The morning light in the Northern Territory always arrives hesitantly, and outside the window is the silent snowy landscape.

But the Lord of the Red Tide Territory, Louis, is already awake at this moment.

He opens his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a head of blue hair like the reflection in the Ice Lake, gently falling down the blanket, lying quietly in his arms, breathing evenly, with the corners of lips slightly curved.

He slightly turns his head, seeing another patch of white, a girl with silver-white short hair curled on his other side, holding his arm, sleeping deeply, with a slight frown, as if feeling the cold.

"Ah, the morning of the Northern Territory Lord is just so plain and simple." Louis sighs.

Without disturbing the two wives beside him, he quietly turns over to sit up.

The snow is still falling, the geothermal warmth rolls underfoot, enveloping the bedroom, he drapes a thick cloak and walks barefoot to the desk.

Snow Peak County has indeed stabilized quite a bit recently.

Since most of the nests were drawn to Frost Halberd City, the entire focus of the Northern Territory is now centered there.

And Louis' "remote mountain range" has instead become the only safe zone where one can still breathe easily.

Corpse bugs are gradually diminishing, the defense line is stable, making it rare for a Lord like him to get some leisure.

Of course, this "leisure" only means not having to rush around everywhere.

Louis rubs his temple, with emergency letters in his mind from various nobility from surrounding counties asking for "support" and "fleeing."

But he doesn't have the energy to expand, nor interest in becoming the Northern Territory's savior.

"Expansion? Aid? I'm not part of the Imperial Knight Order; keeping my piece of land well is the right path."

Louis clearly understands that safeguarding Snow Peak County, his piece of land, is currently the biggest victory.

And during the full operation of his "defense systems."

Louis can finally withdraw from the frontline, return to the Red Tide Territory, and fulfill his duties as a husband.

To save precious time, he even works two jobs every night.

Emily quickly accepted it, Sif initially felt ashamed, but under Emily's persuasion, she joined as well.

Besides the great task of creation, Louis has a more important daily assignment, recording the daily intelligence and deducing the overall war strategy.

Rather than calling this a habit, it's more accurate to say it's the ultimate weapon for his struggle in this world.

Louis raises his fingertips to lightly tap the void.

Accompanied by a slight humming sound, a semi-transparent blue-white interface appears in the air.

[Daily Intelligence Update Completed]

[1: Dragon Blood Legion will arrive at Frost Halberd City in seven days.]

[2: The Supreme Mage will personally lead the Great Mage Corps to Frost Halberd City and assist Duke Edmund in dealing with the Doomsday Nest.]

[3: The Doomsday Nest will be destroyed in fifteen days through joint efforts, although at a tremendous cost.]

"Hmm." Louis is not surprised by the first entry. "They have already left the Imperial Capital twenty-seven days ago... arriving in seven days is considered full speed ahead."

Louis murmurs to himself, quickly jotting down this intelligence in his notebook.

The second piece of intelligence causes Louis to pause slightly.

He is aware that Grand Mage Flora contacted the Mage Forest for assistance several days ago, and according to the words of the other party, indeed a support team of High-tier Mages would come to reinforce Frost Halberd City.

But what surprised him was...

"Supreme... Mage?"

This name has appeared in the intelligence system before, but this time it represents a completely different significance.

Louis repeats it softly, his eyes gradually focusing.

This name is the true "pinnacle" of the Mage Realm, not an Empire's subject nor a Duke Family's Honored Guest Elder, but the "supreme existence" spoken by numerous mages in the mysterious forest.

It is said that he is the gatekeeper of the Mage Forest, and the adjudicator of all magical principles, mastering the oldest and most powerful magic that humans can reach.

"One of the world's strongest mages, actually personally coming out..." He leans back on the chair, his fingertips lightly tapping the table.

"Has the threat of the Doomsday Nest reached such a degree?"

But recalling the frontline scenes he personally saw: destroyed nobility castles, swallowed whole knight orders, and the tide-like swarm of corpse bugs, emanating mental attacks from the nests.

If it weren't for the early warnings from the system, enabling the duke and Frost Halberd City to enter battle preparation earlier, this disaster might have spiraled out of control, even affecting the entire world.

"By then, it wouldn't just be a regional war, but a 'world-level magic disaster.'" At this thought, he involuntarily exhales a cold breath.

"Having such strong support is not a bad thing." With this thought, Louis unwittingly smiles a little, "At least he's not on the side of the nest."

He marks this piece of intelligence as "high-level" and records it in his notebook.

Then his gaze falls upon the third entry...

That seemingly calm intelligence, however, cuts through his thoughts like a sharp blade:

[In 15 days, joint forces will destroy the Doomsday Nest, although at a significant cost.]

