the last king of darkness

Chapter 222 Undercurrent
king district.

Supreme Council.

In the incomparably magnificent Hall of Fire.

Wang once again laid out his plans for expansion.

"...The Kuroshio has caused major changes in the power of monsters in the dark world, and many areas have become weak. According to the observation of the White Tower, we will have a long period of good days in the future."

"This is a very good opportunity. With Star City as a base, control all nearby areas, and then expand westward to capture the Storm Pass. The territory lost for 600 years can be included in the range of Trorian again."

Armando shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, we have just gone through a long bloody battle. When the apocalypse and the black tide came, you insisted on not giving up on the City of Stars, which caused us great losses."

"The soldiers are already exhausted, all the medical clinics in the royal city are full, and the purification ceremony of the Soul Church continues all night."

The leader of the Healing Order stood up and said: "Your Majesty, all our central healers and healing nuns are doing their best to treat them, but there are still many permanent disabilities left."

Soul master Priscilla said softly: "The souls of many fighters are severely corrupted. Our purification ability has reached its limit. The infection of the black mist is not so easy to remove. The fighters have been fighting on the front line for too long."

Hu Lun, chief of logistics, also said: "The Sealand military base is full, and the appointment for combat ratings has already arrived next year. Soldiers need time to digest experience, and the combat system also needs time to update."

Some high-ranking figures are also wailing.

"Your Majesty, your new law is too harsh."

"The tax is too heavy."

"Why are mills outlawed?"

"They are all voluntary..."

Wang's eyes swept over them coldly, and the noise suddenly died down.

"Flesh mills are absolutely not allowed to exist. If people eat people, what is the difference between them and monsters? What is the difference between a human king's city and a monster's den?"

"We feel uncomfortable now because we have lived in the red earth plain for too long. This land can no longer carry so many people. We lack too many resources. How many people cannot be promoted because of resource problems? The annual fire trial, How many people have been missed because of resource problems?"

"We need a wider living space. Now, it's time to take another step outside."

The king's voice fell, and there was a long silence in the hall of fire.

Neither the group of elders, the consul, nor the head of the legion who had just returned to the king's city, the guardians, did not speak.

Ultimately, expansion plans were shelved due to huge controversy.

The group of elders believed that after occupying Star City, they used it as an enclave, firmly defending the city, and only mined raw crystal ores and sunstone mines for the royal city.

The king intends to use Star City as a base to incorporate all nearby areas into Trorian's territory and continue to expand westward.

The legion leaders have different opinions, and the guardians also have their own ideas.

After the meeting adjourned, the respective groups at the top level gathered together.

Jon, the guardian and candidate for the king, was enthusiastically wooed by the crowd headed by the Grand Judge Manolobana and the Justice Levill.

They desperately hope that Jon will stand up and do them justice.

"Lord Jon, His Majesty taxed us too heavily. We are the financial pillar of the Royal City. If we are squeezed out like this, what will happen if the pillar falls?"

"Yes, [-]% of the heavy tax is too much. Why do ordinary people who don't contribute only pay [-]% of the tax? Why do pillars like us pay so much?"

"The Flesh Mill is not what we are willing to do. Those poor people have no way to survive, and staying in this world is just a waste of the heat of the holy flame. Isn't it the best choice for them to sell themselves and save their families?"

"That's right, they donate blood, flesh and souls to make soul red crystals, extract living spirituality, and provide supplies for the soldiers on the front line. Why should such things that serve multiple purposes be banned?"

"Our territory is already big enough, there is no need to expand it, and it doesn't matter if some poor people die."

Jon was silent.

These people didn't understand the cruelty he advocated. If he came to the throne, he would ransack all these people's families and exterminate their families immediately. Their property is much more useful than the empty pockets of those poor people.

Then he will implement an iron-fisted rule in the royal city, and use more cruel means to expand outward.

In essence, he and Wang are in the same direction, only more radical,
And these idiots actually thought that he was with them.

