As evening fell, the sun disappeared, the stars rose, and the moonlight shone like a ribbon, marking the end of the Silver Peak Clan's gathering.
The following day, in a certain manor, the clans that Outposted Faction gathered together.
After the great calamity a century ago, the Royal Court's high-ranking officials always felt lingering fear whenever they thought about it. In order to prevent the Dawn Empire from wiping them out in one fell swoop, they sent many clans away from the Trident Archipelago and scattered them among the friendly forces in various parts of Planet Oklo.
Taxes are paid normally, and economic and military obligations are fulfilled normally, but the supreme leader remains the Gendaya Royal Court!
Nearly 200,000 pure-blooded Gendaya People were dispatched to relatively chaotic areas of the planet Planet Oklo, such as Sunset Jungle, Light-Bathed Sea, Xiya Archipelago, and Southeast Trade City-State.
Because the Outposted Faction had to some extent broken away from the protection of the Royal Court, they were correspondingly granted a great deal of autonomy. The most typical example is in the military sphere, where there are no restrictions on the number of private armies, and they can expand as much as they want, depending on their own abilities.
On the economic front, they can make money however they want, and the Royal Court cannot interfere arbitrarily.
This is why Logo had the confidence to treat Grand Duke of Silver Peak coldly. If it were truly a clan directly under the Royal Court, it would be subject to the Seven Great Clans in every aspect, and its confidence would not be as strong as Logo's.
Over the course of a century, the strength of the various clans that Outposted Faction has become significantly more differentiated.
Those who do well gain immense power and become dominant in their region.
Those who did poorly faced life-or-death crises multiple times; let alone development, even survival became extremely difficult.
Among the more than thirty clans that Outposted Faction, the Red Maple Clan was considered to be doing relatively poorly.
Of course, this was before Logo awakened.
Although only a little over a year has passed, the Red Maple Clan has made significant progress in all aspects, especially in the economic sphere, where it is making rapid strides every moment.
"Herbert, your Red Maple Clan has certainly been enjoying its moment of glory lately. I heard that at your Silver Peak lineage's gathering, you were even personally entertained by the Grand Duke of Silver Peak?" an elderly man in light black armor teased.
The old count waved his hand, "It's just that the Grand Duke treats us differently because we're lucky. We're still far inferior to the Thunder Elephant Clan. With three Legendary in charge, they're much stronger than our Red Maple. These days, strength is what matters."
"You can't say that. Money makes the world go round, and with more money, you can develop your strength, right? I heard that your three clans, Red Maple, White Ape, Thorn, have jointly established a company that's making a fortune every day. Even the Grand Duke of Silver Peak is interested in investing. How about it? Give us a hand?"
This time, it was a middle-aged woman who spoke. She was tall and strong, just like a big man, and her voice was extremely rough and loud, without a trace of feminine gentleness or tenderness.
"Count of Deer Armor is joking. It's just an ordinary company, not as profitable as you say. Besides, this isn't my decision. Logo is the chairman of the board." The old count unceremoniously passed the buck to Logo. He hated these verbal exchanges and probing, and in the past, with no one to share the burden, he had to bite the bullet and deal with it himself.
Now, the old count, feeling at ease and in a good mood, left all these matters to Logo, thus enjoying a moment of peace.
Soon, a similar scene unfolded at the gathering of the Silver Peak lineage, with Logo once again surrounded by people, looking like a star being fawned over.
"Tsk, look at him, he's only a teenager and he can chat and laugh with a group of earls. We're already in our twenties or thirties, and we're not even as good as a teenager."
Around the long table, a dozen or so young people were gathered together. One of them, a young man in his early twenties, was drinking and talking slowly.
The man next to the young man gave a wry smile and said, "You bet I'm sick of hearing the name 'Logo ' these days. My old man has compared me to him more than once. Isn't he just asking for trouble?"
As soon as these words were spoken, someone immediately chimed in, "That's right, that's right. Let alone ordinary clans like ours, which of the major clans, or even the Seven Great Clans, has a young member who has achieved such accomplishments at Logo's age?"
The Royal Court, with its thousands of clans, was roughly divided into three tiers.
The first tier Seven Great Clans, each led by Duke.
The second level consists of large clans, led by marquises.
The third level is the ordinary clan, led by an earl.
There may be some errors or omissions, but overall, this classification should be fairly accurate.
