Chapter 277 - Parliament

Chapter 277: Chapter 33 ParliamentOver a month had passed, and the elf tribe continued to be elusive; their traces were found within the various countries, yet their true intentions remained inscrutable.

Though Lu Hong was not concerned about the divine artifacts within the elf relics, he still took great interest in the reasons behind the elf tribe’s activation of the relics. Lei Shan always believed that the Ambra plane housed an ultra-large teleportation gate, and besides the earth’s core, the most likely place for such a portal to appear was within the elf tribe’s relics.

Lu Hong was determined to attend the Eagle Alliance; a decisive battle between the Sacred Empire and the Eagle Alliance was inevitable, so having control over the portal would also provide him with the perfect convenience to avenge Piao Miao. The strategic value for the war between nations was self-evident.

"Baron, His Majesty says that the Shate Kingdom, Liang Chen, and the kingdom of Black have personally come to Cang City. They want to discuss with you the matter of dealing with the elf tribe."

Lu Hong opened his eyes and spoke to the maid outside the room, "Wait a moment, I’ll be right there."

"Very well, I shall wait here."

Exiting the state of meditation, Lu Hong, with the help of the cultivation resources from Cang Country, had successfully advanced to Second Transition Level 3 in his Great War Master vocation. As for the Angry Blood Warrior vocation, it reached the Second-Transformation Peak Complete stage after he killed the Burning Serpent. With a full mastery in three areas, Lu Hong’s strength was formidable. Even without the descent of a Heavenly God or the Holy Sword in hand, he still found few who could match him. With his extraordinary physical resistance under full mastery, his opponents could only inflict sixty percent of the usual damage on him, and in skill confrontation, Lu Hong held a huge advantage. The blood of the War God greatly enhanced the power of his skills. At this point, Lu Hong was confident that he could hold his ground in a fight at the Third Transition Early Stage without falling short.

He passed through the palace corridors and entered the council hall, where the rulers of four countries had been waiting for quite some time.

"Baron, it has been a while. How have you been?" Liang Chen, the King, spoke first. With a glance, the two young women beside him approached Lu Hong and bowed slightly, "We have seen the Baron."

Looking down, the two women were extremely beautiful, hardly inferior to Danni.

"Hey, weren’t we supposed to talk about business?" the King of Cang snorted coldly, "I knew you weren’t here with good intent."

"We are indeed here to talk about business. I merely brought the ladies of our country to witness the Baron’s imposing presence. That doesn’t conflict with the regular proceedings, does it?" said Liang Chen, the King, indifferently, without paying much heed to the King of Cang.

Seeing that Liang Chen had taken the initiative and knowing that doing the same would seem inferior, the rulers of the Kingdom of Black and the Shate Kingdom put aside their thoughts and said, "Let’s not talk too much for now. The elves who sneaked into Ambra this time seem to be more numerous than in previous years."

The King of Cang looked towards the Crown Prince of the Pingyao Country and asked, "How is it in your Pingyao Country?"

The Crown Prince of Pingyao Country was quite young, about fifteen years old, and almost cried under the intense gaze of the King of Cang, "My... my father... said that there appeared... thirteen thousand and twenty... individuals on his territory..."

"There, there, calm down. Don’t make it look like I’m bullying you," the King of Cang patted his forehead in exasperation. The King of Pingyao was like a bandit from childhood, fearing neither heaven nor earth. How could he have sired such a timid son?

"How’s your father?" asked the ruler of the Kingdom of Black.

The Crown Prince of Pingyao shook his head and sniffed, "My father has all his internal organs shattered. He’s only kept alive by Magic Power. The imperial physician says he has less than three months to live."

"If you face any trouble in your country in the future, just send a letter. I will help you resolve even the greatest of problems," the ruler of the Kingdom of Black promised.

The Crown Prince of Pingyao nodded, "Thank you, Uncle Ji."

Lu Hong took his seat next to the King of Cang, and the casual chatter came to an end.

The King of Cang was the first to speak, "The number of elves that have infiltrated Ambra this time is truly alarming. There were over ten thousand in Pingyao Country, and in my Cang Country, the number is even closer to twenty thousand."

"There were over eighteen thousand in the Kingdom of Black, however..." The ruler of the Kingdom of Black paused, "I’ve already killed a good number of them."

"You took action?" The King of Cang was taken aback, "They haven’t even opened the relic yet, how could you move against them already?"

