Chapter 191: Margaret Suddenly Realized
In order not to be captured, or unable to accept the huge price of the gambling failure, Cromwell chose to poison himself.
"Ah, this..."
Prince Shak was shocked to see this scene, his face full of disbelief. He instinctively stepped back, wanting to distance himself as far as possible from the body that was still holding its head up high even in death.
I clearly intended to give him noble treatment, why is he in such a hurry to commit suicide?
"Your Highness, in the eyes of some people, failure is more difficult to accept than death."
Roger appeared next to Shak and answered his doubts.
Shak turned his head to look at him, the joy and excitement on his face had not yet faded, but had turned into shock, as if he wanted to ask how there could be something more important than being alive in this world?
However, despite looking at Roger's serious expression and the nearby body of Cromwell, he only opened his mouth and didn't make a sound.
This scene before him is the answer, but he stubbornly doesn't want to believe it.
Prince Shak's mood has fluctuated greatly over the past few days, and when he was about to celebrate the victory, he saw this result, as if something had been touched and he couldn't be happy.
Margaret also got off the whaling ship, and she didn't feel anything about the dead.
This is a colloquial phrase in Chinese which means "might as well try, regardless of success or failure". In English, it can be translated to "nothing ventured, nothing gained". It can also be literally translated to "the winner is king, the loser is nothing".
In the eyes of the little demon, he was just a henchmen who had a bit of dignity, but unfortunately his strength was not enough.
She just heard Roger's last words and couldn't help but ponder, waving her tail restlessly.
Thought of something unrelated to the current situation.
This useless younger brother, who has been ridiculed for so many years and looks extremely lazy, definitely doesn't care much about winning, losing, or reputation.
Margaret doesn't believe that someone like this would commit suicide just because of failure.
But when Roger spoke with such certainty about this conclusion, it must be because he has people with that kind of personality around him.
Angelina? No, neither is Dio.
So, the term "some people" should encompass...
Your Majesty at home?
Margaret suddenly trembled, realizing that this was the direction she had been neglecting.
Indeed, Her Majesty is someone who values victory more than life itself.
Combining with the tough experience of the rise to prominence of the Ivy Kingdom, the Eternal Night Queen is undoubtedly the type of person who would fight relentlessly for victory, regardless of her own body.
Margaret is willing to devote everything to Her Majesty, as long as she is happy.
However, her own definition of "happy" is somewhat different from that of the Eternal Night Queen.
She naturally offers to Her Majesty the things she considers good, including things like being willing to sacrifice the lives of all under heaven to allow the Eternal Night Queen to live.
But at this moment, she suddenly realized that her previous line of thinking was flawed.
If it's just about staying alive, does Her Majesty really need her help?
What Her Majesty wants is obviously the grand vision that cannot be accomplished by just one person, even if they have invincible power.
For example, victory, a powerful Green Vines Empire, a free and unrestricted Eternal Night world that can even look down upon the gods in the sky...
So the reason why she had never been favored by the Eternal Night Queen turned out to be because she had taken the wrong path!
Margaret suddenly had a moment of great enlightenment and suddenly understood everything.
Compared to directly pleasing the Eternal Night Queen, building this empire is the most effective way to gain Her Majesty's favor!
So, younger siblings have already understood for a long time and they are now deliberately revealing this important information to remind me.
Is it because of Dio that he treated me as a friend and selflessly revealed this information to me? Come to think of it, he's not that bad after all.
Margaret watched Roger's back and a complex expression appeared on her beautiful little face.
She had received a huge favor for no apparent reason.
Dio and Roger share a vision to make this empire strong, even if it means defying Her Majesty's will.
Therefore, even if they have offended her in some ways, they will still gain Her Majesty's trust.
Angelina is actually the same.
Although the Blue-Haired Virgin Mary is kind, she also has a lot of courage most of the time.
In comparison, the entire court sees me as just a court jester, clinging to Her Majesty's legs to get by...
The scope is too small, Marie!
The clown turned out to be me.
Margaret bites her lip, finding it hard to believe that she was wrong, really wrong, and in an outrageous way...
At this moment, the once dramatic plot twist of Margaret resorting to the Seven Gods to fight for a chance to survive as queen is completely impossible to stage.
Roger and Shaq exchanged a few words, commanded someone to drag Cromwell's body and turned back to the Prince's whale carriage, preparing to retreat.
The main force of the enemy was about to return from the front battlefield to reinforce this side and was rushing to the camp to come to the rescue.
The Ice and Snow Maze could slow down the enemy's reinforcements, but the difference between the sea and the ground is that if you regard the seabed as the ground, all types of forces can be considered air force, so the choice of detours is more diverse than that of ground troops.
