With all the red wizards retreating and the Zhentarim society completely collapsed due to the killing of Manshoon, Luskan finally fell completely under Zuo Si's control.
To be precise, it is controlled by the core members of the organization - the liches.
Because he himself has never had interest in business and management, most of the time he would just roughly set a basic policy and leave the rest to his hands to exercise their subjective initiative.
In particular, Vanessa, who has become the de facto second-in-command, is somehow very keen to take the lead in such matters and never gets tired of it.
Using the large population and immigrants brought in from Mindan Island, he easily neutralized the local residents of Luskan who tried to resist the new rulers through non-violent non-cooperation.
After all, Luskan's original permanent population was only about 15,000 people.
Including those who died in battle, those who were transformed into undead creatures, and those who were thrown into quarries and mines to do hard labor, there were almost several thousand young and middle-aged people in total.
Therefore, most of the remaining residents in the city are women, children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled, as well as a few merchants, guards and members of the Thieves Guild.
So when the Thieves Guild members and the ratmen in the sewers were cleared out, the entire city had actually lost the capital to resist.
If they do not choose to cooperate, they will soon be completely replaced by immigrants and become the bottom of society.
As for the illegal businessmen, they were arrested one after another and all their properties were confiscated within less than two or three days.
Then, they would use these wealth and materials to hire people to rebuild houses, repair roads, and restore the ruined battlefield to its original state.
When people have money, they can naturally buy necessities such as food and clothing, thereby revitalizing economic activities that have completely stagnated.
Not only that!
Xinbu, who had always hated slavery, personally took Storm Silverhand with him to the outside of the city to liberate those farms that relied on the exploitation of slaves to operate, and granted the slaves the status of free people.
At Zuo Si's instruction, if the freed slaves were willing to stay and continue doing this job, they would not only receive generous rewards, but also be promised guaranteed safety.
The reason why he did not distribute land to these people was that Luskan was located too close to the mountains of the Spine of the World, and all kinds of monsters and barbarian invasions were endless.
Human beings must unite together to build fortresses and fortress-like estates in order to barely resist external threats and protect their lives and property from being violated.
If we assume that the land is distributed to individual families one by one, then we may find after a few weeks or even months that most of these families will be wiped out.
As the saying goes, what suits you is the best.
If you just mechanically copy other people's successful experiences without understanding the actual situation, it is basically no different from murder.
Although the confiscation of property of illegal merchants temporarily deprived Luskan of the ability to conduct maritime trade, with dozens of large ships loaded with various goods from Amn, Waterdeep, and the Nelanther Islands, this dead city was once again full of vitality.
A large amount of specialties from the Far North shipped from Icewind Dale were purchased at high prices by merchants in the south, and hunters, middlemen, adventurers and lumberjacks also earned generous incomes as a result.
Standing on the top floor of the recently repaired Arcane Brotherhood tower, Simbu watched with interest the dramatic changes that had taken place in Luskan in a short period of time. He smiled and exclaimed, "I have to admit that you are indeed an excellent ruler in this regard. Because you always understand what people from all walks of life need and are able to give them what they want."
"No, you are wrong. It is not me who is excellent, but the efficient bureaucratic system formed by Vanessa. If there are no grassroots executors who can implement the policies, then even the best policies will be misinterpreted and exploited, and thus become an excuse for exploiting the grassroots people and engaging in corruption." Zuo Si answered casually.
As a modern man, he may be the one who most clearly understands in the entire continent of Faerun how important an efficient and well-organized bureaucratic system is to a city or even a country.
And when it comes to dealing with corruption and abuse of power, the liches won't talk to you about laws, human rights, evidence, and the like.
Once they find a suspect, they often choose to use prophecy magic to confirm it, or use truth serum, lie detection and other potions and spells.
Anyway, as long as this guy really did it, there is absolutely no way he can escape.
Therefore, the bureaucratic system of the Nalanther Islands has maintained a level of efficiency and integrity that is simply unimaginable to the outside world since its establishment.
Even those who have transformed themselves from businessmen into mayors and officials know that there are a pair of eyes in the dark that they cannot detect watching everything.
If anyone dares to cross the line, he will inevitably suffer the most severe punishment.
As for escaping, don't even think about it.
"Vanessa? That lich?" A hint of curiosity flashed in Xinbu's eyes.
She had always believed that liches, like red wizards, were a group of extremely cold-blooded, selfish, and cruel bastards.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have made a bet with others to see who could kill a hundred liches first.
