In the second week of the cold moon, the cold wind from the northern mountains roared constantly, and a heavy snow fell all night, covering the long defense line in the northern region. Even the smoke of fire and smoke from magic cannons and legion spells cooled down in front of the natural power, and the mountains on the edge of the dark wasteland were covered in silver.

But even the most ordinary soldiers knew that this short silent winter would not last too long - the cold could only slightly block the speed of the distortion, and their attack would not be stopped by some weather changes. On that dirty and corrupt land, the confrontation between the front-line troops and the distortion would soon begin again, and even in some ways... it never stopped for a moment.

In the northeast area of ​​Gondor Wasteland, in the former wasteland area, Andesha Wendell was walking on the cold and deserted land, listening to the slight sound of the tiny snow being crushed under her feet, and in the endless sound of the wind in her ears, she heard some tiny sounds that seemed to come from the depths of the earth, and a sometimes-in-a-time tremor occasionally came from her feet, giving people the illusion of earthquakes.

The commander Tifon stopped and looked towards the direction of the dark mountains far north - which was the defense line of the Cecils and the place where the "living forest" took root.

"Did you feel the vibration under your feet?" Andesha turned around and looked at the adjutant following her, "It seems to be starting again."

"Yes, General," said the female adjutant with short silver hair and slightly dark skin nodded, with a meticulous expression, "This is the movement of Ms. Belltila, a living forest, launching an attack underground. Her main root system has spread from under our feet, and is said to have now extended to the vicinity of the magic scorch marks-but there was a very fierce resistance from the enemy."

Andesha didn't say anything, but followed her feelings to an open and frozen ground, then squatted down and reached out to brush away the soft snow covered on the ice. As the magnificent wall in the northern section collapsed, water vapor and cold wind from the world outside the wall poured into the northern edge of the wasteland. Now this land that once never snowed also had snow and ice. Her eyes passed through the thick layer of ice, and she saw a wide crack that seemed to be able to reach the depths of the ground. At the bottom of the crack, there was a dull red light surging. She looked carefully and saw the creeping roots, transparent pipes, and the slow-flowing biomass solution in the pipes.

It seemed that I had noticed the sunshine shining from above. A thin branch suddenly crawled up among the squirming roots that were waving underground. The whiskers stuck to the ice layer and gently tapped the bottom of the ice, as if they were saying hello to Andesha. Then they quickly collected it back and continued to spread and grow in the depths of the wasteland.

"... Should I reply to a gift just now?" Andesha stood up with a strange expression and said to the adjutant beside her half-jokingly, "I heard that the bark of the giant tree of the Thorin tree has theoretically all the components of the royal family..."

The female adjutant was immediately confused by the question, and was stunned for a long time before hesitating: "I don't think I need to do this level..."

Andesa smiled, looked up at the vast land behind her, and the living forest at the end of the earth that was still lush in this cold winter, with a thoughtful expression: "When the soldiers we sent to the Cecil camp returned, I suspected that this might be related to some kind of facility built by the Cecils near the camp, but I never expected that they would spread the giant Thorin trees underground to the border. I must admit that they were indeed a little more powerful in terms of fantasy ideas than the old-fashioned Tifeng people."

"Their 'strange ideas' finally saved the situation in the north and blocked a terrible fate," the female adjutant couldn't help but sigh, "The living forest blocked the main force of the distorted body that surged out of the gap. Moreover, Ms. Belltila's attack on the ground has greatly reduced the pressure on the entire northern defense line and some of our defense lines. Without this external force, let alone standing here, it would be almost impossible to maintain the existing position."

Andesa nodded slightly, and at the same time she couldn't help but think about the current situation of the "wasteland war".

She was not very clear about the situation on several other fronts, but at least on the battlefield facing Tifong and Cecil, the situation had been completely stabilized, and there was even a certain "progress" - as the living forests gained a foothold on the border, the distorted northern main legion was lost more than half, the Tifong Northern Legion and Cecil people survived the most thrilling challenge at the beginning of the war. Now the two countries not only stabilized the defense line, but also carried out several counter-pulls with their already powerful military power, successfully suppressing the monsters that surged out of the wasteland back to the inside of the wasteland, and set up several advancement bases on the inside of the original magnificent wall - in a sense, this was even considered to have achieved some of the goal of "counterattacking the wasteland" at the beginning.

