Dong Tianming

The Broken Isles.

The Council's two submarines began to move, indicating that the enemy's secret operation was about to officially commence. The mantis's claws reached for the cicada, and the oriole should also make its move.

Kang De arrived at the Broken Isles first via the Phase Gate, took command, and began preparations.

While it's not entirely certain Council up to, the Starry Sky Council clearly has grand ambitions, and it will certainly be furious if its plans are thwarted.

Moreover, digging things out of ancient Civilization ruins... sounds a bit risky.

Kang De was undoubtedly a pessimist, habitually preparing for the worst.

So he ordered Horus to gather the warband and preload heavy weapon platforms in the White Mist World, and sent Malegith and Dong Tianming with six dragons on a high-speed passenger plane to the Broken Isles. With the addition of A Xing, who could travel with him through the White Mist World, the team configuration was complete.

In terms of high-end combat power, there are six giant dragons assisting them, and three powerful figures —A Xing, the Imperial Tutor, and the Parrot— to support them.

In terms of conventional combat power, with Horus and A Fu leading their battlebands of fierce men ready to blast everything apart at any moment, plus military-level firepower reinforcements and naval and air forces, they could wipe out a small country on Earth.

Speaking of superweapons, there's also Master Kang's Mass Projection, which is the ultimate table-flipping force.

It should be a sure thing.

I think so...

After the passenger plane landed, Parrot and Imperial Tutor rushed to the operations command center on the central main island. Kang De was still slumped over the table, pinching his brow and muttering to himself, "If the Council abandons its martial ethics and bullies us with numbers, and suddenly gathers the nation's top experts to try and subdue us, then our top experts are outnumbered and we can't win. What else can we do besides using Forbidden Spell to threaten them...?"

There were outsiders present, Parrot, still wearing its golden mask, merely glanced at A Fu.

It means "What's wrong with your dad again?"

A Fu was sitting upright to the side, her hands on her thighs, very obedient. Seeing this, she understood and shrugged helplessly. The natural charm in her eyes made the Imperial Tutor take a second look.

This Old Dong is the emperor's tutor, not a gatekeeper at the Imperial Academy, so of course he's not a lecher. He's a high-ranking official who was famous throughout the country from a young age, and he enjoyed everything he was entitled to in the first thirty years of his life.

Now, the entire meaning of Dong Tianming's life is to expel evil and uphold the orthodoxy of the royal family. He glances at A Fu a few more times out of curiosity rather than admiration. After all, this girl A Fu, who claims to be the embodiment of the mind of the Knight Astolfo, is an alchemical creation personally enlightened by Lord Kang De. She is so charming and lovely. He really doesn't know what Lord Kant did to her when he enlightened her.

However, that's not the main point.

The key point is that, as an alchemical life form, even if she isn't immortal, she will likely have a long lifespan. Furthermore, she is the lord's daughter; what will become of her after His Highness passes away?

A Fu seemed to notice Dong Tianming's gaze, smiled politely at the old man, and then explained to the Parrot, "Father previously listed a long list of extreme scenarios and is currently developing response plans for each one—the last scenario was 'What if the Council releases a group of suppressed war maniacs who come out in Yilan-Tai'er Doomsday Gundams to attack us'... something like that."

The Parrot scoffed, "Your PTSD is pretty severe."

Kang De then noticed the arrival of the two thugs, put down his pen, turned around, and nodded to the Imperial Tutor: "Dong Xiansen, please have a seat. You've come at just the right time."

At this time, in the Sinian language, the word "Mr." is still an honorific in a certain sense, and Dong Tianming is still happy to be called Sir by Kant. However, His Highness has a strong local accent, and his intonation will be very strange when he pronounces certain words as a child.

However, these are all minor matters, and compared to His Highness's overly casual words and actions, they are nothing at all.

Dong Tianming was young and knew how to be polite and virtuous, and was praised as a role model of his time. He also established virtue and made great achievements, making him an outstanding person of his generation. As the emperor's tutor, he got along well with the emperor and the minister, and there was no suspicion between them. He had all the good things in the world. At that time, he was the most shining star in the East.

But even divine intervention cannot defy fate. Calamities struck, sweeping across the dynasty. The most powerful nation, the most illustrious military might, the abundant harvests of rice and millet—all were shrouded in darkness by the sudden catastrophe. The monarch exhausted his efforts, the court was filled with loyal officials, and brave warriors sacrificed their lives for their country. They had done nothing wrong; they had done their utmost... yet they still failed. The state crumbled, the world was stained with blood, and the wise ruler died in despair.

