Chapter 353 [0350] The Cloud of War

Kalya's judgment was correct.

When the residents of Nashrameh were still immersed in the joy of Ramos Day and the excitement of the Ramos Tumbling Competition, they did not know that Saga, the female governor of Nashrameh, had quietly prepared to launch a war.

Due to the urgency of time, the preparations for this war seemed a bit hasty, but for Saga, this action could not be missed!

The Rakkor people who settled in Uzeris had already experienced a lot of riots. At this time, sending troops could not only raise the banner of "conquering Shurima rebellion", but also reap the benefits!

Moreover, the Noxians are now busy with their own affairs!

Although Nashrameh did not send spies to Noxus, Saga also learned a lot about the Besilico rebels through her husband's connections.

Although she did not know the specific situation of the confrontation between Du Kecao and Jericho Swain, she could at least be sure that the Noxians were busy dealing with the civil strife and had no time to take care of Uzeris.

With internal chaos and no external reinforcements, even if Uzeris is a strong city, it can still be taken down in one go!

In order to achieve the strategic goal of quickly occupying Uzeris and to keep it secret, all the war preparations of Nashramei were carried out quietly.

Needless to say, the collection and deployment of food, fodder, equipment, and pack animals were already secretly collected when the Noxians were buying them in large quantities, and the latter Saga took advantage of the fact that the livestock markets in other cities were closed and the Nashramei livestock market was booming to purchase a large number of them.

The most elite city guards in Nashramei were mobilized out of the city three days ago on the pretext of "clearing out the sand bandits" and are now stationed in a remote oasis in Chengxi, waiting for the next order.

The militia recruited from the desert survivors, who are most enthusiastic about the revival of Shurima, also completed their training after Ramos Day and are currently rushing to the oasis where the city guards are located in the name of "training".

One third of the registered elemental mage mercenaries received a secret call-up order. Saga took out a lot of precious books as rewards and formed a magic group that could at least provide magic support, although they fought on their own.

At the same time, in Nashrameh, the larger mercenary groups also received special employment tasks issued by Saga - war employment. Saga did not expect these guys to be the main force of the siege, but it was still good to let them wave the flag and attract the attention of Noxians and Uzeris.

When the residents of Nashrameh just found that the new street lights were being laid in the commercial district and were discussing it, Nashrameh had already made all preparations for war.

Finally, on the morning of the third day after the end of Ramos Day, Saga announced to all citizens of Nashrameh that he would use force against Uzeris.

The Nashramians who woke up in the morning were surprised to find that overnight, the manifesto drafted by the female governor of the port was posted all over Nashram, and the slogan of "destroying the unjust and punishing the rebels" resounded throughout all the streets and alleys.

The residents of Nashram who heard the news were ecstatic, worried, panicked, and angry, but the situation in Nashram was still relatively stable - Saga did not transform the city into a rumbling war machine like Noxus, but she was full of confidence in the next battle.

Uzeris...

It will definitely be a one-shot victory!

Compared with the residents of Nashram, Lux and Ino received the news of the war two days later.

The day after Ramos Day, they sold Skarash, bought two camels at a high price, and continued to leave Nashrameh to the west. Although Kalya had smelled the breath of war, she chose to remain silent in the end. So it was not until Lux and Ino came to the oasis west of Nashrameh and tried to get close to the supplies but encountered warnings from the garrison scouts that they realized that a war had begun.

Lux and Ino, who were ordered by the scouts not to approach the oasis and received a free copy of the manifesto, read the text word by word, and then the two Demacians quickly extracted a central idea from the righteous words.

"This is an aggressive war!"

……………………

In the inherent concepts of Lux and Ino, two Demacians, the reason for declaring war of "destroying the unjust and punishing the rebellious" is reasonable.

As a city-state of Shurima, Uzeris took the initiative to surrender to Noxus, just like a principality on the Valoran continent, sandwiched between Demacia and Noxus, which once received a lot of assistance from Demacia, turned around and surrendered to the Noxians. It should be punished.

However, considering the previous flirting between Nashramae and Noxus, this punishment was carried out by Nashramae, which meant something was not right.

