N-A-A Chapter 202 Returning to the River of Controversy
Chapter 202 Returning to the River of Controversy
Chapter 133 Returning to the River of Controversy
When the messenger presented the secret letter, covered in dust and sweat, Lisanzhuo Luojia initially just waved it wearily, assuming it was another plea for help or bad news from some stronghold on the front lines.
He has aged considerably in recent days; his eyes are sunken and his temples are streaked with gray.
Lisanro, the only son, went north with the army. After the Battle of Golden Spurs, they did not appear in the southern riverside area, nor in Mil, the closest place to them.
Meanwhile, Valantis' main force was returning from that direction, and he had already made the worst-case scenario plan in his mind.
He casually unfolded the parchment, his gaze sweeping over the first few sentences, when his body suddenly froze. He rubbed his eyes, almost pressing his face against the paper, reading it word by word, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid.
When reading phrases such as "Battle of Cannae", "Second crossing of Longbridge", "Several thousand Tiger Robe Army soldiers killed in battle", and "Our army is safe and sound", one is struck by these phrases.
Especially when he saw Jules’s own handwritten words: “Young Master Lisanro is exceptionally brave and resolute, having personally experienced bloody battles and emerged unscathed,” his hand holding the letter began to tremble violently.
Lisangzhuo choked up, his voice trembling with disbelief.
"Light—Lord of Light above! This—this is real? Lisanro—he's still alive—they, Tiberius and the others—they won? They won twice?! They crushed an entire legion?!"
He abruptly stood up from his ivory-inlaid chair, swaying slightly with excitement and having to hold onto the edge of the table for support.
A moment later, when he looked up again, all the weariness, worry, and sadness on his face were replaced by a kind of ecstasy and extreme excitement, and his eyes burned with an almost fanatical light.
He straightened his back, and the shrewd, powerful, and incredibly wealthy Lisanzhuo Luojia, who controlled the power of Ries, was back. His voice boomed like thunder in the council chamber.
"Pass on the order!"
The attendants and officials trembled at the roar and held their breath.
Lisangzhuo's voice regained its former majesty, but it was filled with barely suppressed passion and pride.
That was a father's most genuine pride in his son's achievements.
"Immediately send a copy of this victory report to every member of the Governor's Council! No—!" he declared decisively, waving his hand.
"I want to read this in Parliament myself! Get the car ready immediately!"
"And another one!" he continued, speaking so fast it was as if he were spewing flames.
"Immediately summon all the leaders of the maritime merchant guilds and trading giants in the city. I want to see them at the Governor's Mansion within one hour! Tell them to send their most experienced captains and most skilled sailors to the locations specified in Lisangluo's letter to pick them up!"
He paced back and forth, unable to contain his excitement, then suddenly stopped and roared at the butler.
"Then, prepare! Prepare for the grandest triumphant celebration! The whole city should be decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and there should be plenty of wine! Summon all the priests of the Lord of Light, for I will hold the most solemn thanksgiving sacrifice at the Temple of the Red God! I will slaughter one hundred white bulls for the Lord of Light, no, two hundred!"
He finally turned to the window, looking down at the bustling port of Riss, his voice like a declaration, echoing throughout the hall and seemingly reaching the entire city: "I will let all of Riss know! Let all my allies and enemies know! My son, Lisanro Rogal! And 'The Keeper of the Faith' Jules, 'Lightning Boy' Tiberius, and his warriors! What miracles they have created!"
"They traversed Hell, arrived at the Black Wall, and twice mocked this terrible giant, trampling the dignity of Volantis underfoot!"
"They are not only the pride of the Rogar family, but also unprecedented heroes for the entire Ries, no, for the entire Three Daughters Kingdom!"
The entire mansion instantly erupted in excitement at his command, and the news spread like wildfire from the inner circle outwards.
Lisangzhuo stood there, his chest heaving violently, and finally a truly relieved and proud smile appeared on his face for the first time in months, his eyes gleaming with tears and the flames of ambition.
"You're back, my son!"
Vito submerged his entire head in the icy waters of the River of Controversy, and when he jerked it up, water splashed everywhere.
He rubbed his cheeks vigorously, as if trying to wash away the dust and blood of the past few months, as well as the sand in his beard.
But the dazed, dreamlike expression on his face was impossible to erase. He turned to Tiberius, his voice trembling with excitement, before bursting into a cathartic laugh: "Tiberius! We—we fucking won! Hahaha! We're back alive! And fucking—" He looked at the soldiers behind him, exhausted but with eyes that shone with the light of relief and a different kind of brilliance, and for a moment, he couldn't find the right words to describe them.
"And he fucking slapped those sons of bitches in Volantis right across the face," Tiberius added the curse.
Tiberius finally showed the first truly relaxed, even somewhat youthful, smile since the start of the long war.
He pointed to the oar-powered warships on the river, their flags flying high: "Look, Lord Lisangzhuo Rogal's fleet!"
Jules stood a short distance away, watching this exciting scene, and a huge weight was finally lifted from his heart.
But then, a more "realistic" thought popped into his head, causing him to subconsciously stroke the stubble on his chin and mutter to himself, "Is what we've stolen this time enough? Marrying a count's niece, even if she's down on her luck—tsk, with so much gold and jewels, this dowry should be respectable enough, right? Surely the Sven family won't look down on us—"
It's hard to imagine that this "trustworthy man" who is decisive and ruthless on the battlefield is now acting like a young boy, worrying about whether the betrothal gifts are generous.
As Jules and Tiberius's soldiers began to board the ships that came to meet them in an orderly fashion, a scene that left everyone speechless unfolded.