When the once brilliant and ambitious emperor lay emaciated on his dragon bed, holding Dong Tianming's hand, tears streaming from his eyes, he weakly asked him if there truly was a Mandate of Heaven, and whether he, as emperor, had truly angered Heaven, thus bringing about this calamity, which even the united people, the emperor and his ministers, could not resolve... at that moment, everything Dong Tianming had once believed in collapsed.

He burned all the classic books, vowed never to discuss scriptures again, abandoned morality and etiquette, exiled himself, crossed the sea to the West, and spent twenty years in scheming and plotting before unexpectedly meeting Kang De.

After witnessing the towering mushroom cloud rise from the sea and the Nuclear Light Lance leaving a dazzling aurora in the sky, he knew that Kang De was the one he had been waiting for. All his plans and schemes had to be overturned and started over. He had a more radical and rapid plan.

He assisted Kang De in unifying the continent, worked diligently to govern the country, increased national strength, unified the world, and then mobilized all the troops from the far west to return to their homeland, repel foreign enemies, and restore the nation.

Considering the power of Prince Kang De's Forbidden Spell, the wonder of his alchemy, his mysterious origins, and his extraordinary personal relationship with the Phoenix King, Dong Tianming felt he could optimistically expect that within the first fifty years, he should be able to accomplish this great undertaking, restore the Divine Land, and rebuild the nation.

In this way, before he dies, he can see his homeland and country peaceful and prosperous, and all evil spirits eradicated. In the afterlife, when he meets the late emperor and his comrades and classmates, he can greet them with composure and express his feelings of parting.

To assist Your Highness in achieving this great undertaking, we certainly need many more twah.

Dong Tianming crossed the sea and lay low for twenty years. Of course, he wasn't just slacking off. He taught apprentices, cultivated his influence, accumulated strength, and plotted and schemed. Naturally, he possessed a large number of weapons, but it wasn't enough.

Over the years, his primary goal has been to find a way to break open the Grand Line, which has been blocked by the elves. Dong Tianming has also been stirring up trouble behind the scenes for the many frictions and conflicts that have occurred on the continent in recent years. His ultimate goal is to bring about a three-way war between the Empire, the Council, and the elves, so as to weaken the elves' hegemony and make them unable to control maritime transport, and then restore navigation between the two continents.

Then, the scholars and warriors of Cathay could be brought to the Western Lands, and many valuables and artifacts from the Western Lands could be transported back to Cathay. The latter could support the war effort, while the former could remain on the mainland, accumulate wealth, serve the lords and nobles of various countries, and gradually form a political force. They could contribute to the future restoration of the nation or leave behind a bloodline for Divine Land.

But plans are never as fast as changes.

Old Dong had been planning for twenty years to find a way to shake the world's hegemon's control of the seas, but in just a few months, he was shocked to find that the ban on the Elven Sea was showing signs of loosening.

--The reason for this was not that his brilliant plan worked, but that a young man was killing elves and seducing the queen, making Pointy-Ears tremble with fear and acting incredibly arrogant.

Dong Tianming was not angry but pleased that his twenty years of hard work were not as good as Kang De's womanizing. Looking at Kang De from left to right, from Princess Tina to Phoenix King to Dragon Girl Lily, he discovered the code to hegemony. For the sake of the country, this was not shameful. It was just a pity that the rulers of the two great powers, the Council and the Empire, were not women.

At this moment, Old Dong became the most extreme feminist—why should only men be emperors and speakers of parliament? Why can't women be? He was furious and felt cold; could this world ever be any better?

He overheard that Battle of the Broken Isles, the Emperor extended an olive branch to Kang De, saying that if he married a princess, he would be granted land and a title of king, and even inherit the throne would be a possibility—but before Dong Tianming could even feel excited, he heard that His Highness Kang De had refused without hesitation.

He beat his chest in frustration, deeply regretting his actions, and wanted to offer his strong remonstrance, but was stopped by Hong San.

Hong San said that if we were to discuss Your Highness's lifelong ambitions, then "to bring the tyrannical emperor and his son to the dock and hand them over to the public trial of hundreds of millions of people, so that the father's body is hung high on a street lamp and the son is torn to pieces and his bones are scattered to the wind" would surely rank in the top three. If your mentor were to persuade you to become a son-in-law, Your Highness would surely sneer at him. Why invite such humiliation upon yourself?

