The Invincible Overlord of Heroes.

Hantan City lost a large area of ​​land south of Hanjiang River, and its food supply is less than half of what it used to be.

As the human city closest to hell, Hantan City is the first choice for all refugees.

Although the Hell Camp deployed troops near Hanjiang for interception.

But as long as the refugees escape to the vicinity of Hanjiang River from other places and find a floating object to float downstream, they still have a chance of survival.

Thorn City seemed to provide support to Cold Pond City, but after all, it was someone else's city and had its share of dirty deeds in the past, so how could it be willing to give its all?

Hantan City, which has devoted all its efforts to developing its navy in an attempt to stop the Hell Camp on the Han River, has almost no land forces.

The Lord of Hantan City would never have thought that even though he was in this position, there were actually "his own people" who were eyeing his territory.

By now, the Lord of Hantan City has been exhausted.

Well, since you don't want it, I'll just give it to you.

The nobles of Thorn City died in vain. Not only did their deeds not produce any effect, but they also caused the Lord of Hantan City to reject Xu Lai's invitation to join the government.

"Your Majesty, I am already old, and there is still some wealth left at home, but there is no more food.

I am willing to donate all the remaining wealth in my family, and I only hope that His Majesty the King can forgive the rich people in the city."

Arvid Valentine, the Lord of Cold Pond, is the patriarch of the Valentine family and was granted the title of Imperial Viscount.

However, the Valentine family is not very popular. The first patriarch of the family was once the chief shipbuilder of the famous naval commander Silvia.

He was awarded this title for having built a huge royal ship for Silvia that dominated the oceans.

However, Patriarch Valentine, who was born as a technician, was not recognized by the mainstream nobles, so he was exiled to Hanjiangkou.

At that time, the mouth of the Hanjiang River had not been managed at all, and there was not even a piece of fertile land around it.

After hundreds of years of operation, the Valentine family managed the Han River, built the Hantan to divert the flow of water, and cultivated tens of thousands of acres of fertile land.

It’s a pity that most of the fertile fields have been destroyed by magma and it is no longer possible to grow any crops.

Xu Lai was silent for a moment and then replied: "What if I don't want to forgive them?"

Arvid sighed and said calmly: "That's up to you. You are the victor and have the right to decide the life and death of everyone in the city.

However, whether for your own sake or for the sake of the human race’s bloodline, please treat the Hantan Water Master well.

With them around, at the very least, we can deter Hell from crossing the river easily, and buy more time for humans."

Avid didn't even look at Xu Lai. When he saw the riotous scene of the Lord of Thorn City, Avid anticipated his own fate.

Originally he still had some hope, but he didn't expect to meet a brutal tyrant.

This is not surprising. He heard that the people on the grassland are extremely tough, so he is not surprised to see this situation.

However, human beings today can no longer withstand any internal strife.

Moreover, even Longan City, Wasteland City, and Thorn City were all taken over by the grassland king in front of him. What could the even weaker Hantan City use to fight against him?

Preserving a little more fire for Hantan City and for all of humanity can be considered the Valentine family's last contribution to the empire.

Xu Lai felt a headache. To be honest, he really needed the other person.

After searching the grasslands, there was no general who was good at navy. The Silvia family was famous for its navigation skills, but the opponent was in the distant Southern Empire.

If Xu Lai had known that Avid would open the city and surrender directly, he would have spared those people's lives.

"Mr. Avid, to be honest, I came all the way here just to see you.

If you and your family are unwilling to be loyal to me, I think there is no need for the entire Hantan City to stay.

By then, not to mention the Hantan Navy, all the people in Hantan City will be buried with this city."

Arvid said in horror: "You, do you still want to massacre the city?"

Xu Lai narrowed his eyes and said, “I don’t know if you have heard of me before, I think my reputation is actually quite good.

But if this is the only way to achieve my goal, I don’t mind doing it.”

With a swish, the soldiers in leather armor behind Avid drew their swords one after another.

"City Lord, stop wasting time talking to people like this. Let's fight them."

Xu Lai was stunned. In order to show his sincerity, Xu Lai did not stop Avid's guards, nor did he unload their weapons.

Just as Xu Lai was surprised, Roland was also shocked and angry.

As the captain of Xu Lai's guards, he jumped out personally regardless of his status and kicked down the captain of the guards who had drawn his sword with a fierce kick.

