Before Vex returned to earth, Lan Yan'er had a chance to learn how to make spicy wine from him. She had already made it a few times, so she was rather adept in it. And now, she had a good opportunity to share her skill.

Behind a row of humvees that formed security parameters, Lan Yan'er was busy preparing a kettle of spicy wine by using ingredients and equipment she found at the camp.

After pouring summer wine into a large kettle, she then added a little nutmeg, dried lemon, cinnamon, and a lot of raisin, nuts, dried berries, and honey. Then, she hung the kettle above the fire.

Usually, she would take the kettle from the fire when the wine reached a temperature of 80° C. But for now, she let it boil vigorously until the alcohol content completely evaporated.

Meanwhile, not far from her location, some paramedics bathed the surviving slave children using warm water. They had to clean the salt that coated the slave children's skin because letting it too long on their bodies were no different than marinating them and it could lead into a fatal dehydration

As for their changing clothes, fortunately a lot of TF Anethyst's personnel brought spare t-shirt, boxer, balaclava, and jacket in their humvee and they happily gave it to the slave children. Some of them even took initiative to collected gladiator sandals from the dead bodies of Makai Guard's personnel for the slave children.

Of course, the clothes and the gladiator sandals were too big for the slave children, but a few ropes fixed the issue and it were much better compared to the wet rags they wore before.

Coincidently, when Lan Yan'er finished prepared the spicy wine, the surviving slave children also already finished their bath and sat neatly around the fire.

At one glance, they looked cute and adorable. However, after a careful observation, it was clearly visible that they were too quiet and gloomy. Moreover, one of the youngest boys was still sobbing weakly.

Wasting no time, Lan Yan'er poured the spicy wine into 14 big wooden mugs and tore 14 big chunks of brown bread.

"Be careful, it's hot."

As she distributed the spicy wine and brown bread, Lan Yan'er gave the surviving slave children gentle reminder. And she immediately breathed a sigh of relief as they enjoyed the snack heartily.

'At least, they didn't refuse to eat or drink,' Lan Yan'er muttered inwardly.

At the same time, Major Shade approached Lan Yan'er and said, "We already gave the POW a lot of water and medical treatment. So we will retreat in a few minutes."

"Understood." Lan Yan'er then looked at the dark sea in the distance and asked, "Did command center already ensure there were no more survivor in the water?"

"Reaper already swept the area three times, and found no heat signature."

"I see."

In an instant, Major Shade's reply made Lan Yan'er deeply sighed. Aerial reconnaissance showed that after the versus contact with incoming Landing Troop, at least there were 150 slave children and 200 slave women in the water. But only 14 slave children and 220 POW managed to reach the shore with their life intact.

After the slave children finished their snack, the paramedic element then started their retreat.

A moment later, Vanguard elements burned the dead bodies and the whole camp. After making sure there was no more resource and construction that could be used by the opposing side, they then retreated and took the role as rear guard.

At the first light of dawn, all elements involved in the Oplan Black in The Night safely passed the defensive point at Railev Pass.

Meanwhile, Battle Group B continued with their retreat. Based on their course and direction, it was estimated that their destination was a group of empty islands 150 km to the west of Sandhur Region, where they built their closest logistic and maintenance base.

---

Right after supervising Oplan Black In The Night, Viscount Issel immediately went to Lagra Castle's storage facility. There was a lot of loot that must be organized. So he had an urge to check the process before going back to his residence.

At the backyard of the storage facility, he found Lt. Col. Slane casually watching the unloading. A smile bloomed in Viscount Issel's lips as he approached Lt. Col. Slane.

"Sir Slane, I never thought you would supervise the unloading directly."

Lt. Col. Slane smiled before replied, "Actually, it was an accidental stop. I was on my way to Amethyst Merchant Branch Office when I saw the massive loot and decided to take a closer look."

"I see." As he looked at the huge number of staple food and construction materials that were being recorded, Viscount Issel then said, "Maybe we should send some of these loots to Kingdom of Buriek?"

"No, we don't," Lt. Col. Slane calmly replied, "Right now, Kingdom of Buriek doesn't lack food or construction material. So it will not mean much while we have to bear the shipping cost."

Viscont Issel nodded and then he took a deep breath. "Ser Slane, I'm sorry that for the past few weeks I can't spare my attention to Amethyst Merchant's projects in Sandhur Region."

