A civil war had erupted within the dozen or so strongholds controlled by the Panaqua Consortium. It had come without any warning, and there were no precautions against it.
At this moment, the Panaqua Consortium’s combat troops and soldiers were all thinking that war would only be happening externally. They never expected that in just one night, there would be a changing of the guard and the Board would get taken down entirely.
Julius’ supporters, who had been scattered across the various fighting forces, had either successfully rebelled against the leaders of their troops or carried out decapitation strikes against them. This left the military without any leaders and created a situation of chaos.
Many people sacrificed themselves that night. They were all willing to die for Julius’ glory. Meanwhile, Julius had sent out a large number of people to take control of the strongholds, as well as amalgamate the fighting forces.
New political orders were starting to be issued from Stronghold 111. It took Julius a fortnight to complete the cleaning up and purging of the previous regime’s elements.
Many of the Panaqua Consortium’s supporters had no choice but to escape out into the wilderness, but what awaited them was a harsh winter and extreme hunger.
Inside the manor on the mountainside of Mt. Ginkgo, Bill asked, “Where’s the money you promised me? Pay up! Pay up! Pay up!”
Julius looked at favonovel.com in amusement and wrote favonovel.com a check. “Go cash it at the Panaqua Consortium’s bank. It’s enough to last you a lifetime.”
Bill happily held the check in his hand. “Look, you just don’t trust me. And see what happened? Daniel has been locked up in Stronghold 88 as a bargaining chip as a result. Let’s see how you’re gonna deal with that!”
“You want me to trust you?” Julius snapped, “You’re already asking for your payment as soon as this episode ended, so how can I trust someone like you?”
Bill was unhappy to hear that. “Although I like money a lot, I could have gotten some from the Board too. So, why did I choose to accept your money instead of taking it from the Board? It’s all down to our relationship!”
“Like hell I’d believe you.” Julius sat calmly in his seat.
The reason for his worries was because favonovel.com was afraid that Bill would turn against favonovel.com at the last minute.
Outsiders would only think that this was Julius’ planned move, but Julius himself was also sweating over it.
In reality, it was still unknown whether favonovel.com or the Board would end up as the victor that night. It was indeed a very risky decision to place a portion of the bet on Bill because Bill loved money way too much ever since childhood. Julius understood very well that a portion of the reason Bill was on his side was that his money was easier to earn and safer as well.
If favonovel.com accepted any money from the Board, it might be possible that they would get even with favonovel.com at a later time.
Of course, a portion of it also involved some complicated relationships. This group of people who had known each other since childhood would still consider the friendship they had.
Bill said, “Then what do we do about Daniel now? Why don’t you pay me some money and I’ll go rescue him?”
Julius looked up at him. “There’s no need to. I have my own plans.”
***
At this moment, a military transport truck was speeding towards Stronghold 88.
Suddenly, Miriam said, “We’re here!”
Milo looked up ahead through the windshield and saw a towering stronghold located in the wilderness. This stronghold was extremely large. It was way larger than Stronghold 108, 109, and 113.
Stronghold 88’s location was very special.
To the north were the Ultima Consortium and Stronghold 178, while the Panaqua Consortium was to its west, and the Skyfort Consortium was to the south. Some years ago when it was still possible for independent merchants to freely come to the stronghold, this place was a very important distribution center of goods. This was also how the Radianz Consortium started.
While in the vehicle, Milo could already see the town of Stronghold 88 from afar. At this moment, a group of refugees were returning home from work. Some of them had cigarettes dangling from their mouths and looked extremely satisfied.
Just as Donti had said, the Radianz Consortium was no different from the other organizations. It was only Miriam who was different.
When their vehicles drove past, the refugees hurriedly made way for them. They were all afraid that they would be the unlucky ones to get picked on by whichever big shots were in the vehicles.
When Donti saw the town, favonovel.com got very excited. “Bro, why don’t we just settle down in town?”
Milo laughed and said, “Let’s head into the stronghold and have a look first.”
Donti said, “Alright!”
In front of them, Lilian flashed favonovel.com identification documents to the guards from inside favonovel.com off-road vehicle. The soldiers opened the gate respectfully and let them through.
Stronghold 88 had something unique about it. After entering the gate, there was actually another circular wall on the inside. The Radianz Consortium had actually built a barbican for Stronghold 88! This was a structure that was specially used to add to its defensive capabilities. The Radianz Consortium actually prioritized its defenses at Stronghold 88 this importantly.
At this moment, Miriam said, “Daniel was supposed to leave the stronghold at this time, but the Panaqua Consortium suddenly broke the alliance, so the people from the Radianz Consortium placed favonovel.com under house arrest. I heard there’s already been a major change in the Panaqua Consortium. After Julius was taken back to Stronghold 111, they started a coup, and Julius has become the head of the Panaqua Consortium.”
Therefore, it was even more important that the Radianz Consortium did not let Daniel leave. He was the elder brother of the Panaqua Consortium, after all. With such an important bargaining chip in their hands, the Radianz Consortium Board of Directors would be so happy they wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Milo sensed from Miriam’s words that favonovel.com somehow felt a sense of detachment from the Radianz Consortium. For example, whenever Miriam mentioned the Radianz Consortium, favonovel.com would refer to them as “the people from the Radianz Consortium”.
Milo asked, “How’s the war at the front lines now?”
“The Panaqua Consortium’s forces have returned to the front line again.” Miriam said, “The war shouldn’t have gone so smoothly at first, but it was said that a really big case of espionage happened at the Skyfort Consortium’s front line. A very capable spy leaked all of their defensive plans at the front line, and even the whereabouts of the Divine Arms Battalion were revealed by this spy.”
Upon hearing that, Milo did not say a word anymore. Magnus and the others were all staring at their toes, afraid they would laugh out loud.
Miriam asked, “What’s going on with you all?”
“It’s nothing.” Milo said, “Please continue speaking.”
“Mhm…” Miriam sighed. “The Radianz Consortium’s losses at the front lines are still pretty big since two of their three armored brigades have been taken out. If the Radianz Consortium also had such a spy to support them, it would definitely not have ended up like this.”
“Yeah…” Milo also sighed and said, “That spy is amazing…”
Miriam rolled favonovel.com eyes and said, “You’ve really been praised to the skies, haven’t you? I know that the spy was you! Other than you, no one else would be able to do it! The place I’ve arranged for you guys to stay at is right next to Daniel’s house. That’s where the Radianz Consortium hosts their foreign guests. The condition of the place is still pretty good. If you guys have any other requests, you can ask me.”
Milo thought for a moment. “Is there a university in Stronghold 88?”
“Yes.” Miriam nodded. “Why? Are you guys thinking of attending university?”
Milo had been thinking about something all this while. He wanted Magnus and the others to further their studies so that they could perfect the armor.
The armor favonovel.com was using now was a little “unfashionable”, be it its appearance or structure, so it still needed to be improved upon.
Magnus and the others had said they could try to improve on it, but some things were easier to imagine than to do. Therefore, Magnus and the others needed to further their studies a little.
Milo estimated they would have to stay at Stronghold 88 for at least a few years before considering their future plans. So, instead of wasting time, they might as well start preparing for it now.
If the shield favonovel.com had formed with the nanoarmor had a better shock-absorbing mechanism, it could have led to a vastly different outcome.