Dong Tianming was still not giving up, so Hong San solemnly told him that everything could be discussed, but this matter was definitely irreversible because Kang De was determined to kill the Crown Prince Alex.

Furthermore, they will not accept any private deals, such as the Empire arranging for the Crown Prince to "die suddenly."

The killing he spoke of meant at least mobilizing a large army to invade the empire, causing it to lose its sovereignty and national humiliation, forcing it to sign a humiliating treaty, with the emperor signing a ceasefire or even surrender agreement, and including the punishment of the eldest prince as a condition of defeat in the treaty, before handing him over to Kang De to be executed by a thousand cuts. In other words, he wanted the whole world to know about this revenge.

Hong San spoke with absolute certainty and without hesitation, leaving Dong Tianming speechless for a moment before reluctantly believing him.

He still felt it was a pity, after all, the opportunity was too good. He had carefully studied the official document and proposal sent by the emperor. The proposal was extremely sincere, without any traps, and was beneficial without cost, a win-win situation.

But he could still sense Kang De's unwavering resolve from his disciple's tone. It seemed that even his earnest advice would likely not change his lord's mind.

He simply sighed, "This is not the behavior of a monarch..."

"Then what exactly constitutes the conduct of a monarch?" Hong San asked his master with a smile. "Your Highness will surely say—who says a monarch should be like those of the past? I would say that this is what a monarch should do!"

It took Dong Tianming a few breaths to understand Hong San's meaning.

He looked at his young disciple, who was as young as His Highness Kang De.

The genuine smile on Hong San's face signified his complete understanding of the monarch he served, the highest reward that every subject strives for—a harmonious relationship between ruler and subject, a tacit understanding that needs no further explanation.

In any case, the path of becoming an imperial son-in-law is no longer viable.

Don't let your guard down on the elves either.

Since the establishment of the four departments of the Shogunate, as the head of the Ministry of Plenty, Dong Tianming was busy sorting out the city's affairs and planning routes, preparing to make great strides. At the same time, he wrote letters to summon his old subordinates, disciples and retainers, asking them to pledge their loyalty to the new lord.

He planned to gradually offer up the wealth he had accumulated over the years, including his private troops, disciples, former subordinates, businesses, finances, and personal networks, to his lord. Part of it would go to the Shogunate, part would be handed over to the West Goth Company for integration, and the last part would be transferred to Hong San's control.

Dong Tianming himself, on the other hand, wanted to leave nothing behind.

This was to prevent his own power from becoming too great and arousing Kang De's suspicion. Even if Kang De was truly as "generous and confident as Hong San said," the foreign ministers and factions under the lord's command might not be at ease. Since the lord was from Cathayan and regarded Hong San as a key minister, if he, the renowned imperial tutor, were to be too high-profile and conspicuous, it would inevitably cause an imbalance in the Shogunate and make the foreign ministers uneasy, which would be undesirable.

Anyway, since Old Dong had no selfish motives and completely trusted Hong San's character, he would go all out and leave no room for error once he decided to bet everything on Kang De.

However, he was still somewhat annoyed when formulating the handover plan. For example, the other day, when he was writing a letter, he suddenly felt frustrated and kicked Hong San in the butt. Hong San was completely bewildered and had no choice but to honestly apologize.

Dong Tianming glared at him resentfully a few times, but ultimately didn't say what was on his mind.

I regret that you are not a woman!

Dong Tianming gave his own puwa to Kang De, but Kang De was unwilling to accept the emperor's puwa. So Dong Tianming's next task was to find more puwa for Kang De. The Yilan-Tai'er Ruins were a good opportunity. With the emperor's wisdom and intuition, he also realized that the Council enduring humiliation and that their plans were not small.

Kang De previously stated that if the Council truly wanted to rescue the remnants of Yilan-Tai'er, and those remnants decided to follow the Council, he would, in principle, not stand in their way.

However, he would reason with them, telling them that without the Forbidden Spell to eliminate the sea monster, the Council not have been able to rescue them, so the credit... was split 30/70, with him taking 70%, and the remnants of the era had to repay him.

Dong Tianming didn't say anything, but he scoffed inwardly. He had no interest in reasoning with the Council. It was better for the Paowa to Council dug up in the sea, whether it was a remnant of the era or Civilization heritage, it had to belong to the Kang family.

He had been thinking about this on the plane and had tentatively spoken to the metal-faced fellow passenger—he and the Parrot had at least watched Nuclear Light Lance together, so they weren't strangers, and he knew that behind the metal mask was a beautiful and powerful elf, but he couldn't guess the other's identity.