Did Nashramae want to punish the rebellion, or simply occupy Uzeris?

This judgment question is too simple.

So, the first reaction of the two people was that Nashramae started an aggressive war.

However, although it was an aggressive war, it was dog-eat-dog after all, so Lux and Ino did not have too many other ideas after reaching this conclusion.

"Think about it again, is this war just a war of aggression by one city-state against another city-state?" After receiving feedback from Lux and Ino, Kalya continued to ask, "What else does this war mean? ? Is attacking Uzeris the entire strategic goal of Nashrame?"

"Nasramei is not still thinking about unifying the entire Shurima, right?" Lux hesitated, "That city does have a deep foundation, but if you want to unify Shurima... I think it is almost impossible."

"Don't be bound by the rules of war you heard from your father." Kalya continued, "The style of war in Shurima is completely different from that in Valoran."

"War style?" Lux blinked, then turned to look at Ino, "Am I thinking inertia?"

"In the continent of Valoran, there are two powerful enough forces, Noxus and Demacia. Therefore, even if a war breaks out due to the small city-states and principalities sandwiched between them, the scale will be very limited and will not expand. "Karya also named Ino, "Tell me, what do you think about the aftermath of this war?"

"Well... I'm afraid it depends on the outcome of the war." Enos thought for a moment, and finally could only give a vague answer, "But in terms of commonalities... maybe each city-state will pay more attention to the army and force?"

"A very good answer, simplifying the complexity." Kalya said happily, "In the continent of Valoran, Demacia and Noxus form their own factions. There are clear barriers between the camps. Internally, Demacia and Noxus All will be mediated, and the war between the camps depends on whether Demacia and Noxus will join the war."

Hearing what Kalya said, Lux and Ino both nodded.

"But the only city-states in Shurima now are Nashrame." Kalya paused and continued, "Nashrame suddenly takes action. How do you think other city-states will react?"

"Condemn? Fear? Form an alliance to protect each other?"

"This is possible." Kalya said calmly, "But no matter what the reaction is, as long as there are still some ambitious guys, they will take this opportunity to strengthen their armaments - no matter what the outcome of the war, an arms race has officially Start and never stop.”

Lux blinked and was stunned for a moment before she understood what Kalya meant, and then said with some worry: "Doesn't that mean that Shurima is about to start a... total war?"

“We’re not at that stage yet, but that’s the trend.”

"So, should we stop this war of aggression?" Lux narrowed her eyes, "Shurima's natural conditions are already very bad and it cannot afford a war!"

"Stop? Why stop?" Kalya's tone became intriguing again, "A long-term union must divide, and a long-term separation must unite. Remember, Lux, not only does power have a price, but everything has a price. If Shurima wants to gain Freshmen, that will definitely not be on the tender negotiation table!”

Lux nodded subconsciously, then smacked her lips and realized something was wrong.

"But can Nashrame really bring new life to Shurima?"

"What do you think?"

Lux and Ino looked at each other, and the two recalled their experiences on Ramos Day. Although they both felt very happy, they always had a sense of unease, which was completely different from when they were in Zaun.

So, the two people shook their heads in tacit agreement.

"Nashilami is just a catfish." Kalya's tone was full of confidence again, "Before the show starts, someone has to come to warm up the place!"

……………………

The discussion of the impact of the war is but an interlude.

Rather than caring about the future situation in Shurima, for Lux and Ino, there is another question that is more important at this time: whether to go to Uzeris as their next stop.

According to their previously planned action route, after leaving Shurima, the next stop is Uzeris, where they will replenish sufficient supplies, then turn southwest and go straight to Narimajer, where they will officially start. The climb of Mount Targon.

However, now that Nasramei and Uzeris are about to go to war, it may not be easy to go to Uzeris to replenish supplies at this time - no matter how slow they are, Uzeris should at least be under martial law at this time, and cities under martial law should purchase supplies. It’s not easy, and it’s also difficult to leave.