But the liches of the Arcane Mystic Society are obviously very different.
Although many of them still give people a very selfish and evil feeling, they have always been following the rules and rarely affect the lives of ordinary people.
Zuo Si smiled and nodded: "That's right. Vanessa is a very good executor and can always perfectly implement my intentions and orders. Without him, I think the Nelanther Islands would not be as prosperous as they are now, and Luskan's transformation plan would not be so smooth."
"I see. You are using these powerful undead spellcasters to intimidate those bureaucrats and ensure that there will never be any termites among them."
As the queen of Agrallon, although Simbu's control over politics and power was far inferior to that of Alustriel, she was no idiot and immediately understood the position of the liches in the ruling structure.
Many times, they are not managers, and they do not even directly participate in the handling of daily affairs. They only exist as a role to convey orders and supervise.
Only when certain people attempt to launch a rebellion, or when there is widespread corruption in the bureaucracy, will the liches come forward to carry out a ruthless purge.
In this way, with such a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, officials will naturally maintain a sense of awe and will think twice before accepting bribes.
In fact, the fundamental reason why corruption, bribery and embezzlement occur on a large scale is that there are serious problems in the supervision and judicial systems, causing bureaucrats to lose the most basic awe.
Coupled with the mentality of taking chances that the law will not punish the masses, once it spreads, it will be difficult to curb it.
But as undead liches, they are different. They don’t care about the law that does not punish everyone, and they will not be lenient just because many people make mistakes.
Therefore, the deterrent effect is maximized.
"That's right. Actually, I originally wanted to enter the judicial and trial system of the Church of Tyr, the God of Justice. But due to the large-scale use of undead as laborers, this idea had to be abandoned." Zuo Si shrugged and replied.
Out of curiosity, he once visited a judicial trial presided over by the Church of Tyr, the God of Justice, when he went to Neverwinter.
The entire process, whether it is submitting evidence, defense, appeal, or the final verdict, has some of the meaning of a modern court.
And because the presiding officers are all priests and believers of the God of Justice, both the legal provisions and sentencing are very appropriate, neither too harsh nor leaving loopholes for criminals to exploit.
If possible, Zuo Si really hopes to incorporate this judicial system into his sphere of influence.
Unfortunately, there was no way the two sides could reach an agreement on the use of undead creatures.
In contrast, the Church and voters of the Goddess of Magic have a high tolerance in this regard.
At least Khelben, Simb, Alustriel, Storm Silverhand, Dov Silverhand and others did not show too obvious disgust when they saw a large number of undead being sent to work in farms and mines outside the city.
"Hahaha! Many people say that I'm a lunatic! But in my opinion, you are the real lunatic. You have recruited so many liches as your subordinates, and you have also converted undead on a large scale. You even want to cooperate with the church of Tyr, the god of justice? I really want to pry open your brain and see what weird ideas are in it."
Xinbu laughed so hard that he was out of breath.
She suddenly found that the young man in front of her was very interesting, and his personality and ideas were surprisingly similar to hers.
Especially when it comes to attitude towards enemies, they all advocate killing them all without leaving any future troubles.
This is completely different from Elminster's view that he always likes to show mercy, while Khelben prefers to maintain a balance.
In fact, the Storm Queen is the most unusual one among the many voters of the Goddess of Magic.
The reason why outsiders think she is crazy all day long is that ordinary people cannot keep up with her thinking speed.
"Don't laugh, I'm serious."
Zuo Si shrugged helplessly.
“In my opinion, killing pirates, bandits, orcs, goblins, gnolls and other guys who only know how to destroy but not engage in production and creation and turning them into undead can alleviate the widespread problem of labor shortage in the entire Faerun continent to the greatest extent.
Moreover, with these free undead laborers who do not need to eat, drink or rest, it is possible to produce an astonishing amount of food, steel, stone, wood and other necessities of life in a short period of time, thus ensuring the continued stability of prices.
There will be no famine or price hikes due to natural disasters or other reasons.
Most importantly, the undead can be transformed into an army to resist the invasion of external forces when necessary.
Taking Luskan as an example, I arranged two hundred undead laborers in each farm, which can provide a certain degree of protection for the farmers when monsters or wild beasts invade.
If it were humans, not to mention how much money it would cost to recruit and train so many soldiers, the daily food consumption alone would be an astonishing figure, and would also bring a heavy burden to the farm itself.
