The moment Zhang Tie uttered the three words, "I agree," everyone in the carriage felt as if a heavy stone had crashed down from their hearts.
Under this state-founding plan, aside from the Ewindara Archipelago, which would have an autonomous council and enjoy considerable autonomy, the bear-level tribes of the Ice and Snow Wilderness would likewise retain substantial autonomy. Even if Zhang Tie were crowned, apart from the Icefield Giant Bear Tribe and the Iron Bear Tribe, he would have little authority over the internal affairs, civil rights, military power, financial power, or arbitration rights of the other bear-level tribes. The real power of each bear-level tribe would remain in the hands of its chieftains and elders.
For the Fire Bear Tribe, Sea Bear Tribe, and Wild Bear Tribe, this was the bottom line for supporting Zhang Tie's unification of the Ice and Snow Wilderness.
The Spencer family of the Iron Bear Tribe held a relatively neutral stance, while Elder Gulas of the Ice and Snow Giant Bear Tribe was far more radical and quite dissatisfied with the conservatism of the three bear-level tribes. However, Elder Gulas also knew that getting the three bear-level tribes to acknowledge Zhang Tie's authority and support the great cause of Slavic unification was already unprecedented. Without Peter, without the extraordinary strength Peter had displayed and those sacred miracles one after another, the three tribes could never have made such a compromise.
By this time, in the eyes of more and more Slavs, Peter Hampres was increasingly overlapping with the image of the great king foretold by the great Prophet High Priest—the one who could save the Slavs. Under the tide of such a great momentum, whoever it was, whichever tribe it was, standing against Peter Hampres would face immense pressure.
Yet the three tribes'