At this moment, she was standing on the original wasteland of Gondor. Near her, there were two propulsion bases established by the Tifeng people and a purification base. These bases jointly maintained the survival supplies of the human army in this area, and at the same time gradually suppressed, weakening the pollution power entrenched on the earth, and preparing for further advancement in the future.

Of course, it is not easy for these advance troops to take root in the wasteland. Those distorted bodies never gave up counterattacks. Every day, a large-scale monster army flocked from the southern region, destroying the temporary fortifications and basic equipment that the advance troops had finally deployed in the wilderness in the fierce battle, causing new casualties and pollution. Every time the mortals push further on this land, they have to pay high costs.

But it is undeniable that both Cecil and Tifeng's soldiers grew rapidly in this tug-of-war. Mortals who are good at learning are rapidly accumulating experience in fighting distortions and effective means to purify this land. Although the advancement of the northern front is slow, at least there is a certain progress every day.

The situation seemed pretty good, but for some reason, Andesha always had a faint uneasy in her heart - she knew that this uneasy was not an illusory "intuition", and she didn't really believe in intuition. This uneasy came from the information she collected and summarized from various channels, as well as the observation and research on those distorted bodies since the war started.

"General, you seem to be worried," the adjutant on the side suddenly broke his silence and woke Andesha up from his contemplation, "Are you worried about the more frequent counterattacks of the aberrants recently?"

"No, I thought of something else. Do you remember what happened not long ago in Heights 74?" Andesha shook her head and looked at the adjutant and said, "That powerful but slashing attack."

"Highland No. 74? Ah, of course I remember," the adjutant nodded immediately after thinking for a moment, "a few days ago, on a line of defense near the southern part of the Empire, a large number of distorted bodies and mixed beasts launched a tight-knit counterattack, which once broke through the defense line of the 16th Mountain Regiment led by Earl of Rick, and occupied the 74 Highland No. 74 and the surrounding area. However, when the reinforcements of the Imperial Knights gathered in large numbers to prepare to fight the monsters to the death, the monsters retreated very simply and neatly - except for leaving a piece of polluted land and two burned towns, they seemed to have no intention of continuing to move forward..."

Speaking of this, the adjutant shook his head: "The think tanks of the Southern Legion of the Empire seem to try to analyze the intentions behind the operation of those aberrants, but no one can figure out what the monsters are thinking about... After all, it is still a problem whether those monsters have brains."

"The monsters certainly have no brains, but the commanders behind them are full of wisdom. Those cunning dark priests will not do meaningless things," Andersa said, shaking her head. "The monsters paid such a huge price to occupy the Highland No. 74, but only stayed there for a day. As soon as our main force arrived, they simply retreated to the depths of the wasteland. This was not in line with the movement rules they showed at the beginning of the "destruction along the way" and it made me... always feel that something was wrong."

The adjutant raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"

"All military operations should have their own purpose. Those monsters desperately snatched the Highland No. 74 must have wanted to do something. They stayed there for a day and then evacuated, perhaps because they completed their goals... But what did they do there? There were no witnesses, no clues," Andesa frowned. "The National Knights, who subsequently regained the highland, dug three feet to investigate, trying to find the 'hidden danger' left by the enemy, but only found a large number of irrelevant traces, blown up land, dug up mountains, burned ruins... The obvious traces of destruction were more like concealing something."

"It's really suspicious," the adjutant nodded, "and what's even more suspicious is... I heard something similar happened in other areas."

"Another area?" Andesha frowned, "Where?"

"It is said that in the northern defense line controlled by the Cecils, a large number of distorted bodies suddenly gathered to try to attack a weak defense gap," the adjutant said while recalling, "No matter how strong the Cecils are, they are still mortals, and that gap has also been lost. Like the Highland No. 74, the distorted bodies have temporarily occupied that place..."

"What then?" Andersha asked immediately, "those distortions are the same as those on Highland No. 74, and they are evacuated after a brief occupation?"

