Disgust. That was the only feeling people had.
The Federals were disgusting. They used Sanchez as an excuse to interfere in Maliro's internal affairs, while pretending that none of it had anything to do with them.
This left Maliro's warlords facing an extremely difficult choice.
Should they retreat step by step, or find a way to make the Federals see their resolve?
This was important.
Just look at Nagaril. That land had been completely reduced to a Federal colony, and its new name even included words like "New Federal."
If the warlords did not resist, Maliro might become the next "New Federal"—perhaps with a name like "Maliro New Federal."
And as for these people... they only needed to look at Nagaril's ruling class to know that their fate would not be pleasant.
The old generation of rulers had either died, emigrated to the Federal territories, or simply disappeared.
The new rulers who had taken power were called rulers, but they were really nothing more than puppets on strings controlled by the Federals. The only thing they could do was obey the Federals and play their roles properly. Otherwise, they could disappear from public view at any time.
The warlords did not like that. They certainly had not become warlords because of some grand ideal.
Perhaps they had possessed such ideals at the beginning—saving the world, saving their people, and so on. But once they had reached this point, they realized that all those ideals were complete bullshit. Power and wealth were what they pursued.
They would not give those things up. At least, they would not willingly give them up while their lives were not in danger.
Something dangerous seemed to be brewing in the silent space. They were thinking—everyone was. Their thoughts were gradually drawing closer together, converging on