Empire

On the outskirts of North Wind Fortress, at the Iron Dragon Wing Palace.

Olivia stood outside the gate, looking quite excited, like a child being praised.

"Keosius, I have persuaded the elders of the tribe, and they have agreed to send men to help us."

"I'm sorry, madam, His Majesty is not granting an audience at this time."

Captain Ekemon of the Tiefling Guard extended his spear and stopped the familiar-looking woman.

Ekemon had experienced the Red Dragon's slumber once and knew how dangerous it was inside. His Majesty's "morning grumpiness" alone was enough to bring disastrous consequences to mortals.

"But."

Olivia frowned slightly, revealing her undisguised disappointment.

She spent a great deal of time and effort persuading the Silver Dragon Elder of her clan to help her former enemy.

Only when the elder Oszedro, who was still recovering from his injuries, spoke up personally did they accept Olivia's request and decide to send forces to aid the Embers of the Burned Empire.

"I am willing to ally with the evil dragon as long as it can defeat the demon."

These are his exact words.

For this Ancient Silver Dragon who revered order, the Abyssal Devil, creatures of pure chaos, were always their enemies.

Just as Olivia was thinking, a familiar voice came from behind her.

"Ms. Olivia, His Majesty is asleep."

Olivia turned her head and looked at the enormous figure with a somewhat surprised expression.

"Lord Lang Pu?"

The Ogre Archmage bowed slightly and said politely, "However, His Majesty instructed me beforehand that he is grateful for everything you have done for the empire."

Lang Pu extended his staff, and a portal leading to the Imperial Parliament Hall appeared before Olivia.

"His Majesty believes that your contributions have been sufficient, and he hopes that you can enter the Imperial Senate to discuss cooperation matters in detail with the ministers."

Furthermore, His Majesty has reviewed your latest proposal and expressed his approval, but some modifications are needed in its implementation.

Thank you.

Olivia's face lit up with joy.

The Imperial Senate is the true power organ, possessing the right to draft various policies and bills.

Entering the Senate is equivalent to truly entering the upper echelons of the Embers of the Burned Empire.

Olivia believes that through her perseverance, she will bring a better future to this country—and to Keosius a change toward order and goodness.

However, in reality, this was both a "reward" from Keosius to Olivia and an attempt to counterbalance the evil forces at the top of the empire.

"Ms. Olivia, please come with me."

Lang Pu bowed slightly, making a standard "please" gesture—but such etiquette seemed somewhat absurd coming from an Ogre.

"Good."

But before stepping through the portal, Olivia turned around and gazed at the familiar palace.

After a moment's hesitation, she asked softly, "Will His Your Majesty Keosius sleep for a long time?"

Olivia's concerns were not unfounded; for mortals, a dragon's single slumber could be their entire life.

As for a "special" dragon like Keosius, even the Silver Dragon don't know how long he will sleep.

ten years?

Thirty years? Or fifty years? She didn't know why she should care how long an "enemy" had been asleep, but it was undoubtedly an important question for Silver Dragon.

Lang Pu said in a deep voice, "Ms. Olivia, please don't worry. His Majesty said that he will wake up in a year."

"So fast?"

Olivia let out a soft sigh of relief, and her expression relaxed a little.

Everything seemed to be developing as she had expected.

The Silver Dragon is about to enter the empire's decision-making level, striving to bring order and goodness to the empire.

She looked towards the palace again, tucking her long silver hair behind her ears. For some reason, a hint of anticipation appeared in her blue-gray eyes.

"Keosius, sweet dreams."

Olivia spoke in a barely audible voice before stepping through the portal leading to the Imperial Parliament Hall.

A cold wind blows across the Anzeta Great Wasteland, the northern snow gradually melts, and several months have passed in a hurry, and it is now approaching March.

In fact, in the initial period after the Starfallers left, the Empire lost much of its vitality for development.

Without those tireless, crazy guys, many factories are facing labor shortages, and many products are experiencing sluggish sales, while technological development has slowed down.

However, the Imperial Chief Minister soon introduced a number of policies, including the 《Imperial Guarantee Act》, the 《Economic Boosting Strategy》, and the 《Foreign Trade Regulations》, to improve workers' treatment, expand export channels, and find broader markets for the Empire. The Embers of the Burned Empire was still a growing nation, and the player's departure only had a limited impact. Moreover, the war in the south was still ongoing, and orders for arms were pouring in.

