Lt. Col. Slane's Office, Amethyst Marketing Complex

0751, 2 Jul 2025

Once the conflict with the Northern Coalition ended, Lt. Col. Slane moved Amethyst Merchant HQ to Magwurt Castle. Meanwhile, the old HQ was converted into a marketing office.

Every day, Lt. Col. Slane spent most of his time in the Marketing Office, and only went to Amethyst Merchant HQ when there was a meeting with Tuscan Region's higher-ups. Once he sat down at his desk, Lt. Col. Slane immediately checked the Amethyst Merchant's latest progress report.

The essence of the report were:

The supply of agricultural and livestock products from Kandez Region was sufficient, so the supply from earth would be reduced. Of course, the agricultural and livestock area projects in the Herron Mountains would remain to be carried out to prevent dependence from outside.

The Amur Beer and Lada Whiskey factory in Magwurt City was also already fully operational. After final producing process, it would need two weeks before Amur Beer was ready to be consumed, while Lada Whiskey would need four years. Fortunately, massive supply that just came from earth would ensure Lada Whiskey was available for the next six years.

Perry, cider, jam, syrup, candied fruit, jelly, meat sauce, along with glass and cardboard packaging factories would also be in operation starting this month. Therefore the production facilities on earth could be closed. Meanwhile, the finishing products could be sent to the Amstell Continent.

The sugar factory still had to wait for the first harvest of sugarcane before its real capacity was known, but in general there was nothing to worry about.

In his report, Lt. Col. Slane also included the impression he caught while visiting Walluo City, including intelligence regarding the closeness between the Terrek Family who ruled Kandez Region and several high-class noble families in Makai Royal City.

Lt. Col. Slane suggested that for the time being relations with Region Kandez should be limited to the level of economic cooperation, without entering into an alliance. At least until Kingdom of Makai's reaction to the presence of TF Amethyst could be ascertained.

After nodding three times, Lt. Col. Slane then turned to the next page, but before he could start reading, Vex suddenly walked into the room and sat in front of him.

Lt. Col. Slane then turned his gaze to the sofa where Kim Dong-Ree, the chief of his security detail, was sitting reading a fashion magazine.

After staring back at Lt. Col. Slane, Kim Dong-Ree then got up and walked out of the room with her team members.

"I didn't expect you to come here. I hope you don't bring bad news."

Vex grabbed a glass of whiskey from Lt. Col. Slane before answering, "Of course not, I came to survey Herron Mountains and I happen to have something to ask you."

"Well, don't hesitate then."

Vex put down his emptied whiskey glass before asking, "Are you sure that the energy needs for production facilities in Magwurt City can be fulfilled without waiting for the hydropower plant to be built?"

Vex did not understand agriculture, livestock, or the food processing industry. However, he knew that the three largest food producers states in the US of A were also the biggest energy users. So he wanted to determine how urgent the energy needs of Magwurt City were.

Lt. Col. Slane calmly explained, "For now, each production facility in Magwurt City is only at the household industry level. So we will be fine even without a hydropower plant."

Seeing Lt. Col. Slane answered confidently, Vex didn't ask any further and chose to change the topic.

"I've brought some updates for you."

In a half-whisper, Vex then explained that Claire had succeeded in controlling 80% of the Antarctic Continent, so at any time she could build a fake oil refinery there and announce that she had found a new source of energy.

Nouel's first harvest along the South High Road was also quite successful, and in a few weeks the fuel for all of TF Amethyst's ground assets would be switched from palm oil to Nouel biogas. Of course, this did not include electric-powered vehicles.

Vex then closed the brief explanation he gave while handing Lt. Col. Slane a flashdisk.

"This is the intel that Major Petrov obtained about the economic, social, political, cultural, and trade in the Kingdom of Makai, including trade agreements and price lists for various commodities that you are requesting."

Smiling from ear to ear, Lt. Col. Slane grabbed the flashdisk. "Thank you, with this intel I can immediately carry out trade negotiations with the noble families."

