"What?!"
Xu Yi shot to his feet so abruptly that he slammed into the table, lifting the entire thing off the floor with a loud bang.
King Trutz turned and waved to the guards who rushed in at the noise, signaling that nothing was wrong before sending them back out. Then he looked at Xu Yi again, waiting for his next reaction.
After staring blankly for a while, Xu Yi slowly regained his composure and sat back down.
He considered for a moment before asking, "Your Majesty, could you tell me what caused this?"
A trace of appreciation crossed King Trutz's face at how quickly Xu Yi had calmed down. He replied, "The cause... on the surface, at least, was a smuggling case."
"A smuggling case?" Xu Yi frowned.
Because the Lampari Kingdom and the Sark Kingdom had been enemies for years, trade across their border had largely depended on smuggling.
But since the Free Trade Zone between the two kingdoms had opened, providing a place to trade freely, such smuggling cases had become much less common.
Even when they did occur, they were mostly small-scale attempts to evade tariffs. They had no effect on the broader situation, neither side paid them much attention, and they certainly could not have sparked a war between the two kingdoms.
The only smuggling case that could have such a major impact would probably have to involve that particular field.
Sure enough, King Trutz nodded and continued, "Yes. According to the information released by the Lampari Kingdom, someone within its borders was smuggling military magic machinery into the Sark Kingdom..."
At this point, King Trutz glanced at Xu Yi. Seeing that he showed no surprise and merely frowned slightly, he knew Xu Yi was fully aware of these matters.
"After discovering this, the Lampari