HLnovel Chapter 526 Gray Area
Chapter 526 Gray Area
Chapter 526 Gray Area
"Frankly, as a Commonwealth citizen, I shouldn't make such a judgment."
Wendy, carrying a huge metal backpack, walked briskly at the front.
Her backpack has a wind-up mechanism and is currently transforming into an exoskeleton to help her walk.
This is unfair—Francis, already panting, complained inwardly—it's practically cheating.
The journey involved long distances, traversing various terrains, and constantly having to carefully avoid crowds.
For someone as obese as him, such actions were nothing short of torture.
Wendy continued, "But those councilors are far too ambitious. They're attacking Swabawa now, and perhaps they want to annex the entire Far East."
"Don't talk nonsense, girl. You can definitely see that the Federation's purpose in sending troops to Swabawa is not just to annex the land," said swordsman Beta in a lazy tone.
Nolan nodded in agreement: "Benefits! Federals are the most pragmatic people. We don't care about honor, but we believe in rules and laws, because that's the best way to ensure our interests are not harmed."
"Although Swabawa is not small in area, it has no large mines, its resources are quite scarce, and its rivers are foul-smelling. As for its ports, they are far inferior to those of the Federation."
"To occupy Swabawa would require assimilating their people and granting them the same privileges and benefits as the Commonwealth citizens. Only a fool would do that."
"Swabawa is a populous country, so the Federation is unlikely to be motivated by conquest. In fact, I can assert that once the Federation achieves its military objectives, it will definitely surrender on its own initiative and shed the burden of its large and heavy population."
"Even for the sake of conquest," Pierre replied, "the Federation could not possibly conquer the entire Far East. Sir Lemaître?"
Upon hearing his name mentioned, François trembled: "I am here, Captain."
Pierre frowned. "You're still so reserved even when you hand it over. I told you, just call me Pierre. You're a citizen of the Kingdom, so do you know the geography of the Far East?"
François shook his head.
Pierre turned to Jennifer: "Miss Thief, do you know?"
"I've never been to school," Jennifer said matter-of-factly.
Pierre sighed, shrugged, and then spoke up: "The Federation is the westernmost country on the Far East continent, but it hasn't been around for very long, only a few hundred years—"
"Wait a minute," Wendy suddenly interrupted, "You're wrong. The Federation has been around for thousands of years. Back then, the Parliament didn't have complete control over the three branches of government. That's what the books say."
"Words are written by people, and people are a species that is born to lie," Pierre said. "As far as I know, the federal history textbooks have been revised seven times. The first one was when I was seven years old, and the one that I remember most vividly was when I was nineteen and in college—"
"—You even went to university?" Swordsman Beta interjected.
"My father was a crossbow engineer, and they originally wanted to raise me to be a bachelor's degree holder. To be honest, he even knew the Navigator."
Pierre waved his hand. "You're getting off-topic. When I was nineteen, they changed 'Spring Water' Robin to a woman—the one who, single-handedly, with only her silver tongue, won over Tuzhou."
"That's absolutely right," even Jennifer couldn't help but sarcastically remark.
Pierre nodded, then looked at Wendy: "So, Wendy, the actual history of the Federation is only a few hundred years old."
"Okay," Wendy said, pouting, "I have reservations about that, so you can go on."
"Ahem," Pierre cleared his throat, "So, what I'm trying to say is that although the Federation's history isn't very long, it is absolutely the largest country in the history of the Far East. However, it only occupies a quarter of the entire continent."
"Swabawa's territory is secondary. To the east of this ancient country, there are dozens of small countries that have long since become vassals of the Federation and are required to pay a large sum of tribute every year. These countries together barely account for a quarter of the Far East continent."
Upon hearing this, even though François wasn't good at math, he realized something was wrong: "Wait, but, but in this way, all the countries combined only account for half of the Far East continent."
What about the other half?
"That's what I mean by impossible," Pierre continued, "Further east, there exists a dead land."
"It is said that there was once an extremely advanced civilization here. They built magnificent stone buildings, discovered the essence of the universe and the world, and depicted the stars at the edge of the universe in their murals."
"They use square wheels instead of round ones, they ride unicorns instead of horses, they adorn their cities with gold, and they can control the lightning in the sky. A single nation can rival the entire world."
Something must have happened—François thought.
"However,"
Sure enough, Pierre continued, "A huge plague broke out, and the entire country was wiped out. And those magnificent buildings all vanished as if they had evaporated into thin air, and no one knows why."
"And anyone who goes to that gray land cannot leave alive, as if it rejects all living things and cannot even tolerate wild grass."
"That's why I say the Commonwealth will never be able to conquer the entire continent."
"It's truly terrifying," François exclaimed. "But: sir, you mean—gray land?"
“Yes, gray,” Pierre nodded. “A colorless, pure, dull gray. It’s the land of death, perhaps Death has moved Hell here.”
"Impossible—" François's eyes trembled.
At this moment, Pierre turned to François and asked, "Master Lemaître, what's wrong?"
"According to you, it doesn't seem like a plague—"
Yes, how could a plague destroy land and buildings?
François had heard a terrifying story.
That man was none other than François's master, Cathy Lanes.
He said the Lanes family's castle was destroyed by malicious people.
The entire castle vanished, and the surrounding area turned into a deathly gray.
But it wasn't a plague; it was: "Warcraft!"
"Warcraft?" Pierre frowned.
"Huh? You don't know about magical beasts? Don't you think there are magical beasts in the Far East?"
"I've heard of people seeing auspicious omens, but I've never heard of monsters," Pierre replied.
Even if you say that—François thought—it's absolutely right.
A massive event related to Warcraft must have occurred on the Far East continent.
Turning half the entire continent into a gray zone—what an earth-shattering event that would be! Just then, Nolan pointed ahead with his long, slender finger: "Wait! Ahead!"
François looked ahead.
The weeds and trees spread forward until they reached a place that seemed like a boundary.
No living creature dared to take a step forward; there was only flowing fine sand, sharp bare rocks, huge boulders, jagged ground, and a biting, cold wind.
Everything has a common element: gray!
That's: "The gray area?!"
François's voice trembled, and just then, Pierre stepped forward and patted him lightly on the shoulder.
He shuddered violently.
"Don't be nervous—"
Pierre said softly, then continued walking towards the ominous area, "That's our destination—"