More than forty miles to the north of Lion Heart Valley is the Earth's Inner Sea, and seven or eight miles to the south is the Bloody Necklace Mountains. Compared with the relatively gentle forest area in the north, in the south, high and low underground peaks can be seen everywhere, and high ones can be seen everywhere. It can reach 700 to 800 meters, and the shorter one is only 100 to 200 meters. The road is dangerous and narrow, and neither humans nor demons are willing to come here to drill into the ravines. Although in the Aiwen plan, the main future development direction of the territory is the coastal area in the north, since there are such natural dangers in the south, there is no reason to let it go. Therefore, when the rough boundaries of the territory were initially defined at the Demon Castle City Hall, While Ivan extended his territory as far north as possible, he still retained more than ten square kilometers of land in the south of Lion's Heart Valley. If you go further south in the past, these more than ten square kilometers of land were basically pure mountainous areas. The mountainous area is vast, with countless peaks standing like sharp swords. With a little use, you can build an excellent line of defense. The military value is indeed huge, but these countless peaks also cut this mountainous area into pieces. It is fragmented. Although the area is large, there is no larger piece of flat land. In terms of economic value, it has no economic value at all. This part of the mountainous area is an important barrier for Ivan and is worth owning, but for other lords, without the support of the territory in the northern forest zone, it is just a poison. If a territory is really opened here, then this territory The lord just waits for the monthly financial settlement to have nightmares looking at the blood-red deficit on the financial statement! Except for Aiwen, it is impossible for any other demon nobles to be interested in the mountainous area in the south. Therefore, Ivan did not care about the affairs in the south of the territory in the past. He felt that it would not be too late to swallow up the large coastal plains in the north first, and then slowly consider the affairs in the south. Ivan wants to come now. I feel that my past considerations were a bit too optimistic. From an economic point of view, the mountainous area in the south may not be worth fighting for, but its military value is not low - at least not low to Ivan. If anyone wants to They must seize this territory first, and then use it to threaten the safety of the Lionheart Territory, or force Ivan to make concessions in certain aspects. It's not impossible. As long as the mountainous area is not in Aiwen's hands, this possibility will exist. Of course, for now. Competition between territories has not yet reached this level of intensity, so the chances of this happening are slim. However, the two new demon lords that emerged in the east of the territory made Aiwen a little vigilant. The intensity of competition in the territory has been slowly accelerating. Even the bloody mountain area began to be affected. Perhaps the development time left for him by the Jihad was not as ample as he imagined. The patrol team left the Lion Heart Valley and walked north. After walking for about three hours, they stopped and took a short rest in a forest clearing. Some soldiers quickly took out the utensils they carried and started to make a fire and cook rice. . While waiting, Ivan summoned Jonas, the first-order mage who was accompanying him out. He took out the map of the Lion Heart Territory area from his arms and spread it out on a relatively flat rock. Then ask him to mark the two new knight lands on the map. Jonas was originally responsible for sending envoys to the two knight territories. Although the envoys did not bring back any good news in the end, which made him embarrassed for a while, in order to complete this task, he specifically inquired about the locations of the two territories from adventurers. The situation is, after all, much more familiar to him than the others in the team. "Okay, Lord Lord!" Jonas responded, carefully walked to the map spread out on the rock, and looked at it carefully. This map is not without information about the two knights, but it simply marks the names of the two knights and the general location of their territory. There is no detailed information about their territory, so Ivan needs Jonas to complete it. . While recalling and sketching, not long after, Jonas had marked the two territories on the map and then gave up his position. Alvin stepped forward and took a look. On the map, the outlines of the two territories had been outlined by dotted lines. Among them, Sir Fire Claw's territory bordered the Lion Heart Territory, forming a more regular circle - this is what Ollie used to do with Fire. Because Sir Claw's station has been blocked from the center, Sir Hans's territory is located further east and has no border with Alvin's territory. "From the map, it seems that Ollie's legendary method of sealing off the territory is just a threat!" Ivan was a little surprised by Ollie's boldness. It would have been dangerous if the two sides had really reached a stalemate like this at that time. Sir Fire Claw's territory borders the Lionheart Territory. Because they are both newly developed territories, the territory boundaries have not been strictly defined. Although it is unreasonable to block his territory, it can still be argued with the excuse that the map accuracy is not high