Sometimes I really can't understand why a kind god like Tyr, the god of justice, who advocates establishing order and hopes that people can live a good life, would exclude undead labor, which is both economical and can bring prosperity, from the options.
Is the definition of good and evil so important?
Just watch, with these undead workers working day and night, the granaries in the Nelanther Islands and Luskan will soon be filled with food and various strategic materials.
With a stable and cheap food supply, fertility can be encouraged by providing welfare, and the population will grow explosively in the next two or three decades.
I will prove to the whole world that the undead themselves are not some terrible monster, nor are they the most dangerous enemy of all living things as people imagine.
Just the opposite!
As long as they are used properly, they can become the cornerstone of the prosperity of a city or even a country."
Xinbu nodded in agreement: "Judging from the current development trend, this goal is very likely to be achieved.
If the artificers of the Imaskar Empire had thought of this, they would not have opened an inter-dimensional portal to plunder slaves and brought in gods from other worlds, ultimately leading to their own destruction.
But you'd better be careful, low-level undead are very easy to control.
If someone uses them to carry out terrorist attacks, then people will inevitably fear and even resist the appearance of the dead around them. "
"Please don't worry about this. Don't forget that in addition to being the chosen one of the Goddess of Magic, I am also the chosen one of the Goddess of Poison and Disease. If anyone dares to attack me indiscriminately, I don't mind poisoning and spreading plague in their sphere of influence. I believe Mansong should have a deep understanding of this now."
As he said this, Zuo Si's mouth corners slightly raised, revealing a chilling expression.
He will not forget to take revenge on Manshoon and the Zhentarim.
In fact, on the second day after the battle, a large number of soldiers and bureaucrats began to be poisoned in major strongholds including Dark Fort and Zhentil Keep.
It is estimated that the disease has now completely spread, and the number of deaths and permanent disabilities is at least several thousand.
You have to know that these people are not civilians, but soldiers and officials who are used to maintain the foundation of dictatorship.
With such a high price to pay, Mansong must be completely overwhelmed now.
After all, this basically caused Zhentil Castle to lose its elite army that it was proud of.
Not to mention launching a war of foreign aggression, even self-preservation has become a big problem.
Obviously, Zuo Si knew that if he used the plague, Mansong would definitely take the opportunity to spread it to the surrounding areas, so he very cleverly changed his strategy, which was to poison.
Although there are divine spells such as [Slow Down the Onset of Poison] and [Neutralize Toxin] that can be used for treatment, you can even use the stored antidote potions to deal with it.
However, since the toxin released this time is very powerful and will cause permanent disability in a very short period of time, it would be meaningless even if it is cured. Instead, there would be a headache of how to deal with these disabled soldiers.
Unless Manshoon is willing to spend a huge price to repeatedly use the wishing spell, it is almost inevitable that the armies of Zhentil Keep and Darkhold will suffer heavy casualties.
This reduction in personnel will cause the sphere of influence under his control to become extremely unstable, and may even be taken advantage of by hostile forces.
"You will take revenge if you have a grudge. This is what I like most about you. Elminster, Khelben, Lyra, and Alustriel were too soft on their enemies. They did not pose a threat to the evil organizations like the Zhentarim and the Red Wizards. This directly led to the latter becoming more and more unscrupulous in planning their conspiracies."
Simbu's tone clearly revealed his dissatisfaction with several other voters.
She had long ago had a fierce argument with Elminster, the head of the electors, over this matter.
After all, looking at the map, Agrallon is located on the peninsula west of Sel, and it has always been a country that the red robe wizards wanted to occupy and annex.
Therefore, as the queen, Simbu can feel the threat most personally, so her attitude and reaction will naturally be more radical than other voters.
"I completely agree with your point of view. When dealing with those guys who are pushing their limits, it is most important to form an effective deterrent to make them feel fearful. Otherwise, if every failure is insignificant, it will only encourage their arrogance. In this regard, I have a natural advantage. Because poisoning and releasing plagues are always the most destructive and cheapest ways to the entire social structure. Maybe we can form an alliance and deal with the red robes headed by Sazastan together."
Zuo Si took the initiative to invite for cooperation.
Of course, he didn't care much about Agrallon, a country full of half-elves. He just wanted to establish a good alliance with Xinbu.