Of the more than thirty clans in the Outposted Faction, none were large clans.
After all, those Outposted Faction, to put it nicely, were leaving seeds for the Royal Court.
To put it bluntly, that was exile.
Being far from the core of the Royal Court almost certainly meant losing the chance to compete for a high position in the central Royal Court.
The powerful clans had extensive and intricate networks of connections, so they certainly wouldn't end up being exiled to distant lands.
"Now that you mention it, I think Logo really gave our Outposted Faction a boost of prestige. At least no one will dare to say that the younger generation of our Outposted Faction's various clans is incompetent."
"Hey, do you guys think Logo will participate in this Martial Arts Tournament?" someone suddenly asked.
The scene fell silent for a moment, then someone Earth Dao, "No... no way, he's an alchemist, he shouldn't be good at fighting, right?"
"But I've heard that this Logo is a mechanical alchemist, so his combat strength shouldn't be weak either, right?"
"Mechanics? Alchemists' strength is so-so in the early stages. The Martial Arts Tournament won't give them much time to create weapons and equipment. Alchemists are truly terrifying in the late game. Right now... they're still far from that level."
"Sigh, hearing you say that, it seems our Outposted Faction won't have a chance to show our faces in the Martial Arts Tournament again?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the dozen or so young people looked at each other, their faces showing dejection. Yes, the Outposted Faction hadn't shown their faces in the Martial Arts Tournament for a long time.
Who said there isn't?
Just then, a calm yet slightly frivolous voice rang out. Everyone turned to look and saw that the speaker was a young man with a full head of golden curly hair and golden vertical pupils. This person did not have the Eye of Gendaya on his forehead.
"You are...?" one person asked hesitantly.
"Caesar Targaryen."
"Caesar? It seems you're not Gendaya People?"
"Yeah, I guess I'd say I'm Dragon Clan, Earl Campbell is my boss." Caesar said without any hesitation, finding an empty seat and eating as he picked up something from the table.
"Dragon Clan?" The young people were all surprised at the same time.
Did the Dragon Clan submit to the Gendaya People?
That's really rare.
The True Dragon Clan is notoriously unruly and virtually impossible to subdue by force.
So-called dragon knights basically use soft tactics such as money and emotions to cooperate with True Dragon, rather than actually taking True Dragon as pets.
The vast majority of True Dragon would rather die than become someone else's pet. The glory of the Dragon Clan is deeply rooted in the blood and soul of True Dragon, an unshakable and stubborn belief.
But judging from the tone of the person in front of him, their respect for Logo was genuine and heartfelt, which was strange.
"You... are you really True Dragon Clan? Or are you not just an ordinary dragon-blooded creature?" Sure enough, someone immediately raised this question.
Everyone turned their suspicious gazes toward Caesar, somewhat incredulous that Logo could actually subdue a True Dragon.
"Tch, I knew you wouldn't believe me. Watch closely, here comes my true form!" Caesar sneered, then transformed, golden light filling the sky, holy Radiance permeating the entire room, coating everything with a layer of gold paint.
Hold head high!!
Accompanied by a domineering and sacred dragon roar, a magnificent and majestic golden dragon slowly spread its broad wings in the hazy Holy Light. Its fine and dense dragon scales resembled the most beautiful armor, and its three pairs of dragon horns were like a crown, dazzling and mesmerizing.
Of course, what was most astonishing was the pervasive aura of True Dragon, completely genuine, and even more sacred and otherworldly than that of an ordinary True Dragon.
"It really is a dragon, and a Metallic Dragon, the most powerful of all metal Gold Dragon Clan!!" The young man who had questioned it earlier was horrified and unconsciously took a step back.
"No, that's not right, he's not the Gold Dragon!" another person said firmly, covering their eyebrows to block out the blinding golden light.
A girl in a pink dress frowned slightly. "You mean, this guy isn't True Dragon Clan, and he's just bluffing us? But... this dragon's might is so real, could it be that we've all been mistaken?"
"No mistake, I said it wasn't Gold Dragon, but I didn't say it wasn't True Dragon. If I'm not mistaken, this is a variant of True Dragon, with a bloodline far stronger than that of ordinary True Dragon. I never imagined that such a powerful creature would submit to Earl Campbell's command..."
