Ch 160: Night Whisper Society

……

……

“The Night Whisper Society you ordered has begun to form.”

Durant answered.

The important matter Rhode was referring to was establishing his own intelligence organization.

No matter when, or what you are doing, information is paramount.

Intelligence is like a beacon in the darkness, allowing Rhode to see the way forward.

The value of intelligence lies not only in understanding the enemy’s movements, but also in discovering potential threats and opportunities.

It’s not just useful in war, but also in the commercial field.

But now, Rhode’s information is very isolated, and he doesn’t know what’s going on outside.

This is very passive, making Rhode feel very insecure.

This is also the main reason for arranging Chris to establish an outpost on the Razor Plain.

In fact, nobles all have the habit of establishing intelligence organizations, and this is also in Rhode’s plan.

The situation in Eagle Territory is currently chaotic, and everything will be reshuffled. Rhode naturally cannot miss this opportunity.

“Night Whisper Society?”

“Night Whisper Society is the name Gangler suggested. If you don’t like it, we can change it.” Durant said proactively.

“Let’s use this one.”

Rhode hadn’t originally planned to name his intelligence organization.

It felt pointless; after all, they all served him, not intelligence dealers.

Now, after thinking about it carefully, having a name is convenient.

Perhaps in the future, when it really develops, Rhode can only manage the core personnel within the organization, and the peripheral personnel only need to know that they belong to the Night Whisper Society.

It’s just that the name doesn’t sound like a legitimate organization.

Durant took out two sheets of parchment from his bosom and unfolded them both on the table,

“As you ordered, this is the list of our soldiers remaining in Eagle Peak Ridge.”

Durant pointed to the other sheet of paper and introduced, “This records some people who are willing to join us. They will stay in Eagle Peak Ridge themselves, while their families will settle in Frost Leaf Town.”

Rhode nodded in satisfaction.

This was the initial plan.

After all, the soldiers under Rhode’s command were all unfamiliar faces. No matter how chaotic Eagle Peak Ridge was, strangers were more conspicuous.

It’s better to directly select people in Eagle Peak Ridge.

Rhode promised those who had suffered a life of hardship a life of abundance for them and their families.

And all they needed to do was stay in Eagle Peak Ridge, organize the news they heard, and send it to Black Pine Ridge.

“Tell those who have been scattered not to worry, to settle down first.”

Rhode folded up the list and put it away, instructing, “Now their most important task is to live a good life, integrate into Eagle Peak Ridge, and they don’t need to do anything else.”

Gathering information is a continuous process, not a one-off assassination task.

At first, survival is paramount.

“Those who are willing to work for us, treat their families well.”

“Let Laurence arrange some high-work-point jobs for those people.”

Rhode frowned, thought for a while, and added, “But don’t tell Laurence the identities of those people.”

“You… suspect Laurence?” Durant asked in surprise.

Rhode smiled and waved his hand, “Not at all.”

“It’s just that this matter has little to do with him, and it’s a very secretive matter. The fewer people who know, the better.”

Rhode explained.

In addition, Rhode wants to gradually separate the military and logistics, establishing independent departments, instead of mixing them together as they are now.

“You are right.”

Durant nodded in agreement.

As soon as Durant finished speaking, a guard rushed in to report.

“Lord, Wolfhoof captured two more mixed-blood scouts.”

Rhode nodded, “Durant, leave the interrogation to you.”

The first three mixed-bloods had said everything they needed to say, and the rest had nothing new to offer.

Rhode wasn’t interested, but the interrogation had to be done.

“Yes, Baron.”

Durant responded and left.

After he left, Vivian, who had been dozing nearby, stretched and yawned.

During the day she would look for opportunities to rest, and at night she would stay awake guarding Rhode.

Rhode looked at Vivian, whose face was full of weariness, and his brows furrowed slightly.

Rhode said proactively, “You don’t have to follow me all the time in the manor during the day. If you’re tired, you can go and rest.”

Vivian waved her slender hand,

“I’m fine, I just need a short nap.”

Saying this, Rhode took a lollipop from his leather pouch and put it in his mouth, then spoke again,

“Sister said that Baron has a ring, it seems to be a piece of magical equipment,”

“Just now Sister discovered a book specifically describing the knowledge of various magical equipment, it talks about alchemy and the skills of making various magical tools.”

“Does Sister need help looking at it?”

“Good.”

Rhode nodded lightly, took out the ring he found in the Abyssal Wizard Tower from the inner pocket of his clothes, and handed it to Vivian.

Vivian took the ring with both hands, holding it in her palm, and walked to the window.

In the sunlight, she squinted her eyes, using the bright light to carefully observe the ring in her hand, memorizing the details of the texture and every corner in her mind.

Actually, it wasn’t Vivian who needed to look at it.

But she needed to remember these details, and then share this information with Avril in her mind.

At this moment, Avril on the other side was reading through the texts, looking for any possible clues.

Rhode did not disturb her, quietly waiting.

After looking at it for a while, Vivian finally finished, and returned the ring to Rhode.

“Wait a moment.”

