Chapter 46: The Price of Aitran County

Trolope frowned, asking, “You’re not planning any tricks, are you?”

Gapp replied impatiently, “What tricks could I possibly play? The entire border has been emptied, my people stand before you, and behind you is your nation’s most formidable army. Moreover, the contents of this contract are identical to the previous one, save for the date. If you disbelieve me, you may have someone verify it, but do not take too long. You must know that the situation within my own country is precarious, and I have no time to waste here.”

“I wouldn’t dare to think you would.”

Confident in the might of his own nation, Trolope stamped and signed the contract. Gapp, in turn, produced his royal seal and affixed it to the document.

“Very well. From this moment forth, this territory belongs to you.”

Gapp’s voice deepened as he added, “Remember, for the next ten years, you are forbidden from attacking Danga. Surely, the Jipp Kingdom, as a great nation, will honor its commitments?”

Trolope responded nonchalantly, “Of course.”

Gapp rose, carefully placing the contract on his person, and declared, “I presume there’s nothing else. I’m leaving.”

Watching the land he had acquired without shedding a single drop of blood, Trolope chuckled, “I look forward to our future collaborations. I sense this will not be our last meeting.”

Gapp scoffed coldly. “I believe it will be. I have no desire to see your face again.”

“What a pity, then.”

Trolope dismissed Gapp’s words as mere bluster, paying them little mind. Suddenly, a savage glint appeared in his eyes as he harshly rebuked Gapp: “The contract has been signed. This is now our nation’s territory. Why are you still standing here? Get out!”

Facing Trolope’s crude and barbaric insults and expulsion, the personal guards accompanying Gapp seethed with indignation. Their hands, gripping their weapons, trembled, as if awaiting only Gapp’s command to launch an immediate assault on Trolope.

However, the usually unyielding Gapp appeared uncharacteristically weak this time. Confronted with Trolope’s provocation, he offered no retort, instead leading his troops away with their tails between their legs.

Trolope turned to his personal guards, laughing triumphantly. “Hahaha, I had heard that King Gapp of Danga was a valiant man, but it turns out he’s nothing but a coward. What does it matter if such a man rules Danga peacefully for another ten years? In a decade, I shall lead my forces and grind his head beneath my boot, atop his own throne.”

The personal guards offered timely flattery. “Your Majesty’s decision to appoint the General for these negotiations was indeed a wise one. The enemy must have feared the General’s renown to concede so readily.”

Trolope basked in the praise, yet as a celebrated and victorious general, he was naturally not one to be swayed solely by sycophancy.

After his moment of triumph, he swiftly issued orders to his army, instructing them to establish defenses across the newly acquired territory as quickly as possible.

Given the abruptness of this handover, they were not entirely prepared. They could only work through the night to devise a defensive line that would shield Aitran County from the ongoing civil war in Danga.

This task proved challenging. Even with Jipp’s formidable military strength, Aitran County’s border was simply too vast.

Had it not been for the allure of its fertile pastures, ideal for breeding large numbers of military-grade Swift Dragons, Jipp would not have exerted such effort in negotiating with Danga.

While they could have seized it through war, that path would have been costly for the nation. Aitran County’s border adjacent to Jipp was easy to defend but difficult to attack, whereas its border with Danga was easy to attack but difficult to defend. This back-and-forth would have been a significant drain, even for Jipp’s powerful military, especially with active front lines against other nations.

Another deterrent was a past lesson. Aitran County had once been ravaged by war, and even then, Danga lacked the strength to hold onto this fertile land. Consequently, they committed an act that their enemies found utterly detestable.

They burned Aitran County, this massive natural pasture, directly to the ground.

The inferno raged for three days and three nights. Even with the full might of the invading army, they failed to extinguish the flames in time.

Expending vast national resources only to gain a scorched wasteland, devoid of profit and difficult to defend, utterly crippled that rival nation. The fundamental purpose of war is profit; if victory yields no gains to offset the cost, then the war is effectively lost.

