Chapter 918: The King’s Plan

It was between summer and autumn, but the weather was still hot .

As the sun lowered into the horizon, Fei said farewells to Adam, Anna, and Edward, and he returned to his tent . Like always, he entered Diablo World and started to kill monsters and level up with every free second that he had .

After three months, Fei’s a.s.sa.s.sin character reached h.e.l.l Mode level 100 and pa.s.sed Diablo World .

Now, Fei was working on getting his Necromancer character up to speed .

Fei had a feeling that the undead magic was going to be crucial in the next portion of the expedition, and it was going to shine . Right now, his Necromancer character was h.e.l.l Mode level 10 . If other things wouldn’t take too much of his time, his Necromancer character was going to pa.s.s h.e.l.l Mode in about two months .

As the night got darker, Dixie City, which was the Capital of Alania, was still as bright as daytime, and it was noisy there .

However, Chambord’s campsite appeared to be extremely quiet .

Time pa.s.sed by quickly .

Soon, the dawn was coming, and a new day was about to begin .

After exiting Diablo World and training his spirit energy, Fei walked out of King’s Tent with his upper body naked . He was sweating, and it was visible that heat was coming off his body .

While he stretched his back, a guard brought him buckets of water . Fei dumped several buckets of cold water onto his head, washing away the sweat and feeling refreshed .

Although he accomplished many things while staying in Dixie City, he had to get on the road again .

Fei looked at the bright clouds in the sky and suddenly got a little sentimental . He thought of something and said, “Pa.s.s my order! Get ready, and we will leave Dixie City and be on the road of the expedition to the Anji Empire tomorrow . ”

At that moment, for some reason, Fei suddenly decided that before he got onto the path of conquering and battling, he had to return to Chambord City to spend some time with his loved ones .

…

With the existence of the super-long-distance portable teleportation array, Fei only needed to take six stops, and he got back to Chambord City in less than three hours .

It was about noon .

Fei’s return gave a huge surprise to the two queens .

After having their lovely alone time, Fei quickly ate some stuff with the two beauties in his arms . Right now, he really didn’t want to get up and do stuff .

The king only reluctantly got up when it was close to sunset . After thinking for a bit, he asked someone to invite his father-in-law, Bast, and Brook to come here .

Then, together with his two beautiful queens, they cooked up a table full of delicious food .

“Hehehe . It has been a while since I last cooked; I’m getting a little clumsy . ”

When all the dishes were placed on the table, Bast who was wearing a n.o.ble robe and Brook who was wearing casual clothes arrived .

Since the messenger already told them that this was a private dinner arrangement, and the two were used to the king’s chill style, they were quite casual and didn’t put up formalities .

When Angela took bottles of wine from the Royal Wine Cell, the dinner began .

“Your Majesty, what you did in the Alania Empire sure is big! The entire Northern Region is moving because of it . ”

Soon, the conversation went back to the issues concerning the kingdom . Fei’s father-in-law was someone who showed the grace and etiquette of a n.o.ble all the time . While he cut the steak on his plate into small pieces and put the special sauce on it, Bast looked up and said to Fei .

“Eh, things are smoother than we expected . ” Fei nodded as he raised his head and drank all the wine in the winegla.s.s like a cow . His move wasn’t cla.s.sy at all, and his father-in-law who strictly followed the standards of n.o.bles rolled his eyes and shook his head . However, this handsome old man couldn’t say anything to the king about this .

“While we are on this topic… Your Majesty, it was your idea to push that little guy named Leo onto the throne, right?” Brook had been with Fei for a long time, and he was the king’s friend and teacher . In public settings, this military leader was very polite and formal . In private settings, he was able to relax and talk like a friend after Fei’s multiple requests .

In reality, many people didn’t understand why Fei valued Brook so much . In terms of individual strength, he was inferior to people like Drogba, Torres, and Cech . In terms of intelligence and strategy, he was not as good as people like Old Aryang and a few new commanders . In terms of civil management, he wasn’t as good as Bast… From all angles, this man who was once the Captain of the King’s Guard was quite average .

It made sense that Brook was leading the military when Chambord City was weak and lacked talent . But now, Chambord was full of talents, mighty warriors, and intelligent advisors . Even the Zenit Empire might not be able to suppress Chambord, let alone other affiliated kingdoms . In this situation, it seemed unreasonable to keep Brook as the leader of the military .

In fact, since Chambord started rising in a stable manner, Brook realized this as well . He had asked Fei many times to replace him with someone more talented, but Fei seriously declined his request and raised Brook’s status in the military even more .

Right now, on top of the military and King’s Guard, Brook even had the power to command the Gold Saints on the 12 Golden Saint Mountains .

This level of trust was unique in the kingdom, not inferior to Fei’s trust in his father-in-law, Bast .

However, others didn’t know that on top of Brook’s loyalty, Fei also valued this man’s righteousness, justice, kindness, and the never-changing character . Regardless of what status he had, he never slighted anyone because of it, and he never selfishly used his power . He viewed all the generals under him fairly, and he never promoted or demoted generals due to his whims of favor . Even when he talked to ordinary civilians and street vendors, he was friendly and kind .

Once Fei was walking around the city in disguise, he saw Brook, who was the military leader of Chambord, helping an older woman, who lost her 18-year-old son when the Ormond Empire attacked, to carry big bags of flour and rice while sweating in his rough robe .

People like Brook were like screws . When they were there, you wouldn’t see them shine . However, nothing would work without them there .