But if they don’t go to Uzeris, then they want to cross the Dasai Desert vertically. The supplies the two of them are carrying now are completely insufficient. After replacing Scarash with camels, their material carrying capacity has been reduced a lot. , it is no longer possible to move in a straight line in the Dasai Desert as before.

"Is there really no large city near Uzeris?" After comparing the map for a long time, Lux asked Karya helplessly, "Why do I feel... It seems like there is a circle of isolation with no cities and few oases. Wrap it around Uzeris?"

"The isolation zone is not that big, but there are indeed almost no cities around Uzeris." When talking about this problem, Karya had no idea. "I am deeply impressed. When the water network was first built, the entire western channel was almost empty. It is man-made and there are few oases in the middle to serve as supplements and transit points.”

"Why is this happening?" Lux was a little confused, "It doesn't make sense..."

"It makes sense for this to happen." Karya recalled and answered, "The terrain of Western Shurima is relatively high, but the groundwater level of Shurima is almost horizontal. In places far away from Mount Targon, where there is no direct moisture from the meltwater of the snow mountain, but at a relatively high altitude and far from the groundwater level, it is difficult for oases to appear. Oases are rare, and cities cannot be built naturally."

"Is this one of the reasons why Uzeris defected to Noxus?" Lux drew inferences from one example, "Like the Talishni and Beljuen that were separated from Shurima as a whole due to the influence of wind direction and ocean currents, the business exchanges between Uzeris and Shurima are not that close?"

"Correct answer." Karya agreed with Lux's opinion, "So, my suggestion is to still go to Uzeris - if you can't buy supplies, go through the black market, and climb over the wall if the city is under martial law and you can't leave."

Karya's words made Lux and Ino speechless.

For them, whether buying things from the black market or climbing over the city wall to escape, it was an experience they had never had before.

The two girls were very rule-abiding people. After traveling in Shurima for so long, they basically adhered to the principle of following the local customs.

Now they have to visit the black market and climb over the city wall in Uzeris... Although there is no problem, it is a bit awkward.

"Can't we go all the way west, across Uzeris, and go to Kalamanda for supplies?" Looking at the edge of the map, Ino still wanted to fight for it, "From Kalamanda to Nerimaj, it's also a long distance..."

"Traveling at the foot of Mount Targon doesn't help to sharpen your will." Although he felt sorry for the two girls trekking in the desert, when it came to route planning, Kalya was quite persistent, "From Uzeris to Nerimaj, your spirit and will will reach a peak along the way. This state will be the biggest gain for you to climb Mount Targon. The scorching sand of Western Shurima will make your soul and body more closely combined. Your previous stop before Nerimaj must be Uzeris."

Seeing Kalya's persistence, Lux and Ino finally nodded.

Then... let's go to Uzeris!

……………………

It's not just Lux and Ino who go to Uzeris from Nashramme.

When the two of them made up their minds to learn some unconventional methods, the two "old friends" had just finished a day's march in the oasis that was under martial law by the Nashram Army and they encountered scouts and failed to enter.

Sivir and Cassiopeia were in the oasis at this time.

As mentioned earlier, in order to replenish the troops and put enough pressure on Uzeris, Nashram's port governor Saga not only mobilized the elite city guards and trained the militia composed mainly of desert survivors, but also issued a commission to Nashram's large mercenary group.

And Sivir and her mercenary group were one of the recipients of this commission.

If it were in the past, the greedy Sivir would probably disdain such a large task in the past, even if it was issued by the governor herself, but this large task has always been less profitable and takes a long time, which is not Sivir's cup.

But now is different from the past.

Not long ago, she had a big setback in front of Karya. Not only was her bloodline deprived, and Charikar was "robbed", but also several of her most loyal mercenaries were severely injured by Sefiqa controlled by Karya.

Even if Sivir herself was fine, she and her mercenary group could not take any profitable work.

Moreover, even with Iris at the bottom, Sivir was not the worst in the whole operation, but this failure still brought her a lot of pressure and trouble.

The loss of exploration and the compensation for pensions are not small numbers.

What's more terrible is that her mercenary group now has a group of prospecting miners inexplicably!