The first to be shocked were the sailors and guards sent by Lisanzhuo.
In their imagination, an army that had ventured deep behind enemy lines and been on the run for months should return ragged, emaciated, covered in wounds and wearing tattered equipment.
However, the soldiers in front of me looked tired, but their bags were surprisingly bulging, and their eyes, besides being tired, also revealed an undisguised glint of wealth.
First of all, what the sailors saw was not a ragged army.
The weapons and armor worn by everyone had been upgraded to an absurd degree.
The valiant veterans under Habrok now carry short swords with jeweled hilts. They don't wear swords with ivory or ebony hilts, but at the very least, they are wrapped with gold and silver wire!
As for which unfortunate nobleman it was taken from? God knows!
Dmitri was more composed, but his armor was taken from a centurion, and the peacock feathers on his helmet were enviable.
Old Tom plated the tip of his spear with silver and insisted that people call him by his new nickname, "Silver Spear" Tom.
Calvin? He threw away his old plate armor that he'd had for years, and now wore a full plate armor he'd stripped from a captain of the Twilight Raiders, with reinforced steel joints and gilded patterns on the breastplate. He complained it was a bit tight, but Tiberius and Vito knew he polished it to a gleaming shine every day.
Vito chose for himself a light and sharp Valantis crossbow, with an ivory plate and intricate gold-thread carvings. While he himself complained that it was "showy but impractical," he polished it more diligently than anyone else.
Sevita had somehow acquired a frighteningly thick gold chain around his neck, with an amber pendant—broken from some idol—dangling from it all day long, strutting around with an air of vanity. He complained about his new axe, saying, "It's all flashy and not as practical as the old one. It's all jewels; how can it be used in battle?"—while taking it out and touching it every now and then.
As for rank-and-file soldiers—
An ordinary spearman might still be carrying his original spear, but the short sword or dagger he carries at his waist might have an ivory hilt inlaid with gold and silver.
Not to mention the ranks of corporals and sergeants. Tiberius saw at least a dozen officers' swords with gold-plated guards, silver-wrapped scabbards, and studded with pearls and diamonds, so dazzling they made one's eyes water.
The light infantry, who used to wear simple leather armor or studded armor, are now mostly wearing the Twilight Raiders' signature fine chainmail or plated breastplates, even though some still have bloodstains and dents that haven't been wiped clean. These are "medals of war."
The Ironborn of Sevita were the most outrageous. They didn't like wearing heavy armor to begin with, but now they took the gold and silver ornaments they had stolen, hammered and modified them, and hung them all over leather vests and weapon handles. They jingled as they walked, looking like a group of moving treasure troves and lucky cats.
Even the soldiers themselves, when opening their packs in relatively safe environments, are often astonished by their contents:
Those were no longer the clinking copper coins or cheap silver coins commonly seen among mercenaries, but rather gleaming gold ingots and gleaming silver bars!
It turned out that, in order to make them easier to carry and hide, they had already melted down most of the coins into metal ingots during their escape. Because the stolen jewelry and utensils were too numerous and varied, melting them down was the simplest and most practical method.
Vito privately told Tiberius that several of his squad leaders were burning gold and silver around small stoves in the middle of the night, producing lumps larger than fists. These precious metals were carefully wrapped in exquisite silks looted from the mansions of nobles in Valantis.
It's placed in a soft cashmere carpet, then hung around your waist, making a jingling sound as you walk!
One of Tiberius's usually honest and simple spearmen was mending the lining of his torn coat, and instead of pieces of cloth, he was sewing in small, uncut rubies and turquoise!
The stitches were crooked and uneven, and the gemstones were digging into the fabric, causing it to bulge out in patches. He patted them with amusement, thinking they were quite well hidden.
Another fellow tore up the silk shirt of a captured Valantis officer and used the material to line his polished shoulder armor, saying it wouldn't chafe his neck—which made Tiberius call him a spendthrift!
That fabric could buy him a set of his best linen shirts in Ries!
Their lifestyles have naturally undergone tremendous changes.
They ate the white bread, roast veal, and tender lamb specially prepared for them by the ship's galley, occasionally nitpicking about the cooking time. They complained about the lack of good wine, saying that Mil's fire wine was "too harsh on the throat."
This "eat one portion and discard the rest, only choose the best" approach stems from those days of escape.
With their future uncertain and the possibility of dying in battle at any moment, Tiberius told everyone: "Let's all enjoy this moment to the fullest and consume the top-tier resources we've plundered."
And this is just the wealth level of ordinary soldiers.
The wealth of figures like Calvin, the elite knight by Jules' side; veteran officers such as old Tom, Léon, and Vito; Lisanro; and Sevita, who joined later but achieved great military exploits, reached an astonishing level:
Books, antiques, works of art, chests of gold coins and jewels—their baggage required several sailors to carry onto the ship.
The entire boarding process turned into a silent yet extremely impressive exhibition of wealth.
The sailors and guards from Rhys, who had been hired, stared at him, whispering amongst themselves.
"By the Lord of Light, have they looted the Black Wall?" someone couldn't help but mutter to themselves.
Clearly, the names "White Legion" and "Lightning Legion" will become new legends on the continent of Essos as these real gold and silver are passed down.
The fleet slowly sailed away from the riverbank, heading towards Rees.
On deck, the surviving heroes basked in the sunset, weary yet content. They knew that what awaited them was not only the peace of their homeland, but also a vast fortune, won with blood and fire, enough to change their destiny, and a renowned name that would resound throughout the nine city-states and even across the entire Narrow Sea.
>