Ordinary people had no idea that Fei didn’t just value this man who was born and raised in Chambord; the king respected and even admired this man . On top of treating Brook as a loyal subject, the king also saw him as a trustworthy friend .

In Chambord, only people like Bast, Lampard, and Drogba who were here since the beginning saw through the king’s mind . These people could be counted as influential figures in the Zenit Empire, and they usually didn’t show anything to others . However, they were all respectful towards Brook .

Only the people close to him could sense the charming charisma from this average-looking Chambordian .

After hearing Brook’s question, Fei laughed out loud .

“Hahaha! A lot of people probably saw through it . After all, Alanians aren’t dumb; there are wise people among them . ”

Fei didn’t need to hide anything in front of his people . While eating a piece of roasted meat that Angela fed him, Fei smiled shamelessly like a cunning fox and told them everything .

“I asked the [Letter Office] to do a detailed investigation of Leo’s background . It is clear that he is the descendant of a little merchant, and his parents both died in the Undead Creature Catastrophe . He is now an orphan, and he doesn’t have relatives . Charsi made that so-called royal accessory . I got the blueprint in the ruins of the Royal Palace of Alania, and Charsi’ forging skill is on the grandmaster-level . Others would have a hard time telling this accessory apart from the real one . Also, even if someone saw through it, what can they do? All the members of the Royal Family of Alania died . As long as the ordinary Alanians believe this story . Those smart ones don’t want to offend me, so they know what they should do!”

“So, what are you going to do next? Do you want to turn the Alania Empire into a puppet empire?” The old and handsome Bast nodded and asked . As an experienced n.o.ble, he had seen and heard many of these things . He wanted to know what Fei’s plan was, and he said in a luring tone, “Making it into a puppet empire is not bad . As the king of an affiliated kingdom, Your Majesty will be able to control a level 1 empire from afar . It sounds interesting . ”

“Yeah, this is a great idea . ” Brook’s eyes lit up as well .

Due to the restriction of territory, after its explosive growth, Chambord’s growing speed started to slow down . Without enough foresight and planning, its situation would be pa.s.sive once major wars broke out .

However, Chambord was already a level 1 affiliated kingdom, and its territory could no longer expand under the control of the parent empire, Zenit .

The other option was to break out of Zenit and become the Chambord Empire . In fact, many high-level officials of Chambord had been promoting this idea .

However, Brook who knew Fei well was sure that the king would never make this decision . It wasn’t just because of the king’s friendship with Second Prince Dominguez and the worry about Emperor Ya.s.sin’s power; it was mostly because of that slim figure whose body turned into ashes on the peak of the Imperial Martial Saint Mountain and covered the land of Zenit .

“You also think that this is a great idea?” Fei laughed and didn’t explain right away . After a few seconds, he shook his head and said, “I did have such a plan before, but I later discovered that Alanians are gentle and friendly, but they have an insane pa.s.sion for the independence of their empire . Also, an eagle is going to fly once it grows up . This method of control might work in the near-term while it is like the honeymoon, but they will rebel in the long run and oppose Chambord’s control over them . Overall, it is not worth it to try to have control over this empire, so I decided against it . Hehe, just see it as my gift to Leo; I like that young man . ”

Brook and Bast were at a loss for words, and they thought, “This gift is huge . The throne for an empire that has a history of more than 500 years and a territory that totals millions of square kilometers… This young man named Leo is way too fortunate!”

If they didn’t know about Leo’s background, they might even think that Leo was Fei’s son .

“Of course, we won’t throw money away . Hehe, even if we can’t turn the Alania Empire into a puppet empire, we can do other things . Otherwise, why do you think I’m willing to spend so much money and resources on building academies for them? If everything is done properly, Alanians will want to follow Chambord . I call this cultural invasion and peaceful a.s.similation . ”

Fei’s words opened a new door in Bast and Brook’s minds .

“After conquering the Anji Empire and the other empires in the region, I will use similar methods to turn them into Chambord and Zenit’s allies . This way, when we are engaged in cross-regional wars, we don’t have to worry about potential fires in our backyard . Therefore, you need to help me prepare and train all the necessary people . Time is tight; I need to take care of all this in a year . ”

Brook and Bast quickly memorized this . This matter was crucial, and not a single error was allowed .

The king’s logic was new and outside-the-box . Although they had served the king for a long time, Brook and Bast were nonetheless still stunned from time to time .

Soon, the conversation swayed away from important matters and went back to daily topics . This dinner lasted more than three hours while they laughed and chatted .

“Bur…” Fei burped after having this great dinner, and the smell of wine permeated the air .

While walking Bast and Brook out of the palace, he suddenly thought of something and said casually, “Oh right . Tell Jessie to go to Dixie City . The [Black-Cloth Shrine] is growing too fast there, and its fountain is shaky . It needs a real master to guard it . ”

…

Fei didn’t stay long in Chambord . On the morning of the second day, Fei used the teleportation arrays and went back to Dixie City .

What happened next proved that he went back just in time . Thirty minutes after he got back to Chambord’s campsite, a powerful opponent showed his face . A young lord from outside the Northern Region appeared in a dominating fashion, trying to challenge Fei .

“Humph!” You are only the king of a little affiliated kingdom . How dare you call yourself Human Emperor? You are truly ignorant . Today, I will give you a good beating, making you take off the t.i.tle of Human Emperor and go back to being a hillbilly king . ”

The challenger’s voice resonated in Dixie City .