Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 371 - 169: Source Material

"Earl Fishbone... his entire army was annihilated?"

"Not just that, even Stuttgart has become a Ghost City, not a single soul survived."

In Falcon Castle, the Nobles who were attending the family meeting fell silent.

Some were struggling to digest this sudden and unexpected news, while many more had plunged into a state of complete bewilderment and disarray, their minds a blank.

At first, when everyone learned that Lutlingen and Meqinggen had been occupied, there was a collective sigh of relief.

After all, Hexingen Town was way too close to Falcon Castle. Having the warfront set up here felt like having Swords hung over their necks, which was unbearably uncomfortable.

The occupation of the two towns gave the Falcon Family their first sufficient strategic depth, no longer needing to worry about the looming threat of Earl Fishbone’s army launching a "bombing the headquarters" assault.

Though no one had heard of The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps before, this mercenary deal now seemed quite worthwhile. Even if it had been the Iron Cross Mercenary Corps, they probably couldn’t have matched the efficiency of taking down two towns in one day.

Not long after, news came that Prosinegen Town had been liberated.

The geographic position of Prosinegen was extremely important, located right in the middle of the road between Stuttgart and Ulm. Occupying this town meant severing the connection between the two cities, leaving Earl Fishbone in Stuttgart completely isolated and without support.

Thus, everyone immediately spread the good news with joy. With this, the scales of war had completely tipped, and the dawn of victory shone over the heads of the Falcon Family.

Next, all they had to do was surround Stuttgart tightly and wait for the morale of the defenders inside to collapse and surrender.

Ah, hiring The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps was truly Lord Friedrich’s most sagacious decision! 7800 Gold Coins for a Duchy, where else in the world could you find such a bargain!

Regarding the family members’ polite remarks, Friedrich simply smiled and said nothing. He, of course, wouldn’t display the ecstasy in his heart, but instead showed an "I knew it all along" unsurprised and calm demeanor, instantly earning the admiration of the visiting Nobles, which also elevated his prestige within the family by several notches.

But the day hadn’t even ended when, close to evening, news arrived that Stuttgart had been taken, and all of Earl Fishbone’s army was annihilated.

Logically, this should have been the most explosive news of the day.

However, all the Nobles who learned this were unusually expressionless.

Wait, Stuttgart was a major city! The stationed troops of Earl Fishbone alone were already more than ten thousand, weren’t they? How many people did that Mercenary Group have?

Fake news, it must be fake news. Have Scouts become so unprofessional these days?

This skeptical atmosphere enveloped the entire family. On the surface, everyone pretended as if they had received no such message, while privately they hurriedly had their subordinates rush to investigate and report back.

It was only after dinner that this message was confirmed.

"That, Lord Friedrich?"

"Mm?" Friedrich was clearly somewhat distracted.

"Stuttgart has been taken."

"That’s a good thing, a good thing," Friedrich responded perfunctorily.

Damn good thing! The Noble conversing with him wanted to cry but had no tears.

If it were just the capture of Stuttgart, then of course it would be a good thing. After all, a city with a population of a hundred thousand, just the labor and tax revenue alone was a considerable fortune every year.

But this Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps... they hadn’t just taken Stuttgart! They had wiped the city off the map!

One hundred thousand people... just vanished? Without a trace?

Did you sacrifice the entire city’s population to the Devil?

By the time The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps returned, rumors of the cult’s sacrifice had already spread throughout the castle, with the servants in the corridors giving them a wide berth.

Girls: ??

When they arrived at Friedrich’s study, the Earl didn’t believe in such baseless rumors about the cult; however, his wife had stuffed an amulet into his pocket just in case, and he casually carried it with him.

Seeing The Azure Longsword Mercenaries enter, he clenched the amulet in his pocket and smiled, saying,

"Gentlemen, you’ve finally returned."

"Earl Fishbone is likely dead," Aske said. "Just send some men to take over Stuttgart tomorrow."

"Dead?" Friedrich’s brows twitched.

"Yes, dead," said Aske, who of course wouldn’t elaborate further. "Now, about our payment..."

"Of course," Friedrich swiftly nodded, daring not to say or ask more. "The second installment of your payment is prepared; let the butler take you to the treasury to collect it."

And so, the group headed to the Falcon Family’s treasury to collect their money.

Meanwhile, a few hours earlier, the Life School was dealing with Stuttgart’s Green Skins overnight.

"Some of the citizens are too deeply infected by the essence; they’re beyond saving. Others might barely recover, but there will be aftereffects."

"Excessive cell division will ultimately damage their lifespans. It’s less of an issue in youth, but as they grow older, they’re more susceptible to cancer than average people. Still, considering the mutation, surviving is quite fortunate."

"Earl Fettenberg, the local lord, was found dead in his own castle, and his direct heirs died in the mutations as well. I suppose Stuttgart will likely be taken over by the southern Falcon Family, but they haven’t sent anyone yet..."

"What of the target?" Lu Aelin, the current leader of the Life School, interrupted his subordinate’s rambling thoughts.

"We’ve searched the designated sites," a subordinate Transcendent hurriedly reported. "At the base of the signal tower on top of Poppsar Mountain, we found the target’s corpse and successfully recovered the ’Salmatian Essence.’ Fortunately, the killer did not realize what the deceased harbored within, or it would have been troublesome if they had taken the body."

"The location of the target’s corpse was given by the info provided by The Azure Longsword Squad Leader?" Lu Aelin’s expression darkened. "What was the cause of death?"

"Gunshot wounds, two bullets—one penetrated the skull, the other broke the neck—plus injuries from a high fall," the Transcendent reported, head bowed. "Also, there were traces of the River Styx at the scene."

"The River Styx?"

"Yes, around the corpse, there was a noticeable withering of plants and microorganisms. The closer to the body, the more severe the withering. It seems the River Styx must have flowed here briefly."

"Plus, someone had removed the Extraordinary Traits condensed within the corpse. These pieces of evidence suggest that a Death Spirit Sequence Demigod had been here, killed the target, took the Traits, and likely searched the deceased’s memories. This aligns with the Cangqing Sword Mercenaries’ report of ’witnessing a fight from a distance’..."

"If it really was someone from the Spiritual Body Sect, why would there be gunshot wounds on the body?" Lu Aelin still felt something was amiss.

However, after all, not just anyone could Summon the River Styx.

In fact, if the River Styx had appeared anywhere, it could be 100% affirmed that the Ferryman from the Spiritual Body Sect had been there.

"First, archive the data and present it to the Great Elders," Lu Aelin said coldly.

To be safe, he planned to confirm with The Azure Longsword Mercenary Corps later.

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