I changed the world.

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A strong sense of powerlessness surged within him. He wished that a monster would pounce out right now and rush in front of them to fight them head-on, which would be much better than wandering around in this endless maze!

"We can't go on like this!" Clément thought for a moment and then made up his mind: "We must find a breakthrough; we can't keep going in circles here!"

"Since there's no road, we'll make one ourselves!"

"But Captain, the paintings here..."

“We’ll move these paintings aside, clear them out, and then just blow up the wall!” Clement had made up his mind. In fact, even so, the cost would be enormous, because the National Museum of Baladur itself is an ancient site that has been built for over 700 years, and its architectural value is equally immense.

However, at this moment, everyone, including Clément, had only one thought: to get out of this damned place immediately!

....................................

"boom!!!"

A loud bang startled Sean from his dream. He rolled off his wooden bed, the only one who could sleep on the "bed" as the supreme commander of the small stone fortress.

He picked up the broadsword that lay aside, donned his dome helmet, and charged up the stone steps to the fortress wall. The soldiers, who had not received much training, were now howling in terror. Most of them were peasants who had just taken up arms, with only a few having received some training. Behind the fortress wall, chaos reigned, with shouts, cries, and screams of fear emanating from various languages, a chaotic mix of fear permeating the air among the soldiers.

P.S.: My wife has tested positive for COVID-19 twice, and I'm trembling with fear, wondering if she'll also test positive...

Chapter 663 Sean the Transmigrator

Seeing his subordinates, Sean couldn't help but feel bitter.

He remembered that just a few days ago, he had been a museum guard. He also remembered that after the doll disappeared, he tried to escape but failed and finally had to make a wish.

His wish at the time was, "I hope to become a wealthy nobleman." After all, he still held onto the hope that his dream might come true, and he didn't actually make any random wishes.

Little did he know, his wish seemed to have come true. Based on the information he had gathered over the past few days, he was now a viscount named Deragace Honoré, and the commander of the fortress before him. He certainly had wealth; in his room within the fortress, he found an entire chest of gold and jewels. However, in the current cramped space of the fortress, this wealth was completely unusable.

What troubled him even more was that he discovered his current location, this small fortress called "Hagil Castle," was the outer fortress of the massive Marmara Castle in the distance. And according to the information he had gathered, the current owner of Marmara Castle was the Marquis of Guernioro.

This news greatly worried him. In his limited historical knowledge, he knew about the long-vanished Marmara Castle. Back in the 12th century, the Seljuks from the East had captured the great Marmara Castle and burned it down. In his memory, the last owner of Marmara Castle was Marquis Guernioro...

If this really is the Marmara Castle of history… Sean felt a pang of despair. He had probably truly achieved his wish and become a nobleman. In terms of wealth, the chest of gold and jewels alone was worth a considerable sum. Furthermore, Sean knew that the original owner of this body was a nobleman who had come to the East in response to the Church's call to seek opportunities. He had amassed a considerable fortune over the years, and therefore, he still had a substantial amount of wealth stored in the Templar Knights' treasury.

But for Sean, what use is wealth in the current situation? If the Seljuk conquest of Marmara Fortress is a real historical event, then what became of Hagil Fortress, which served as a bulwark for Marmara Fortress? Need we even ask what happened to it?

"Great Lord Akbar, please let me return to modern society, I really don't want to stay here anymore..." Sean muttered to himself, holding his broadsword as he leaned against the wall to look out. The enemy was coming from the north, and he was on the main attacking line. At this moment, a large number of enemies armed with crossbows were firing from below, while even more enemies were scaling the city walls using ladders. He only glanced at them before crawling back behind the crenellations, where he and the other soldiers were buried under a hail of arrows.

There were simply too many enemies! The two previous attacks had left him shaken, and this latest one was clearly a new offensive launched under the cover of night.

However, this alone would not be enough to hold the line. Sean glanced around, and the soldiers' fearful chatter disturbed him.

"For God's sake, we must drive back these damned infidels!" Sean roared at his men. "Hold on for today, and everyone will receive a Taleb as a reward!"

One taleb silver coin was equivalent to a month's salary for these soldiers. Hearing Sean's promise, the soldiers' morale finally rebounded, their negative emotions subsided, and under the leadership of junior officers, they braved the arrows to launch a counterattack.

The city walls were like a meat grinder. As the Seljuk soldiers climbed up, they faced desperate resistance from the defenders. Some soldiers even brought long pushers and together they pushed the ladders down...

