Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Hilude’s right foot suddenly stomped down, and the powerful strength of a Divine Chosen Level exploded. She could to a certain extent wield the power of a Divine General with her mortal body, causing the flat ground to crack instantly, numerous fissures spreading towards the opponents’ feet.

The cavalry of Manan’s troop were thrown into chaos instantly, many of their mounts stumbling and causing the knights to be thrown off.

The knights falling to the ground were even more terrified, looking towards the strong figure with blond hair flowing, gripping the sword hilt in disbelief.

"Legendary Knight?"

"How is that possible? Isn’t she a Divine Chosen Knight?"

At this point, their captain had to immediately reassure them, "Impossible. If she had the strength of a Legendary Knight, why would Archibald take Philis from their territory?"

Hearing their shocked voices, Su Li also noticed something amiss. This territory seemed to have overly detailed information about his own territory!

Silvana quietly moved beside Su Li, whispering in his ear, "Lord, I feel they seem a bit too scared of us."

"You mean..." Su Li looked at the knights, frowned, and asked, "They are guilty?"

Silvana nodded gently and said, "Chief Steward Hilude must have noticed something suspicious, which is why she actively rejected their demands. From the moment they arrived, their fear of us has been to an abnormal degree."

Su Li asked suspiciously, "Are they afraid of what? Our strength?"

Putting it this way, it is indeed quite suspicious. Normal contact, and we are not murderers, why would they be so scared? Unless they have already viewed us as enemies in their minds.

The rogue knight Fastrick also sensed the anomaly and said, "If they truly feared our strength, they wouldn’t come to collect taxes. I almost feel like they’re provoking us."

Ariana’s expression turned severe as she said, "I suspect they knew from the start that we came from Hesse Territory, at least their captain certainly knows! They likely saw us descending from the air and came over intentionally."

At this moment, the captain on the opponent’s side was struggling to keep himself upright. Under Hilude’s immense pressure, he supported himself with his sword to stand from the ground and asked, "Do you want to provoke a war between the two territories?"

Because of three Gold Coins, provoke a war between two territories?

That’s too exaggerated, Su Li looked at the opponent incredulously.

Meanwhile, Hilude also took out three Gold Coins and tossed them directly at the opponent’s feet, asking, "What you want, we gave. Which means if war really breaks out, it is your responsibility!"

The opponent seemingly did not expect the sudden twist, this powerful Divine Chosen Knight unexpectedly agreed to their demands, facing three glittering Golden Crowns, feeling a bit lost temporarily.

Until his team member reminded him, "Captain, we got the Gold Coins, aren’t we leaving?"

Hilude at this time walked to Su Li’s side and whispered, "Lord, prepare for war. I just wanted to find an excuse to test them, now I can almost conclude that this territory will certainly provoke a conflict with us. We only eliminated one of their excuses for now, they will find another reason sooner or later."

Watching the hurried departure of the Manan knights, Su Li asked in surprise, "How did you see that?"

Hilude pointed to the beautiful Blue Mirror Lake and said, "They are followers of Manan, it’s impossible to block such a large water area, preventing the people from approaching. On the contrary, as followers of Manan, the Lord of Tides and Ocean, they must think of ways to let more people approach the water source, to feel the benefits of water flow. I noticed from the air, there are many water facilities around the lake, water mills, water pressure forging hammers, and even a large town and castle built around the lake. This is likely their territorial core, impossible to prohibit outsiders from nearing."

"Of course, more importantly, I’ve heard reports from other caravans, they’ve never mentioned fines in this regard."

Were they targeting our group specifically for fines?

Although such things are common within the Empire, the dark and corrupt Empire, bureaucrats arbitrarily issuing fines has become commonplace, many territories even lack clear legal provisions, the Lord’s will is the law.

But Su Li still felt somewhat disgruntled and asked, "Then why did you give them three Gold Coins? You should have just killed them all."

"Then they would have a legitimate reason to provoke a war with us." Hilude gazed at the waterway and said, "They likely will crazily increase tariffs and block the Brionne River’s route to our territory."

Increasing checkpoints and raising tariffs, even within the Empire, is the most significant cause of conflict between two territories.

No Lord can tolerate the vital commercial route of their territory being blocked and cut off by another territory.

And many dominant lords and strong territories like to take advantage of geographical advantages to block another territory, forcing the other to yield and comply.

War is bound to break out. Such matters are hard to evaluate who is right or wrong, it can only be said that how can one allow others to sleep soundly beside their pillow? Any territory that wants to ensure its own safety must weaken the surrounding forces, turning them into vassals or resource suppliers.

Just like now, this Blue Mirror Territory is probably already trying to limit Hesse Territory, their leadership might have even prepared several warfare planning drafts. That’s why their knights were particularly fearful and guilty upon seeing us, it’s the reaction when facing an enemy and rival.