Without the help of players, although the empire's development has slowed down slightly compared to before, the scale of industry is still gradually expanding, and the Imperial People are becoming increasingly wealthy.

More and more Anzeta people are moving from the countryside to the city in pursuit of the so-called "Empire Dream," hoping to become the wealthy and Dragon Blood Noble portrayed in propaganda.

For the vast majority of workers in the Empire, the departure of the Starfallers actually made their lives a little better—at least their employers could no longer arbitrarily offer low wages.

The Embers of the Burned Empire has also achieved considerable success in its external expansion.

Earl Jesse Swan and his Southern Continent Vanguard have firmly established themselves in the Kattepa Area, building an impregnable fortress and keeping the land firmly in the hands of the Empire.

Moreover, Tahan City also became a transit point for the Southern Continent Group of the Empire, with caravans constantly stationed there to conduct trade, making the city quite prosperous.

They even extended their reach southward into Thrace, establishing fortresses on the border where the empire and the Thrace Kingdom met, and frequently sending out scouts to explore.

Thrace, however, was preoccupied with the war in the south and dared not speak out against the Empire's provocations.

Meanwhile, the Empire's conquest of the Fire Elemental Plane is progressing smoothly.

Earl Serkan's Fire Elemental Plane Imperial Legion also controlled the two former Fire Giant cities of Iron and Black Iron, and had tens of thousands of Fire Elemental creatures under his command: Fire Lizard, Fire Dwarf, Lava Dragon, and even Fire Giant had become subjects of the empire.

Moreover, he also achieved the indirect colonization of the Brass Fortress.

Although Brass Fortress is nominally still the territory of the Fire Dwarf, it has in reality become the Empire's outpost in the Fire Elemental Plane.

Most of the hardworking Fire Dwarf work for the Dragon Blood Noble and wealthy merchants from the empire, but this is all so-called "free employment".

Subsequently, the war between the Giant Empire and the Holy Flame Legion intensified, and the empire took the opportunity to sell arms on both sides, making a fortune.

They also sent troops to occupy a Fire Giant city that had been captured and abandoned by the Holy Flame Legion, and named it "New North Wind Fortress" —Earl Serkan was a pure North Wind Fortress native.

In the Underdark, the war waged by the Embers of the Burned Empire has already terrified the native inhabitants of the Underdark, including the Drow Elf, Gray Dwarf, Lizardfolk, and Deep Gnome.

The city of Black Wing, occupied by the Shadow Dragonkin Drow, was ruthlessly destroyed by Earl Hart and his Skeleton Army, who also slaughtered all the Shadow Dragonkin Drow within its walls.

The empire's army of skeletal Azure Foot Dragon Snake swept across the land like a torrent, causing the Underdark to tremble.

Adding to the legend of the "World-Burning Dragon," the destruction of Dragon Shadow City, Mortifil's death, the Embers of the Burned Empire naturally became an existence that the underground inhabitants absolutely could not provoke.

Meanwhile, another Imperial Earl, Zayko, signed a lenient treaty with the Gray Dwarf who had voluntarily submitted to him, granting them quite generous treatment, and spread the news throughout the Underdark.

The Upper Underdark is close to the surface and has extensive contact with surface races, including but not limited to trade, raids, and conquest.

Soon, several surrounding city-states expressed their nominal submission to the Empire, including the Deep Gnome of Seko Rock City, the Gray Dwarf of Hoanso, the Ratfolk of the Underground Kingdom, and even the Drow Elf of Menzoberranzan, all of whom sent envoys hoping to reach a temporary peace with the Empire.

Even these wicked and ambitious Drow Elf did not want to rashly provoke an empire with an undead army and Red Dragon.

Thus, through a combination of kindness and coercion, the Empire's Underdark Vanguard Legion occupied a considerable territory, becoming a rising force in the ever-expanding Upper Underdark.

Gradually, the name of the Embers of the Burned Empire spread throughout the entire world of Erezege, not only across the Feanso Continent and the Material Plane.

However, the image of the Embers of the Burned Empire varies in the eyes of residents in different regions.

It was a land of guns and cannons, a remote place where the north wind howled, an empire teeming with monsters, the homeland of certain obnoxious materialists. Of course, one thing was in common—it was an empire ruled by powerful dragons.