Sun Fei was taken aback, but quickly understood what Brook meant.
This situation is similar to the Great Zhou Dynasty's enfeoffment of vassal states during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in the past. Although the Zhou emperor Grant the vassal states great power, the size of each vassal state's territory, the number of its troops, and the rites it enjoyed were all strictly limited by the Zhou emperor. Moreover, the vassal states were also obligated to obey the Zhou king's orders to wage war and pay tribute. In this Azeroth Continent, the relationship between so-called vassal states and monarchies seems similar. In order to maintain the monarchy's ruling authority, the strength and size of vassal states are subject to very strict restrictions.
Sun Fei nodded to indicate that he understood, and then asked, "Go on, what are the specific forms of the martial arts exercises and combat?"
"My King, according to the tradition of the Zenit Empire, martial arts competitions are mainly divided into two forms. The first is a duel between the strongest in each country. Each participating country must select six of its strongest mages or warriors to participate in the competition to determine the winner. The second type of martial arts competition is conducted by a fixed number of troops. Each country selects one hundred elite soldiers to form a combat team to conduct four military competitions. There are a total of ten competitions in both forms. The country that wins the most matches in the preliminary rounds can retain its current vassal state rank and seat. In addition, it will also have the opportunity to challenge a higher-ranking vassal state. Only by defeating a higher-ranking vassal state can it take its place and advance." The newly appointed [military giant] Brook of Chambord City was afraid that King Alexander would not understand, so he explained in great detail.
"I see. How did our Chambord City perform in previous martial arts exercises?"
Upon hearing this, Brook's expression immediately sombered, and everyone else in the council hall lowered their heads, creating a somewhat silent and somber atmosphere. After a moment, Brook forced himself to continue, "Your Majesty, our Chambord City was originally a fourth-class vassal state, holding a place among the 250 vassal states under the Zenit Empire. However, in the martial arts competition three years ago, we were consecutively defeated by Her City and Black Rock City, thus slipping to sixth class. Therefore, if we fail to win this martial arts competition in six months, we will be stripped of our national status, Chambord City will be awarded by the Zenit Empire as a reward to some other victorious states that performed exceptionally well."
"Slipped two ranks in a single competition?" Sun Fei asked in surprise, "Since it was once a fourth-rank vassal state, its strength should not be weak. Why did it perform so poorly?"
Sun Fei's words made the atmosphere in the hall even more awkward.
Brook coughed and stammered, "Your Majesty... two months before the last military exercise, the old King unfortunately passed away, and you... personally commanded... uh, at that time your mind... you weren't like you are now... so... uh... apart from Lord Lampard winning one match, we lost 19 matches in the military competition, so... uh, so we slipped to a sixth-class vassal state."
Sun Fei was immediately embarrassed.
A huge embarrassment.
He then understood why the people in the council hall had been giving him strange looks. This dire situation was his own doing; the reason Chambord City had suffered such a defeat in the last military exercise was because his predecessor had been utterly incompetent. But that wasn't surprising; sending a mentally challenged person with the intelligence of a three- or four-year-old to lead an army was bound to result in defeat.
"Ahem, I see... Yes, you're right, those Her City and Black Rock City are truly despicable. This time, we must avenge them... Brook, this matter is entrusted to you. Begin preparations immediately... Ahem, that's all for today, meeting adjourned, meeting adjourned, hehe!"
Sun Fei, feeling embarrassed, quickly changed the subject and adjourned the meeting.
The people in the hall stood up and noticed the King's embarrassment. The nobles bowed and left the hall with shifty expressions. Drogba and Pierce, along with a few other guys, laughed heartlessly, winked at Sun Fei, and then turned and left as well. Sun Fei wanted nothing more than to give those guys the middle finger.
Everyone else left, but Brook remained in the main hall.
"My strategist and commander-in-chief, is there anything else?" Sun Fei Earth Inquiry.
Brook suddenly knelt on the ground, his expression pleading, and said, "My King, Brook humbly begs you to reform the Iron Prison and Water Dungeon of Chambord, especially for Lord Peter Cech, who is utterly loyal to the entire kingdom. He was framed as a traitor and persecuted simply because he refused to collude with the previous messenger, Bazel. There are many other innocent people like Lord Cech who have been framed and are imprisoned in the Iron Prison and Water Dungeon. Brook implores Your Majesty to clear their names and pardon the innocent."
" Petr Čech?"
The name sounded familiar. After a moment's thought, Sun Fei quickly remembered that he had heard this name the night before when he was trying to get information out of Brook at the city gate tower. Petr Čech was the former captain of the King's Guard, a rank higher than Brook's. However, he had been imprisoned for offending Bazel, so Sun Fei had never met him before.