In order to prevent these prospectors from becoming food for spiders, Sivir counted them as members of her mercenary group. As a result, when she returned to the col with the seriously injured mercenaries and brought back the news of Iris's death, these prospectors completely regarded Sivir as a thigh and said they would join the mercenary group.

Cassiopeia, who was also in a very bad state, kept helping out and hinted that she "knew a more exciting site, which still needed professional surveying" and so on. She hoped that Lashivir would accept these prospectors.

Although she had just experienced a failure, for Cassiopeia, this failure proved her value - she really found an amazing site, but everyone failed to realize the value of the unremarkable dagger and the two black gauntlets at first.

If someone else experienced a tragic failure, it is very likely that they would be afraid of the rope and never dare to take risks again, but when Sivir thought of the gift of blood before, she felt dissatisfied.

I can get to where I am today, not relying on some damn blood!

I rely on myself!

So, after hearing that Cassiopeia had other clues to the tomb of the gods, she accepted these prospectors without hesitation, and Cassiopeia became a member of her mercenary group.

However, there is a difference between the mercenaries responsible for mining exploration and real mining workers. Sivir does not intend to support these guys for free, so after returning to Nashramé, she quickly looked for tasks suitable for these rookies, hoping to make them better adapted to the identity of mercenaries through training.

Just then, the envoy of the port governor Saga found her and invited her to perform a "not difficult, but significant" mercenary mission.

It is actually very common to keep the content of the mission confidential before being accepted, so Sivir did not realize there was any problem - after confirming the reward and the number of people required, and finding that everything was suitable, she happily accepted the mission.

Anyway, her trusted thugs are still recovering from injuries, so it's good to take these rookies out for practice at this time!

Then, Sivir was told that this was a war mission.

It is no exaggeration to say that when she learned that the main goal of the mission was to attack Uzeris, Sivir's head buzzed.

She really didn't expect that just a seemingly ordinary group mission could be so exciting.

War mission, and the target is not a large-scale sand bandit group, but Uzeris!

However, after calming down, Sivir found that this mission seemed to be really suitable.

Because although the envoy did not say it clearly, Saga would definitely not really regard the mercenary group as the main force - as long as you think about it, you will know that the main role of the mercenaries is just a feint attack.

Cannon fodder?

Maybe Saga had similar thoughts, but the mercenaries were not stupid. They would never be driven to attack the city. Waving flags and shouting was the limit. If they asked for more, the mercenaries would mutiny in a minute.

So, Sivir finally took on the task.

War mercenary... maybe training new recruits would be more effective?

Moreover, I just took this opportunity to find out more about Cassiopeia!

……………………

For Sivir, this war mercenary with a strong momentum was relatively novel, but in the final analysis, it was just that.

But for Cassiopeia, who was named to go with the team, being forced to be involved in this war made her situation a little embarrassing.

You know, Cassiopeia is the second lady of the Caucasian family!

Even though most Shurimans thought that the two sides of this war were Nashramae and Uzeris, in fact, the two sides of the war should be Nashramae and Noxus!

In other words, Cassiopeia, who was forced to participate in the war, was now mixed in a group of mercenaries, fighting Noxus!

Even though Cassiopeia herself had no patriotic enthusiasm, she still felt very awkward when she thought of this - and when she thought of the old man Du Kecao still leading the army to confront Swain, Cassiopeia felt even more awkward.

Of course, if that was all, it would be fine if it was awkward. Cassiopeia, who was good at disguise, was used to suppressing her feelings, and this level of embarrassment was not enough to upset her.

What really made Cassiopeia unbearable was that Sivir would come to harass her from time to time with the excuse that "you are a Noxian, so you must know how to fight"!

I am not my silly sister, what do I know about war?

I have only known conspiracy since I was a child!

If you want to test me, just come directly, why do you have to find such a lame excuse?

Unfortunately, Cassiopeia couldn't say that at all. She could only repeat over and over again that she didn't understand it at all. But Sivir didn't let her go and still asked her questions whenever she had time.

Just now, when the team settled down in the oasis and other mercenaries began to rest, Sivir came again.

