Pillars of Ita

Fang He thought for a moment and finally nodded. It was not because of the sense of responsibility of an adventurer, nor was it to complete the mission, but the abnormal movement of the gray creatures made him feel abnormal, and he wanted to find out what happened in the gray area.

"Wait a minute," the guy who had always been a naysayer protested again, muttering in a decisive tone, "I haven't agreed yet. This is different from what we agreed before. You should escort us to the mission location first."

Fang He ignored the chattering brainless zombie. Anyway, the zombie could either stay and fight the gray creatures with the elves, or go with them. He knew what choice the zombie would make.

The group continued to move forward along the path between the valleys. Since they had already completed most of the journey, it didn't take them much time to reach their destination.

The traces of the withered tree men in the surrounding forest were like numerous ghostly shadows, poking their heads out among the crystallized woodlands. They didn't seem to be wandering aimlessly, but more like they were testing something.

Apparently Fang He was not the first person to discover this. Someone came to tell him: "Those things seem to be watching us from all around. They... they seem to be... they seem to be trying to stop us."

"Don't worry about them," Fang He shook his head. "You are so suspicious that you have fallen into their trap. Build the basic fortifications first and wait for the commander and his men to arrive."

"But..." 'Their tricks' obviously increased the suspicion of the craftsman. Fighting against brainless monsters and cunning beasts, the latter is obviously more frightening. He stammered, "We are the only ones here... We can't fight against those things just by relying on fortifications."

"Don't worry," Fang He comforted him, "Leave it to us. I will protect you all before the elves arrive. Besides, the Gray Region won't have that much impact on you all."

He turned back and said to Miss Nightingale, "Elisa, Daryl, go to the forest and take a look."

The two nodded and followed his instructions. After Fang He finished speaking, he also put on the magic gloves and the long-lost pride of the lonely king. After returning from the empire, he had spent time repairing this thing.

He raised his hand, and the craftsman looked at him a little blankly, as if a gust of wind had suddenly blown up out of nowhere, but that was actually the sound of the clockwork goblin's wings vibrating under his coat.

They crawled out of his pocket one by one like beetles, flapped their hinged wings, flew into the sky, passed by the craftsman, flew over the makeshift camp, and flew into the forest.

Many people saw this scene and couldn't help but stop to watch. Many people knew that the leader of this group of craftsmen was a combat craftsman sent by the Son of Light.

But before seeing these hordes of clockwork goblins, it is actually difficult for people to imagine what kind of person their leader is.

Of course, the clockwork goblins that flew up from Fang He's side did not only come from under his coat.

After all, that pocket was not a bottomless pit, and most of it actually came from the projection of the information crystal. They formed three waves, passing over everyone's heads like black clouds, and there were more than dozens of goblins in each black cloud.

They scattered over the forest like a flock of birds. Not everyone had seen such a scene, although the Sons of Light also had a group of war craftsmen, but... that was not quite the same.

This time they were controlled by only one person.

People couldn't help but glance in this direction. Fang He's origins were very mysterious. The Son of Light did not mention a single word about him before appointing him as the leader of this team.

This is also the reason why most people are not convinced. After all, they have never heard of such a person. Most of the craftsmen in Giant Tree Hill come from the White Tree Society, and these people know each other well.

At first they thought Fang He was a court craftsman of the Elf Court, but now it seems that this is not the case, because everyone knows what kind of person a court craftsman is.

The leader's expression changed visibly several times and he dared not speak anymore.

Fang He also said nothing.

In fact, he was wearing goggles and couldn't see anything around him. He was just silently watching the scene transmitted back from the crystal, his brows were almost wrinkled into a straight line.

Even though he spoke so lightly to others, he actually had no idea.

He was 100% sure that he could take everyone from the Seven Seas Brigade away, but it was not so easy to protect the two artisan groups under siege and build simple fortifications here.

The withered treemen in the forest were gathering together in the field of vision. It was obvious that the elves had not completely stopped them, or they were not strong enough to stop them completely.

These things are everywhere in the forest, and their number is much greater than people imagine. The key is that they are not as brainless as expected, and there is obviously something controlling them behind the scenes.

Yes, these withered tree people were testing and monitoring them.

When they arrived here, these things had already begun to gather in the surrounding crystal forest, but they had not launched an attack.

  This was not out of cowardice, but to avoid alerting the enemy. Realizing this, Fang He became a little suspicious. He looked up, and it was hard to imagine what was in the darkness that was so far away that it was invisible.

Are there towering pale branches, spreading and growing in the lightless shadows, sprouting into the shape of nightmares?

And the branches that grew out of the disaster are looking at this land with the same eyes, like another chess player on the chessboard, observing, learning and then destroying.

Miss Nightingale has returned with bad news.

An astonishing number of dead tree men had already gathered in the forest. In other words, they were already a little late when they discovered each other.

Fang He asked her this question. Cui Xisi was standing aside, silently observing the direction of the forest. Alyssa looked over with some surprise and asked, "Is this important?"