Lt. Col. Slane turned his head towards Vex before continuing, "If possible, could Major Petrov dig deeper into the relations between Terrek Family and noble families in Makai Royal City?"

Vex nodded slightly before saying, "I will ask Major Petrov to prioritize your request."

- - - - -

Landei Gorge

1240, 5 Jul 2025

Landei Gorge was located at the northwestern tip of the Berril Plains, extending up to 7 km with the widest area reaching 3 km. The gorge, on which the surface was a dense forest, forms a barrier between Region Kandez on the south and Liqua Region on the north.

For decades, skirmishes between Region Kandez and Region Liqua took place in the Landei Gorge. However, two years ago, to be precise after the skirmish which caused both parties to lose more than a thousand lives, the truce agreement was finally signed.

In the ceasefire agreement, the two parties agreed not to carry out any activity in the Landei Gorge and the border post must be built at least 1.5 km from the outer boundary of the gorge.

It was also for this reason that Tuscan Guard built the border post at the distance of 1.5 km from the outer boundary of the gorge.

By taking advantage of the vacuum in the Landei Gorge, Lassac and dozens of his men managed to infiltrate the outer boundary between Berril Plains and Landei Gorge. The mission carried by Lassac and his unit was to kidnap Amethyst Merchant personnel.

Since seven days ago Lassac had been observing the activity on the Berril Plains. Every day, Amethyst Merchant personnel would come to inspect the barley fields at the outer boundary of Landei Gorge using iron carriage, and it was not uncommon for them to approach several tens of meters from his position.

However, Lassac didn't act because of the three iron carriages that arrived, only passengers on one of the iron carriages got off. So, if the rider on the other two iron carriages decided to get in the way of his mission, Lassac was completely sure he would fail.

Moreover, every time he imagined himself being hit by the iron carriage which was super heavy but could run very fast, the hairs on his nape immediately stood upright to the end.

But today, luck finally smiled at Lassac. Today there was only one iron carriage approaching his position, and all the passengers were getting off and moving away from the iron carriage which was a source of worry in his heart. Also, of the seven passengers, five of them were women while the other two men looked very weak.

From their gestures and clothes, Lassac could tell that four of them were not locals, while the other three were residents of Tuscan Region.

"Now!!" Lassac firmly gave signals to his men.

With steady steps Lassac and his 60 men ran toward their prey. They were only 40 meters apart, while the closest group of Tuscan Guard members was about 500 meters, so speed was the key to the success of his action.

"Stop and state your identities!"

While his comrades were running towards the iron carriage, one of Amethyst Merchant's personnel shouted and grabbed something from his waist. However, Lassac ignored the warning and sped up his pace.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A loud explosion was heard, followed by the collapse of several of his men, but Lassac kept running toward the seven Amethyst Merchant's personnel.

Lassac already knew that Amethyst Merchant personnel had fire sticks that could kill from a distance. Therefore, for this mission he specifically chose the best runners and archers who were also ready to sacrifice their lives.

Without waiting for orders, the archers placed arrows into their bows and aimed. A moment later, Amethyst Merchant personnel who had previously knocked their comrade down fell onto the ground with a body full of arrows.

An Amethyst Merchant personnel who ran to the back door of the iron carriage did not escape the rain of arrows either. He tumbled two meters off the iron carriage, and the companions behind him immediately stopped running.

In an instant, Lassac and his men arrived before the Amethyst Merchant five personnel who stood stunned as they raised their hands. When Lassac saw the horror in the gazes of the five women in front of him, he instantly grinned from ear to ear.

'Looks like Amethyst Merchant personnel aren't as terrifying as we thought.'

Of course Lassac didn't forget his job, because in the distance he saw a dozen Tuscan Guard running over with all their might.

As soon as Lassac blew a whistle, 40 Cloud Hawks shot out from the tree line at the edge of Landei Gorge.

Before long, Lassac and all of his men were already on the back of the Cloud Hawk, flying low over the Landei Gorge with their catch.

*****