Judging from Brook's extremely concerned expression, this captain named Petr Čech must be an upright warrior. Moreover, being able to overpower Brook, who has only one-star strength, to sit in the position of captain of the King's Guard, Čech's strength must far exceed that of a one-star. Such an expert is exactly the kind of talent that Chambord City needs most right now.
"You shall immediately proceed to the Iron Prison Dungeon and relay my orders: Warden Oleg shall order the prison to cease all torture. This afternoon, I will personally lead the guards to the prison to review the cases of every person imprisoned there."
Brook was stunned for a moment, then bowed deeply in gratitude, turned around and quickly left the hall.
Sun Fei sat quietly on the three- or four-meter-high stone throne, staring at the spacious and empty council hall. His mind was filled with countless thoughts. This was the first time he had issued commands from above as a King. This feeling of control over everything was intoxicating. From now on, he was the supreme ruler of this country. Although the current Chambord City was as weak as a newborn baby struggling to walk, it was the perfect fulcrum for Sun Fei, who controlled the Diablo World. One day, he would use this fulcrum to stir up the Storm Riders and shake the entire Azeroth Continent.
"Hopefully, Warden Oleg, that Bootlicker, isn't completely stupid. If he understands what I mean, this half-day should be enough time for him to make some changes in the Iron Prison Dungeon and make amends for his previous mistakes."
A mysterious smile suddenly appeared on Sun Fei's face.
The reason he didn't immediately go to the Iron Prison Dungeon with Brook to clean up the prison was partly because he wanted to take some time to enter the ' Diablo World ' to increase his strength, but also partly because he wanted to give Warden Oleg some time to prepare. Oleg, this former lackey of Bazel, although he had made many mistakes and was greedy, cowardly, and not a good person, still had the strength of One-Star Class, and had made some contributions in the Charge charge on the stone bridge yesterday. Sun Fei decided to give him a chance; half a day was enough for him to make up for his previous mistakes, and in that way, Sun Fei could spare his life.
" Fernando, go find Uncle Best and have him compile a report on the Iron Prison Dungeon for me by this afternoon. It would be even better if it included detailed information on each prisoner," Sun Fei instructed the young bodyguard Fernando Torres behind him.
"Yes, Your Majesty! However, Best did not previously have control of the Iron Prison Dungeon, so I'm afraid he doesn't have very detailed information about it..."
Sun Fei smiled and shook his head, " Fernando, don't ask any more questions, just go and inform him."
Watching the blond boy's departing figure, Sun Fei stroked his chin.
How could Best not know what was happening in the Iron Prison Dungeon? Sun Fei would bet his lower body that there wasn't a single old fox in Chambord City who didn't know something. His future father-in-law was definitely not as simple as he seemed. Perhaps he and Frank Lampard, the number one expert in Chambord City, had been preparing for this day for a very, very long time!
The Diablo World.
On the edge of the [ Cold Plains ], the sky was shrouded in dark clouds, and a light drizzle was falling.
With a soft buzzing sound, [ Necromancy Stone Sun Fei ] descended from the sky, appearing out of thin air on the black earth piled with dried monster and demon blood. Under his feet were the shattered corpses of monsters everywhere. Swarms of black-backed, green-headed flies swarmed around Sun Fei because of his sudden appearance. Since a long time had passed since he last left the Diablo World, the monsters and demons that had gathered earlier had already dispersed.
Sun Fei picked up some decent equipment that had fallen to the ground and put it in his backpack. Then he activated the [ Scroll of Town Portal ], crossed the Teleport, and returned to [ Rogue Encampment ]. He found the female NPC blacksmith Charsi and sold all the equipment he didn't need to this melancholy blacksmith.
After doing all this, Sun Fei did not go to the wilderness to kill monsters and level up.
He exited [ Necromancer Mode ] directly and returned to the 3D holographic simulation selection screen before entering the game. Without hesitation, he selected [ Barbarian Mode ] again, entered the game, and began killing monsters and leveling up.
This time, [ Barbarian Sun Fei ] appeared at [ Rogue Encampment ].
Since he had already triggered the third quest [ The Forgotten Tower ] during his previous mission to rescue the lecherous old man Cain, Sun Fei didn't need to find an NPC to get the quest again. He went to the vicinity of the camp's armed spies Kashya's tent, and found the beautiful mercenary Elena.
" Sun Fei, you've finally arrived!"
Upon seeing Sun Fei's arrival, the beautiful mercenary was overjoyed. An unprecedented smile appeared on her pretty and delicate face as she quickly ran out of the tent and stood gracefully in front of Sun Fei.
Elena was followed by a dozen or so young and beautiful female Rogue, their eyes filled with curiosity and envy, all smiling as they looked at Sun Fei.
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Thank you everyone for coming.
I was very touched to see so many supportive and encouraging comments from my fellow participants, especially the comments on the competition entries, which gave Xiaodao a lot of inspiration and encouragement. I haven't been feeling well lately, so I haven't had time to reply to the comments. Thank you everyone.