Chapter 552 Self-deception
Game time AM10:43
When the balance of the battlefield finally began to slowly tilt towards the lord coalition, Mercury City sent out the last batch of reserves, including a small number of The loyal elite of the autonomous army, the remnants of the First Slave Catching Regiment, and all the Whispering Cult members in the city totaled fifteen thousand people.
This is not the trump card of the Marshall family, it is just the last bit of power that Buffy can squeeze out of a team whose average combat effectiveness is far lower than the three main battle groups. Their mission is very simple, that is, to help the front line who are fighting against The main force of the lord coalition fought in a bloody battle to buy time and delay the doomed defeat as much as possible until the assassination group led by Gavin and Quinn completed their mission.
To this day, neither Buffy Marshall nor the entire Marshall family has a way out, so even if he knows that the final round proposed by Gavin will be doomed if he fails, he still You have to gamble, you have to do what the other person wants.
He had already lost. He had lost the moment he walked into the Purple Nine Hall for the last time and was judged as 'guilty'. From that moment on, as long as Buffy Marshall wanted to save his life, the situation was bound to evolve. In such a situation, this kind of thing is what Buffy wants, Gawen wants, and Xiu also wants.
From an objective point of view, death is the best way to deal with it. After all, as long as Buffy voluntarily sacrifices and severs her relationship with the family, even if the Marshall family will decline in recent decades, it will It will never be destroyed. Not to mention others, even Grand Duke Simon, who had a good personal relationship with Buffy when he was young, will never sit back and watch others make trouble when they are too explicit. So at first glance, accepting death with peace of mind seems to be the only right choice. .
But...that's not right!
After clearing the relationship between the slave trade incident and the family, he voluntarily accepted the punishment. Although there was nothing wrong with it at first glance, this was a choice that Buffy would never make. This was not because he was afraid of death. , to be honest, Buffy Marshall, who can be regarded as a hero no matter how you look at it, is not afraid of death at all. On the contrary, if he can solve the future troubles for the family with just one death, Buffy will definitely go to the gallows happily and end his life with a smile. A magnificent life.
But the problem is, he knows very well that even if he dies, the Marshall family will never be safe, because in addition to the slave trade, there is another bad problem...
In addition to the Grand Duke of the Violet Empire, Buffy Marshall also has another identity, that is, the honorary patriarch of the Whispering Sect. Although his authority is insufficient, he does not receive less "gifts" than other high-level members, and he My family also believes in the God of Whispers. The eldest son received the rank of 'Faceless Knight' a few years ago, and both daughters are 'Whispers'. The chief priest' and other branches of the family had secretly become believers of the Whispering God twelve years ago at the latest. Under their subtle influence, to this day, Mercury City has completely turned into the nest of the Whispering Sect. , and in view of the strange characteristics of the 'Whispering' evil god, not even the Thieves Guild and Wanderer Inn in the city found any clues.
In terms of city power, scheming and wisdom, no one, whether it is Buffy's future heir or anyone else in the family, can compare with him, not even Fudge, Quinn and others. There is no way to guarantee that there will be no mistakes, so Buffy Marshall, who secretly calculated the accounts in his mind, came to the conclusion that if he If he is put on trial and the family is disowned from the slave trade incident, then the Marshall family's collusion with the cult will definitely be exposed in as little as ten and a half months, or as long as three years and five years, and by then there will be no room for maneuver...
What does a great ducal family that believes in evil gods mean to the Violet Empire? The answer is not easy to guess.
If anything is revealed, not only will the Marshall family have no chance of survival, but even the Violet Empire will be criticized from all sides. The forced intervention of the Holy Church Alliance and the denunciation and pressure of major neutral organizations are simply a certainty. At that time, Marshall had to face more than just the tens of thousands of lord coalition forces in front of him. It was no joke to be wiped out in ashes while talking and laughing.
So he can’t afford to die!
So he must struggle!
Gavin's plan is Buffy's last life-saving straw. As long as Clairvaux dies, Crown Prince Ribo, who has temporarily reached a cooperative relationship with him, will definitely buy some valuable time for the Marshall family. Then what will happen? It is possible to return to the negotiating table again, in which case there is still room.
