But before he could rejoice for long, Shen Lian changed the subject:
"However, your dream of becoming emperor will have to fall through."
The smile on Sea Tiger's face instantly froze, and the light in his eyes dimmed by more than half.
Shen Lian glanced at him and added leisurely:
"I will represent the Sun-Moon Empire in conferring upon you the title of 'Sea Frontier King'—a king of a different surname. You may establish your own kingdom on this Pirate Continent, and you will still have the final say over the entire continent. The people, the army, the taxes—all of it will be under your control. But in name, this kingdom will be a vassal state of the Sun-Moon Empire, and you must acknowledge the Sun-Moon Empire as your suzerain."
Sea Tiger's heart sank.
He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white—on one side was the temptation of getting rid of Sea Dragon, his greatest hatred for many years. As long as Sea Dragon died, he would no longer have any concerns on this Pirate Continent. On the other side was the title of "emperor," which he had dreamed of.
He had conquered this continent and recruited nine Title Douluo precisely so that one day he could ascend the dragon throne and call himself "emperor." Yet now he had to submit to another and become the king of a vassal state. Even if he retained actual power, the gap in status "in name" was like a thorn lodged in his heart.
But when the corner of his eye swept over Shen Lian and the Snow Empress, a chill ran through him again.
He could clearly sense that although the auras around those two were faint, they were unfathomably deep. The pressure they had released in that instant earlier was