Emperor of Yan, I Think I Understand You Now. / Victoria's No-Holds-Barred Fighting Tournament Begins!

Even if King Aslan had a few loose screws in his head, he would never dare to slaughter all the new nobility.

Otherwise, the lion's throne would have to rely solely on the old nobility in the future, and if any accidents happened then, he would be even more powerless to resist.

Terra's land was nothing like his past life; before the development of Mobile Cities, due to the isolation of Catastrophes, once an accident occurred within a country, it was theoretically very difficult to ask neighboring nations for help.

Likewise, even with a Mobile City, it was hard for a king to run away, and digging a tunnel was out of the question.

As long as a rebellion succeeded, every exit of the Mobile City would surely be guarded by heavy troops.

Once the rebels got their hands on the blueprints, unless the king could fly, it was simply impossible to escape when surrounded.

In theory, the emperors on this land all had quite a bit of spine, though most of the time it was forced upon them.

Months ago, sensing that the time was nearly ripe, Huang Cao had already selected a batch of qualified warriors in his own territory, preparing to cultivate them into the first Abundance Army.

Today, these elite warriors were already in the center of the training ground, ready to execute his orders at any moment.

The number of people Huang Cao was taking to Victoria this time was only one hundred, and the warriors' ages hovered around that number, yet the foundational strength of these people could not be underestimated.

Before coming to Eden, they were warriors who had resisted the invasions of four nations, as well as mercenaries who licked blood from the edges of blades, and quite a few had even faced Steam Knights directly.

Therefore, these men possessed extremely rich combat experience and were also the one hundred strongest fighters in the territory.

Currently, there were only two generations of Sarkaz in the territory, and the oldest of the second generation was only sixteen.

Their combat experience was severely lacking, so Huang Cao decided to let these little punks continue training for a bit longer.

He arrived at the training ground.

Huang Cao took out a hundred melon-seed-sized seeds and personally handed these seeds to them one by one, repeating the rules to be followed upon joining the Abundance Army along the way.

Upon swallowing this seed, everything you are shall be handed over to me. You will have no freedom and no privacy. Under my leadership, you shall journey far to foreign battlefields, where you will pick up the weapons of slaughter once more.

Therefore, before swallowing the seed, you have five minutes to consider whether or not to join. In my view, there is no shame in this; everyone has the right to pursue freedom.

After saying these words, Huang Cao did not sit down with his eyes closed to strike a majestic pose.

He only looked with gentle eyes at the Sarkaz giants standing taller than himself.

The result was just as he had expected: all one hundred people present swallowed the seeds in their hands after five minutes, and after consuming them, they looked at their lord with resolute gazes.

"Lord, you are the only light in our hearts. As long as you give the order, even if I face the Demon King, I will mercilessly sever her head and offer it to you."

Huang Cao: That's really not necessary!

These people were perhaps a bit overly loyal, but they had incredible spirit!

"This trip to Victoria is to expand our territory and conquer this nation that once bullied us, but indiscriminate slaughter is forbidden. In a foreign land, orders are the only things you must obey."

These words were not nonsense. If Huang Cao wanted his move to take over Victoria to become justified, he had to at least embody the meaning of those four words in his actions.

Besides, when robbers broke into Victoria's capital, how much could his group possibly plunder no matter how hard they tried?

To put it as an analogy: out on the ocean, the robbers you imagined were pirates in small boats, but in reality, the true robbers captained aircraft carriers.

Even if pirates sailed their battered little boats and looted for a lifetime, it could never compare to what an aircraft carrier robber seized in a single raid.

Next, driven by the divine power of Abundance transforming the Sarkaz from within, the eyes of the hundred or so Sarkaz present all turned emerald green, while their muscles grew even more powerful and robust.

The warriors who received the blessing marveled at this change, but fortunately, the manual Huang Cao had distributed beforehand had already explained such alterations, so the crowd did not remain surprised for long.

After a brief, minor commotion, they immediately recovered their original expressions.