"Are you sure? You know, the war between Sel and Agrallon has been going on for many years. If you form an alliance, it means that you may have to participate in this protracted battle at any time." Xinbu raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Zuo Si smiled and responded, "I've never been afraid of a challenge. Fighting against one of the most powerful spellcasting organizations in the entire Faerun continent can provide a lot of experience. What's more, don't you, the Storm Queen who scares the red robe wizards, sit in charge?"
"Haha! You are good at talking, no wonder Elastre is so interested in you. It seems that you are determined to obtain my exclusive sequencer magic." A playful smile appeared on Xinbu's beautiful face.
It has to be said that every one of the Seven Sisters of the North is a standard beauty with elven blood.
Even the Storm Queen who looks the shabbiest can instantly attract other people's attention as long as she takes a shower and combs her hair a little.
It's a pity that she never cared about this. Sometimes you could even smell a strange sour smell when you got close to her.
"Exploring and learning unknown magical knowledge is the highest pursuit of my life. As long as I can achieve this goal, I don't care what price I have to pay for it."
Zuo Si did not hide anything and openly admitted his desire for the magical secrets of the sequencer.
Although the card system of the Planeswalker can do this to some extent, as the saying goes, "too many skills are always a burden", who would complain about having too many cards in their hand?
Xinbu nodded in satisfaction. "I like your straightforwardness. Since you have already shared with me the secret that you are a planeswalker and are willing to help plant spies within the Red Mage at the right time, I will tell you the secret of sequencer magic. But you have to promise not to spread it."
"Please rest assured. Apart from myself and the lich who is completely under my control, no outsider will be able to know the secret of the sequencer." Zuo Si gave the guarantee without hesitation.
When Xinbu heard this, he immediately raised his eyebrows and showed a very strange expression.
Because she originally wanted the guarantee that it would not be passed on to any outsiders.
But Zuo Si directly expanded the scope to include the liches of the Arcane Mystic Society.
But considering that the planeswalkers are powerful enough to rival the power of gods, these liches will never be able to escape their control, so it doesn't seem to be a big problem.
In the end, Xinbu did not raise any objections, but explained the principles of sequencer magic in very concise language.
Contrary to what Zuo Si believed, sequencer magic was not about compressing and storing several magics in the ordinary sense, and then triggering them with a gesture when needed.