Roland, who had multiple blessings on his body, attacked with hatred and showed no mercy.

Even though the guards around Avid were all rank 7 royal guard captains, they were still kicked away.

The other guards wanted to resist, but there was no need for the other Holy Light Knights to take action. Roland alone kicked them all to the ground one by one.

Tahan, who was newly promoted to general, has replaced a whole set of equipment. Not only has the attribute greatly increased, but he has also gained many general-exclusive effects.

Tahan, who was riding on a horse, snorted coldly, and the aura of fearlessness after his advancement instantly enveloped Avid's entire guard.

The guards of the corps felt cold all over, their courage was taken away a little, and their morale dropped several points in an instant.

With the aura of fearlessness, Roland knocked down all the guards around Arvid with one punch each, without even drawing his weapon.

However, Arvid didn't even look at the guards around him, he stared straight at Xu Lai and said: "Are you threatening me?"

Xu Lai also said nonchalantly: "Yes, I am threatening you.

If it were in the past, I might have invited him/her several times and made every effort to show my support.

Only if I treat others as national heroes can I expect others to treat me as national heroes in return.

But I don't have time now, the strongholds and the undead are attacking and plundering cities on a large scale.

Every second and every minute of delay now will cause countless deaths.

Even an outsider like me can't stand it, I don't know how you guys can be so pretentious."

Arvid was so angry that he was blocked by Xu Lai. His face turned red and he said:
"I'm not being hypocritical. I just don't want to do things for someone like you."

Xu Lai snorted coldly and said, "Oh, humans are on the brink of extinction, and you still have the nerve to talk about preferences.

Don't think I'm just threatening you. If you are not loyal to me, I will not be able to use the entire Hantan Fleet with confidence.

If I don't use these fleets, keeping Cold Pond City will only give me false hope.

I have invested endless resources and manpower in a city that may betray me at any time.

Rather than that, I would rather destroy the city, abandon all false hopes, and concentrate on building defenses on land.

So I also hope that you can think about it carefully and not let your momentary pleasure delay the entire Hantan City. "Xu Lai originally really wanted to persuade the other party, at least not with such a tough attitude.

The most important thing is that even if Xu Lai successfully forced the other party to be loyal, this kind of loyalty gained through coercion and inducement is extremely unstable.

But just as he worried, the latest intelligence came from the temple that the Hell camp had begun a new round of troop gathering.

At present, Xu Lai is not clear about what Hell is trying to do by gathering its troops and in which direction to attack.

But what is certain is that hell is about to cause trouble, and he really doesn't have much time left.

If Avid continues to drag his feet and act sticky, Xu Lai will not really burn down the city, but he will definitely not continue to invest resources here.

He would even give up Thorn City and use all his time and energy to turn Long'an and Wasteland into the edge defense line of the Eagle Kingdom.

Looking at Xu Lai's serious expression, Avid also fell into hesitation.

As a local, Avid hates outsiders like Xu Lai.

As a noble, he hated barbarians like Xu Lai who killed nobles at will.

But it seemed that Xu Lai did not lie. If he continued to refuse, the other party might really massacre the city.

Xu Lai did not give Arvid any chance to hesitate and directly gave the order loudly:

"Brandi, take your men to seal off the cold pond and pour all the kerosene we brought into the cold pond. I want nothing to be left in the cold pond."

Hantan directly connects to Hantan City and Hanjiang River. Kerosene can be poured into Hantan from the shipyard in Hantan City.

Kerosene cannot withstand fire, but it can burn on the water surface. The warships of the Hantan Navy are basically made of wood.

Now, most of the officers and soldiers of the Hantan Navy have disembarked from the ships, and Brandy and the surrendered soldiers have unloaded their weapons.

Once the kerosene is poured, the fleet will have no time to escape and will burn to ashes in a moment, with nothing left in the end.

Arvid, who heard the order, shouted: "You, are you crazy?"

Xu Lai said without caring, "Brandy has already led the troops over there. In a quarter of an hour at most, the fire may start.

By then, it will be too late even if I give the order to stop it.

And considering that it takes time for the order to be delivered, you don’t have more than a few minutes left.”

"No, please don't harm this fleet. I am willing to obey all your orders."

Xu Lai glanced at Arvid and said coldly: "I don't want slaves."

Arvid paused, looking at the large group of soldiers moving, he gritted his teeth, knelt in front of Xu Lai and said:

"I, Arvid Valentine, patriarch of the Valentine family, hereby swear to the respected King of the Eagle Kingdom:
The Valentine family is willing to be loyal to your majesty forever and never betray you."