Jipp, wary of this very scenario, had thus refrained from occupying this natural pasture for so long.

When Gapp proposed trading Aitran County for ten years of peace, the entire Jipp leadership erupted in cheers. The king even hosted a grand banquet that very evening.

With Aitran County’s pastures, they could breed thousands of additional war dragons each year.

What did it matter if Danga was given ten years? A decade later, Jipp, riding tens of thousands of war dragons, could easily subjugate the entire Danga Kingdom beneath their iron hooves.

Therefore, everyone treated this contract with extreme caution. Upon learning of Danga’s internal strife, they even sent goodwill messages to Gapp, offering Jipp’s military assistance to stabilize his throne.

Gapp, of course, refused, but instead proposed completing the transaction ahead of schedule.

Though this caught Jipp somewhat off guard, securing the pasture a day earlier was undeniably the best outcome.

However, neither the Jipp king nor his ministers realized that this would be a catastrophe that they would regret for the rest of their lives.

Gapp had emptied Aitran County; this was one of the contract’s conditions.

Yet, his subordinates had reported a peculiar incident.

Strange, seemingly inexplicable statues stood scattered across Aitran County. These statues were not human, nor did they resemble any known race. They possessed octopus-like heads, slender bodies over two meters tall, long limbs, and sharp claws.

These statues were found not only in inhabited areas but also stood starkly in the middle of vast grasslands.

Trolope assumed they were part of some local indigenous belief and paid them no mind.

Unbeknownst to them, tiny, transparent insects silently latched onto their bodies, then merged into their skin.

“General, we’re under attack!”

Trolope, resting in the former Aitran County governor’s residence, was startled by his personal guard’s urgent report.

He sprang to his feet, demanding fiercely, “Has Gapp’s army launched an assault?”

“No, there’s no army. Only two individuals are charging towards you. General, please retreat to a safe location immediately!”

“Just two people, and you want me to retreat?”

Trolope immediately slapped the guard, roaring, “If I did that, people wouldn’t call me the War Bear anymore; they’d call me a cowardly dog! Gather your men and capture them all!”

The guard, his face swollen from the slap, said aggrievedly, “Those two are too fast, we couldn’t stop them at all. They bypassed our defenses in a blink of an eye. Those who tried to block them only saw a flash of white light before they were sent sprawling on the ground. They are monsters.”

“It’s quite rude to call people monsters when we’re here to save your pathetic lives.”

A clear female voice chimed in. In a flash, Trolope saw a man and a woman appear before him.

He finally understood his guard’s earlier reaction; even he hadn’t perceived when these two had arrived.

Trolope eyed the man and woman warily, drawing the longsword from his hip. “Who are you, and what is your purpose here?”

The arrivals were, of course, Ellis and Larry.

They had, in the end, arrived later than Gapp.

This wasn’t because their flying artifact had been destroyed during their squabble, but because the time they had been given for Gapp’s departure from the capital was fundamentally incorrect.

Ellis and Larry harbored a growing suspicion: Gapp had manipulated them.

Larry’s voice was grave. “A great disaster is about to unfold here. Evacuate everyone immediately!”

“A joke! You tell us to leave, and we just go?! You speak of disaster, but where is it?!”

Trolope’s reaction was precisely as Larry and Ellis had anticipated, but they no longer had time to explain.

If Gapp had deliberately revealed his whereabouts to them, he must have intended for them to arrive here. Yet, he had given them the wrong time, allowing Gapp to successfully welcome the Jipp army. This proved that time was already running out.

Just as Larry and Ellis prepared to resort to forceful measures—to abduct Trolope and draw away the bulk of the army—

The sky suddenly darkened. This dimness was not the natural descent of dusk but as if the heavens had been painted with blood-red pigment, filtering the brilliant sunlight into an exceptionally terrifying hue.

“Are we too late?”

Ellis immediately unfurled her arcane barrier, but before the barrier could even fully expand, a chorus of screams erupted from outside.