It's more like "borrowing" spells from somewhere else.
The word "borrow" is used because the spells triggered by the sequencer often have two sources.
One of them, of course, is for the spellcaster to set up a secret spell storage location in advance, and when needed, use the sequencer itself to establish an ultra-long-distance connection with the magic network to release the stored spells in sequence.
Since the stored spells themselves will be maintained for a very long time, it is equivalent to adding a series of powerful additional continuous spell bombardments on top of the spell slots available daily.
As for the other method, it is to "borrow" spells from other people's memories by establishing a stable connection.
For example, Zuo Si can establish a stable connection with his liches through sequencer magic.
When the sequencer needs to be released, the liches will be notified in advance and complete the spellcasting preparations as quickly as possible.
他所要做的就是引导这些法术通过魔网传递，然后一股脑倾泻到敌人的头顶。
简单总结起来，序列器的本质是一种魔法存储技术和法术位借用技巧。
恐怕除了用于银火的魔法女神选民和真正的传奇法师，普通施法者几乎很难完成这种超远距离的魔法能量传送。
“如何，是不是感觉很失望？大名鼎鼎的序列器，其实跟储法戒指、魔杖之类的物品并没有本质上的区别。”
欣布端起杯子喝下一小口热可可，脸上浮现出无比享受的表情。
女人喜欢巧克力跟甜食的天性，此刻在她身上得到了完美的体现。
自从几天前第一次品尝过之后，这位女王大人就彻底爱上了这种来自马兹特克大陆的特产，并且准备回去的时候用次元袋带上几百斤。
因为阿戈拉隆在费伦的东方，紧邻红袍法师们统治的塞尔。
从西海岸兴起的新大陆贸易，暂时还没有在商人的传递下延伸过去。
所以那边并没有可可豆、可可粉和成品巧克力出售。
左思轻轻摇了摇头：“怎么可能。光是序列器魔法所提供的超远距离魔法能量传输，在我看来就是一个天才般的创举，更不用提建立一个法术存储密室这种天才般的创举。作为一名术士，你达到了许多法师都无法企及的高度。”
“这句话怎么听着像是有点在歧视术士？”欣布放下手里的杯子质疑道。
“别在意，这只是因为某个烈焰术士表现拉胯的缘故，让我对术士这个职业不可避免的有了那么一点小小的偏见。”左思笑着解释道。
毫无疑问，他对术士的了解大部分都来自于“随从”阿莱娜，以及远在卡林港的魔法物品商人艾莎。
介于跟后者只是纯粹上的商业往来，所以根本进过其战斗时的状态。
这也就意味着，左思对人类术士的认知全部来自于经常惹祸的阿莱娜，感官能好了才怪呢。
自从被召唤出来之后，这个性格宛如火焰一样热情且暴躁的女人已经亲身参与了至少二十多起酒馆斗殴，属于屡教不改的典型，甚至有了阿斯卡特拉“夜店女王”的称号。
某些地痞流氓跟小混混还将其当做偶像来崇拜。
好几家旅店酒馆为了避免不必要的麻烦和损失，直接挂出牌子禁止其入内，简直就是个不折不扣的祸害。
“你接下来有什么打算？”
欣布明显并不想要在这个问题上深究，而是果断转移了话题。
因为她见过阿莱娜，明白这个红头发疑似拥有火元素血统的女术士有多么危险，尤其是对于身边的同伴来说。
那些大范围的火焰类法术，在遍地木质房屋的城镇和村庄，简直就像天灾一样可怕。
“没什么特别的打算。既然路斯坎已经安定下来，我准备先返回阿斯卡特拉去处理一些私事，然后去狩猎一条叫做费尔克拉格的红龙。”
左思迅速说出自己暑假结束前最后的计划。
无论是把龙裔骑士转化为更高等级的随从，还是搞清楚吸血鬼女王巴荻肚子里孕育的生命究竟是什么，都是他必须要尽快搞定的事情。
不然等艾瑞尼卡斯从火元素位面赶回来，一切就会变得非常麻烦。
“狩猎红龙？”
欣布两眼微微放光瞬间来了兴趣。
要知道在众多选民中，除了伊尔明斯特之外，就属她杀死的邪恶巨龙数量最多。
“没错。怎么，你有兴趣一起来吗？”左思饶有兴致的提议道。
欣布明显有些心动，但最终要是遗憾的拒绝道：“抱歉，尽管我很想参加这次狩猎，但考虑到塞尔的威胁，我必须尽快赶回阿戈拉隆。经过这次失败，阿兹纳尔·斯鲁尔和他的盟友极有可能会失势，如果萨扎斯坦掌握了最高权力，那么红袍法师无疑会变得比以前更加难以应付。”
“无论发生什么，我都会永远作为盟友提供力所能及的帮助。如果有必要的话，甚至还会亲自参战。”左思旗帜鲜明的表达了自己的立场。
“谢谢。时间会检验我们的友谊是否牢固。另外，随时欢迎你来我的国家做客。”
欣布抿起嘴角浮现出淡淡的笑意，随后开启传送门消失的无影无踪。
她前脚刚离开不久，凯尔本和艾拉斯卓便从外面走了进来。
当后者看到桌子上摆放的空茶杯后，立刻惊讶的问：“艾拉丝兰回去了？”
“是的。作为阿戈拉隆的女王兼巫后，她统治国家面临的生存压力可比银月城和深水城大多了。”左思漫不经心的回答道。
凯尔本不由得微微感叹道：“这也是没办法的事情。阿戈拉隆距离塞尔太近了，距离西海岸和北地又太远了，我们根本帮不上什么忙。对了，你们聊的怎么样了？”
“还不错。我们缔结了盟约，在彼此需要的时候提供帮助，共同面对红袍法师们的威胁。毕竟这一次我可是吞掉了他们在西海岸所有的租界和据点，心甘情愿承认失败可不是这些家伙的作风。”
左思甚至可以预料到，回去之后以阿兹纳尔·斯鲁尔为首的派系首席会有多么的痛恨自己，并且开始着手策划新的阴谋。