On the contrary, if it fails, even if the lord coalition forces conquer Mercury City today, it will only be an immediate execution instead of a reprieve.
"Sylvia..."
Buffy Marshall drank all the red wine in her hand and turned her attention to the elf sitting opposite her, playing with her nails.
"Huh?"
The charming and sexy Blood Seeker responded casually, and after a while, she lazily raised her eyes and asked in her unique, sweet voice: "Yes?" What's the matter? Boss."
Buffy poured herself a glass of wine and toasted to the former with a smile: "I have worked hard for you for so many years."
"It's just a transaction, you. If you are willing to let a prodigal like me stay here, I should help you.”
Sylvia Shuangrui played with her long aqua hair carelessly and yawned lazily. : "Besides, I am still a blood seeker with a bad reputation... Well, but after knowing what evil god you believe in, there seems to be nothing to thank you for not hiding my identity."
Although the nominal deputy leader of the Mages knew many of Buffy's secrets, and was involved in things like catching and selling slaves, killing people, etc., until last night, she didn't know that Buffy Marshall was not only involved with the evil The believers cooperated, and even he himself was a cultist, and his status was not low.
"The reason why you are angry..."
Buffy stared at the slender and white neck of the elf blood seeker with burning eyes, and asked softly: "It's because I have been hiding it from you. Is this the case? Sylvia."
The latter smiled casually and waved his hand: "You are overthinking, boss, I just don't have a good impression of the evil god. Even if you don't hide it from me, If you told me this little secret from the beginning, I would still be unhappy.”
“To tell you the truth, I’m a little disappointed.”
Buffy blinked and drank the second glass of red wine.
Sylvia was slightly stunned, reacted for a while, and then looked at her boss with a half-smile: "Isn't it?"
"If I met Nadel before I married him, You..."
Buffy shrugged, leaning on the back of the chair as if she was a little drunk, with a bitter smile on her lips: "Or, you are someone who has a lifespan similar to mine. human lady while He is not an elf who can easily live for thousands of years, or Buffy Marshall did not take the current path, but became an upright lord with a clear conscience like what he pursued when he was young..."
Sylvia sighed, bent her fingers and popped out a cold blue light, sealing the wine bottle that Buffy had just picked up in a thin layer of ice, shook her head and said: "You are drunk."
"You think you're frozen, but you're not."
Buffy said something serious to the wine bottle in her hand, and then the ice layer on it fell off, not only So, the third glass of wine he poured out was even warm.
"More or...haha..."
He drank a whole glass of red wine in one gulp, with an obvious flush on his face and smiled at Sylvia: "If you weren't I only like to sleep with women, and only drink the blood of children, ha... As long as you attack a normal man, I can have a reason to convince myself..."
Sylvia frowned slightly: "Ba Fei!”
"Convince myself to confess to you, even if I don't hesitate to use the power of the evil god to get you... Haha, don't be surprised. The teachings of our sect are quite loose. There is no need to keep talking about words like 'my lord' all day long. In fact, , as long as we still believe in Him, He doesn’t even mind if we insult Him.”
Buffy laughed, then closed her eyes with some dejection, and whispered: “Unfortunately, I have never found one. A reason to convince yourself."
"I'm happy about this, Buffy."
Sylvia looked away from the other person's face and asked calmly: "It's over. ”
“Last question, Sylvia”
Buffy shook her head and was silent for a while before speaking again: "What would happen if I found a reason to convince myself one day after I met you and launched a strong pursuit of you?"
"In that case, I would have left the Marshall Territory long ago."
Sylvia answered without thinking.
"As expected."
Buffy clapped her hands vigorously, then stood up suddenly, picked up the half bottle of wine in front of her, and drank it all in one gulp before the other party could stop her. , slammed the empty bottle on the table, opened his hands and laughed: "Haha, praise Buffy Marshall, thank him for his restraint and self-discipline."