But his adjutant, Vilas, gently pulled the corner of his clothes, telling him to pay attention to attracting more supporters.

Jon sighed softly in his heart, and began to respond to their words in a limited way.

-

Qingyu, the guardian and candidate for the king, received a much warmer win over.

Everyone knows that Your Excellency Qingyu is kind-hearted, as long as it is not against common sense and not too much, she can't bear to refuse.

This is how her 160 quasi-king husbands came.

She also has a lot of influence over Wang.

Everyone hoped that she could persuade the king, let Trorian calm down for the time being, and stop making further moves.

Whether they are combatants or non-combatants, whether they are firemen or ordinary people, they are all very tired and eager to enjoy this rare peaceful day.

The white wolf Vermeer stood by Qingyu's side, ready to kick some malicious guys away at any time.

-

Xing Ge, the guardian and candidate for the king, was ignored because he was too young and had no influence.

Unless Jon and Qingyu die suddenly, it is impossible for him to take the throne.

-

Archbishop Horus was also ignored. He is the king's hardcore supporter, so there is no need to look for him.

Those who do not support the king have no need to look for him.

But the Holy Church is not Horus' monopoly, and other bishops and high priests also have a certain right to speak.

-

The First Defense Chief Lin convened all the army commanders and people above the captain, and opened a closed-door meeting.

-

The mansion of the first elder, Armando, gathered the most people.

Many hoped that the city's second-in-command, leader of the Conservatives, would dissuade the king from his adventurous plans.

But not everyone is conservative, and many want to recreate Trorian's glory days.

They have now reached their strongest state in 100 years, but they are still far from the Trorian era 200 years ago, 300 years ago, 600 years ago, or even further back.

No one wants to recast the glory of the past.

In the dark world, only more partners can bring greater security.

They also hope to persuade the first elder to support Wang's plan.

This is not without chance.

The First Elder is the most respectful of traditions, and maintaining Trorian's inheritance and rules is more important than their lives.

Among the first elders of all generations, Amondo also belongs to the most conservative group.

If he can find some evidence from ancient classics, he may be able to convince him.

-

Some people support Wang's plan, while others oppose it.

And Tarynas, chief executive officer of Wangcheng, is the most opposed person among all opponents.

He has a lot of industries in major Trorian cities such as King City, Iron Furnace City, Mountain City, and Stone City.

If Wang's new law is implemented, he and his family will suffer a terrible loss.

The new bill is implemented for expansion.

Therefore, Tallinas is extremely opposed to expansion.

late at night.

Manolobana, Leville and other high-level personnel gathered in his mansion for the second time.

This time, there were no quarrels and disputes, they were all on the same side, and only needed to discuss the plan.

From Wang's recent series of actions, Tarynas accurately analyzed that Wang tried to appoint Rhodes as the King's Hand in order to make him the vanguard of the expansion plan.

Judge Amory wondered: "Has the king lost his mind? What's the use of this young boy?"

"That's right, he has only been a fireman for less than half a year. He is a waste. Why did he become the vanguard of the expansion plan?"

"As a pioneer, he is bound to fail miserably. I'll see what those lunatics who are so happy with their achievements have to say."

"wrong."

Manolobana stared at Rhodes' file transcript.

"It is impossible for Wang to make such a stupid mistake, we cannot underestimate him."

Justice Kramer sneered, "Except for the time when he obtained Theodore's soul ripple, what achievements does he have to boast about?"

"He doesn't have any command experience, hasn't experienced the cruelty of pioneering, and hasn't even finished his studies. The western part of Star City is very dangerous. The investigation legion has discovered two corruption lairs one after another. He has only one ending in the past, and that is complete destruction."

Justice LeVell agreed: "That's right."

"Do not."

Manolo Bana still shook his head.

"You are too arrogant. Think about what the king has done. Can you imagine today 20 years ago? He controlled the Holy Church, controlled the military and war department, and made opponents like us have to work for him, and No matter how much trouble we make, we won’t be able to turn the sky around.”

