king.

Arriving at Canglan City after two months of absence, the environment in the city was already completely different.Although wartime economic policies are still being implemented, the mental outlook of the people has undergone earth-shaking changes.

In the past year, the Alpha people have had too many experiences. They have experienced all the major events that may not have happened in the past 100 years.

First, there was a concentrated outbreak of cult rebellion, and then there was a natural disaster that was rare in a century. The smoke of war filled the continent.

Immediately after Charles III proclaimed himself emperor, the anti-French war broke out.Almost at the same time, the Kingdom was invaded by the Orc Empire.

The powerful and arrogant Holy See revealed its true colors during the anti-French war and fell directly from its peak, triggering changes in the political landscape of the human race. 1
It can be said that the past 99998 years have been the most chaotic year.

However, all this chaos was reversed after 99999.

First, Hudson burned the orc camp on the banks of Xueyue Lake, establishing the kingdom's strategic initiative in one fell swoop.

Then the Human Alliance Parliament was held in Canglan City, and the Alpha Kingdom entered the stage of international politics for the first time and wrote its own glory.

Driven by interests, the three major powers of the human race worked together to achieve peace within the human race at the expense of the Holy See.

Hudson, the No. 1 general on the mainland, was awarded the title of Marshal of the Human Race.

A sudden flood buried the ambitions of the Orc Empire, and the 300-year war between the Alpha Kingdom and the Orcs ushered in a critical turning point.

After witnessing all this, many people still couldn't believe it.Especially for the people of Alpha Kingdom, the boulder that had been weighing on everyone's hearts for more than 300 years was just removed.

The mainstream war in the northern continent in the future will be the Alpha Kingdom's expedition to the orc prairie, rather than the orcs' invasion of the kingdom.

Perhaps the subsequent war will also involve alien alliances, but those are things that big figures need to consider, and ordinary people simply can't think of that much.

The unprecedented victory inspired the morale of the people of the kingdom.Although life is still very difficult, everyone's spirit is very high.

Although the people did not share much in the kingdom's victory, they still received it.

With the expansion of territory, there is a huge labor gap.If they want to increase the population, the nobles must create a social environment more suitable for human reproduction.

It can be said that the next hundred years will be the most comfortable hundred years for the people of Alpha.The dividends brought by expansion will change everyone’s life.

As the main contributor to this prosperous era, Hudson's investiture ceremony attracted attention from all walks of life.

The scene was very grand. All the princes and nobles of the kingdom and representatives of the Human Alliance Parliament were present at the scene. There were countless layers of spectators.

In order to maintain order on the scene, the five legions stationed in the royal capital were dispatched collectively, and masters from the Magic Academy and the Arcane Academy were also mobilized.

Compared with the high-standard ceremony, the detailed layout of the scene was much shabby.

Obviously, the Ministry of Finance that Hudson was familiar with did not become more generous just because of the change of finance minister.

There is nothing unbalanced. The king's enthronement ceremony can be kept simple, and the conferring ceremony can also be done naturally.

No matter how much you save, mobilizing so much manpower and material resources to receive many guests at the scene still costs a lot of money.

After scanning the audience, a smile appeared on Hudson's lips.The highlight moment of life is nothing more than this.

The protagonist appeared and the atmosphere became more and more lively.

"Human Marshal" is a rare thing, even rarer than a king ascending the throne.

As long as you are not a short-lived person, you will always catch a king ascending the throne once or twice in your life.If you live longer, it would not be a strange thing to witness the change of kingship three or five times.

However, it may not be possible to produce a human marshal for hundreds of years. The conferment ceremony of Hudson is not only the first time that everyone has seen it, but also the first time in the history of the Alpha Kingdom.

The little people are celebrating, but in the VIP table there are several families who are happy and others who are sad.

Referring to the previous births of human marshals, they all came with bloody storms.

Either to turn the tide in a critical moment, or to kill everyone in order to expand the territory of the human race.

Hudson was caught between the two, and he was able to turn the tide for the human race in the northern continent, and at the same time, he opened up a wave of territory and expanded his territory.

If the Alpha Kingdom can gradually encroach on the Orc Empire, the structure of the entire continent will change as a result.

It doesn't matter if you can't do it. After this battle, the human race's strength in the northern continent once again approached the alien alliance.

Without the main force of the Orc Empire, the only people in the Northern Continent worthy of being feared by the Alpha Kingdom are the elves.

As for the ancient remnant alliance whose vitality was severely damaged, the Moxi people, who had greatly increased their strength, were able to suppress them.

It can be said that the situation of the human race is unprecedentedly good.

However, no matter how favorable the situation on the mainland is, not every country is qualified to share in it.

For several declining big countries, even if the human race could unify the continent, they would not be able to share the huge dividends.

The seats were arranged according to strength, and several representatives of the declining kingdom happened to be arranged together.Together with the representatives of the Holy See, they are the Alliance of the Frustrated Human Race in Aslant Continent.