The ruler of the Kingdom of Black chuckled, "I don’t have the patience to indulge them. Whenever they enter my kingdom’s territory, aren’t they always chased and killed? If I let them go unchecked this time, it would raise their suspicions."

"There were around eight thousand elves in Liang Chen’s territory."

"The Shate Kingdom has 15,231 people."

As the count of elves from each country was disclosed, it wasn’t difficult to determine the strength of each nation’s intelligence agencies. Some could pinpoint the number of elves down to the individual, while others could only make rough estimates, revealing significant disparities.

After tallying up, the number of elves who had infiltrated Umbra approached an astonishing hundred thousand!

"A hundred thousand elves, they’re gearing up for war with us!" The King of Cang leaned back on his throne, "What do you all plan to do?"

"Take out a bunch first, or we’ll be under too much pressure once the relic opens," suggested the King of the Black Nation. "Let’s not be too lenient with these elves. Baron, what do you think?"

"Me?" Lu Hong chuckled, "Such matters should be discussed amongst you Kings, I don’t know anything at all."

"Don’t be too serious, Baron. If you have any suggestions, feel free to speak out," said the King of Shate Country. "Don’t you have enemies? I’m just worried that, if we prematurely kill off a batch of elves and accidentally take down your nemesis, it would disrupt your plans for revenge."

"That won’t happen." Lu Hong was very certain, "The opponent is a princess of the elf race; she won’t die so easily."

"Alright, then we’ll start by killing off half of the elves to alleviate the pressure of competing for dominance when the relic opens," Cang, the king, decided on the spot, and the other Kings agreed.

Soon enough, each country’s plan for reduction was formulated.

Lu Hong took the opportunity to voice his doubts, "Honorable Kings, do any of you know that Umbra conceals an ultra-large transmission gate?"

"I’ve heard of it," explained King Liang Chen. "There are rumors that the elf relic is the entrance to the transmission gate. However, we’re not sure whether it’s true."

"Could there be a transmission gate within the earth’s core?" After pondering, Lu Hong decided to be frank, "In the underworld, the countries of Hengdao, Pingyao, and your Liang Chen Country’s Yanwu all have hidden spies from the Eagle Alliance. Their aim is to find this ultra-large transmission gate for Lei Shan, laying the groundwork for a future attack against the Empire."

"I know," King Liang Chen didn’t hide the fact, "I knew they were people from Lei Shan from the start."

"Hm?" The Black King looked towards King Liang Chen, "And you still dared to include them in Yanwu?"

"It was a trade."

"A trade?" Upon hearing King Liang Chen’s explanation, Cang sneered, "You people from Liang Chen Country really do love making trades."

"What do you know, idiot?" King Liang Chen cast a contemptuous glance at Cang, "I reported this matter to Emperor Konstantin long ago. He approved my plan, and together we planted a mole within the Eagle Alliance. Isn’t that a good thing?"

"But if there truly is an ultra-large transmission gate at the earth’s core and Lei Shan and his people get to it, do you realize Umbra will become a battlefield?!" Cang banged the table in anger, "You’re either colluding with sinister entities like the Disaster Church or siding with the Empire’s adversaries. What is your endgame?!"

"I have nothing to be ashamed of, Cang Qingtian. Some matters don’t require your concern; tend to your own backyard."

"You looking for trouble?!"

Seeing the two Kings at each other’s throats, with tensions escalating, the Black King swiftly intervened, "Alright, Cang, save your breath. King Liang Chen, you too. This matter is of great importance; you should have communicated with us."

"Communicate what? If you knew, Lei Shan wouldn’t have been kept in the dark. Do you think the Kings of Hengdao and Pingyao realize they’re being used as pawns by others?" King Liang Chen paused, "By not telling you, at least I can keep an eye on the enemies lurking in the shadows. If I let it slip, then we’re all exposed and any contingency Lei Shan has in place will catch us unprepared. Even if Lei Shan discovers the transmission gate, so what? I will report it to the Empire at once. At that time, the Sacred Empire will take strict control and will surely catch them off guard in the future. We might even use the transmission gate to counter-attack the Alliance. Danger and opportunity ... always coexist."

After listening to King Liang Chen’s explanation, the Shate King chuckled, "You old rascal, you haven’t yet unified Umbra and you’re already focused on external affairs."

"Is that not allowed?" King Liang Chen raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, sure, sure," the Black King waved his hand dismissively. "Consider me overpowered by your arguments."