Huang Cao nodded and called for a large batch of meticulously forged armor to be brought over.

Heading to Victoria this time, although his soldiers were very tough and hard to kill, that did not mean they could not feel pain.

Moreover, this armor was silver-white; when the time came, they would shine a light on it, and at a glance they would look precisely like the final protagonists making an entrance with an image of justice, bound to completely captivate people.

"Prepare to don the gear and test combat capabilities. In a month, we head to Victoria to conquer this nation with me!"

"God save Abundance!"

70

Yan Country emperor, I finally understand you.

"Going too far! The Speaker is already being extremely civilized, and if you ask me, we should take this straight to the king and make him judge things fairly!"

Inside a luxurious tavern, the new nobility, who had repeatedly appealed without getting a result, were right now indignantly complaining about King Aslan's recent inaction.

Their faces brimmed with anger, and at the same time, most of them held copies of the letters Shi Huaiya had sent them.

Just look at what the Speaker said—fairness no longer existed in this world!

"The main thing is that the Speaker is a foreigner and cannot directly interfere in our domestic affairs in Victoria, which is why he respects King Aslan so much. I say we ought to carry the Speaker right over and seat him on the throne."

Such deeply treasonous words spilled from the mouths of the nobles present, yet everyone nearby showed no reaction whatsoever.

After all, one could tell from the racial traits of everyone in the tavern that they were ordinary Felines without Aslan bloodlines.

Felines differed from Felines, too.

Just like tails and ears, the gaps between Aslans and other Felines were still quite distinct.

It was precisely because of this that the initially crowned King Aslan could rely on this advantage to establish his theory of noble blood supremacy.

"I can't wait any longer! Let's issue a joint petition! Bring the Speaker to Victoria! With so many of us, can't we even protect one Speaker?"

A young noble who had just been drinking said this, and his words immediately resonated with many, prompting them to clamor about writing letters.

Shi Huaiya hid in the shadows drinking beer, watching the scene with keen interest.

It seems the Speaker's charm is known to all. Next, it's time for my performance.

If nothing unexpected happened, in a few days it should be time for that lion Aslan to crack under the pressure.

Especially since the new nobility here had all agreed that if the verdict favored the old nobility entirely, they would dare to raise troops and force the king's hand on the spot.

There were even quite a few radical new nobles who strapped Originium bombs to themselves, intending to blow themselves up alongside the old nobility if they were unsatisfied on the day the verdict was handed down.

Huang Cao had practically torn the conflicts between the new and old factions in Victoria wide open.

Both sides wished they could draw blood on the spot—the kind of situation that, in Columbia, amounted to a civil war.

Seeing the atmosphere reach its peak, Shi Huaiya wore a cunning smile and walked into the midst of the crowd with a wine glass:

"Everyone, calm down. Think about the Speaker's status; it's not that he doesn't want to come help us, but that he simply can't get in.

"With the Speaker's wisdom, he can indeed direct our actions, but for his own safety, he has to make some preparations. Besides, Londinium has Steam Knights—how many can the likes of you fight?"

Hearing the term Steam Knights, many new nobles grew even more furious.

Yet anger was followed by a trace of helplessness.

"One day, I'm going to scrap all this junk metal!"

Another Feline said viciously.

"Actually, you don't have to be so pessimistic."

Shi Huaiya smiled slightly, pulled up a chair, and sat on it.

"Steam Knights are theoretically easy to deal with, because every single one of the Speaker's subordinates is an expert. Not to mention being able to defeat all these iron scraps, at the very least they can fight to a draw.

"If conditions permit, our Speaker also has a several-kilometer-long behemoth. If the route is clear, entering Londinium via the Kazdel trade route will take a mere seven days."

Everyone was startled, asking in disbelief.

"Well, who knows what kind of monsters are in the jungle? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure either, but I trust the Speaker's judgment."

Since the persona Huang Cao had built for himself in Victoria was that he came from Sargon, Shi Huaiya could only speak along those lines.