"Reform" is a word that comes to mind again.

Reality tells them that they cannot continue to sink.Otherwise, if the boat capsizes, they and the people on the boat will not be able to escape.

In the past few years, there have been countless negative teaching materials, the most typical one is Warhammer Kingdom.

As one of the ten largest kingdoms in the mainland, due to the intensification of internal conflicts, they became the first big country to fall among the human race.

For the representatives of various countries present here, although the territory is deep in the hinterland of the human race, it does not mean that they are not in danger.

If you look at the Holy See, you will know that if there was no anti-French war, their paper tiger would still be able to show off its power for many years.

It's a pity that they don't have self-awareness. The paper tigers regard themselves as real tigers and constantly seek death to attract hatred.

Even though it is declining now, the pride in my heart has not dissipated.I want to unite with these declining kingdoms, but I can't let go.

Of course, the main reason is hatred.Someone just ransacked my own home, wouldn't it look shameful to get involved again?
Among the three fallen kingdoms, the Kingdom of Ruthenia did the most brilliantly. It not only confiscated the Holy See's property, but also cut off their tentacles.

The clergy sent by the Holy See were all labeled as heretics and sent directly to the barbecue.

Nobles close to the Holy See were also purged.The excuse is the same as the one used by the Holy See to eliminate dissidents when it was infiltrated - cultists.

Following the Kingdom of Avalat, the Kingdom of Ruthenia, which seized the opportunity, is also embarking on the road of reform.

Because the stumbling block of the Holy See was overturned, the progress of the reforms in the Kingdom of Ruthenia was even faster than that of the Kingdom of Avarat.

The only one that didn't respond was the Kingdom of Oprus.However, being so stimulated by their neighbors, their calls for domestic reform are also increasing day by day.

I don’t know if it can be reborn from the ashes. Anyway, "reform" is particularly popular in the Aslant continent now, as if changing the law means that it cannot keep up with the times.

In addition to these three countries, the three countries in China and Mainland China also launched a massive "reform to survive" movement, and there were even more reforms in small countries.

Even in a large country like the Alpha Kingdom that has won successive victories, calls for internal reform are rising.

Landmark event: Reformist leader Marquis Delgado ascended to the position of prime minister.

Count Francis, the successor as finance minister, was forced to become a member of the reformists due to the nature of his work.

Of course, his will to reform was not firm. While supporting reform, he was also trying to use other methods to save the kingdom's finances.

For example: encourage the king to go bankrupt.

After all, compared with legal reform, the risk of fiscal bankruptcy is much smaller.

If the reform fails, you may lose your life.The kingdom's finances would go bankrupt, and at worst, it would be infamy.

In view of the special circumstances of the Alpha Kingdom's continuous wars, it is estimated that the domestic nobles are too embarrassed to curse, and at most they will curse foreign creditors.

In addition to these two giants, at the behest of Caesar IV, the Marquis of Omar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Count Linares, Minister of Agriculture, also became representatives of the reformists.

The six giants were [-] to [-] on the issue of reform. It can be said that the reformists have occupied a dominant position in the court.

Unfortunately, the brilliance of the reformists only ends there.The local nobles are basically conservatives.

Reforms that cannot win the support of local powerful people are typical of government orders that do not leave the royal capital.The end result is that the reformists have loud voices, but actual actions are limited to slogans.

Not only the human race is playing with reforms, but the alien races are not idle either.Realizing that they were stuck in their own ways and unable to fight against the human race, the far-sighted people of the alien race also set off a wave of reform within the race.

Perhaps due to long-term trade with the human race, the dwarves are the most severely impacted by new ideas.The younger generation of dwarves has challenged the traditional production model.

Even the elves, the boss of the alien alliance, have been hit by the wave of reform.

As the oldest race on the continent, they are also the most conservative and have the strictest internal class divisions.

It seems that the elves value every clan member, but once the internal hierarchy is touched, they are not merciless at all.

"Whizzing……"

More than a dozen crossbow arrows shot through the air towards the high platform. Bear Stearns reacted quickly and hurriedly set up a magic shield.

"Catch the assassin!"

The guards who reacted hurriedly chased in the direction where the crossbow arrows came from.

At this moment, dozens of assassins pretending to be ordinary people took the weapons of the guards and rushed towards the high platform.

Seeing this scene, Hudson's smile instantly faded.

Knowing that he had two major bodyguards from the Sanctuary, he still used such a clumsy assassination method. It was obviously more of a cause of trouble than an assassination.

Do you really think he won't kill people when he did this at his investiture ceremony?
If it weren't for Caesar IV on the side, who was also within the range of the crossbow, Hudson would have suspected that Caesar IV was worried about his great achievements and wanted to eliminate hidden dangers in advance.