Everyone's faces became a little gloomy.

Only Talinas smiled: "Gula, continue."

Manolo Bana nodded slightly, and continued: "Let's take a closer look. The most strange thing is the Kuroshio mission. It was inexplicably delayed and replaced Rhodes, as if we were waiting for him."

"Assuming that Wang's foresight plan is bound to succeed, then, isn't this very similar to paving the way for Rhodes?"

The crowd fell silent.

Manolo Bana's fingers continued to swipe across the file.

"According to this logic, the king's purpose is obviously to make Rhodes the king's hand and the vanguard of his expansion plan."

"Wang knows that it is difficult to succeed in implementing the expansion plan forcefully, but it is much easier to only send some people for tentative expansion as the second best thing."

"Assuming that Rhodes has achieved great success, and the loss of expansion is far less than the gain, most people in the royal city will change their attitudes and support Wang Zhixin."

"If the king further controls the government affairs system and the internal affairs system, he will have unprecedented power, and he can implement various new laws at will, and carry out expansion and even expedition plans."

"Everyone, when the time comes, your things will no longer be yours."

The voice fell, and there was silence in the mansion.

After a long time, Justice Leville asked in a horrified tone: "How is this possible? What's so special about that kid?"

A cold light flashed in Manolobana's eyes, he swallowed the real answer, and said lightly: "Have you forgotten Theodore? All these changes happened after the giant battle, maybe Theodore bestowed upon him Some kind of magical power, thus gaining the trust of the king."

"Correct!"

Justice Leville's eyes lit up.

"Maybe Theodore's soul ripples haven't completely dissipated, and some are hidden, waiting to be used when going out."

Judge Amory shouted: "I see! Theodore is not dead yet, and the king deliberately sent him, but in fact it was tantamount to sending Theodore. How could the legendary master of spells fail?"

"That's right, everyone in Wangcheng only saw that a young boy can succeed. They didn't expect Theodore to stand behind him!"

"It's so vicious! Fortunately, Lord Gula noticed it, otherwise we would be in trouble."

"Master Gula, what should we do now?"

Manolo Bana sneered: "The best way is to try our best to prevent him from passing the combat rating. As long as he fails to pass, the king has no reason to forcefully accept him as the Hand of the King."

"Yes, yes! Let's prepare now!"

"The fifth-level battle rating still has actual combat content. The monster that needs to be used in the trial has been captured. I will feed it rot to make it soar."

"I'm going to secretly modify the trial mechanism!"

"I'm going to influence the rating committee!"

"..."

Amidst the series of yells, Manolobana and Talinas looked at each other blankly, showing icy smiles.

-

the next day.

The Royal City Conference was held again in the Hall of Fire.

After a night of discussion, the tough attitudes of First Elder Amondo and many high-level officials eased.

Wang also made some concessions and decided to send an advance team to conduct a tentative expansion first, and then decide whether to expand further based on the results.

This plan was agreed by Armando.

Therefore, the topic of further expansion of Trorian has been settled for the time being.

The implementation of the new bill that goes with it has also been postponed.

-

Secret branch base.

According to the king's instructions, Rhodes is working hard to expand his influence in the hidden branch, trying to find more partners.

But the process has not been particularly smooth.

Sauron clearly rejected his solicitation, saying that he only obeyed Lady Olivia's orders.

Teresa agreed, but she is hitting the bottleneck of soul characteristics, and she must wait for her to complete the transformation before helping him.

Others did not refuse, but did not explicitly agree.

Kashan agreed.

But she is not yet an official combatant, and apart from completing missions of a training nature, she cannot choose independently.

When Rhodes was about to look away from the hidden branch, he received a notification from the Sealand military base——

His fifth-level combat rating trial has been prepared and will start at noon tomorrow.

finally come!

Rhodes clenched his fist for a moment.

Let you see my true strength.

(End of this chapter)