In this way, the time delay caused by the Ice and Snow Maze is limited. After seizing the opportunity to destroy the enemy's central camp and forcing Cromwell to commit suicide, they must escape immediately.
With just over 30,000 exhausted troops and 80% of the biochemical fish schools consumed, if they were trapped by the enemy at this time, they would undoubtedly be doomed.
As Roger turned his head, he saw Margaret looking at him with complicated expressions and her eyes filled with watery light. She blushed immediately when she noticed him looking at her and instinctively turned around and walked back to the whale carriage.
"This time, thank you..."
A faint voice came from the little devil's side, which surprised Roger.
Thanks...thanks for what?
The little devil suddenly looked at him with a lustful expression, which really confused him.
He was building up Prince Shaque's transformation, to create the necessary psychological preparations for him to rule the sea country, but why did Margaret suddenly have a "I understand everything now" expression...
This is so baffling, damn it!
But in this situation, there was no time to ask questions, so running away was the top priority.
After hesitating for a moment, Roger boarded the whale cart together with Shaque.
The whale pod dragged the captives and equipment that could be taken away and retreated as quickly as possible to the second defensive line.
Boom!
A continuous series of explosions sounded behind them, and the heavily ravaged Naga central army camp was directly blown to pieces. The things that couldn't be moved had to be destroyed so they could not be left for the enemy.
Inside the whale cart, Margaret had already returned to normal and was still chatting and laughing with Roger as if nothing had changed. She seemed to still hold a disdainful attitude towards Shaque.
Only in the angle that Roger couldn't see, Margaret showed a few regretful glances...
They are all good men, why do they have to like each other?
Girls from the empire have it tough, not only do they have to guard against little bitches stealing their husbands, but they also have to watch their husbands stealing other husbands…
Oh, what's the use of reason?
...
...
As Roger had expected, they didn't stay away for more than ten minutes.
Saint NiCO, who had left the army to provide reinforcements, led a group of powerful Nagas and blasted a path through the ice and snow maze, eventually reaching the destroyed camp.
"Marshal... How could he have lost? Where is he now?"
A Naga general who had been handpicked by Cromwell himself showed a look of disbelief and shock.
Nicole silently cast her spell, and soon a section of the image appeared in front of everyone.
The scene of the central army camp being cheered by the Hai Nation and Cromwell poisoning himself to death appeared before everyone.
"That Prince Shaq, has he been pretending to be a pig in order to eat a tiger?"
"What's the deal with those strange fish swarms in the Hai Nation?"
"Marshal, my Marshal, why can't you hold on a little longer, I'm already here..."
The Naga were shocked, surprised, and filled with a variety of expressions of grief.
There is also a fear that they themselves don't understand.
Compared to their previous successes, today's battle situation was too difficult to accept, and it was an unprecedented loss since the start of the war.
The deployment of the battle situation was a complete failure, and the highest commander-in-chief fell directly on the battlefield. The Thunderous Punishment Corps was completely destroyed and the main force was still being pursued by the Daoer.
There were also many old subordinates trained by Churchill present. Seeing the Marshal forced to commit suicide by Prince Shaq, they all remembered that bastard's "unruly smiling face" deep in their hearts.
"The ones leading this battle are not the sea prince, but two young men following him, one is the Prime Minister and Minister of Military Affairs of the Green Vines Empire, and the other is the commander of the intelligence agency. Those fish with various functions are inevitably also related to the Green Vines Empire."
Nicole's calm voice without any ups and downs immediately made everyone calm down and feel ashamed, lowering their heads.
She has always been kind and friendly to everyone, but now she had no expression on her face, and her voice was indifferent. All of this indicated that she was really angry, suppressing her anger.
It was anger towards the Sea Kingdom and the Green Vines Empire, as well as towards the colleagues by her side.
This battle to capture the landing point was a prophecy from the Sea God and a mission that Nicole must complete.
Just when they were on the brink of final victory, the Sea Kingdom suddenly came and sabotaged them, destroying the command center of the central army camp.
The reason for the sudden increase in strength is due to the fact that the Sea Kingdom received support.
However, the Na'vi side was too confident and arrogant, and they didn't value the Shak Prince. The lack of reconnaissance and defense in that direction was also an important factor that cannot be ignored.
Nicole didn't inquire about military command before, knowing that each profession has its own expertise, and it is better to trust the professional competence of Cornwall and his staff.
The result of her trust only brought about such an outcome, so she has every reason to be angry.
This expeditionary campaign may not have been a complete failure, but it certainly gave the Sea Kingdom a breather and created unexpected variables. This is definitely not what the Sea God hoped to see.
All the veterans on the scene were seasoned soldiers, and Nicole didn't directly blame anyone, but she also understood that she had pinpointed the key point.