She forcefully sucked on the candy in her mouth and added, “Sister is still checking.”

Rhode took the ring and nodded with a smile.

This long process felt familiar to Rhode.

——He suddenly remembered his old computer from his past life, searching for files also took a while to get a response.

In Rhode’s moment of distraction, Vivian came to her senses.

She proactively said, “This should be a Frost Ring.”

“A fairly standard low-level magical ornament.”

Vivian introduced:

“It can automatically absorb free magic and store it as Frost Energy.”

“Then the user can control that energy through mental energy, turning it into a Frost Energy attack or a defensive barrier.”

Vivian’s brows furrowed slightly, as if she were recalling the information Avril had transmitted to her.

“But it seems to need three days to recharge.”

Vivian added.

Rhode’s eyes lit up, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the complex patterns on the surface of the ring,

“How do you activate it?”

“Communicate with it using mental energy,” Vivian answered without hesitation.

Rhode frowned slightly, then shook his head,

“No.”

“I’ve tried using mental energy, it didn’t work at all.”

Rhode knew that mental energy was the foundation of a wizard, so after getting the ring he immediately tried to communicate with it using mental energy.

But there was no effect.

“Then…”

Vivian hesitated for a moment,

“Wait, let me ask again.”

After saying that, she closed her eyes.

Rhode looked expectantly at Vivian, and the hall immediately fell silent, only the occasional barking of dogs from outside the window.

After a while, Vivian opened her eyes and spoke again, “Sister said that there might be a mental imprint from the previous user.”

“What imprint?”

“Many magical equipment leave a mental imprint of the previous user after use, binding it to itself, so that it can be quickly activated next time.”

Vivian explained word by word, speaking slowly, as if reading an instruction manual.

Rhode was not in a hurry, listening attentively.

“Don’t worry, this mental imprint can be erased.”

“Continuously try to communicate with it using mental energy, this might reveal the previous imprint,”

“Then you can fight it, consume the energy of the mental imprint, and then you can erase it.”

Vivian paused, her eyes narrowed slightly, recalling, and added again,

“Sister said that this ring has been stored for so long, the mental imprint on it should be very weak.”

Rhode listened, nodded,

“Good, I’ll try again.”

Rhode put the ring on his little finger, feeling the icy metallic touch, closed his eyes, and tried again to communicate with the ring.

His mental energy was like tiny tentacles wrapping around the ring, and then continuously attacking.

Soon, fine beads of sweat began to appear on Rhode’s forehead.

Mental communication is very energy-consuming.

Rhode opened his eyes, took a breath, and rested before trying again.

And this time, as soon as Rhode’s mental energy wrapped around it, he felt something unusual.

Just as Vivian said, a weak fluctuation appeared on the ring, resisting his mental penetration.

It was like waking up on a cold morning feeling like you needed to urinate, wanting to get up and go to the toilet, but your body was resisting.

Rhode did not back down, and fought back forcefully.

His mental energy repeatedly washed over the mental energy that was resisting him like a tide.

*Snap*——

In an instant, as if something had shattered, Rhode felt an overwhelming sense of relief.

The next second, he felt an unusual chill from the ring.

“Done.”

Rhode smiled, opened his eyes and looked at Vivian, asking, “What should I do next?”

“Try to communicate and draw on the energy in the ring.”

Vivian answered without hesitation, “Then, when you successfully release that energy, your imprint will be left on it.”

“That way, it will belong to you.”

“Good.”

Rhode rested for a while, then used his mental energy to feel the flow of energy in his body, and then activated that energy.

Suddenly, a bright blue light shot out from the ring!

The important thing is, the first time Rhode didn’t control it well, and it went straight towards Vivian!

Vivian instinctively lifted her foot, and the energy instantly shot onto the floor!

In an instant, countless ice crystals appeared on the floor, spreading like locusts in all directions!

In the intervals of breathing, a large area of the floor under Vivian was frozen, the crystal-clear ice crystals sparkling with a cold light in the sunlight!

Even though Vivian was sitting in the chair, she could feel the cold air from above!

“Baron!”

Vivian gasped, “You almost shot it at my foot!”

“Sorry, it’s my first time, I didn’t control the direction well.”

Rhode shrugged helplessly.

Everything happened so fast just now, he didn’t have time to react before it shot out.

In fact, Rhode could have controlled it mentally.

“Alright.”

Vivian took a long breath, “Next time you shoot it, say it in advance, so I can move away.”

“It’s okay, I’ll practice next time.”

Rhode stood up and looked at the glittering ice crystals on the floor, “The power is greater than I imagined.”

The floor is fine, but if it were a person, they would be instantly frozen, right?

With the medical level of this era, without Arcane power, after being hit, they would only be able to have an amputation, right?

“Interesting!”

Rhode’s eyes were full of excitement.

“The magic runes on a low-level Frost Ring can only store a single Frost Energy, and there are no specific spell runes.”

Vivian proactively explained, “It can not only become an attack spell, but also a defense spell, all depending on your mental ability to control it.”

“However, because there are no specific spell runes, the power is very small.”

