Chapter 547: 【Return】

Hughes glanced at the mass of cotton representing the White Calamity on the sand table and raised his brows.

“Looks like it’s coming straight for us?”

Most of the White Calamity across the Northlands remained distant, yet along the railway line here, the calamity jutted forward like a curtain of mist being yanked ahead.

“Yes. The White Calamity—or to be more precise, those White Bones within the fog—seem to have set their sights on us. They’ve been chasing our train all along the tracks. As you’ve seen in the earlier reports, the fog followed the bones and finally arrived here.”

Hughes nodded, silent for a while, then suddenly spoke. “I remember Gwen said she saw a little girl in the fog?”

“Yes. According to the doctor’s diagnosis, she likely experienced a severe shock that caused hallucinations. I don’t plan to send her into battle this time.”

“Have you investigated her background?”

“Yes. We’ve questioned many from the Expeditionary Army before and gathered plenty of fragmented intelligence. When pieced together, it roughly reconstructs her past.”

Alexei began speaking without hesitation. As the head of the Resistance, Gwen’s background investigation had been personally overseen by him—he could almost recite it from memory.

“She was born in a village at the border between the White Raven Principality and the Empire—an unruly area neither side managed well. Her parents went missing when she was little. Later, the village was raided by bandits. She hid alone in her house, and after the bandits left, she fled to a nearby church—the Silent Sanctum’s chapel. Later, when the Silent Sanctum organized a refugee retreat, she followed them north.”

“She met Nora at that time?”

“Yes. Nora was in charge of that region. Gwen followed her, and due to her outstanding performance, became Nora’s deputy. After Nora split into two, Gwen officially took command of the Resistance.”

Hughes nodded again, about to say something, when he suddenly frowned.

“That’s not right… then how did Nora end up in Castel?”

“At the time, the Silent Sanctum was temporarily settled in the Northlands. Both the Candlelight Emblem and the northern lords opposed them. So the Silent Sanctum sent Fathers to various places, hoping through persuasion to obtain land to settle. Castel happened to be a remote, undeveloped region, so Nora came here to try her luck.”

“And then they reached an agreement with the Candlelight Emblem—abandoning all the refugees?”

Hughes hadn’t paid much attention to this before, but the more he thought about it now, the stranger it seemed. How could a great organization like the Silent Sanctum fail to secure even a small foothold?

They had, after all, once faced the Empire directly.

Even if they couldn’t defeat the Candlelight Emblem, couldn’t they at least go occupy some barren land in the Southern Continent? And what about Nora’s promises—why not relocate the refugees directly to Castel?

Did they have some reason that forced them to remain in the Northlands?

And even if they had to stay, why would they suddenly abandon their own people?

The entire matter reeked of strangeness. He hadn’t pondered it before amid the chaos of war, but now it seemed there might be a hidden truth behind it.

“Forget it. None of that matters now. Let’s prepare to face the approaching White Calamity.”

Though the Expeditionary Army’s preparation time was short, the fortress here already stockpiled ample supplies and armaments. The soldiers only needed to transport essential items from the camp and ready a few empty trains as escape routes.

The placement of firepower points, however, demanded much thought.

Shortly after Hughes stationed the Banshees throughout the fortress, a pale glow appeared on the distant horizon.

“So that’s the White Calamity…” Hughes murmured, holding a pair of binoculars as he gazed at the wall of fog.

Nearby, a distant airship hung suspended—this was the true forward observation post. Now that they were close enough, Hughes could directly communicate with the Banshee aboard.

『How’s the situation?』

『My Lord, forgive my bluntness—it’s not optimistic,』 came the Banshee’s grave voice. 『We’ve tried bombing and machine-gun fire; they inflict damage on the White Bones but have no effect at all on the white fog.』

『What about the Dragon’s Breath Cannon?』

『It works somewhat, but its range is far too short—hard to deploy effectively.』

『Only the Dragon’s Breath Cannon works?』

『Yes.』

Hughes relayed the situation to Alexei, who also frowned.

“Only the Dragon’s Breath Cannon works? That means…”

“It’s probably related to contamination.”

The greatest difference between the Dragon’s Breath Cannon and other weapons was that it wasn’t purely technological—it was a hand-cannon modified with contamination.

“If the Dragon’s Breath Cannon is effective, then perhaps contamination itself might help. Do we have any stockpiled Entity Pollution here?” 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

“A bit—not much.”

Entity Pollution was generally used as fuel for steam engines. In Castel, it largely alleviated the island’s fuel shortage.

But in the Northlands, the situation was reversed. Storing Entity Pollution was troublesome and risky, while ordinary fuels were easy to obtain.

Steam engines weren’t picky—they could burn twigs or coal alike.

And the Northlands happened to be the main coal-producing region. Transport had always been the bottleneck.

The Expeditionary Army had built the railway—

as a result, their camp stored plenty of coal but little Entity Pollution.

“Our steam engines mostly burn coal. Only the airships use Entity Pollution—it’s far more energy-dense. Space aboard is precious; carrying coal would take up too much room.”

“Bring some contamination for testing.” Hughes gave one last glance toward the distant wall of fog, then handed the binoculars to Alexei.

“You stay here and continue commanding. I’ll head back to check some records.” With that, he turned and left.

Alexei watched him go, scratching his head in puzzlement.

Since arriving, Hughes had immediately requested a secure room to “rest,” moved in some documents, and stationed a Banshee at the door.

Now he said he needed to check data—

Why not just do it from the command room?

After a moment’s thought, Alexei gave up on the matter. The Lord surely had his own secrets. It wasn’t his place to interfere; for now, battle came first.

Hughes strode quickly to his quarters, opened the door, and looked up at Ash, who stood guard outside.

“I’ll be inside for a while. Remember what I told you—if trouble comes, follow the contingency plan.”

Ash nodded.

Hughes entered, lay down on the bed, and chose 【Return】.