Fang He nodded. "We need to know its origin. Gray matter is not a kind of life. Parasites and diseases are just appearances. They are reflections of natural disorder. But where does the malice of the disaster branch towards this land and the people on it come from? It is neither a confrontation between species nor an instinct for survival and expansion. There must be a history."

"What the captain meant was that if the Blightbranches had not shown any intelligence, then the Gray Domain could be considered a disorderly expansion. But they showed clear intentions in this fight with the Sons of Light, so this intention should have a motive. If the Gray Domain is a kind of life, then the confrontation between lives does not need a reason, but if it is just a law of disorder, then this law's backlash against the lives on Terraka should have its reasons."

Cui Xisi spoke at this time. Like Fang He, every alchemist should have an essential understanding of ether theory. Although the Chosen Ones are weaker in this regard, they are not completely ignorant.

"What is the reason?" asked Miss Nightingale.

Tracis shook her head.

There could be many reasons for this. If it comes from the Scar of Yasa and from the verdant green, then its malice towards this world is innate.

If it comes from a dying god, then it is the death of apoptosis, the death of rebirth, the cancer of the Holy White Tree, and death itself, and death itself needs no reason.

But if it's neither, then things become interesting. The answer may be hidden beneath the forest, just as Arryn told them.

“So the intention shown by the disaster branch actually exposed its own origin?” Elisa murmured to herself, “Is this how you alchemists see this matter?”

"That's not the case," Tracis shook her head again. "Do you think the craftsmen have noticed this? The Chosen are made quickly. They only care about strength and are indifferent to theoretical things."

Alyssa glanced at her and said, “Aren’t you and the captain the same?”

Cui Xisi also looked at the boy next to her with some surprise. In fact, Fang He had grown two years older and was no longer a teenager. It was just a pity that his height had not changed much.

The education of the elites in the Grand Guild's youth training camp is somewhat different from that of others. In fact, it is almost an open secret that the military also attaches great importance to training their Chosen Ones like the indigenous people, but ordinary people do not pay so much attention to this.

But she suddenly thought of Fang He's experience, and felt relieved. The other party didn't have a system originally.

"Didn't the indigenous craftsmen notice it?"

"That has to do with the level," Tracis replied. "You should know that the indigenous people grow slower than us. In fact, the master elf craftsman should have noticed this."

Fang He turned around at this time: "What does Alyssa think?"

"I think there is some truth in that. The withered tree man in the forest is behaving a little abnormally," Miss Nightingale replied lightly, "but compared to this, shouldn't we solve the imminent trouble first?"

She implicitly pointed out that the two were worrying too much in the long term, and instead of thinking about these trivial matters, they should think about how they should get through the crisis right now.

Fang He looked towards the forest and thought that it was indeed the case.

The Second Regiment was setting up in that direction. When Elisa came back, they had already set up a line of defense. Luo Hao and May were instructing them, and Daryl also stayed there.

The place where they were was backed by a small hill, similar to the inner depression of a river bay, but the river had long dried up or changed its course, leaving only a flat riverbed.

This is the exit of a series of complex valleys in the surrounding area. Setting up a line of defense here is enough to block the pass. From here, the road to the north or east is smooth. The Son of Light has obviously surveyed this area long ago.

However, the nearest crystal tower is still six or seven kilometers away. It is obvious that the elves were not prepared for this battle, and this is why they have to come here.

Hasty preparation.

This was another bad sign. There wasn't much good news for them, but otherwise why would Arryn Ironheart give such an important task to an outsider like him? War was full of surprises, and each side tried to make the most of the resources at hand and wait for the opponent to make more mistakes.

Therefore, Fang He did not force anything. He knew that this was actually an opportunity for him.

He withdrew his gaze. He certainly did not release the clockwork goblin to scout those withered tree people. Alisa and Daryl were enough. He wanted to survey the nearby terrain.

The elves' forward base is like a star fortress, with certain specifications. It must include a main fortress and several triangular outer fortresses, with magic turrets and a crystal tower erected in the center.

The core of the forward base is this crystal tower. As for the fortress itself, its shape can be large or small, with four turrets or twelve.

The outer fort is generally five meters high and the inner fort is seven meters high. There are three gullies in between, and the main gully is two to three meters deep.

Such a large amount of work is certainly not something that can be completed by just a few dozen people on Earth, but this is Ataria, where there is magic technology.

Alchemists have plenty of ways to build a fortress from flat ground.

Similar forward bases caused great trouble to other regions in the Second World, so Fang He was very familiar with them.

He had the craftsmen set up the forward base at the exit of the river bend, where the shooting range was better and it was some distance away from the forest, blocking the pass of the valley.

When the withered tree people in the forest discovered that the craftsmen had begun to build the fortress, they immediately launched an attack.

Fang He observed that direction through the clockwork fairy. A grayish-white line was emerging at the edge of the forest. That line was actually made up of countless dead tree men.