All that is known is that Kang De trusted the other person greatly, and it is clear that this eccentric spirit was extremely dependent on Kang De.

But that's all.

Even with the Emperor's sharp eye and exceptional wisdom, he could not have guessed the possibility of such an extraordinary event as the grandfather and grandson sharing a meal—although the affairs of the Cathay court were chaotic, they had not reached this level.

In short, the elf neither agreed nor disagreed with his plan, but his words implied tacit approval—he had to fight for it no matter what, and couldn't let the Arcane Council gain too much benefit.

After all, Kang De had never been in power, and his way of thinking was very different from that of emperors and generals like Dong Tianming and Malegith. Given the current situation, the Arcane Council clashed with him several times, and there was a possibility of conflict of interest with the Mage Kingdom in the future. Since friction or even war was inevitable, how could he give aid to the enemy? If he allowed the Arcane Council obtain benefits from Yilan-Tai'er, he would suffer the consequences when they met on the battlefield in the future.

Therefore, we must strive, and we must fight with all our might.

If we can't win the argument, then...

Even if orchids and magnolias dominate the road, I will still remove them.

Although Dong Tianming didn't know much about Yilan-Tai'er, the amazing properties of the Primal Gel, Levitation Stone, and Radiant Crystal he had examined over the past two days had greatly shocked even this master of Eastern mechanical arts. These three rare and precious materials seemed to have many wonderful uses when used for refining weapons, which made him eager to try them out. If the remnants of Yilan-Tai'er, who had created a peak Civilization with these materials, fell into the hands of the Arcane Council, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, fight if you can, detain if you can't, and kill if you can't detain.

He was determined to persuade Kang De to agree, and finding himself at a loss for words, he made small talk. After sitting down, he asked rather earnestly, "Your Highness, what is the situation?"

Kang De, unaware of the man's wicked intentions, replied, "The enemy submarine is slowly approaching the target location— A Fu, turn the radar on the big screen."

The LCD screen displayed a sonar image processed by A Fu, showing the outline of a neat underground city amidst the complex seabed topography, with two red dots slowly approaching.

"The enemy submarines are moving too slowly, after all, they're underwater, and the terrain is complicated... it's quite tedious."

Upon hearing this, a glint flashed in Dong Tianming's eyes.

Too slow, submarines... enemy's.

In other words...

He remained impassive, glancing at the astonishing sonar chart. "Although we can confirm the enemy's positional changes, we still don't know what they're doing underwater..."

Kang De scratched his head. "Yes, so I'm a little worried. If they really release something extraordinary, it will take some time for it to rise from the seabed to the surface. If we are completely unaware of this and only realize what's happening when the enemy emerges from the water, we might not be able to react in time."

Just then, the Parrot said, "We can go down and take a look."

Kang De tilted his head. "Huh?"

Malegith pointed to the underwater map. "Let's go down in the submersible and take a look with the Phoenix Eye."

While Kang De was busy negotiating with the Arcane Council these past few days, he had plenty of free time. He had his Iron Son figure out how to use the Jiaolong, and he and Parrot visited several ancient battlefields, raided a few tombs, and made some good progress.

Once this matter is settled, we'll take it back to fool the foreign devils.

However, Yilan-Tai'er didn't need to be used this time. After all, he figured out the other party's true intentions, so there was no need for underwater surveillance—he could just wait to intercept them.

"Let's go take a look," the Parrot said. "Let A Xing go with you; if there's any danger, we can teleport back—what, are you scared?"

"A pointless attempt to provoke me," Kang De said. "What about this side of the water?"

The Parrot grabbed A Fu and said in a sweet, orange-sounding voice, "Leave it to us. What, don't you trust us?"

Kang De thought for a moment, "... Alright, I'll go take a look first."

Upon hearing this, a hint of joy flashed in Dong Tianming's eyes. He exchanged glances with the Parrot and nodded slightly—with the lord absent, it would be much easier to tamper with the Azure Fleet.

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PS1: Ah, update... Happy New Year everyone! I'm stuck on writing again during the New Year's Eve, it's so miserable. Ah, it seems like last year was the same. When will I be able to fire off some New Year's Eve fireworks...?

PS2: By the way, the previous single chapter wasn't a leave of absence, so there's still one more chapter to go. Counting today... well, I don't even know which day it is, but there's still a 5,000-word chapter left.