The middle-aged general next to Delano was initially as frightened as the latter. But, Delano’s reminder gave him all the courage to speak up. “President Felic, let me introduce myself. I am the general of the royal guards, Cate. Your men had been charged with the crime of assaulting Prince Vincent. They have violated the laws of the Gilded Kingdom. We have eyewitnesses and concrete evidence. Your sailors have to face the kingdom’s trial. If you bring your men away now, I can forgive you for destroying the compounds of the camp. If not, I will hold you accountable as intruders.”
General Cate’s words sent a few other royal guards out to defend their entrance. Although they were all trembling, they readied themselves for an imminent battle. Of course, they were all more trusting of Cate’s words. They believed that the people from the Breezy Plains would not dare to take action so recklessly.
“Felic, stop thinking so wishfully. Don’t you know that your sailors have committed the felony of assaulting Prince Vincent? They won’t be able to leave this place alive,” remarked Delano, gloating. The last time, he did not expect The Star to have a Time Lapse crystal ball, and that caused him to fail in his plot against the Tower. This time, he was certain that they would not have any evidence to turn the situation over. It was definitely a real prince that was beaten by the sailors.
Lin Li shook his head gently when he heard Delano’s words. “Bring them out,” he said very straightforwardly. He was too lazy to reason with such a man.
“What are you talking about? Did the cursed land make you deaf? Let me tell you that your people are doomed!” Delano snapped arrogantly, thinking that Lin Li was talking to him.
However, Delano and Cate would not have imagined that Lin Li’s words were actually directed at his own men. After hearing Lin Li’s order, the mages from the team charged into the camp without hesitation. Although the royal guards were elites of the Gilded Kingdom, they were no different from ants before the Legendary mages from the Tower of Dusk.
Fortunately, the mages from the Tower of Dusk were not as inhumane as Garl, the Lord Devourer. Although they cast spells to deter the royal guards, they did not aim to kill. Of course, even so, their powers were enough to cause great pain to them. A small air bomb was enough to send a dozen guards flying like bowling pins.
In the blink of an eye, the group of soldiers was cleared from the path; none of them remained standing. The surroundings were filled with their groans of pain. Of course, this meant that they were still alive, and thus luckier than the people from the Fifth Fleet.
Cate and Delano could not help but start to stumble backward as the team of mages closed the distance between them. “Why would you dare to do this? Lawless! This is lawless! Are you declaring war on the kingdom?” snapped General Cate in anger.
Delano became a little hysterical. One would possibly not know if that hysteria was caused by fear. “Felic! How could you dare to do this? You are doomed! You are inviting disaster to the Breezy Plains! You are declaring a war!”
However, Lin Li’s expression stayed the same. “Hurry, go find them now,” he ordered.
“Yes, Mr. President!” replied the mages from the team. They threw away their initial hesitation, and charged towards the gates of the camp.
Although Cate was at the peak of the Legendary-realm, he only had the guts to put up a brave front before the team of Legendary-mage from the Tower of Dusk. He quickly pulled Delano to the side when he saw the Legendary-mage charging over. “Good guts! Why don’t you tear down this place today? I’m excited to see who will be the last to cry!” hollered Cate with the same demeanor.
Originally, the mages from the Tower of Dusk only intended to end their work after finding the sailors. Cate’s words triggered their anger, and they decided to satisfy the commander’s wishes.
They were no longer as reserved as before. Magic sparks started to fly and sounds of explosions erupted within the camp of the royal guards. What followed was the noises of buildings collapsing. One could see a piece of flat ground if he were standing at the entrance.
Cate’s blood started to boil at the sight. He pointed at Lin Li with his trembling finger, but remained beyond words. His speechlessness was caused by two things.
First, rage.
Second, fear.
He was afraid that saying more would invite more destruction. He now understood that the president from the Tower of Dusk was not only an unreasonable man, but also one who would not consider the consequences of his actions.
Unlike Cate, Delano had a completely different reaction. He did not care whether the guards were dead or alive, let alone the damage they would suffer. He only hoped this issue could be made as big as possible, until the Breezy Plains and Gilded Kingdom turned against each other. To him, his position was definitely reasonable this time round, and the kingdom would definitely not do anything to him.
Soon, the mages from the Tower of Dusk found the sailors who were detained in the cells. It was great as all they suffered were a little cuts and bruises, and had not yet been subjected to torture. No matter how much Delano hated Lin Li, it did not make sense for him to treat the sailors like how he wished to treat Lin Li. The sailors were doomed according to the laws of the kingdom anyway.
The sailors had the same thought as Delano. Yet, they didn’t expect Lin Li who had been rumored to have died at the cursed land to return, and create such a huge racket just to rescue them. Hence, all of them started sobbing in great gratitude when they saw Lin Li.
Seeing that the sailors were not seriously injured, Lin Li felt that there wasn’t a need to seek any more trouble at the royal guards’. Hence, he ordered his men to pack up, and was ready to bring everyone back to the embassy.