"Have you seen Nashramei's baggage caravan?" Although they had been marching for almost a day, Sivir still looked energetic. "There are many skarash and camels, but not many behemoths - I heard that your Noxus baggage caravan can train earth dragon lizards?"

"Maybe." Cassiopeia pretended to be nonchalant, rubbing her calves, while answering this well-known question, "I heard that there are special people responsible for training and feeding earth dragon lizards."

"Then do you know about earth dragon lizards?" Sivir Will asked, "Where do they come from? What do they usually eat? Are they easy to raise? Can they be used in the desert?"

"I don't know." Cassiopeia shook her head, "I haven't come into contact with them. Ordinary people don't raise earth dragon lizards."

"But you are not an ordinary civilian." Sivir waved her hand, showing an expression that said, "Don't hide it from me." "Although you don't look like a war mason, I think you should be a member of a mysterious society, right?"

Sivir's words almost made Cassiopeia's heart stop.

But on the surface, Cassiopeia remained calm. She grinned and put on a helpless look: "Mysterious societies all need mages. How can a low-level broker like me have that qualification? On the contrary, Iris looks more like the kind of person you said."

"But she is obviously the same as you." Sivir smiled as if relaxed, "At this time, we are also scarabs on the same line. You don't have to hide it from me."

"I really have nothing to hide." Cassiopeia sighed, and then continued to shake her head, "I really hope I am qualified to join them-unfortunately, I am not worthy."

"But, in you, I can always feel a creepy danger." Sivir fiddled with the newly made sword while staring at Cassiopeia, "Especially after you took the initiative to join my mercenaries."

"Maybe you are a little sensitive." Cassiopeia spread her hands helplessly, "I am just an ordinary person, not a spellcaster, and I can't summon spiders. If you are not willing to protect me, I am afraid it will be difficult for me to survive in Shurima, a place where I am unfamiliar with."

"Then why don't you want to go back to Noxus?" Sivir pressed step by step, "You are from Noxus. Since it is not easy to survive in Shurima, why don't you go back?"

"I don't want to go back so dejectedly and eventually become a plaything of the powerful." Cassiopeia lowered her head, her eyes drooped, and her eyes became blurred. "Noxus, the strong are respected. A woman who is powerless wants to survive. The only capital is her body..."

Sivir finally fell silent.

Cassiopeia's words reminded her of when she was just a mercenary.

At that time, Sivir was just seventeen years old and looked very easy to bully. Many people in the mercenary group would make some colored jokes when facing her, and then look at her expression expectantly, waiting for her reaction.

Facing these guys with bad intentions, Sivir had only one reaction: raising her fist.

In the mercenary group at that time, Sivir was not the best fighter, but she was definitely the most vicious. Anyone who wanted to act rogue in front of her would often end up like a cooked shrimp - bending over, covering her lower body, and her face was red.

In battle, Sivir was never afraid of pain and looked like a madman. Although she looked like a winner every time she ended a battle, only Sivir knew the various tastes.

If she was able to fight, she would be like this, let alone Cassiopeia who couldn't fight?

Although Sivir still didn't know Cassiopeia's background, she could confirm that Cassiopeia really had no fighting power.

And such a beautiful girl, in the country of Noxus where the strong are respected, I'm afraid she will really have to rely on her own body as she said?

Thinking of this, Sivir finally sighed.

After a long time, Sivir finally shook her head and didn't continue to ask.

Standing up, she stretched out her rough right hand, patted Cassiopeia's shoulder, and turned to leave her tent.

Inside the tent, Cassiopeia seemed to be really sad. She was stiff for a long time, then she sniffed and lay down in her clothes.

The night was dark, and the moon and stars were sparse.

Tonight, the land of Shurima was quiet.

Kalya's small class·Shurima's underground water level:

The underground water level of Shurima continent is very consistent from west to east. Although there are slight fluctuations in specific indicators such as initial water level, stable water level, flood season water level, and dry season water level, the overall trend is consistent.

This provided great convenience for the Shurima Empire to build the magic network and water network.

PS. Woohoo, I still didn't reach 10,000 words, only less than 8,000, but I really tried my best.