood atop the castle wall, enduring the biting cold winds, his heart colder than the north wind.

This year’s weather was abnormally cold; normally at this time, it would only be around minus ten degrees, but now it was minus thirty degrees.

The river was freezing over too quickly, and it seemed that, despite the Laine People’s efforts, they could only watch the river freeze solid in the end.

Most people couldn’t understand why it was particularly cold this year and thought it might be the intervention of a Deity, but many Astrologers had already been prepared.

Because an entire Kingdom of Impure Hymns had vanished.

Such a horrific geographical change was unprecedented. Climate scholars made various predictions, with a severe cold wave being one of them.

Now it seems the scholars who predicted droughts and earthquakes were going to be proven wrong.

But no matter how many climate scholars you sacrifice to the heavens, the change in weather has become a fact. Large-scale, widespread ice melting methods can’t be sustained indefinitely, and according to Ange Watson’s calculations, Laine could hold out for at most ten more days before the Emerald River would be completely frozen over. Then, breaking the ice would likely become impossible due to a lack of manpower.

Once the river was entirely frozen over, the Orcs would surely launch a decisive battle before the onset of deep winter.

Ange Watson could already guess the outcome.

Laine would suffer heavy casualties but would manage to hold the defense line of the Emerald River, pushing back the Orc Army. But this would require diverting troops from other boundary lines, with a guarantee that other borders wouldn’t be invaded.

If another front broke out, the losses for Laine would be even greater.

However, the ultimate outcome would still see the Orcs repelled; at best, they could vent their hatred and rage, then retreat, and might not even be able to retain the cities across the river.

Both sides would be damaged; everyone would lose.

Ange Watson had known the outcome from the beginning, and he was tirelessly striving to avoid it.

Thinking this, Ange Watson angrily punched the castle wall.

"Damn it, why won’t they sell me the battleship?"

Ange Watson had witnessed the power of Amberser’s weapons; undoubtedly, the strongest weapon of war was his Black Tide. Although he heard the Black Tide had crashed, Amberser still had other battleships.

A battleship with absolute speed advantage could control the entire battlefield’s sky—that meant you could strike others without them being able to hit back.

Even if the enemy’s Commander was formidable, he couldn’t give all the Orcs wings to fly.

With absolute weapon superiority, Ange Watson was confident he could drive these Orcs back with minimal losses.

But Amberser simply refused to sell.

That damn Lich, venturing to profit from war bloodied by slaughter!

How could Ange Watson not guess at Amberser’s intentions? That Lich wanted the two countries to keep waging war, so his weapons would sell better.

Just those jetpacks for individual soldiers alone cost Laine over a million Gold Coins, while their actual cost wouldn’t exceed fifty thousand.

But Laine’s Alchemists were unable to replicate it, even causing an explosion when they attempted to dissect it, earning an extra charge from the Lich for damage fees.

Yes, the cost for damages.

Because those jetpacks were "rented," and the rent was calculated based on flight time. Each jetpack had a device that counted the activation time, with each minute being charged in Gold Coins.

The longer the war dragged on, the more the Lich profited.

Undead are just that—Undead. They lack morality, they lack compassion; they have only bare-faced interests. Even this Lich, who claimed to have saved the world, was no exception.

With increasing conviction, Ange Watson felt His Majesty the Emperor was right—his brother should never have cooperated with this Lich. Allen was far too beguiled by that Lich, and the Watson family had been ruined because of him.