Three siege ladders were destroyed in succession by the combined efforts of the defenders, and a small cheer rose from the fortress. Meanwhile, the enemy troops climbing the wall below were temporarily exhausted.

Sean stood up, preparing to go to the other side to boost morale, when suddenly he heard a dull thud, and a soldier next to him who was drawing his bow fell down without a sound.

A short crossbow bolt pierced through his helmet, spilling white brain matter and blood. The soldier, losing all self-control, convulsed, struggled, and cursed in his dialect, visibly exhaling more than inhaling.

"They're using heavy crossbows, they fire slowly. Shoot them back while they reload!" An officer, perhaps wanting to impress Sean, stood up and shouted to boost morale. As a veteran, he believed he had experience dealing with such heavy crossbows. But before he could finish his sentence, two arrows and a short crossbow bolt struck him simultaneously.

The officer screamed and fell to the ground as a hail of arrows rained down upon him. The rest of the soldiers immediately lay down, refusing to even approach the crenellations.

"Such powerful crossbows!" Sean subconsciously swallowed. At the same time, he guessed that the enemy had probably concentrated a large number of archers. This was clearly the prelude to a new wave of attacks. It seemed that the enemy was very determined this time and was preparing to remove Hagil Fort, the thorn in Marmara Fort's side, first...

“Squeak…ah…”

Several meteors fell from the sky, sparks flying everywhere. Sean immediately recognized them as projectiles launched from a catapult.

"boom!!!"

Like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting, a section of the wall not far away was directly hit and cracked open. A soldier hit by the flying debris from the wall fell straight to the ground and could not get up.

Immediately afterward, another projectile landed inside the fortress behind the battlements. It was a fireball; the clay pot contained flammable oil, and upon impact, it shattered, quickly causing a large fire…

Upon seeing the fortress ablaze, cheers erupted from the Seljuk army below, and a new wave of attacks began...

The catapult, a weapon of immense power, clearly instilled great fear in the surrounding defenders. At this moment, Sean also recalled some other memories buried deep within his mind.

He remembered watching a documentary about the Battle of Marmara Fort, and from his memory, it was the first time the Seljuks had used a counterweight catapult, which led to the fall of the fortified Marmara Fort.

However, what was considered an innovative weapon at the time, the counterweight catapult, was actually just a simple addition of a lever counterweight mechanism in later generations. It was not difficult to replicate, and even ordinary craftsmen could quickly modify the old-fashioned catapult once the principle was understood.

What if Marmara Fort had also acquired a counterweight catapult? Would history have been different?

Thinking of this, Sean's breathing became rapid.

By claiming to have obtained crucial enemy military intelligence, he could legitimately withdraw from this deadly place.

Chapter 664 The Altered Masterpiece

Furthermore, if I could help Marquis Guernioro win the Battle of Marmara Castle, wouldn't that give me a foundation for further advancement in this world?!

So... as long as we can hold off tonight's attack, no matter what, we must hold off this one! Then he can retreat with a legitimate reason!

"Soldiers! Listen to me!!!"

Sean risked standing up and shouted:

"In the name of the Father and the Son, I, Viscount Deragases Honoré of Novardin, declare with my faith and honor: those who die in this battle will be rewarded with 30 taels! The disabled will receive 20! Furthermore, each Seljuk killed will be rewarded with 5 taels! The one who kills ten Seljuks will be knighted!"

After shouting it twice, he pulled over three soldiers and had them repeat it to him before heading to different directions of the fortress to relay the message to the soldiers.

There were still nearly 1000 soldiers in the fortress at this time. He believed that as long as morale could be boosted, they could hold out at least for today.

As for how to boost morale, he wasn't one of those great commanders in history with powerful personal charisma; he didn't even fully understand many of the circumstances around him. Therefore, he could only use the simplest and most direct method: more money!

Sure enough, as soon as the words were spoken, the surrounding soldiers erupted in an uncontrollable cheer, which, as the information spread from other locations, began to permeate the entire fortress…

......................................................

"boom!!!"

Debris flew everywhere, and amidst the billowing smoke, the wall didn't seem completely damaged. The team members went forward and used their exoskeletons to push it a few times, and the wall collapsed.

A "torch" was thrown out, and the team members filed through the breach.

The François Palace was extremely sturdy in its original construction, designed with defensive features in mind and built as a military fortress. However, it is still penetrable by modern explosives. To minimize damage, a very small amount of explosive was used, not to directly collapse the walls, but to weaken and loosen the structure, thus minimizing losses.