Assassins kept appearing, dragging the scene into chaos, and a large-scale stampede occurred in full view of everyone.

The kingdom masters reacted and quickly suppressed the chaos at the scene, but the kingdom still lost face to grandma's house.

"Keep them alive and investigate the masterminds behind the scenes!"

Caesar IV ordered murderously.

The slap in the face was too violent!

The carefully prepared investiture ceremony, which was originally a show of force to other countries on the mainland, has now become a farce and a laughing stock.

Not only was Hudson the client unable to bear it, but he, the king, could not bear it even more.

You must know that the last major assassination case in the kingdom has not been solved yet, and now there is a second wave.

If the culprits are not uncovered, there will be a third and fourth wave in the future...

Hudson has two major sanctuaries as bodyguards, which is not a big problem, but he is not a king!
The Alpha Kingdom does have a sanctuary, but it is impossible to expect the strong men from the sanctuary to guard him 24 hours a day.

Those who can become a saint are cultivating madmen. It is not enough for Caesar IV to have people give up their cultivation and come to work as bodyguards.

Even Charles III, the most powerful country in the mainland, did not have this kind of pomp.

Of course, as long as the king is not too promiscuous, his safety is still guaranteed.

The palace is heavily guarded, and there are many strong men from the royal family who are cultivators. Even if you break into the sanctuary, you may not be able to leave alive.

With the assassination episode, everyone lost interest, and the investiture ceremony ended hastily.

……

Late at night, the Marshal's Mansion was still brightly lit.

Looking at the investigation report copied from the Forbidden Army, Hudson's brows furrowed.

According to the above content, a total of 170 assassins were captured and killed this time, belonging to three different organizations.

More clues await further investigation and interrogation.

With so many assassins sneaking in, and even the most advanced military magic crossbows, if they were all foreign forces, then Caesar IV would have too little control over the capital.

If there is internal coordination, who would dare to be so bold?

There is no love or hate for no reason in the world, and the cost of training assassins is also very high. If so many assassins are sent out at one time, there must be a motive for committing the crime, right?

With a lot of questions, Hudson couldn't help but take stock of his past.

Having traveled all the way to the present by stepping on the bones of aliens, Hudson actually doesn't have many enemies in the kingdom, and even fewer significant enemies.

At the very least, the current Koslow family has no way to mobilize such a large assassin group without exposing themselves.

For such a grand gesture, it would be fine if the assassination was successful, but just causing trouble would be too extravagant.

You must know that the resources to train so many assassins can support an elite infantry regiment.

Or is it possible that today’s assassination target is not himself, but Caesar IV?

If Bear Stearns reacted a step slower, with the speed of the magic crossbow, others would not have time to intercept it, and with the skill of the Grand Knight Caesar IV, the probability of avoiding it would be almost zero.

If the king died during the investiture ceremony...Hudson couldn't even think about it.

……

In the Emerald Palace, Caesar IV was still in shock and could not fall asleep.

The experience during the day was so horrific that it reminded him of what happened to his father.

"Someone is here, summon the generals responsible for daytime defense!"

His intuition told him that there was a traitor among these people.

If no one in the royal capital cooperated, it would have been impossible for the assassin to bring the magic crossbow to the scene after going through layers of inspections.

"Your Majesty, something bad is going on!
The assassins captured during the day were all poisoned and died in prison!

The Marquis of Milles, who was in charge of the defense, Count Roman, the captain of the palace guard, and the Marquis of Gadri, the commander of the Forbidden Army, collectively committed suicide out of fear of crime! "

Earl Mitchell said with a trembling voice
The palace minister's nerves couldn't bear the death of so many important figures at once, and at such a sensitive moment.

"Suicide out of fear of crime", isn't this a trick?
The case has not yet been clearly investigated, and the responsibilities involved have not been clearly divided, so there is no need to rush to commit suicide in fear of guilt.

In the Kingdom of Alpha, apart from the battlefield, there are many procedures to execute a noble.

As long as he is not involved in the assassination, he will be dismissed from his post for dereliction of duty, and in more serious cases, he will be imprisoned.

Today's suicide in fear of crime is equivalent to admitting to participating in the assassination, and the whole family will be unlucky together.

What's even worse is that these three are all palace nobles promoted after Caesar IV came to power.

If anyone has the ability to take the blame for these three suicides, it is none other than Caesar IV.

This is not an assassination case, it is clearly a case of shuffling the power of the kingdom!
Once Marshal Hudson was convinced that the assassination was planned by the king, and pushed the military leader to oppose the royal family, the kingdom would never have peace.

"what?"

"This is impossible!"

"How come all three of them are related to this case?"

"Could it be that someone killed them and spread suspicion again, trying to divert our attention?"

Caesar IV exclaimed.

This pit is really too big.

Once it falls into it, the kingdom's good situation will be destroyed immediately.

The king cannot bear this crime!