"Why?" Sylvia raised her eyebrows and said helplessly: "By the way, you are really drunk."
"Because of this restraint and self-discipline, you stay "Being by my side for so many years."
Buffy muttered incoherently, then raised her hand to cover her forehead: "I... am not drunk."
Sylvia turned. Rolling his eyes: "Hey, even if you are deceiving yourself, there must be a limit."
"No, there is no need to limit self-deception, at least for me, there is no need."
As a result, in the next second, Buffy Marshall, who was originally flushed, slurred in speech, and swaying, sat firmly Returned the chair Sylvia took a closer look and found out that, let alone being drunk, even the smell of alcohol on Buffy's body had completely disappeared, as if his previous appearance was just a figment of her imagination. The same thing as the replacement.
"You..."
"You go out of the city now, hide your strength and follow the reserve team into the battlefield."
Buffy interrupted Sylvia calmly Then he said slowly: "Then with Jiawen and the others Rendezvous, if there is a chance, help them when they assassinate Clairvaux. If we are defeated... you can leave, because the Marshall family can no longer protect you after that, so the deal is over."
Sylvia gritted her teeth and hummed: "You don't need to tell me that I will do the same."
"There is a little money in it. I personally suggest that you go to the Free City to live for a while after leaving. Time."
Buffy took out a universal magic crystal card issued by the Steam Consortium from her pocket, threw it to Sylvia, and said with a smile: "The corresponding password for this non-identity authentication card. It’s mercury stamen, but if we succeed, you have to return it to me when we come back.”
“It’s a beautiful idea.”
Sylvia caught the crystal card casually. Then he took out a large gray robe from the storage ring and put it on his delicate body with very little fabric. He smiled and said, "Then I'll set off now."
"Be safe."
"Would you like a farewell hug?"
"Heh...I've already sobered up."
"That's really a pity. ~”
Sylvia shrugged, then put on her hood and left with brisk steps.
...
"Yeah, what a pity."
After a while, Buffy sighed deeply, then raised her voice slightly and said: "Come in, Fudge."
Two seconds later, the old goblin opened the door respectfully and walked in, bowed to Buffy and saluted: "Master."
For some reason, his title to the latter was changed to Buffy was the 'young master' decades ago before she inherited the title of head of the family.
Buffy nodded slightly and asked calmly: "Have Nadel, Tim, Dorothy, and Minter left?"
"Not yet, Master."
Fudge He shook his head and said with a bad look on his face: "None of the people who went to confirm the escape route came back. I was afraid it would be unsafe, so..."
"There is no time. If the plan fails, we will be here immediately. It will become the most unsafe place."
Buffy frowned and said solemnly: "Whether it's the trash that has been suppressed for too long because it can't help but want to kill people, or it's the waste of time. They were killed by bad guys because of their beliefs. We can't wait any longer. You should arrange for them to leave immediately. Note that you don't want to take any believers with you. There should be two teams of Mercury Guards who still don't know the truth and remain in the city. Let them be the guards.”
Fudge leaned over and saluted: "As arranged, Master, I'll be back as soon as I go."
"No."
Buffy, however, waved her hand vigorously, stood up and walked to the back In front of the cabinet, he took out a bottle of red wine and a glass, then returned to the table, filled the two glasses with wine, and pushed one of them to Fudge: "Have a drink with me, old Fudge."< br>
"Master, you..."
"You go with Nadel and the others, and then come back after everything has settled, or go farther away, that's it."
Buffy smiled and touched the trembling cup in Fudge's hand, and patted his shoulder: "Without further delay, let's set off immediately."
"But, Master..."
"It's you who taught me to settle the accounts, old Fudge."
"...I will comply with the arrangement, Master."
The old goblin nodded with difficulty, and drank with red eyes. Empty the wine in his hand.
...
A moment later
Buffy Marshall was the only one left in the room.
He drank glass after glass, bottle after bottle of red wine that he usually didn’t like very much. His eyes were sometimes blurred and sometimes clear. Every once in a while, he would murmur something...
“I’m not drunk.”
Chapter 549: The End
(End of this chapter)