"Under your command, Nicole, this is indeed a military mistake, but now is not the time to investigate. Please order the next arrangement."
The deputy marshal of this campaign, Karmi Blue Coral, responded with gritted teeth and directly handed over the command authority.
Nicole glanced at him and immediately replied, "The landing point must be captured, that is the will of the gods. I order you to be the temporary commander, gather as many living forces as possible, immediately withdraw from the second fortress, and prepare for the next round of attack."
She is not good at specific combat commands and still needs to rely on these generals.
But from now on, she wants to hold the highest strategic command in her hands.
Retreat is impossible, believers are willing to do everything to fulfill the will of God, and a small failure will not change Nicole's determination.
"What about the Marshal's revenge? The most important thing to do now is to chase after that Shack!"
A general immediately roared excitedly, his eyes turning red. If the people around him hadn't pulled him back, he might have immediately fought with Nicole.
"Shut up!" Cami didn't wait for Nicole to speak and immediately gave the general a heavy slap.
"Vice Marshal, the Marshal personally promoted you from the cannon fodder camp, and now you are going to let the culprit who killed the Marshal go away with this cold-blooded saint?"
Another loud slap directly knocked the general down to the ground.
"I told you to shut up, idiot!" Cami said fiercely. "I am more saddened by Marshal Ke's death than any of you, but if the enemy can launch a surprise attack on our camp, they are well-prepared. Do you think there is only one ice maze? Do you think our main force can really catch up with them? Your pursuit now is just a waste of time, and may even reveal flaws that could lead to our being encircled by the Hai Country... What we need to do now is to regroup and not let the achievements Marshal Ke made before go to waste!"
He spoke with great conviction and a clear conscience, leaving the rest of the discontented generals speechless.
Nicole looked at the military opinion that had already reached a consensus and slightly bowed, "Since Lady Cami doesn't need my help, I will go and ask for forgiveness from our lord on your behalf!"
She walked towards the coral temple carried by a giant turtle. Through the pearl curtains, she could see the graceful figure kneeling in a devout posture, praying.
Cami took a deep breath, helped the general whom she had slapped into a pig's head and took off his helmet to apply medicine herself.
"Father, why..." Under the helmet, there was a face that still looked young and innocent.
"I saved your life, did you know that?" Cami didn't control her volume and spoke to every military leader present. "The Holy Maiden is indeed kind, but she knows what she's doing. At this moment, the military has already made her dissatisfied and she won't allow any uncontrollable factors to appear again, do you understand?"
"Just a charlatan!" a general exclaimed with indignation.
"Although charlatans are despicable, gods do exist for real..."
With a light sigh, Cami's gaze swept over the people present and she began to follow Nicole's instructions to continue the retreat in preparation for the next battle.
...
...
Black Shark Fortress.
After his troops had devoured the defeated Naga army, Daul's forces didn't pursue further, but rather returned to the fortress.
The enemy's organization didn't fall into chaos and they retreated in an orderly manner.
There were Swordfish submarines lurking on the edge of the formation to provide remote attack cover and the distance between the two sides grew ever wider.
Shark also signaled to retreat, as there was no need to continue the pursuit.
Even if he and Shark's forces surrounded them, it was not possible to completely consume the main Naga force. If the Naga forces attempted a breakout, they would be heavily damaged.
But Daul looked at the battle report sent by Shark and couldn't speak for a long time.
Was it only after breaking through the central camp, and Cromwell's failed escape and suicide by poisoning, that the main Naga force urgently returned to the frontlines?
So, the key to this victorious war is really the prince, who he always thought was a waste?
"This is definitely not due to Shaq's strengths, was the support he received from the Green Vine Empire was so powerful?"
Daul had a pensive expression. Although they had won, he suddenly felt a great sense of crisis.
There was also a strong sense of unwillingness.
He also knew that the Green Vine Empire was the strongest country on land now and Shark was just a captive there, he didn't know what kind of agreement they had reached, but they could win the war with it.
If the Green Vine Empire supports them, wouldn't that be...
"Taking off from Wuhu?" (This sentence is a bit vague without context, but it could be asking if a plane or other aircraft is taking off from the city of Wuhu in China.)
Just as he furrowed his brows and contemplated, a confidant came in with a strange look, as if wanting to say something but hesitating.
"Speak up if you have something to say," Dao'er asked irritably.
"Your Highness, we have a traitor in our midst. He is working for the empire," said the speaker.
"Execute them directly."
"But he voluntarily revealed himself, saying that the commander of the Night Watch wants to talk to you," said the speaker.
"Well... should we talk to him?"
Dao'er, who was usually decisive, hesitated rare.