这也是为什么他开始寻找更多的盟友。
尤其是魔法女神的选民，天然就是适合成为盟友的人选。
别的不说，这次凯尔本、艾拉斯卓没有任何犹豫直接前来帮忙就是最好的证明。
当然，除了伊尔明斯特之外。
这位阴影谷的大贤者和第一选民，明显在理念上与左思有着非常大的分歧，所以两人之间的几次见面跟谈话都算不上愉快。
“这么说，你从她手里拿到了序列器魔法的奥秘？”艾拉斯卓用不是很确定的语气试探道。
左思略微点了下头：“嗯，拿到了。作为交换，我也分享了一些自己的秘密和制作魔法物品的特殊手段。”
“我很高兴你们俩之间没有爆发什么冲突。要知道艾拉丝兰的脾气可不是跟什么人都能相处的来的。”凯尔本十分欣慰的说道。
艾拉斯卓也跟着心有余悸的附和道：“没错。我永远都不忘记萨马斯特和欣布第一次见面的时候就差点打起来，还有些担心你们之间也会出现类似的情况呢。”
“别担心，我们意外的有很多共同语言，并且在对待红袍法师和散塔林会时也达成了许多一致的观点。对了，随着奥术兄弟会土崩瓦解，路斯坎正在接受改造，北地领主联盟是否还有存在下去的基础跟必要？”
左思突然提出了一个非常尖锐的问题。
因为本地领主联盟这个松散的组织，其实最开始就是一个相互承认对方统治合法性的大联盟。
其主要职责只有两个，一是为了对抗有强烈扩张倾向的路斯坎，另外一个就是对付像散塔林会、拜龙教和时不时会形成的怪物大军。
由于凡是加入其中的城镇，都必须要拿出一部分财政税收来供养由于深水城、无冬城、银月城提供的专业士兵，所以早就引发了诸多的不满情绪。
只不过以前有路斯坎这个外部威胁，所以大家纷纷选择忍气吞声不敢发作。
但是现在随着路斯坎的威胁不复存在，内部矛盾必然会随着外部威胁的消失而集中爆发。
可以预见，领主联盟会经历一次前所未有的严峻考验。
“嗯——这的确是个麻烦。等回去之后，我会向深水城的领主们提出，看看他们有什么意见和看法。”凯尔本摸着下巴上浓密的胡须露出若有所思的表情。
“我倒是觉得保留北地领主联盟比较好一点。起码这能有效阻止个城镇因为利益关系而爆发流血冲突。”
艾拉斯卓迅速说出了自己的观点。
虽然她本人也对这个组织聚在一起经常吵架的状况感到烦心。
但吵架总比发动战争好。
更何况没有了奥术兄弟会和路斯坎的巨大威胁，这位银月城领主正打算大展拳脚，重现当年迷斯·卓诺各种族和谐共存的盛况。
只可惜，艾拉斯卓并不明白，迷斯·卓诺的陷落本身就是因为种族过于庞杂，最终在严重的内斗和矛盾激化下土崩瓦解的。
至于那支由黑暗精灵、兽人、豺狼人、巨人、地精和恶魔组成的黑暗大军，仅仅是起到了加速崩溃作用而已。
正是由于严重的内部种族问题，迷斯·卓诺末期实际上已经形成了地球上一些多民族共存且没有任何主体民族国家所面临的严峻形式，那就是无法达成所谓的“社会共识”，每一个从政者都在为了自己种族争取利益，完全不在乎其他种族的死活。
发展到最终阶段，甚至出现了相互派出此刻暗杀对方领导人并且发动内战的案例。
Under such circumstances, the dark army finally seized the opportunity, frantically harassing the villages around the city, and holding evil and cruel sacrifices of living people to summon powerful demons to increase their strength.
At first, the rulers of Myth Drannor did not take the harassment from these monsters and enemies seriously.
Possessing powerful magical powers and puzzles, they believed that as long as they dealt with their internal enemies and successfully took power, it would be easy to wipe out these barbarian monsters.
But who knew that by the time they realized something was wrong, there were already many powerful demons in the dark army who were able to compete with high-level wizards and even legendary wizards.
As a result, with their overwhelming numerical advantage, Myth Drannor's army and mage corps were defeated step by step, and finally had to abandon their homeland and flee in all directions.
So in Zuo Si's eyes, Alustriel is a typical idealist who naively believes that he can suppress the dark side of human nature through his strong personal charm.
If he wasn't so powerful and hadn't been surrounded by a group of followers who shared the same ideals, he would have died countless times.
Moreover, the situation in Faerun is much more complicated than on Earth, and the intervention of gods and faith must also be taken into account.
Just as the three were once again discussing the situation in the North, far away near the mouth of the Teith River where it flows into the Moon Sea, Zhentil Keep was facing the most terrible crisis since its establishment.
