"The Purple River Kingdom's tradition is to fight over the throne.
Once the old King's children come of age, they decide for themselves whether to enter the contest to become heir.
They get only one chance to participate.
Anyone who doesn't sign up after coming of age will be publicly declared to have forfeited their right to the throne and will become an ordinary member of the royal family.
After the old King passes away, the new King will be chosen from among the heirs.
The heirs may use any means to compete, including but not limited to eliminating their rivals physically.
If an heir realizes they cannot win during the contest, they may announce that they're giving up their claim to the throne in exchange for a guarantee of personal safety.
Once only one heir remains, that heir will claim the throne of the Purple River Kingdom.
The entire contest will be confined to a subspace controlled by the Purple River Kingdom's royal family.
The details of that subspace are the royal family's highest secret. Only each successive King is privy to the whole picture.
Now all that remains is for the old King to breathe his last. Then the three heirs will enter that subspace with their own escort fleets and supporters, and begin the final contest."
Mada gave a rare long-winded answer.
But no one seemed to mind.
Mada only spared his words when it came to analyzing intelligence.
"Sounds exciting!
I'd love to see what the Purple River Kingdom's subspace for fighting over the throne looks like."
Shi Zunhou looked quite interested.
"That has nothing to do with us.
But given that this is how the Purple River Kingdom handles succession, we may not have to wait long.
If the Mechanical God Cult intends to support