Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 293 - 29: Bad News

"They may be called ’department store goods,’ but Roman could only manage to gather a few kinds of merchandise."

"This venture required time to prepare."

"Roman was brimming with confidence about this."

"After all, humans are not rational beings."

"They are unfathomably foolish, insatiable in their greed, with desires that can never be filled."

"Once they taste something good, they crave it forever."

"Without salt, their yearning for it becomes intense."

"After getting accustomed to salt, they begin to long for the sweetness of sugar."

"But those delicacies are only tasted during festivals."

"And there are only two festivals each year."

"One in midsummer, and one in late autumn."

"They have to endure half a year each time, just to taste those longed-for delicacies."

"Now, presented right before them, probably very few could resist."

"The department store was just a means for Roman to recoup money."

"With adequate funds at his disposal, he could cultivate a sufficiently powerful military force."

"Just as the floodwaters were about to recede, the Beast Witch brought him two pieces of good news and one bad."

"The good news was that the Prophet agreed to send an auxiliary Witch to Origin City, who could enhance Gwivelle’s magical abilities."

"Moreover, the Prophet suggested that to further enhance Gwivelle’s abilities, it would be best to send her to Cangyue to awaken her latent potential."

"But Roman immediately rejected these prospects as soon as the Wolf-headed Witch finished reporting."

"A mishap with Gwivelle would mean an irretrievable loss."

"What’s the bad news then?" asked Roman.

"Oh, it’s nothing serious, just that Cangyue and Divine Mysterious have gone to full-scale war," replied the Beast Witch with a shrug.

This conflict had long been brewing.

The feud between the two kingdoms had lasted for centuries, war after war.

The Church Court was Divine Mysterious’s state religion, both holding significant sway in the civilized world.

One, the oldest kingdom; the other, a religion with believers scattered across the land.

Centuries ago, the King of Divine Mystery felt the ancient land was deeply favored by demons, and that the residents of Cangyue, not quite human, should be purged.

The Pope agreed with the King of Divine Mystery. Cangyue was filthy, with Wizards establishing secret societies and practicing witchcraft in dark corners, thorns in the side of the Gods World.

Thus, the two supreme leaders of both secular and religious realms hit it off instantly, resolved to cleanse the mountains of all demons.

Their armies advanced, igniting dozens, even hundreds, of wars across that outsider territory.

In the end, the war that had dragged on for a century was put to a halt by the Conqueror.

In those times, the Conqueror had built a formidable force through campaigns to the south and north, striking at Barbarians and pirates.

He initiated a meeting with the King of Divine Mystery, the King of Cangyue, and an emissary of the Pope on the banks of the Mar River to sign a truce, which later gave rise to the Conqueror Order and became the backbone of the ceasefire agreement.

The Century War came to a complete stop.

Although future generations believed that although the Conqueror stopped the war between Divine Mysterious and Cangyue with a firm hand, he did not resolve the essential conflicts of faith and race between them.

Even with the Century War at an end, another war was bound to start in the future.

But in reality, that truce and the Conqueror Order still provided a long period of peace for the two kingdoms.

Even a hundred years after the Conqueror’s departure, Divine Mysterious did not break the agreement.

The Jade War was the most brutal battle fought by both sides since then, but it was only a localized skirmish.

When the eldest son of Duke Fury arrived at Red Tree Castle in Cangyue, Divine Mysterious’s troops hastily retreated, not daring to face the might of Fury.

Until now, that order had been completely shattered."

The Queen of Cangyue personally penned four letters, sending them to the Black Iron Royal Family, the Reef Castle of Duke Fury, the Pale Tower of Duke Oak, and the Red Dragon Castle of Duke Riptide.

She hoped the Black Iron King and the Black Iron Dukes could mediate the war.

But after receiving their replies, she was both shocked and furious.

The Black Iron Royal Family demanded Cangyue to hand over several secret societies to appease the situation.

The letter to Stone Castle sank without a trace, its meaning clear without words.

Duke Oak of the White Tower watched coldly from the sidelines.

In the end, Grand Duke Riptide’s words were the most fierce, declaring that he did not care about the other secret societies, but all the witches’ heads must be handed over.

Queen Cangyue was greatly enraged, personally tearing those replies to shreds, preferring to fight with her back against the sea rather than betray her citizens.

As of today, the Conqueror Order had become a joke on paper.

"Why only now do they fight?" Roman asked.

Alster was a staunch supporter of the Conquerors, and even without Fury, Riptide would have caused trouble to lift the siege on Cangyue.

But he had already passed away, killed by a "witch."

So, in theory, Divine Mysterious could have gone to all-out war with Cangyue last year.

"Then you might ask what you’ve done this year." The wolf-headed witch shrugged her shoulders again.

At this time last year, Witch Forest had not yet made a decision.

It was normal for the King of Divine Mystery and the Pope to fear the witches and not dare act rashly.

Despite their harrowing escape from the Holy City and the heavy casualties they suffered,

In reality, they were like Zhao Zilong, who fought his way in and out seven times.

One of the three great Knight Orders, the Holy Temple Knights, had more than half its number killed or wounded, and nearly all of the over a thousand Holy City Guards were wiped out. The Church Court’s secret protective forces were decimated, and all the Holy Knights were injured.

During their escape, the witches blasted the gates of the Holy City.

Although Divine Mysterious and the Church Court quelled the witch uprising, they were uncertain about the witches’ true strength and hesitated.

Because those two Divine Artifacts hadn’t appeared yet and the young frost giant had not shown up, the Church Court and Divine Mysterious were worried the witches still had strength to spare, thus wasting more time.

They dragged their feet, dragging it all until this year.

At the beginning of the year, the Church Court set up an army of five thousand Believers, ready to kick off the prelude.

Then, in the Spring Rain Battle, they were annihilated in a single fight.

When the news of the battle came through, everyone was dumbfounded, including the Pope and the King of Divine Mystery.

No, my friends...

The quality of the Believer army was somewhat lacking.

They were utterly disheartened.

After taking a punch in the spring, it took them a long time to recover.

It wasn’t that our army wasn’t strong; it was just that the enemy was too powerful.

From the situation at the time, it wasn’t just about sending in five thousand Believers; even if ten thousand troops were committed, the odds of victory seemed slim.

A high-organization force fighting a low-organization force is always easier, the more the latter has like fighting fifty thousand pigs.

The River Valley King was a new and emerging force, and the Church Court hadn’t yet figured out his origins.

By comparison, they were more familiar with their old neighbor Cangyue, as it was a relationship forged through centuries of conflict.

At the end of May.

The Divine Mysterious army advanced, seizing territory and storming castles, with the Judgement Knights’ swords pointed straight at Cangyue’s capital, Moonset City—whom the Divine Mysterious called the God-Forsaken City.

Moonset City was an immortal city built by Cangyue’s forebears, majestic and impregnable; the Divine Mysterious army struggled to lay siege, and a stalemate ensued.

"This war won’t end anytime soon," the wolf-headed witch said.

As soon as the Divine Mysterious army mobilized, Queen Cangyue received news and made preparations in advance.

One could say Divine Mysterious advanced irresistibly, facing no significant resistance.

But Cangyue could also be said to be preserving its fighting force, saving it for the future.

And those secret societies, wizards who studied spells, magic potions, monsters, and alchemy, would not stand idly by.

Cangyue was the stronghold of the wizards; Divine Mysterious was targeting them, and they could not extricate themselves from involvement.