Saren was the last leader of the various factions to arrive, even half an hour later than the Academy's chief technical officer. He practically stepped into the conference hall at the last possible moment.
Looking at his face, Chu Guang could sense the smug satisfaction written all over it, and he knew exactly why.
If anyone had benefited most from the Legion's collapse, it was undoubtedly this man before him, glowing with pride.
As the Legion's eldest son, Julius had built nearly half his empire on lands now controlled by the Eastern Empire, while Triumph City itself was left with only a single Villant Province.
Having sent Julius off in grand fashion, Saren had become the undisputed emperor of that land spanning over ten million square kilometers!
At the very least, Norton City's funeral was already over!
"I'm also very pleased to see you, Emperor of the Eastern Empire. I can tell you're in quite a good mood."
Greeting him with a bear hug, Saren slapped Chu Guang's arm and grinned.
"Thanks to you, the long-cherished wish of every commander of the Eastern Legion has been fulfilled under my reign."
He truly ought to thank the Alliance.
General Kress had died in the Great Rift. Griffin had rammed the last trace of vitality from the eastward-expansion faction into the walls of River Valley Province, and the old military aristocrats who possessed land had become the Eastern Legion's greatest political force.
Even the later upheaval in Triumph City had, at its roots, been caused by Villant radicals influenced by the Alliance's ideas.
The death of Theodosius had led to the collapse of the Roman Empire, yet it had also achieved the glory of Constantinople and the later Byzantine Empire.
In a sense, the Eastern Legion—or rather, the Eastern Empire of today—stood