The Meeting in the Royal Palace (1)

Karnosfa Island is a super-large island located near the Calm Belt. Once you cross the Calm Belt, you will directly reach the New World.

Recently, the shadow of war seems to be looming over the entire Karnosfa Island. In order to alleviate internal conflicts, the Kraken Kingdom has decided to use war as a means of diversion, and the target of this war is its neighboring sworn enemy, the Tiresfa Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Kleken is gathering resources, manufacturing large quantities of weapons, and even ships. War doesn't necessarily have to be on land; there can be war at sea, which will undoubtedly have a greater impact.

The Kingdom of Stirifa is a massive nation with an economy measured in hundreds of billions or even trillions. If there were no restrictions on its maritime activities, it could leverage its powerful economy to continuously purchase supplies and war machines from other parts of the sea.

At the same time, attacking through the sea, targeting the weak points of the Tiresfa Kingdom, might have a special effect.

Because of its vast territory, in addition to the main battlefield, a large number of guard forces need to be deployed in the coastal areas, which will consume a lot of the Tiresfa Kingdom's energy. After all, due to the vastness of the territory, it is impossible to take care of everything.

This war cannot possibly last only a few days; it must last a month, several months, and anything longer is impossible, because the economic losses caused by war are enormous, and there are other other impacts as well. If it is prolonged, the economy of the Kraken Kingdom will truly collapse, which would defeat the original purpose of starting the war.

In the royal palace of the Tiresfa Kingdom, Sanssouci Palace, the most magnificent building in the entire kingdom and the pinnacle of power, although called Sanssouci Palace, the entire palace, viewed as a whole, resembles a sharp sword pointing to the sky.

At this moment, an important meeting was being held. On the high throne sat King Katrolger von William, dressed in black and gold royal robes, with large jewels adorning his head. He held no scepter, only a black longsword.

He just sat there, yet he exuded a domineering and powerful aura.

Looking down, King William's eyes flashed, but he didn't see anyone who should have been there.

"Didn't Rediat come?" William, somewhat helplessly.

"Hmm, I wonder where he went? But my brother must have gone to the Kraken Kingdom to gather information. This war is very important for the kingdom." A young man below smiled gently.

"Yes, Meinz is right. Rediat has already told me about it before." Admiral Hindenburg, who was standing at the head of the table below, smiled, his eyes showing a mixture of regret and relief.

They really do look alike, Meinz, while Rediat resembles that one person.

Hindenburg, Katrovier von Hindenburg, is now sixty-three years old, still in robust health. He is not only the kingdom's Admiral, but also the current king's uncle.

The Carterotge family, as royalty, holds all the power and supreme status in the Tiresfa Kingdom. Besides the King and the Admiral, there is also Oscar, the Minister of Finance, who is the current King's brother. They also control the largest merchant guild in the Tiresfa Kingdom, which is also the Kingdom's Merchant Guild.

The Tiresfa Kingdom now has two heirs: one is Meinz, who is standing here, and the other is Rediat was mentioned earlier.

As one of the world's top-ranking kingdoms, it possesses power that even the World Government fears. If one were to notice, Admiral Hindenburg would possess formidable strength; his imposing aura is palpable even upon seeing him.

Throughout the palace, in every corner of the royal residence, many powerful figures are hidden in the shadows, protecting this country. As a nation that even the World Government fears, it's impossible that it only has these visible forces.

The current king has no children. The two heirs are the children of the eldest princess, Isabella, who is the current king's sister and the most beautiful woman in the Tiresfa Kingdom, the dream goddess of everyone.

Gentle, virtuous, and beautiful, Isabella's reputation and prestige in the kingdom were even greater than the king's in his youth.

Countless men and women were heartbroken after news broke that Isabella had given birth.

Both future heirs are perfect in every way: strength, potential, ability to govern the kingdom, and personality.

Meinz is gentle yet slightly domineering, while Rediat is domineering yet gentle.

In terms of strength, Rediat is slightly stronger, and because of this, in some people's eyes, Rediat is the most suitable candidate to inherit the throne. However, Rediat has no interest in the throne, and the two brothers have a very harmonious relationship.

This also avoided the problem of internal competition within the royal family. In fact, neither of the brothers had much interest in the throne; it was more of a responsibility, which Meinz, as the younger brother, shouldered.

"That's settled then. Now, tell me the intelligence we've gathered about the Kraken Kingdom," William nodded and addressed the ministers below.

"Yes!" Below, after the Admiral, a minister stepped forward. This was an important department of the kingdom, the Guard Department, officially named the Kingdom Guard Department. However, unlike the army, it was actually an intelligence department, similar in nature to the World Government's CP.

Divided into intelligence and espionage, almost all of Kraken's secret intelligence was obtained by the Guard Department.

As the Minister of the Guard Department, he exudes a slightly sinister aura. His name is Black, which is also his code name, meaning darkness, and the darkness of the Tiresfa Kingdom. He is masked and is not only the ruler's intelligence agent but also the biggest spy.

He was one of the few who rose from the bottom through the cultivation of the Tiresfa Kingdom to the position of head of spies.

This demonstrates his strength and formidable abilities.

As a spy with other identities elsewhere, Blake's masked appearance didn't surprise the others.

Those who can stay here are all people at the pinnacle of the Tiresfa Kingdom. Most of them are quite powerful, and even the few ordinary people have the noble aura of their high positions and strong mental fortitude to disregard them.

"The Kraken Kingdom's army is expanding, aiming for a total of 3.5 million. In addition, there are 2 million slave soldiers, including war criminals, slaves, and people plundered from other countries through war. This number is still increasing, and according to intelligence, it is expected to increase by another 300,000," Blake said coldly.