"No, the Cecils confirmed that the position was lost. After the defenders evacuated, they directly mobilized heavy artillery from two nearby high grounds to flatten the entire hill, and then threw a round of incendiary bombs upwards. The distorted bodies seemed to have only been on the high ground for more than ten minutes... I guess they didn't have time to do anything," the adjutant shook his head and sighed, "What does Cecil's commander call this arrangement... Advantageous firepower mapping cover. In short, I'm very envious."

"...I'm envious, too," Andesha's expression became more strange as she heard it. At the end, she couldn't help but sigh. "I always thought that Tifeng was very vigilant and prepared for this wasteland, but now it seems that our "persistence" in this regard is far inferior to those of the Cecils, especially the pioneering hero who lifted the coffin... I'm afraid that since he came out of the grave, he has made up his mind to use the whole country to counterattack the wasteland."

However, after sighing, the young wolf general quickly focused on the issues he had been thinking about before.

There is a problem behind this. Those distorted bodies must be planning something. Even their aggressive attacks from the beginning of the war are very likely to be some kind of cover. The more they think, the more firm Andesha becomes about this conjecture.

If this is the case, then there may be great hidden dangers behind the current relatively good situation on the northern battlefield. The dark priests who are still entrenched in the wasteland must be planning their real goals on other battlefields, and the local advantages on the northern battlefield... may instead affect the judgment of the monarchs of the entire alliance.

"I have to send a message to Aldernan," the young general wolf finally couldn't help but say, but soon she shook her head again, "No, you should write for me. You write something better than me, I'll tell you the idea..."

...

On a clear afternoon in winter, the sun shone into the study room covered with blue velvet carpet through the wide crystal glass. Gao Wen sat behind his desk, and several magic net terminals next to him projected holographic projections of Hedy, Berdevin and others. Information from all over the empire was being summarized and sent to Gao Wen.

"As of now, the northern front of the Gondor Wasteland has been completely stabilized. General Philip, under the cover of Ms. Belltila, successfully dismantled the main force of the distorted body entrenched in the northern area of ​​Gondor, and established a propulsion base and purification facilities in the hilly southern area of ​​the original Magnificent Wall," Hetty's voice sounded in the spacious study. Her voice sounded significantly easier and more high-spirited than in the previous few days. The background behind her was the large office of the Supreme Government Office. "The current purification facilities are operating well-the purification devices we used to repair the Magnificent Wall with the Silver Elves are still effective inside the wasteland."

"After all, it is the product of the silver elves who have been studying for hundreds of years. They have built a magnificent wall with their own hands. No one knows better how to fight the wasteland than them," Gao Wen nodded, and asked with the flow, "What is the situation in the southern part of the mainland now? It's mainly in communications."

"The existing Magic Net-Sentinel Tower data link is still very disturbed, and since the Sentinel Tower in some sections is completely destroyed, the signal is not transmitted smoothly while spanning extremely long distances, and it is not possible to communicate in real time with the Silver Empire or the Kaoling Kingdom," Heti immediately replied, "However, Mr. Lu is currently providing us with non-real-time battlefield perception. In addition to the transmission from the Tifeng border, we can at least roughly confirm the changes in the situation on the southern line.

"At present, the Silver Empire and the Kaoling Kingdom have temporarily recovered. They retreated to the south of the forest barrier and re-established defense lines in the northern border of the Kaoling. Queen Belsetia is personally leading the "Millennium Legion" to try to regain the fallen areas, but because some of the polluted areas have been wasted, the overall situation is still anxious."

"We don't worry about the silver elves," Gao Wen said with a sigh. "Their Millennium Legion has very strong combat power. The soldiers are extremely elites who have served for more than several centuries, and the commanders have more than a thousand years of experience in the battlefield. Moreover, when the Gondor tide broke out, the legion fought against distorted bodies on the front line. They all had real 'practical experience'."

As he said that, his eyes looked at the tactical map hanging on the wall.

"Badwin, how is the situation on the Western Front?"

"His Highness Rebecca's military achievements are outstanding, and the distortion collapses in front of the Dawn of the Earth."
Chapter completed!