As the local lord, Mansong, who had just been resurrected through cloning, was standing on the top floor of the tower with a gloomy expression, looking at the large number of corpses burning outside, with raging anger bursting from his eyes.
He never expected that Zuo Si, the crazy Chosen One of Talona, was not satisfied after killing him once and actually ran to Zhentil Castle to carry out revenge.
Moreover, it was not the spread of plague as he had expected, but rather the more insidious and cunning poisoning.
In just a few days, more than two thousand strictly trained orc troops were killed or wounded by the poison.
As for the human army, the situation was not much better, with large numbers of people dying inexplicably every day.
The food we eat, the water we drink, the clothes we wear, and even the air we breathe can contain deadly toxins.
So far, Mansong hasn't even figured out how the other party poisoned him or how they bypassed the magic alarm he set.
After several minutes, he turned around and asked his most trusted apprentice: "Ximanmeng, what's the situation at the Dark Castle?"
"They are all dead, teacher. I can only transform them into zombies through the necromancy ritual, otherwise I won't be able to stop the invasion of monsters around me." Ximanmeng replied with a bitter face.
"What? They're all dead!" Mansong turned around. "How could they all be dead? Didn't I have someone send you some antidote?"
"Because the Dark Castle is located deep in the Sunset Mountains, there is no need to worry about the disease spreading to the outside world. So Soth not only used poison, but also released a terrible plague. Even I was accidentally infected and almost lost my life. What's more terrible is that Fuzor Chamberlain has begun to challenge you within the Zhentarim and tried to seize the supreme leadership. Many members of the inner circle also believe that it is your recklessness and stupidity that has provoked a terrible enemy that the organization should not have provoked."
While saying this, Ximanmeng carefully watched his mentor's reaction out of the corner of his eye.
He didn't know why, but ever since he witnessed Mansong being killed instantly by the thunder created by Zuo Si with silver fire, he slowly lost his original awe and began to re-examine this ambitious old man from another perspective.
You have to know that over a hundred years old is very close to the upper limit of the theoretical lifespan of the human race.
Although Mansoon used many methods to extend his lifespan, he still looked like a man in his forties or fifties.
But Ximamon knew that Manshun was actually secretly planning to transform into a lich or some other form that would allow him to live longer.
Especially the blow brought by this disastrous defeat made him begin to doubt whether there was something wrong with his magical path.
Otherwise, why would he be easily defeated by such a young junior?
Although the power of the Chosen Ones bestowed by the Goddess of Magic played a very important role in this process, whether it was immunity to time stop or silver fire burst mode, it was not something that ordinary spellcasters or even legendary wizards could easily deal with.
But this self-doubt is making Mansong lose his previous confidence and become hesitant.
This is a fatal weakness within the Zhentarim, where the phenomenon of "inferior rebellion" is very common.
Otherwise, Fuzzol Chamberlain would not have jumped out to seize power at this sensitive time.
"Damn bastard!"
Upon hearing that Fuzor Chamberlain was once again trying to seize leadership of the Zhentarim, Manshoon immediately looked furious.
As a chosen one of Bane's people and the "Tyrant of the Moon Sea" who also possesses great appeal and leadership, Fuzol Chamberlain is almost as good as him in status.
His prestige among Bane's followers even far exceeds that of him as the leader of a mage organization.
But soon, Mansong forced himself to calm down and asked seriously, "How many people have clearly expressed their support for Fuzol Chamberlain?"
"A lot. More than half of the Inner Circle members alone. And after this failure, our intelligence network in the North suffered heavy losses, and some places even lost their intelligence gathering capabilities. Coupled with the large number of deaths in the Zhentil Keep army, your rule has begun to become shaky."
Ximanmeng did not hide anything and directly described the worst situation at the moment.
For some unknown reason, his face looked paler than usual, and he would cover his mouth and cough after speaking a few words. He was also careful to keep a certain distance from the sunlight coming in from the window.
Unfortunately, Mansong, who was worried about how to keep his power, did not notice these suspicious things. After thinking for a moment, he quickly made arrangements.
On the one hand, he asked Ximanmeng to take out the negative information he had collected about the inner circle members and go to their homes to threaten them, forcing them to give up supporting Fu Zuoer Chamberlain.
On the other hand, he decisively ordered to stop burning the bodies of dead soldiers, and instead transform them into zombies or skeletons to continue to contribute to Zhentil Castle.
(End of this chapter)