He hesitates for a moment, then suddenly gets up.

The chair slides with a "creak," he stares at this piece of information, his expression becoming unprecedentedly complex.

"The Doomsday Nest... has been eradicated?"

"In fifteen days?"

He softly recites, seemingly confirming this isn't some kind of illusion.

Then, he slowly reveals a smile: "We...won."

The Northern Territory land that once caused despair to countless people, the cities and villages that moaned in the night, will finally see the end of this war.

The Red Tide Defense Line he personally crafted has held strong!

He's holding on!

This nightmare that seemed to devour everything in the Northern Territory, can finally be endured.

Louis pressed one hand on the desk, bowed his head, closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if exhaling the gloom that had weighed on him for months in one go.

But his brow did not relax.

"The heavy cost..." He slowly sat down, repeating the last words of the information once more.

These four words are more unsettling than any bad news.

Who sacrificed? Which legion? Which Lord? Is the Duke still there? Does Frost Halberd City still exist? Red Tide Territory is also...

The Doomsday Nest will eventually be destroyed, this is good news.

But the question is, who destroyed it?

And at what cost?

More importantly, since victory will be possible in the future, does he have a way now?

After much deliberation, Louis finally decided to go to Frost Halberd City himself.

"The Doomsday Nest... how could it be destroyed so easily?"

He stared at the brief words appearing on the Daily Intelligence System, his gaze as cold as a knife.

The more casually victory is described, the more terrifying the hidden cost often is.

Logically analyzing, the vague future intelligence is likely not referring to the instant destruction of the Nest.

It's more likely that after being besieged by the Dragon Blood Legion and the Supreme Mage, it was severely damaged, and then the Frost Halberd Defense Line completed the final blow.

At that critical juncture, the fruits of victory would emerge from a sea of blood.

At such times, if someone can "arrive at the battlefield" at the right moment, "make an effort" at the right moment, and "survive" at the right moment...

From the perspective of the Imperial Army's merit system or the nobility reputation mechanism, it is a trade that is guaranteed to be profitable.

On a smaller scale... he indeed plans to "earn military merits."

If the Northern Territory chaos is to be quelled, the soldiers participating in the campaign against the Doomsday Nest will be remembered in history.

If he can earn a title of "battle merit hero," it would be of great significance for him and Red Tide Territory's future influence in the Empire.

But that's not all.

On a larger scale... this is his chance to make a final contribution to this war.

Can he help that difficult but truly reliable old father-in-law, Duke Edmund?

Can he save some Northern Territory remnants about to be engulfed?

More importantly, he holds the most unfair trump card on the entire battlefield:

The Daily Intelligence System.

This system has let him escape countless disasters, repeatedly avoiding fatal fates.

He believes that as long as there's this blue-and-white interface, he can survive.

The worst case?

"Just running away." He smiled unreservedly, even going over the retreat route in his mind.

Of course, Louis wouldn't set out foolishly like that.

Relying solely on the Daily Intelligence System to "earn military merits" on the front line? That would be underestimating himself.

He never believes in fate, nor will he leave life and death entirely to vague prophecies of the future.

If he's going to go, then he must prepare.

And the first step, naturally, is the Fire Scale Magic Explosion Bullet.

Frost Halberd City faces the Doomsday Nest, regular fire attack weapons may not even burn through its surface.

He must bring something "fierce enough, hot enough, and big enough."

Thus, he walked into Hillco's laboratory.

The whole room was filled with various pungent smells, and a sense of danger as if "one more drop of petroleum here, and it will ascend to heaven."

On the experiment table, a cauldron was bubbling, and a reagent bottle with a silver tube was emitting purple bubbles.

Hillco was concentrating on mixing some mysterious liquid, murmuring like a madman.

"Hillco, how much material do we have left for making Magic Explosion Bullets?" Louis asked directly.

Hearing the familiar voice, Hillco turned: "Uh, there are some materials left, if we fish with exhausted resources, we might be able to make five or six large Magic Explosion Bullets."

Louis pondered for a moment, but his tone was unexpectedly calm: "Don't make five or six."

"...Huh?"

"Focus the materials," he raised one finger, "make just one."

"Use all the means you can, make this one... as large, as strong, as hot. I want an Ultimate Magic Explosion Bullet that can blast through the entire valley."

As the words fell, the air was quiet for half a second.

In the next second, Hillco shook all over as if seeing the goddess of bombs reaching out from the flames.

"...Your request is really inhumane, my Lord."

Then he slammed the table, making the bottles and cans jump high, excited like a child who just got a torch: "Good! I, Hillco, guarantee to complete the task! If this thing doesn't explode into a miracle—I'll write my name backward!"

"Get to work."

"Yes, my Lord! Just wait for the fireworks!!!"

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