"Ser Viscount, you had to lead a war, so you don't need to worry about anything else." Lt. Col. Slane confidently smiled before continuing, "Please, believe in me, Amethyst Merchant will deliver the highest possible prosperity to Sandhur Region."

"Ser Slane, I believe in you," Viscount Issel answered firmly without the slightest of doubt.

Wasting no time, Lt. Col. Slane then explained the latest progress of Amethyst Projects in Sandhur Region, "Next week, the processing facilities for seafood and other marine products will be ready to operate. As per your request, we will not use workers from Kingdom of Buriek but workers from Tuscan Region and the Northern Coalition."

"Glad to hear that."

In an instant, a smile full of satisfaction bloomed in Viscount Issel Lips. Even though inwardly, he had difficulty when he tried to imagine how a dozen high capacity processing facilities could be built in such a short time.

"As for the other details I will send them to your office in a few days, before I go to Kingdom of Buriek."

"Are you Already planning to go over there?" A big question mark and reluctance were clearly visible on Viscount Issel's forehead.

"Amethyst Merchant's projects in Sandhur Region were already on track, so it doesn't need my direct supervision any more."

Viscount Issel nodded, and then he said with a tone of deep gratitude, "Ser Slane, I will never forget the kindness and hard work you show to Sandhur Region."

Lt. Col. Slane happily replied, "Ser Viscount, it's a fair and square business deal, so you don't need to be courteous about it."

"Even so, it's still the greatest kindness that Sandhur Region has ever received."

Currently, Sandhur Region was suffering from severe population deficiencies, and the majority of its remaining residents were children under ten years old.

However, Viscount Issel could breathe a sigh of relief because the children and the next generations of Sandhur Region would be able to live in prosperity, and one of the biggest contributors to that result was Lt. Col. Slane.

Lt. Col. Slane didn't take away the massive gold reserve in the Lagra Castle. He said that Amethyst Merchant was already satisfied with the winner right from Kingdom of Buriek. He only asked Viscount Issel to sell Nouel and rent the Nouel Farmland to Amethyst Merchant. And surprisingly, he offered a good price if Viscount Issel was willing to invest the payment into Amethyst Merchant's project in Sandhur Region.

Therefore, it was natural that Viscount Issel had an immeasurable gratitude toward Lt. Col. Slane.

---

After the debriefing of Oplan Black in The Night, Lan Yan'er immediately returned to her temporary residence in Lagra Castle. She also brought along the fourteen former slave children and asked Butler Barrie to take care of their accommodation.

After taking a shower, she then immediately climbed into her bed, and felt wonderful bliss as soon as she lay on the nice and comfortable bed.

Last night, she arrived at Lagra Castle by bus. She came with one mission, to make sure children who would return from Magwurt City in a few days, would smoothly reconnect with their newly built home.

However, she just got off the bus when Major Shade approached her. In a straightforward manner, he explained that a senior assistant surgeon under his command had just resigned from a role to lead a paramedic squad.

The problem was, command center planned to launch the mission in three hours, while decent replacement was only available in Magwurt City or Harley Quinn. It was a critical circumstance as losing one paramedic squad could lead into a failure in saving a large number of people.

Without hesitation, Lan Yan'er agreed to become the replacement even though Nate tried to stop her. After making sure Butler Barrie received Erlin, Seira, Keira, and Big Brown, she then attended the final briefing of Oplan Black in The Night.

And so, it was easy to imagine how big and heavy the fatigue that accumulated in Lan Yan'er body and mind.

Lan Yan'er easily fell asleep and she slept like a log. Until finally, she vaguely heard the cheerful laugh of children in the distance. She immediately opened her eyes and checked her watch.

'10:30 am, three hours since I went to bed.'

Lan Yan'er then slowly got up and approached the window. Her room was on the second floor of the wing building, so she could easily observe the wide yard in front of the maidservant lodging houses.

Dozens of boys running around, play chase and tag while laughing breathlessly. Meanwhile, dozens of women and girls sat on the terrace and watched the boys with a cheerful smile.

Judging from their clothes and merry expressions, it was easily to conclude that the psychologist team in charge of accompanying the former slave children and slave women did a good job.

"Lagra Castle and Amethyst Merchant Branch Office will take care of them properly," Lan Yan'er muttered as she tried to hold the urge to check the slave women and slave children.

She had her own mission, so she had to maintain her priority. After finishing her daily yoga, Lan Yan'er then went to take a bath. A moment later, she was already wearing her office outfit and on the way to the living room on the first floor.

*****