Shi Huaiya took a sip of beer and answered mysteriously.

"Very well then! I have some connections at the border; I'll help clear the way for the Speaker! Never mind several kilometers, even something a dozen kilometers long is something I can make the border soldiers turn a blind eye to and let in!"

A tall Feline with a somewhat sturdy build and a murderous aura between his brows patted his chest in assurance.

Shi Huaiya immediately said respectfully: "No, absolutely not, absolutely not. This is abusing power for personal gain, and if Duke Windermere finds out, it'll be terrible."

The tall Feline said nonchalantly: "Relax, my older sister is the border duke. Besides, I'm the one in charge of managing industrial machinery at home anyway; the machines I handle every day are countless, so it won't raise suspicion.

"The old man is also at the border, and the only strict one around is the old lady.

"But she's gradually handing power over to me now too. As long as I write a letter to my big sis, I can easily send the Speaker's machine into Londinium.

"However, we must get our stories straight beforehand. We have to say this machine was jointly purchased by all of us pooling our funds, otherwise a giant like that won't be easy to gloss over, and the operational funds I have on hand aren't that much."

"Usually, looking at you as someone who doesn't know how to be flexible, I never thought you'd come in so handy this time. You really can't judge a book by its cover."

Shi Huaiya could not help but praise.

The praised Feline scratched his head and said with a look of unconvinced defiance:

"My big sis and the old lady always say I don't know how to be flexible, and that I know how to do everything by the book step-by-step. Today, I'm going to let them know I'm also someone with ideals and pursuits!"

You really do have pursuits; from now on you're the Speaker's best tool.

That evening, when Shi Huaiya relayed this news to Huang Cao, the latter laughed so hard he almost went crazy.

Due to the excessive size of the high-speed battleship, it was hard to avoid being noticed running across flat ground.

So initially, Huang Cao did not plan to deploy this gadget.

The original plan was to head to Victoria half a month early and bypass Windermere's border defense line by digging a tunnel.

He hadn't expected the new nobility to deliver yet another assist at this moment, allowing him to mount things like artillery shells onto the high-speed battleship to test their firepower.

Hopefully Victoria's Steam Knights would enjoy the mushroom artillery shells he created.

Time flowed slowly. Under the concerted efforts of both sides, King Aslan, sitting upon the throne, instantly felt his pressure explode.

At that moment, he finally understood why past emperors of Yan Country never wanted to be emperor.

This position was a powder keg! Touch it and it would blow!

Sitting upon it, he felt like an outcast from both inside and out at every moment.

So, stalling for a whole year, King Aslan could finally stall no longer.

Three days later, under the pressure of both factions, the mud lawsuit finally ushered in its final trial.

71

Victoria's No-Holds-Barred Combat begins now!

In court, King Aslan used the royal authority to directly rule that the mud belonged to the old nobility faction.

The new nobility felt no surprise at this outcome; they felt only endless indignation and sorrow.

Before the final verdict, many nobles had actually sympathized with King Aslan.

After all, none of them were fools; everyone knew this was a dilemma.

Yet once the verdict came down, these new nobles who had previously held some lingering thoughts instantly became utterly despairing toward King Aslan.

You didn't even want the old nobility to pay us a token amount for our losses.

That was going a bit too far!

Today, the old nobility couldn't save him either! They were going to blow up right along with him!

The nobles walked out of the court with gloomy faces, at the same time telling their family members to prepare for battle.

Meanwhile, before long, Huang Cao also received news of the verdict.

After settling everything in the territory, he personally led the hundred blessed soldiers aboard the high-speed battleship.

Leaving Eden with full power, they headed in a straight line toward Victoria.

A few days later.

"Such an expensive machine—how did younger brother transport this thing over?"

Wearing a duke's robe, Shan Daier Windermere looked at the joint contract in her hand and fell into deep thought for a moment.

Was there really no problem transporting something this huge in? Could it really just be a machine?

According to the timeline, her younger brother's machine should be arriving soon as well.