“And in higher-level Frost Rings, spells will be directly stored on them, triggered by mental energy.”

Rhode nodded.

He understood this point.

Simply put, wizards control energy through their minds, and spells are the methods of controlling energy, or formulas.

With the help of rune spells, the energy release method is optimized, and the power will be stronger.

It’s like getting the effect of two gold coins for one gold coin.

“Low-level Frost Rings are so powerful, I can’t imagine how powerful the high-level ones are.”

Rhode stroked the ice crystals on the floor, and couldn’t help but exclaim.

Of course, Rhode was also satisfied with having this Frost Ring.

He now had another way to deal with those strange Arcane beings.

Rhode hurried back to his workshop to start familiarizing himself with the ring, to avoid accidents like shooting it at Vivian again.

……

……

The remaining two mixed-bloods did not bring any valuable information.

Blond, however, did bring some useful information, which Durant immediately sent to the hall.

According to the report from the scouts Blond sent out, the lizardfolk on the Razor Plain captured some refugees and were reclaiming the abandoned farmland.

And the news Chris sent back confirmed this.

Upon hearing this news, even Durant couldn’t help but laugh.

Laurence also happened to hear the news, and laughed unrestrainedly,

“Cultivating land in winter, even an axe-sharp hoe wouldn’t be able to break through the frozen soil, right?”

“What a bunch of stupid lizardfolk!”

Laurence didn’t understand farming, but he knew other things.

The hardness of the frozen ground in deep winter was comparable to stone. Snow Rabbit People needed to exert all their strength to dig holes, let alone till large tracts of farmland.

Rhode couldn’t help but chuckle, then said calmly, “Perhaps those lizardfolk don’t care whether the land is hard or not, anyway, it’s not them who are doing the work.”

“They wouldn’t care if the slaves were tired.”

This sentence made Laurence and the others all stunned.

Laurence retorted, “Then, then working in this weather, wouldn’t they freeze to death?”

“So what if they freeze to death?”

Rhode snorted, “Do you think they care?”

“Well, if they freeze to death, they can just be thrown into a pot and boiled.”

Durant added.

This sentence gave Laurence a chill.

Rhode was curious and asked, “You used to travel as a merchant, didn’t you have contact with those foreign races?”

“No, no.”

“I’ve been to Ice Peak Valley, Long Winter Town, Frozen Bone Wasteland, and then I circled back to Border Town…”

Laurence stammered.

Rhode knew the places he mentioned.

According to Rhode’s understanding, the Northern Border Wilderness was divided among eight lords.

Besides the ones Rhode had contacted, there were also Long Winter Town of the Shieldbreaker Clan, Frozen Bone Wasteland of the Heavy Hammer Clan, Ice Breath Hills of the Moon Lake Clan, Frost Town of the Dark Forest Clan, and Cold Howl Town of the Gao Ling Clan.

Among them, Long Winter Town in the northwest is closest to Black Pine Ridge, but there is still Ice Peak Valley in between, and the others are even farther away.

“You’re quite clever, you only went to relatively peaceful places.”

Rhode patted Laurence, “Your luck is also good.”

“Of course, being able to meet you, shows that my luck is indeed good.”

Laurence responded respectfully.

Vivian, who was dozing with her eyes closed beside them, couldn’t help but sneer.

Rhode ignored Laurence’s flattery and instructed Durant,

“This news proves that those lizardfolk may not have enough food because of their rapid development.”

Rhode speculated, “To be precise, they may not have enough food in the future.”

Being able to send scouts to investigate in advance, Rhode estimated that the lizardfolk leader was a person who planned ahead.

Farming is a long process, far less quick than seizing it.

Since they chose to farm, it means that seizing isn’t easy.

This is what forced them to start farming, which they are not good at.

Rhode smiled.

If that’s the case, don’t let them live comfortably.

“Write a letter to Blond, suggesting that he cause some trouble for those lizardfolk.”

Rhode frowned and thought for a while,

“Also, have Chris find out for me which tribes those lizardfolk are fighting with.”

“You mean…”

Durant’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Rhode in surprise,

“We can unite with other foreign races?”

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Rhode said calmly, “But uniting is a bit of an exaggeration, but we can do some simple business with them.

Let them fight more, consume each other, and perhaps we can earn some gold coins.”

“Understood, I’ll go do it now!”

Durant happily responded and immediately turned to act.

Rhode also took a long breath.

He didn’t know much about the lizardfolk, so these matters of foreign races felt like a stone on his chest, making him uncomfortable.

Now that he had a preliminary way to deal with them, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Although he didn’t know if it would be effective, it was better than doing nothing.

After sending Durant away, Rhode turned to Laurence,

“Do you have anything else to report?”

The population of Frost Leaf Town had exceeded two thousand five hundred, and Laurence managed all aspects of their lives. He had countless things to deal with every day.

Laurence’s willingness to listen to this long chat showed that he really had something to say.

“Yes, Sir.”

Laurence cautiously asked, “The Winter Fishing season is here, when do you think we should start?”

“I almost forgot about that.”

Rhode nodded, “When you’re ready, just pick a day to start.”