XO Office, FOC South 860

1526, 15 Jul 2025

With great interest, Vex studied photos of a small farmland. It was oddly located in the middle of a Liqua Guard installation.

According to the intel obtained by IDG, the installation was a Nouel farmland initially. Nine months ago, Liqua Guard suddenly turned it into a cavalry training area and ignored any objections. Most likely, this was done to hide the fact that the field could no longer be planted.

Major Maxwell calmly said, "Poseidon took this photo a few minutes ago. It is estimated that the farmland is only a few days old. ADG personnel also confirmed that the rejuvenation techniques used by the workers match those of ADG's.

I suggest we send an element to find out the hostage locations from the officers at this installation, while TF Pollux personnel are ready to move towards the hostage locations."

Vex firmly answered, "Negative, until we get the exact location of the hostages. We will not take any action that can alert the kidnappers and put the hostages at risk. For now we will just observe and trace."

Major Maxwell looked utterly disappointed, and he took a deep breath before speaking, "At this point, the hostages are likely still alive, but we must be aware that once the kipnappers gets what they want, they will erase all evidence and traces."

Vex massaged his forehead before saying, "Therefore we must hurry."

---

The front yard of Villa Hagel.

0730, 18 Jul 2025

Lassac stood pensively before a collection of lilies that formed a '505' pattern. As the first son of a noble family, from an early age he underwent military training without having time to pay attention to anything else.

Nor did he have time to understand why farmers in Liqua Region took care of the crops in their fields as their own children. Although in fact, he was very curious about it.

Lassac's father was very good at growing lilies. Because he liked to use these flower stalks to sharpen his sword slashes. Lassac also had the habit of using lily stalks to hone his cutting skills.

A single lily could be used for slashing practice up to six or eight slashes, and each day Lassac would need 50-60 lily stalks before he got a perfect slash. As for his father, he only needed a single lily stalk to get a perfect slash.

At this moment, with a complicated expression Lassac looked at the lily before him. His father who used to accompany him to practice had left this world. He died while organizing Liqua Guard's retreat from the front yard of Magwurt City.

But somehow, now Lassac understood why the farmers were so concerned about the crops on their fields. From the plump and radiant school of lilies before him, Lassac could feel the dedication, care, affection, and somehow the hope that Amethyst Merchant worker poured out over the lily.

'No wonder they managed to repair the damaged fields.'

Lassac took a deep breath of the morning air while a speck of regret rose in his heart.

'If from the very beginning the nobles and high-ranking officials in Liqua Region were willing to invest time and resources in understanding the farming techniques and the farmer's hearts, then perhaps we could have avoided such severe damage to our farmland.'

At the same time Lassac heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Not long after that, Peggie and an Amethyst Merchant worker walked past his side by carrying two buckets of water.

Each morning, before they went to work on the test plots, Peggie and her colleagues would take turns to care for their beloved lilies. Whether coincidence or not, this morning it was Peggie's turn so Lassac could immediately deliver the words he wanted to say to her.

"I'll be gone for two days, but you don't need to worry because my right hand will make sure no one will disturb you while I'm not around."

Still in a calm tone, Lassac added, "After you have perfected the technique for repairing the damaged farmland, I will escort you back to Tuscan Region, as well as surrender and receive the punishment for killing two Amethyst Merchant members in Berril Plain."

Over the past week, there had been a drastic change in Lassac's tone and expression as he spoke to Peggie and her colleagues. There was no more open hatred.

Even so, Peggie still refused to accept the good intentions shown by Lassac. Two of her colleagues died while the other three were gang-raped. Peggie would never forgive that. Of course, Peggie would not just show her heart out.

"Understood."

Peggie replied curtly before starting to weed the grass around the lilies which had become a ray of hope for her and her colleagues.

At the same time Lassac smiled before leaving. One thing he didn't tell Peggie was, last night he received an order from Baron Eslei to erase all evidence that could lead to the incident on Berril Plain.

Baron Eslei had a feeling that Amethyst Merchant was watching him closely. He also heard from the nobles who returned from Magwurt City, that Amethyst Merchant was incessantly searching for their kidnapped workers, and vows to roast the culprit alive. There were even rumors that they would burn the entire territory of the Northern Coalition along with all its residents.

Previously, Lassac without hesitation poisoned all the Riders and Cloud Hawks involved in the operation on Berril Plains, as soon as the captured Amethyst Merchant workers arrived at the transit point.

Lassac also would not hesitate to kill 60 of his subordinates in Villa Hagel. But somehow, he became hesitant when he received orders to execute the five Amethyst Merchant workers who had helped him understand the values ​​in the art of farming.

Therefore, he intended to meet Baron Eslei to submit a proposal. He would escort the five Amethyst Merchant workers back to Tuscan Region, and take full responsibility for the incident on Berril Plains without involving Baron Eslei or Liqua Region.

'Long time ago, I had saved Baron Eslei, so he will definitely listen to my proposal,' Lassac muttered as he walked toward the stable.

---

The airspace at the western end of Region Liqua.

1943, 18 Jul 2025

Inside the cabin of P-8 Poseidon with the callsign Sleepy Panda, while narrowing his eyes Major Howard studied a collection of lilies forming a pattern of '505'. The group of lilies was accidentally caught by the EO operator while he was observing a villa in the middle of an abandoned farmland.

Believe it or not, be it in a military operation, an intelligence operation, and even more in a hostage rescue operation, luck had an enormous role to play.

For example, in Operation Magic Fire which was executed by GSG-9. Most people only know that the operation was one of the most successful hostage rescue operations. However, the leader of the HR Team later said publicly that the raid was not as glamorous as the media had heralded.

After the HRT team managed to enter using dynamic entry, somehow the Jam or the situation where the HR Team movement stopped occurred, and the versus-contact with the bandits dragged on. The jam gave the bandits enough time to throw grenades, and not just one but two.

It was no secret that fire, explosives, and of course grenades were not a good combination when paired with an airplane in full tank. Fortunately, both grenades all fell into positions where the explosion was completely absorbed by the empty passenger seat. If not, then one could not imagine what disaster would occur.

In the searching operation of two ADG personnel and three Amethyst Merchant workers, a standoff occurred for days even though motives and suspects had been obtained. Also, the ground team assigned to observe Baron Eslei did not receive any meaningful clues other than confirmation that Baron Eslei faked his illness.

Therefore Major Howard never underestimated the importance of luck.

"Finally luck has come to us." Pointing to a location next to the villa, Major Howard continued, "These little plots look like a testing ground."

The Intel analyst beside Major Howard nodded slightly. "We think weasels fly west as far as possible as part of a misdirection tactic, plus we find new fields in a Liqua Guard installation on the eastern side of the Region. But who would have thought our target was really in the west."

Without wasting any time Major Howard gave instructions, "Send this intel to FOC South 860 right now."

*****