until the last party surrenders. Let it go, if Ollie's invasion of Sir Hans's territoryIf you take the same measures, you will really be caught. Even if the official map of Demon Castle has some errors, it will not be as exaggerated as seven or eight miles. Of course, this is all in the past, and it is useless to think about it. The fact is that Ollie's adventure finally succeeded, and now both Sir Hans and Sir Fire Claw have officially declared themselves to be Alvin's vassals. "Jonas, you have experienced the whole war. How loyal do you think these two knights are to our Lionheart leader now? Are they trustworthy?" Ivan looked at the map and asked casually. On the map, the territories of these two knights are all in the eastern part of the Lionheart Territory. If they truly surrender to the Lionheart Territory, they can become the two lines of defense for the eastern part of the Lionheart Territory in the future. In the future, Ivan can safely expand to the west and north. "It's hard to talk about this subordinate" Jonas' scalp felt a little numb when he heard this. He was of low strength and really didn't want to get involved in the affairs of these big shots. The two knights are now nominally Ivan's subjects. Ivan does not need to be too polite to them, but it does not mean that Jonas can also evaluate the two knights at will. Even without the bonus of territorial strength, the two knights Jazz's level 4 professional strength was something he couldn't afford to offend. "What are you afraid of? There are only you and me here. Are you still worried that what you said will be leaked out and you will be retaliated by them in the future?" Ivan looked at him unhappily and said: "Besides, I'm just asking for your opinion. , I'm not asking for your opinion!" Seeing that he couldn't shirk it, Jonas had to bite the bullet and said: "In the eyes of my subordinates, Sir Hans is more trustworthy than Sir Fire Claw." "Oh, why?" asked somewhat curiously. Smart people have always been more difficult to deal with than reckless men. Although it cannot be said that Sir Fire Claw is a reckless man, it is certain that he is not as smart as Sir Hans, a mage. Moreover, Sir Hans's territory is further away from the Lionheart Territory. , the constraints are smaller, and there is no reason to lead more towards the lion heart. "Because Sir Hans is a mage, and a mage tower is being built in our territory." Jonas explained simply. "Mage Tower? What happened to the Mage Tower?" Ai Wen was startled, and then he realized. After the Mage Tower was built, the most popular ability among the mages was to assist the mages in their practice. The higher the level of the mage, the more dependent they were on the Mage Tower. The higher the degree. The trump card for many territorial lords to recruit mages is to open up the mage towers in the territory, allowing mages who join the territory to enter and practice. Ai Wen has a small world where his cultivation speed is forty times that of a mage of the same level in the main world. Naturally, he can't see the 'poor increase' that the mage tower can bring to the mage's strength. Rather than assisting the mage in his practice, Aiwen values ??the mage tower's ability to monitor movements in the territory on a large scale. Ai Wen doesn¡¯t like the ability of the Mage Tower to assist in cultivation, but it doesn¡¯t mean that other mages are not interested. It¡¯s not surprising that Sir Hans would be interested. After all, no treasure is as important as the progress of one's own strength. Of course, other forces can also choose to use the development of mage towers to bribe Sir Hans, but Aiwen's territory has an advantage that other forces do not have, and that is that the mage tower under construction in Aiwen's territory is far away from Sir Hans's territory. It's only half a day's journey, which can greatly save Sir Hans's round trip time. Until this problem is resolved, there is basically no need to doubt Sir Hans's loyalty. "What you said makes sense!" After thinking about it, Alvin confirmed Jonas's view. "Lord, I have also thought about it for a long time in the past few days and came to the result." Jonas felt happy and said modestly. "If Sir Hans has a need for the Lionheart Territory, he definitely doesn't want the Lionheart Territory to be in turmoil. Sir Fireclaw's territory is caught in the middle. Even if he has any ideas, it will be difficult for him to stir up trouble again." Ivan He said thoughtfully: "Perhaps this tour will be much easier than I thought." After a simple meal, the team set off. This time it only took about two hours. Arriving near the stronghold where Syndra was stationed, Ivan could see a ring of gray buildings standing on the periphery of the stronghold from a long distance away. People in the stronghold also quickly discovered Ivan's team. Not long after, a troop of similar numbers rushed out of the stronghold and approached Ivan's team. "Lord!" The leading third-level warrior was startled when he saw Aiwen, and quickly raised his hand to stop the troops behind him. "Are you the patrol squadron leader under Ollie? Is Ollie here too?" Ivan took a closer look and immediately recognized his identity. "Yes, Lord Baron patrolled through here not long ago and planned to stay in the stronghold for a while." The soldier replied. "Very good, lead the way, I'm looking for something."??! "Ai Wen said. ?¡"Thank you to Tiantian Yuyao Tianxing for your monthly ticket and the destined reward (to be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!