“H-halt!” General Cate plucked up the courage to chase out. “President Felic, have you considered the consequences of raging a war with the Gilded Kingdom over these few sailors?” said Cate as he pointed at Lin Li exasperatedly.
“Whatever,” responded Lin Li indifferently. He did not even care to turn his head towards Cate in response before leading his men back to the embassy.
The sight of their departure made Cate tremble in rage. He really wanted to gather all his troops and arrest all of them. However, even though he was really furious, he was aware that that Sanctuary powerhouse from the Tower of Dusk was the one who’d brought the Fifth Fleet to its downfall. He knew that his people would definitely be an insignificant force against the Tower.
Delano walked up to General Cate with an expression that showed deep hatred. “General Cate, isn’t this clear disregard for the Gilded Kingdom? We have to inform the king about this, and let His Majesty see their true colors,” said Delano through his gritted teeth.
“Yes, it’s time to let this bunch of darn fellas know that the Fifth Fleet is not the only trump card of the Gilded Kingdom!” replied Cate as he clenched his fists. The hatred in his heart was comparable to Delano’s when he gazed upon his pathetic campsite and groaning soldiers. “Let’s see who has their backing this time!”
In reality, there had not been any unified view within the Gilded Kingdom regarding how they should treat the people from the Breezy Plains. There was a group of peace supporters who believed in reaching out to the forces from the Breezy Plains peacefully, and inviting them to enter a partnership before gradually acquiring each of those forces. There were also the military supporters who believed that the military should just send their troops to the Breezy Plains, and force these forces into submission.
Bradlor, the king of the Gilded Kingdom, was more inclined towards using peaceful means. Hence, that motivated him to extend his invitation to all of the forces from the Breezy Plains to encourage them to be part of their national day celebration. He even sought the grandest way to welcome Lin Li.
However, the kingdom’s military had not given up on the idea of using force against the Breezy Plains. The generals believed that the only way to gain fame and glory was to clinch victories in their battles. In fact, they had been devising ways to convince King Bradlor of this ever since Lin Li brought the Fifth Fleet to its downfall.
However, Bradlor chose the former option after weighing the pros and cons. That did not mean he was a weakling. It meant that he had chosen an option that was the best for the Gilded Kingdom. If that could not bring him towards his goals, he would definitely consider the second option.
Although war was a violent method, one would need a valid reason to start a war. This was especially so for the Gilded Kingdom which wanted to rule over the forces in the Breezy Plains. An important thing for the kingdom to do was to win the hearts of the people there. After all, they had suffered an unreasonable loss when the Tower of Dusk destroyed the Fifth Fleet.
But, this time, it was a hard fact that the sailors from the Tower of Dusk had assaulted Prince Vincent. The Tower of Dusk also created a huge ruckus over these sailors in the military territory. Although the result was not as tragic as the Fifth Fleet’s ending, the embarrassment was real. It was as if the Tower of Dusk had slapped the king’s face and trampled the dignity of the Gilded Kingdom. Could there be any other behavior worse than this?
Delano and Cate soon saw eye to eye with each other. Cate let the guards leave the aftermath of the commotion as evidence of the crime. Then, they sped off to the palace, and spread the news to the supporters of the military.
Moments later, Delano and Cate arrived at the gates of the palace. In order to avoid appearing too deliberate, they did not wait for the military supporters to arrive. After sending their plea to meet the king, they waited to be summoned into the palace.
On their way to the king, the two men learned from the guards that King Bradlor was in a meeting with his ministers. And those ministers were the key figures in support of peace. This information brought a smile to the two men, and motivated them to accelerate their pace.
These ministers had been arguably more powerful than the military when King Bradlor decided to adopt a peaceful strategy. This time, Delano and Cate had enough confidence that they would be able to use their information to give these supporters of peace a tight slap.
Before entering the discussion hall, they changed their expressions, and displayed deep grief and great indignation. Then, they ran into the hall and knelt before King Bradlor. “Your Majesty, please bring us justice! The people from the Breezy Plains are too outrageous!” cried the two men.
Hearing that, King Bradlor, Minister Carron, and the rest of them looked at both of them puzzledly. “What’s with the two of you? Stand up to speak! Delano, didn’t I let you stay at home? Why are you here with General Cate?!” hollered King Bradlor furiously when he saw their lack of composure.
Delano’s excitement in making the complaint caused him to forget about the fact that he was still being punished by the king. Although his father was the high priest of the kingdom, it was the king who had the final say. Hence, he stood at his spot blankly, and was at a loss for words.
“Your Majesty, President Felic from the Tower of Dusk is extremely lawless! He totally has no regard for the Gilded Kingdom!” cried General Cate, the commander of the royal guards. He shifted the king’s attention away from Delano. This time, it was his unit that suffered great losses. The agony underlying his tone was definitely not feigned.