It was like the river was filling up the dry riverbed once again.

From afar, a gray wave appeared on the river.

  The craftsmen came to him and told him that they could not build basic fortifications before the monsters arrived, and asked him if he wanted to build a low wall or a trench first?

Fang He turned around and looked in that direction.

The Night Walker craftsmen were obviously not stupid. They naturally understood that the gray creatures in the forest would not give them too much time, so they built a simple fortress first.

Even after the main part of the fortress is completed, it can still serve as an outer triangular fort, so it will not be wasted.

But even so, the withered tree men in the forest did not give them a chance to finish their work.

But Fang He still shook his head gently, indicating that it was not necessary.

"But..." The craftsman seemed a little embarrassed and looked back.

The craftsmen brought a lot of large equipment, the most important of which were two planetary furnaces, which were loaded with two large information crystals. With the help of these two planetary furnaces, they were able to build a fortress on the flat ground.

At this moment, all the craftsmen gathered around the two planetary furnaces and looked at him.

Fang He followed the other person's gaze and saw the guy who had been chattering before, standing out among the crowd.

It's this guy again.

"We don't have time to build a complete fortress," the craftsman said to him.

"No, you have time." Fang He knew that he had to appease these people. He looked at the man in the crowd and said, "Listen to me. I am the head of the craftsmen group. All you have to consider is how to execute the order. As for whether the mission fails or not, I will be responsible."

"I know that most of you are Chosen Ones, and none of you are elves. Success or failure is just a task for you. But if you disobey orders, you will be sent to a military court even if you do the right thing."

"You may not care about this, but you have to consider the guild behind you. I guess you have your own indicators. I don't need to say more."

He glanced at these people one by one. He already knew very well how the Grand Guild operated. These people were craftsmen under the Night Walkers, but they were not the only ones in the group of craftsmen.

However, these people did not know how much authority the Son of Light had given to Fang He, nor did they know whether his threats would work. In theory, they could disobey orders as long as they could take responsibility.

But they are not star players, and when it comes to each individual, no one wants to step forward and take the blame.

Even if someone instigates you, it won't work.

The craftsman was silent for a moment, then nodded. Fang He found the chattering guy from the crowd and said to him, "I need your help."

The man looked at Fang He in some bewilderment.

But Fang He ignored him and said to himself: "I will give you a regiment of people. You will be responsible for commanding them. You don't have to worry about anything. Your only task is to build the central crystal tower as a priority."

"Why?" The other party's tone was a little dry.

"You can't do it?"

The man wanted to say something, but after thinking it over, he decided not to say anything. He was indeed the only one who could be responsible for this task here.

Of course the most important thing is that Fang He gave him a regiment of people.

"Can you do it?" Fang He asked.

The guy snorted softly, "Only if you can stop those tree people."

Fang Plover nodded.

In the past he would definitely ignore this guy, but in this place only these people can be responsible for building this crystal tower. This person is actually the highest-level alchemist among these craftsmen except for him and Cui Xisi.

The teleportation crystal tower is the exclusive theory of the Silver Chain Island Society.

After dealing with this unstable factor, Fang He breathed a sigh of relief. It was easy to deal with the dead tree man, but if he wanted to complete this task he had to rely on these Night Walker craftsmen.

He rubbed his brows. The elves from the Court of Radiance really gave him trouble.

Back to the Seven Seas Brigade, the next thing to consider is how to deal with the attack of the disaster branches. Those withered tree people are nothing, but this attack is obviously just the beginning.

From the moment the withered tree man appeared, he knew that the Son of Light was plotting the disaster branch, and the Gray Realm had obviously already noticed all this, and it was taking advantage of the elves' mistake.

But it’s still hard to say who has the better move.

As expected, the first wave of attack was easily blocked. The combat effectiveness of the Second Regiment was even better than Fang He had imagined. The key was that the people sent by the military were very skilled.

But what was more crucial was that the elves were back. The elven commander appeared from one side of the forest with the Holy White Archers who led the Sons of Light. They used three rounds of arrow rain to open a gap there, and then ordered the Half-Unicorn Knights to charge, directly defeating the gray creatures' line.

As mentioned before, the withered tree people are just some low-level gray creatures, and the quality of gray creatures is often inferior to that of mortal armies of the same number.

Not to mention the Sons of Light of the Court of Radiance.

They often win by numbers.

The elven commander rode a unicorn, stepping over the gray and white debris on the battlefield. She came in front of Fang He, then dismounted and nodded to him slightly, as if in approval.

Then she took off her helmet, but the news she brought was not so optimistic. "Something is not right. The gray creatures around here did not all go to the south as the intelligence said. They... are heading in this direction."

"This is indeed different from the plan," Fang He asked, "Should we consider retreating?"

The elven female knight looked at him with her light purple eyes, "...No, I will organize the defense line later. Can you complete this forward base in a short time?"

...(End of chapter)