As the dust gradually settled, with the help of the torchlight and the powerful flashlights in the team members' hands, they could see that they were still on the first floor, in an exhibition hall. Judging from the oil paintings hanging around them, they were still in the painting gallery area.

They blasted a large hole in one wall of the exhibition hall, affecting two paintings. Captain Clément bent down to examine the two paintings, both oil paintings. One of them was more severely damaged, probably directly opposite the blast point, with the entire canvas torn, but fortunately it seemed repairable.

The other painting had several broken frames and the canvas also appeared to be damaged in several places. It seems that it could be exhibited again after simple repairs.

Regaining his attention, Clément began to survey his surroundings again.

Comparing the location on the electronic map with the exhibits, Clement observed the paintings on the surrounding walls and quickly made a preliminary judgment: this time, they were not led to any random location, but actually appeared at the location marked on the electronic map.

In other words, the "blow up the wall" solution might actually be the right way out!

Just then, a teammate's voice came through the communication channel.

"Captain, come and see this!!!" A teammate on the right waved to him while pointing to a large painting in front of them with his other hand.

This huge oil painting is clearly the centerpiece of the entire exhibition hall. The text description next to it is "The Fall of Marmara Fortress," which is an extremely famous oil painting. In fact, many team members present were familiar with it because it had appeared in their high school textbooks. When teaching world history, the illustration used when discussing the fall of Marmara Fortress was this painting.

However, the painting they were seeing was vastly different from the one they remembered!

The image they remembered was of a huge city with collapsed walls, where large numbers of Seljuks were pouring in.

What we see before us is the rear of the Seljuk army outside the city. A large number of catapults are being destroyed, and countless stone projectiles are being launched into the sky like meteors. Some of the soldiers and laborers in charge of the catapults are in a panic, and some are even trying to escape. Meanwhile, some soldiers are cheering above the city.

Could it be another painting?

Wait a minute, the description clearly states that this is a masterpiece by the famous Renaissance painter Irwin, "The Fall of Marmara Fortress." The text even explicitly states that the painter depicted the scene of the historical fall of Marmara Fortress: the broken walls, the Seljuk army swarming into the city—it's as if that famous moment in history has been frozen in time…

Could it be that someone switched the original painting?

However, if it was a switch, why would a different painting be placed in the same spot? Even someone who doesn't understand painting can see that even if this painting isn't the one they remember, its quality is still extremely high.

However, they weren't there to study paintings, and finding nothing else unusual, the team prepared to leave. But then, something shocking happened: right before the team members' eyes, the image in the oil painting suddenly changed!

But on the screen, the Seljuk army outside the city was in retreat. Countless meteor-like stones were thrown into the Seljuk army from the sky. Some of the stones even exploded in the army, knocking over some soldiers and warhorses.

The city gates have been opened, and a large number of soldiers are lined up in formation to pursue the enemy. On the city wall, a nobleman in armor holds a long sword and points it at the enemy's army. This nobleman is obviously very important to the painting. Not only are the light and shadow effects used to highlight him, but he is also depicted in great detail. As soon as you see the painting, you will subconsciously focus your attention on him.

"This...this is..." Clement, who was shining a flashlight on the oil painting, instinctively took two steps back upon seeing this, his face full of shock.

Not only him, but the team members around him also quickly raised their weapons and aimed them at the painting, clearly afraid that some monster might appear in it.

Chapter 665 The Target Person in the Painting

These team members were not new to carrying out similar missions involving the supernatural, and they had all undergone specialized training. They knew that when faced with such events, they had to temporarily set aside all common sense, because in such events, anything that defied common sense could happen!

However, after a period of vigilance, nothing happened except for the change in the painting's composition. It was as if the painting had always been like that, and the previous change was merely an illusion.

But everyone in the team knew that the change was not an illusion!

“Look! Look at that person… doesn’t he look like our target, Rousseff Shaw?” Suddenly, Charles, who was in charge of electronic communications and reconnaissance, pointed to the conspicuous nobleman standing on the city wall in the painting.

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback. Some looked carefully in the direction Xia Er was pointing, while others began to look down and bring up their personal computers.

One of the tasks these operatives had when they entered the museum was to search for the museum guards who had previously gone missing, including two who were the first to lose contact, one of whom was "Rosseff Shawn". The information on these missing personnel was entered into the operatives' personal tactical computers.