On the Seven Towers

Zhang Hong followed Cole back to the banquet hall in a daze. Cole returned to the crowd with a relaxed look on his face. Zhang Hong hid in the corner of the banquet hall, with his hands on the table, covering his face, trying his best to calm his chaotic thoughts.

He had to accept the two teleportation props and put them in the storage ring. Although Zhang Hong was not good at strategy, he knew very well that the other party had already held his life in his hands. Cole's persuasion just now was just to make him cooperate obediently. After all, if he cooperated well, the possibility of success would be much greater, and the other party would get more benefits in the later stage. If the other party ignored his interests and forced him, he could only admit his weakness.

Zhang Hong was sure that once the killing of Hong Lifeng was confirmed, he would be finished. Even if there were thousands of reasons, he could not make it up. He might become the first Chinese to be sentenced in another world. Maybe he would not die, but he could not escape the prison disaster.

Even if no concrete evidence is found in the end, as long as he is suspected by everyone, he will become a person who is not trusted, and his political life will fade away before it even begins.

He thought about it carefully. Unless he sacrificed himself and jumped out to expose the conspiracy, he could only do what the other party asked. However, the word "sacrifice" has never appeared in his dictionary. Even if he exposed all this, would it be good for him? Not at all. In this way, the choice he can make is obvious.

Cole is right. As long as you are prepared, no one will find out everything. As for the truth, it will become untraceable.

When the army came to attack, most of the deaths were local people who joined the guards and the kingdom soldiers who were already on duty in Heimu Pass. The school can afford such losses and will not hurt the foundation.

He Zhang Hong is just a bystander. He can even pretend to fight and use magic to save a few people? Maybe he can get the imperial people to cooperate and turn the tide to stop a pursuing army? He has a chance to be a hero again, which is a great asset. The more Zhang Hong thought about it, the more excited he became.

Zhang Hong glanced at Xiao Chen who was talking to Count John. For some reason, the two of them had changed from the tense attitude in the afternoon and seemed to be talking with great interest. Zhang Hong even heard them laugh together several times. This made him feel very irritated. Xiao Chen and his mistress Luo Ling had always been one of the people he hated the most. They had been doing all kinds of risky and stupid things, but they always came back safe and sound. Not only did their strength rise steadily, but their status in the committee also became higher and higher.

These two people were also particularly good at self-righteously looking at him from a moral high ground. They had never had a good attitude towards him. Zhang Hong was still upset about Luo Ling's disgusting attitude towards him at the first group meeting.

Maybe it would not be a bad thing to take Xiao Chen with him to die in the upcoming attack? It was a pity that Luo Ling was not there, but if Xiao Chen died, she would not be able to bear it either. It seemed to be a good ending?

Thinking of this, Zhang Hong suddenly felt his heartbeat speed up a bit, and there was an uncontrollable restlessness all over his body, as if... this matter made him a little excited?

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The conversation between Xiao Chen and Earl John at the dinner party unexpectedly achieved some results. He successfully shifted the focus of the negotiation from whether the Chinese could let the imperial army pass through to another aspect: whether the empire could withdraw its troops. The two sides of the negotiation on the second day had a lot of discussions based on this point.

Xiao Chen put forward a very convincing point of view. Unlike the Kingdom of Iberia, China has no generational feud with the empire, nor has it coveted the empire's territory. At present, with the Chinese military strength and ruling ability, digesting the territory from Black Wood Pass in the north to Green Forest City in the south, Suero in the east, and Dwarf Valley in the west is already the limit. It will take a lot of time to recover a large number of villages and towns in this territory and consolidate its rule.

Therefore, the empire does not need to guard against the Chinese as it does against the Kingdom of Iberia. Xiao Chen suggested that the two sides could sign a non-aggression treaty, with China promising not to send more troops to Heimuguan or attack the empire's southwestern territory in exchange for the empire's withdrawal and reducing the army in the camp near Heimuguan to about 5,000 people.

In this way, the empire can deploy more than 30,000 troops to the Zhinanbao battlefield on the eastern front. This will directly change the current stalemate strategic situation on the eastern front. If the empire gives up the idea of ​​invading the western part of the kingdom, it may be possible to achieve results in the eastern part of the kingdom.

On the contrary, if the two sides continue to stalemate here, the daily consumption of more than 40,000 troops will be a huge burden. If the empire really attacks the city, the loss will be even more difficult to predict. Not withdrawing troops will do more harm than good to the empire.

Even Earl John had to admit that Xiao Chen's statements made sense.

Count John had a deeper understanding of the Chinese power in Heimuguan because he and his entourage watched a pneumatic gun shooting exercise of the Heimuguan Guards the next afternoon. Although Shi Hao only arranged four 80mm pneumatic guns and eight mortars to participate in the exercise, and he did not see the 120mm pneumatic guns in action, the four 80mm pneumatic guns still left a deep impression on him.

Sparks covered the two kilometers in front of Heimuguan from far to near, and the mortars took into account the blind spots under the city wall.

This kind of power combined with modern weapons and magic has never appeared on the stage of this continent, which left a very deep impression on Earl John. Shi Hao even allowed him to use the image crystal to record part of the picture and bring it back to the emperor and ministers to watch, so that they can have a clear and definite understanding of the true strength of the Chinese.

So on the third day, Earl John gave up the idea of ​​continuing the negotiations and said that he was ready to leave Heimuguan and go back to explain the situation here to His Majesty the Emperor and report to him the suggestions made by Xiao Chen.

When leaving Heimuguan, Earl John said to Xiao Chen: "Sir Xiao Chen, I must admit that you are a very persuasive and convincing person. Regardless of the outcome of this negotiation, I hope to be your friend. His Majesty Emperor Alfred will also be happy to communicate with people like you who are knowledgeable and have opinions. I hope to see you in the empire next time."

Xiao Chen performed a wizard salute and said: "Sir John, we hope to resolve disputes through dialogue rather than war. I hope you can convey our intention to pursue peace to His Majesty Emperor Alfred."