Xu Lai curled the corners of his mouth slightly. He actually didn't bring any kerosene, and Brandi was just pretending.

"Get up, I don't believe in eternity, I only believe in the present.

Take me to see your fleet. I hope your fleet can bring us some hope."

Avid stood up and took Xu Lai towards the cold pond.

Outside the shipyard, except for a few people guarding the ship, most of the soldiers had already lined up outside.

Of course, all their weapons had been taken away, and Reina was watching over them personally.

Arvid was surprised again when he saw the elven heroine.

But he didn't say anything, instead he introduced Xu Lai:

“The Hantan Fleet has a total of 120 ships of various types, but 20 of them are converted civilian ships. They have no combat power and can only serve as transport ships.

Of the remaining 100 ships, there are 30 large arrow ships, 20 standard ocean-going gunboats, 30 medium and large transport ships, 9 frigates, and one flagship, the Cold Pond. "

Xu Lai asked in confusion: "Aren't there only 90 ships?"

Arvid nodded and said with a bitter face:

"There are 10 more flamethrowers. They are quite effective against other ships, but not so effective against Hell soldiers."

Xu Lai thought for a moment and said, "I heard that your family is a shipbuilder family and once built a giant ship for Sylvia?"

Arvid said: “Yes, the blueprints of the giant ship are still kept in our family.

The flagship, the Hantan, is a replica of the royal battleship, but it is a smaller and simpler version.

A true royal ship, not to mention the cold pond, even on the cold river, it can't be deployed, it is a flagship used in naval battles."

The Hantan is extremely conspicuous, standing out among the many ships like a crane among chickens.

The surface of the Hanjiang River is hundreds or thousands of meters wide at its widest point and 5 to 60 meters at its narrowest point. It is like a terrifying river.

But even with such a river surface, they couldn't maneuver it, and no one knew what the giant ship looked like.

Xu Lai directly asked Avid for the attributes of the improved version of the Royal Battleship, that is, the attributes of the flagship, the Cold Pond.

[Cruiser]: can accommodate 150-1200 people (to sail and maintain minimum attack, at least 150 people are required, and to maximize the attack effect, at least 600 people are required)
The attack method is siege attack (affected by ballistics and archery):

Main gun*1: attack 800, range 3000
Secondary guns*12: attack 500, range 1500
Tail gun*1: attack 600, range 1800
Defense: 250 (city wall defense)
Durability: 8000
Ammunition: 500 rounds of ordinary ammunition, 100 rounds of fragmentation ammunition, and 50 rounds of explosive ammunition.

Equipment: bow ram, shooting platform*2, watchtower*2, magic system*1
Construction requires 6000 wood, 80000 gold coins, 5000 iron ingots, 800 crystals, 800 sulfur, and 1000 working hours.

The cruiser to which the Hantan belongs has really good attributes, and is much better than the large arrow ships and ocean-going gunboats produced by ordinary shipyards.

Of course, the cost is also quite staggering.

Xu Lai remembered that the shipyard blueprint he had obtained at the beginning included an ocean-going gunboat, and the average cost of building one was only about 10,000 to 20,000 gold coins.

In fact, the most important thing about shipbuilding is that it takes time.

If you buy it ready-made, an ocean-going gunboat would cost about 100,000 gold coins, and the merchants in the south can provide it in large quantities.

And for a cruiser like the Hantan, it takes 1000 hours to build one.

However, there are many senior shipbuilders and shipbuilders in Hantan City. If they work at full capacity, they can build a ship in about two or three days.

Even with this cost, the gold coins alone would cost 8, plus other resources like wood and iron ingots, it would cost at least 20 per ship, not counting the workers' wages.

Of course, 20 per ship is actually a profit, because the Southern Empire does not sell ships of this level at all.

Even if it is sold, the price to buy it will probably not be less than one million gold. With this price, you can recruit angels to form half a group.

"This is the ship we want. Tell the shipyard to stop all the ships they are currently building and focus on producing this type of cruiser. Let's make nine more first.

In addition, Mr. Avid, I now officially appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the Eagle Kingdom's Coast Defense Force.

The Coast Guard will be based on the existing Hantan Navy. I will allocate 1 infantry and 1 archers to you. Is that enough?" (End of this chapter)