"A different True Dragon?!" Everyone gasped. As a race with a deep passion for Dragon Hunting, the Gendaya People had an exceptional understanding of the Dragon Clan and naturally knew what a different kind of True Dragon was.
Caesar transformed into his true form and hovered above the room, causing gasps of surprise from the younger generation. Even the counts who were talking with Logo looked up in astonishment, their gazes fixed on the sacred True Dragon.
"Incredible! Below the Legendary, there is actually a creature's aura that can reach such a level. This Earl even senses a threat." Count of Thousand Blades was extremely surprised, almost thinking that he had misjudged the situation.
He's Legendary, there's a huge gap between him and Tier Nine life form, how could he possibly sense danger from a Tier Nine True Dragon?
But... no matter how Count of Thousand Blades sensed it, the feedback from his spiritual perception remained exactly the same.
The Count of Thousand Blades was well aware of the keenness of his intuition honed through countless battles, and thus, his heart wavered, and a look of horror slowly appeared in his eyes.
"If I remember correctly, he was brought by Lord Campbell, wasn't he?" Count of Blue Sea held his wine glass and turned to look at Logo.
Upon hearing this, the others turned their gazes, all showing surprise.
"That's right, he's the one I brought, his name is Caesar." Logo nodded slightly and introduced him generously.
"Then, I wonder, what is the relationship between this dragon and Earl Campbell?" Count of Thunder Elephant asked, his eyes flashing slightly.
Logo said calmly, "Heh, it's just a mount."
"A... a mount?" Count of Thunder Elephant Elephant's eyes widened. "If I'm not mistaken, this should be a rare True Dragon, right? And it looks like it could break through to Legendary at any moment..."
"The Earl has good taste," Logo said with a smile, a deep light flashing in the depths of his eyes.
Caesar's action was not intended as a show of force, but rather Logo had instructed him to do so.
The purpose is to leave the public with an image of profound mystery and enhance Intimidation.
While the Outposted Faction could be considered a group, it was very loosely organized due to the lack of a leader, and they were not particularly united.
After all, they lived far apart and had no cooperation. They could only communicate during the clan gatherings held once every five years. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative, so it would be strange if their relationship were good.
In this situation, if Logo wants to consolidate the power of the Outposted Faction, offering sufficient benefits is one aspect.
Military deterrence is equally essential.
The distribution of benefits cannot be simply summarized by the word "fairness." Without sufficient strength, no matter how pertinent and pleasing your words may be, others will not be convinced.
A combination of a firm hand and a sweet promise is always the best way to win people's hearts.
Developing influence boils down to nothing more than coercion and enticement!
As expected, after confirming Caesar's identity from Logo, the way the counts looked at Logo changed subtly, becoming more respectful and less frivolous.
When Logo naturally proposed to cooperate and establish an interdependent industrial chain system, he did not encounter much resistance.
On the other side, Caesar revealed his true form for about a minute before reverting to his golden hair and golden eyes.
He first bowed to Logo's group, then swaggered over to the group of young people, put one foot on a chair, rested one hand on his knee, tossed his hair, and said with a smile, "Well? Now, do you believe me?"
"I believe it, I believe it, I never imagined that Lord Caesar was actually a Legend, True Dragon. It's truly rare."
"Haha, I love to hear that! As the boss's first mount and most loyal guard, I'm naturally a member of the Outposted Faction. So, of course I'll be there to make our Outposted Faction proud in this Martial Arts Tournament!" Caesar said, patting his chest.
"You? Participating in the Martial Arts Tournament?" The crowd exchanged glances, feeling a bit awkward.
Seeing this, Caesar raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? Does this mean the Dragon Clan isn't allowed to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament?"
A young man quickly waved his hand, "No, that's not it. The Martial Arts Tournament doesn't restrict the participants' identities. Even the Dawn Empire can send people to participate, let alone the Dragon Clan."
"That's good enough! Just you wait and see, this time I, the Dragon King, will definitely beat those Dawn dogs to a pulp!" Caesar said magnanimously, waving his hand.
The simple phrase "morning dog" brought smiles to the faces of the young people at the table, softening their gazes towards Caesar and instantly closing the distance between them.
So, this rogue dragon quickly blended in, and before long, he was arm in arm with a group of Gendaya People. By the end of the gathering, some people even pulled him to become sworn brothers.
It has to be said that Caesar really does have some of the traits of a social bull.