Upon hearing this, the others' expressions changed. "Has the Kraken Kingdom gone mad? Does it intend to invade our territory in this war?" Oscar, the Minister of Finance, couldn't help but frown.

"Very likely, because their domestic situation is already very serious. If they gain more territory and the wealth within our domain, there is a great chance that their situation will improve, or even that they will become stronger," another important minister of the kingdom analyzed.

But this was something they couldn't allow. As arch-enemies, they wanted to reclaim the territory they had taken from the Kraken Kingdom of the Tiresfa Kingdom, and they certainly wouldn't let such a thing happen.

"Those slave soldiers are all cannon fodder, but this is also very troublesome, after all, there are too many of them." Another minister nodded slightly.

"They're just cannon fodder; they can't possibly threaten our kingdom. We have far more powerful warriors, including Princes Meinz and Rediat, both of whom possess the qualities of kings." Another minister was very confident in the kingdom's strength.

The hidden power of Tirisfal is enough to completely engulf the Kraken Kingdom and reclaim its former territory.

But they can't do that.

"No, that would expose the two princes. There are also World Government agents in the kingdom whose positions we have. Once exposed, they could become a major target of the World Government, which would cause too much trouble." A minister shook his head.

"Unless there is an opportunity to directly conquer the Kraken Kingdom reclaim its territory within a month, given our current strength, it will be very difficult to achieve."

"If we do this, we can turn the entire kingdom into an impenetrable fortress in a short time. At that point, even the World Government won't be able to do anything to us."

It's important to understand that their goal is to destroy the Kraken Kingdom and reclaim their lost territory. It is precisely because of the unexpected birth of the Kraken Kingdom that the position of Admiral of the Tiresfa Kingdom has been held by the Carterotge family for many years.

To prevent that incident from happening again, this also brought some benefits: the Carterotge family's position became more secure, and they gained complete control over the kingdom's entire army.

After the kingdom split, the Tiresfa Kingdom quickly recovered from its decline and stabilized the somewhat chaotic situation within the country, giving the Kraken Kingdom and the World Government no opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Now, the Tiresfa Kingdom is even more powerful, whether in terms of economy, military, or the power behind it.

Once the Kraken Kingdom's territory is reclaimed and its military technology is acquired, the Tiresfa Kingdom 'Kraken Kingdom power will increase significantly.

"Impossible. Unless someone can directly eliminate the royal family of the Kraken Kingdom, the entire Kraken Kingdom will become even more chaotic and collapse in a short period of time. After that, with our strength and influence in the Kraken Kingdom, our agents can take back the Kraken Kingdom in a short time."

"As for the troops at the front, once the previous agreement is established, it won't matter if the two princes are exposed."

This is merely their conjecture; it's difficult to achieve. It's precisely because the Tiresfa Kingdom controls intelligence about the Kraken Kingdom that they know how powerful the defenses of the Kraken Kingdom are.

It would be difficult for them to do so because there are secret agents of the World Government. If they were to make a move, the World Government might become aware of it and then send forces to secretly assist the Kraken Kingdom.

The World Government is not very vigilant against the Tiresfa Kingdom. The Tiresfa Kingdom has information on many of its hidden forces and spies, and many of these secretive entities were discovered by Rediat.

As for the reason, a few of them had their own guesses, but none of them said it aloud.

This situation has persisted for over a hundred years, and now, in this Great Pirate Era, some of the World Government's resources have been redeployed to other places.

The World Government cannot openly and legitimately attack Affiliated Nation, interfere in Affiliated Nation internal affairs, or influence Affiliated Nation wars. This is a matter of principle. If fairness and justice cannot be guaranteed, then why should Affiliated Nation join the World Government?

The Affiliated Nation joined the World Government because they were attracted by its reputation for fairness and justice. At the same time, they also had to pay Affiliated Nation to the Void Throne of the World Government, which was surrounded by the weapons of the twenty kings who established the World Government.

It is precisely because the Void Throne is empty and merely symbolic that the kings of these World Government Member States kneel before it.

If it were revealed that the Void Throne has an owner, it would be a huge blow to the World Government, as would the Affiliated Nation. These kings are already at the pinnacle of power; why would they want another king above them?

If this is true, then the number of Affiliated Nation of the World Government will be halved, and a large number of Affiliated Nation will secede in a short period of time. Don't underestimate the power of these countries on the high seas.

Therefore, even if the World Government wanted to intervene, it could only do so covertly, and the Affiliated Nation still wielded considerable power within the World Government.

Despite the Celestial Dragons' high status, some Affiliated Nation states treat them like royalty, and these are mostly small to medium-sized countries.

Those with greater power don't really pay attention to the Celestial Dragons, and the Celestial Dragons don't go to these powerful countries. Their travel is all by list, and some countries' names don't even appear on the Celestial Dragons' list.

They can only bully weaker Affiliated Nation, or those that haven't joined the World Government Member States but want to curry favor with the Celestial Dragons.

Therefore, while the leaders of the Tiresfa Kingdom had some concerns about the Kraken Kingdom, their main concern was with the World Government. Their primary strategy towards these powerful nations was to weaken them.

Because the Tiresfa Kingdom a navy, and most of these powerful nations have their own navies, they are not very dependent on the World Government's navy.

The World Government controls the world through its navy. With a navy, other countries will not develop their own navies and will gradually become more dependent on the World Government and its navy.

Although they joined the World Government and became World Government Member States, it was only on the surface, and the annual Heavenly Gold was merely a symbolic amount.

Even at World Government meetings, the Tiresfa Kingdom wouldn't attend, because they had enough strength to worry about. Even within the kingdom, it was very stable, with no fertile ground for the Revolutionary Army to develop.