Chapter 269 The Eve of Change
Dark clouds covered the entire sky, and heavy rain was falling from the sky, washing away everything in the darkness below.

"boom!"

As a flash of lightning crossed the sky, the knights who were running in the heavy rain on the flat ground were also illuminated.

They quickly shuttled through the storm and ran quickly forward, and in front of them, some faint lights appeared in front of them.

Soon, the faint light became brighter and brighter, and finally, they arrived at their destination, Black Rock City.

After a simple confirmation of their identities, this team of knights led their horses into the city.

On the city wall, Roland and Hela each held an umbrella and watched the cavalry squad that had just arrived.

Roland looked up at the rain-storming sky with calm eyes.

"This heavy rain has been going on for three days."

Hela stretched out her right hand, and the cold raindrops fell on her hand. Looking at the rain splashing on her palm, she spoke.

After returning to the material world, Roland did not waste any time. After quickly understanding the overall situation, he immediately led his men to the city where the resistance meeting was held: Black Rock City.

On the third day after Roland arrived here, the heavy rain began to fall and has continued until now.

Roland stretched out his right hand and caught the cold rain.

This heavy rain came at a very bad time. If it had come earlier, Locke could have postponed the start of the meeting. If it had come late, the meeting might have ended.

But it happened that most of the people had arrived, and Locke couldn't let those who had arrived go back first.

The heavy rain seemed to foreshadow the final outcome of the meeting.

Under the heavy rain, the entire Black Rock City seemed extremely depressing. The residents in the city seemed to have realized something in advance. They all hid in their houses and seldom went out. Only the members of the resistance army were still out and about.

Under the cover of the heavy rain and with mutual understanding, the members who were going out quietly avoided each other.

In the rainy Black Rock City, few people who go out carry umbrellas like Roland and Hela.

“This is the last one.”

Roland stretched out his right hand, and the magic power surged, shaking off the rain on his palm, and spoke in a calm tone.

"Yes."

Hela also withdrew her hand, performed a similar operation, and answered.

"This is the last person on the list for this meeting. According to Locke, if nothing unexpected happens, the meeting will officially begin tomorrow."

"Ah."

Roland nodded indifferently, holding his umbrella, and turned to leave the city wall, while Hela followed closely behind him.

Not far away, a knight also withdrew his gaze from Roland.

Roland was fully aware of the surveillance of this knight, but he was, after all, a neutral member of Locke's faction, and was responsible for the security of the city wall. Therefore, it was also his job to monitor Roland and Hela as they climbed the wall.

Therefore, Roland didn't care about his gaze.

After returning to his camp, Roland did not do anything unnecessary. Instead, like Hela, he quietly lay dormant in the camp.

As the rebel army, it is the most powerful independent force besides the border faction, local faction and neutral faction.

Coupled with Roland's reputation, his final choice can be said to be crucial enough to affect the final outcome of the meeting.

Although Roland has joined or incorporated the Border Region faction, this is a private action. Even if it is the Border Region faction, only the top leaders know about it. Therefore, in the eyes of most people, Roland has not made a choice yet, so many forces are paying attention to Roland's movements.

Even the border faction, in order to avoid leaks, sent people to squat outside Roland's camp. They were completely unaware of the situation and, like people from other forces, were closely following Roland's actions.

Roland and Hela were naturally well aware of this, so after arriving here, except for necessary social events and occasionally staying at the city wall for a while, Roland and Hela stayed quietly in the camp and did not show any attitude towards either party in the meeting.

With the exception of Locke, Roland did not give a clear response to the various parties' attempts to win him over.

After the last annihilation battle and the conversation with Locke, Roland had already given up on Locke.

Although Locke is better than Eleanor, he is still too weak. As a high-ranking knight who was promoted through duels, Locke lacks the experience of ruling and managing a large organization.

His hands are too soft, and he only knows compromise and balance.

Although it is commendable that they took the lead in fighting against the green tide.

If Locke was not in the leadership position, Roland might have won him over, but unfortunately, he was in the leadership position.

His sitting in this position is a reflection of his incompetence.

Locke can only be a qualified fighter, but not a qualified leader.

Therefore, Roland decided to launch a coup to seize power.

He could see Locke's weakness. As long as he had the support of the border faction, Locke would not take action against him and would most likely condone Roland's behavior.

Of course, even if Locke wanted to attack Roland, Roland would not be afraid.

So, when Locke tried to win over Roland, Roland explicitly rejected him.

As for the policy of balance and neutrality that he still insisted on, Roland could only say that it was a foolish dream.

Unless Locke can destroy the Green Tide with one punch and retake the entire Donnar, he will not be able to suppress the conflict between the border faction and the local faction.

In particular, conflicts broke out between the border faction and the local faction over the issue of knight inheritance, resulting in many deaths.

If the policy of balance and neutrality is maintained, the resistance will sooner or later be completely torn apart by the conflict between the two factions.

The next meeting is destined to be a meeting that will determine the future of the resistance. However, what will determine the future will not be the debates and duels at the meeting, but iron and blood.

The local faction will not sit idly by and wait for death, and the border area faction is also waiting for an opportunity to make a move. Both sides are waiting for the time when the real intention will be revealed.

A struggle that will determine the future path and fate of the resistance is about to begin.

The result could be that the local faction takes full power and pulls the rebels onto the path of conservatism, or it could be that the border faction takes full power and begins their own radical offensive policy.

Is it the realization of Locke's neutral path again? Or is it a full-scale civil war within the resistance? Or is it a successful coup by Roland to seize power?

Although Roland believed that he would be the final winner.

However, until the dust settles, anything is possible.

Roland sat at the table, looking up at the heavy rain outside the window.

The rebels' two-color flag fluttered in the heavy rain.

The two-color flag of red, representing revenge, and green, representing prosperity, is still connected together, as if the resistance is still united under the same flag as usual.

(End of this chapter)