A Tale of Strategies For the Throne

In a secret private house in Tozes, those big businessmen who are heavyweights in the city of Tozes are gathering here to discuss important matters.

"Your Excellency Taka is not here?"

"That His Highness is here. It's better to keep a low profile recently. He won't come forward to contact us for the time being."

"fair enough."

An older businessman with gray temples nodded.

"So, how are things going?" he said.

"Everything is going smooth."

"Didn't it be arranged on the second night of the inauguration ceremony of the temple? On the night of the ceremony..."

Talking businessman says an ambiguous word.

"This is a rare celebration, isn't this a bit of a disappointment?"

On the other side, the middle-aged housekeeper who was sent by the consul to attend this private meeting answered.

"No way, no matter how the consul lord persuades, that His Highness has decided to return to the royal city early the next morning."

"Therefore, the time can only be brought forward to the evening of the same day," he said.

"Since that's the case, that's the only way to go."

The older businessman shook his head regretfully.

"Then, everyone, get ready." He said with a smile, "We in Tozes have to resist pirates all year round, but it is very hard work, and the naval casualties are also very heavy."

"That's right." Bertola also smiled and said, "So, the amount of naval maintenance costs in previous years is no longer enough. Tozes City must leave more taxes in order to continue to resist pirates."

He crossed one leg, clasped his hands on his knees, and sat upright on the chair, with a smug smile on his lips.

"We have to make that clear to the prince."

He spread his hands and laughed.

"And what better way to realize that than to have a prince experience the city being attacked by pirates first-hand?"

When he said this, everyone in the luxuriously decorated room laughed.

Vicious pirates attack Torzes.

In the middle of the night, the Tozeth Navy and the pirates waged a mighty and fierce battle.

The young prince, who is said to have never fought a battle, must have been terrified by the horrors of war.

It is said that the prince, known as the 'wise prince', has a pure and kind heart.

As long as the prince realizes how terrible the pirates are, he waits for others to join the consul to cry to him, and then let him look at the soldiers who were injured or died in battle, it will definitely arouse the pity of the other party, and he will take the opportunity to propose an increase in military expenditure , to withhold more taxes—

perfect process.

perfect result.

The complacent Bertola finished laughing and looked to the side of the room.

There was a thin man standing in the corner, shrouded in shadows, looking very inconspicuous.

He looks ordinary and has no sense of existence.When everyone was talking, he kept his head down, and he wore a wide hat on his head, which completely covered his face, making it impossible to see his face clearly.

"Advance the action time to tomorrow night, do you have any problems?"

"My lords, please rest assured."

The man rested his hand on his chest, bowed slightly to answer, and only a humble smile appeared on the corner of his mouth under the wide brim of his hat.

"Our boss said that we will never delay the affairs of adults."

"That's good."

Bertola nodded with satisfaction.

Although there is darkness to cover up in the middle of the night, since it is necessary to pretend to have a fierce battle with the pirates and communicate with each other, it cannot be done without the cooperation of the other party.

Everyone is satisfied.

Now that the pirate leader gave a guarantee, they were relieved.

After all, the two of them have cooperated very well in the past few years.The reputation of that group of pirates may sound terrifying, but they are actually very trustworthy.

They gave the pirates enough money to satisfy their appetites, in exchange for them not attacking their merchant ships.

At the same time, make Tozes a point of sale for pirates and provide them with various conveniences for selling stolen goods.

Anyway, these merchants also think that a large amount of goods can promote the prosperity of Tozes and increase tax revenue. As for whether the origin of those goods and slaves is stained with blood... Hehe, it's none of their business, as long as they don't delay their making money.

In order to avoid suspicion from the people above, they colluded with the pirates and let them pretend to attack Tozes every once in a while.

Give pirates some sweetness, you can better buy them and drive them.

Although they are a pack of hungry wolves, they can still be as obedient as dogs if they are properly raised.

The big merchant thought with such satisfaction.

Sometimes, these merchants will let the Tozes navy, which is already under their control, deliberately pretend to be unable to resist, and let the pirates attack the city.

Anyway, the lower city of Tozes City near the coast is where some poor people, slaves and ordinary civilians live. These big businessmen live in the upper city a little further away.

As for the pirates coming in, raping, looting, burning, killing, and looting in the lower city... well, anyway, it's none of their business if they didn't kill them in their house.

Moreover, the pirates robbed the civilians of their property, and after they retreated, those civilians who could not survive the disaster could only sell their children, relatives, or even themselves to them, or sell their houses to them in exchange for meager income. Possessions barely survived.

In this way, they easily obtained a large number of slaves, and they could also buy a large number of real estate in the city at an extremely cheap price, thus increasing their assets by a large amount.

It's just sitting and making money, which is really flattering.

If it weren't for worrying about attracting the attention of the higher-ups, and considering the issue of exhausting the pond, they would even want the pirates to come so many times.

****

The inauguration of the Shamash Temple takes place at noon, when the sun is at its brightest.

The sun has been very hot since the morning, and the bright sun hangs high in the sky.

The temple is located by the sea, close to the wall of Tozeth near the sea.

It was originally a low-lying place, but when it was built, a solid high platform was piled up with stones and mud.

The huge and beautiful temple is located on the high platform, overlooking the large area of ​​the lower city.

On one side of the high platform, there was a row of golden seats, and behind each chair was a strong male servant holding a parasol.

Garlan was sitting in the center seat, Kehoes was standing behind him, and so was Little Fatty Tal.The team of personal guards stood upright at the back, and one of them was also holding the parasol.

Although there was a row of seats, the chairs on both sides of Garlan were empty.

Originally, according to the plan of the consul and those big businessmen, they had to sit on the chairs next to them.

However, the blond knight who was taller than them didn't even sit down, but stood behind Garlan. Naturally, it was difficult for them to sit down, so they could only stand beside him.

Unlike the strong knights, they hardly exercised, and they began to complain after standing for a long time.

But seeing that Prince Garlan didn't respond, they could only hold on and stand full of complaints.

The sun at noon was so strong that Garlan looked up, and saw the huge statue of Shamash standing in the center of the temple square.

A full height of tens of meters, even higher than that temple.

Shamash holds a sword in one hand and rests on the head of a lion beside him with the other. He is wearing golden armor and looks extremely mighty.

He stood on the ground, condescending, his golden eyes that refracted the sun amazingly looked down on the ground.

Behind his tall body is a resplendent and extremely gorgeous temple.

Shamash, the sun god, is a righteous and wise god.

The god of justice, the god of judgment.

I don't know if his golden eyes, which are said to be able to see through all darkness, can see the crimes hidden under the prosperous city of Tozes.

Garlan turned his head, and on the high platform near the sea, he could see the boundless sea as soon as he raised his eyes.

The weather is just right, and you can clearly see the clear sea horizon where the day meets the ground.

The solemn ceremony has begun, and the sound of the trumpet is sounded from the sea.

The heavy gate of the military port has been slowly pulled up, the gate is opened, and huge warships sail out of the port, heading towards the seaside on this side.

The long and low sound of the horn from the warship resounded from far to near, resounding through the entire coastline.

On the leading giant warship, Taka, who is the Admiral of the Tozes Navy, was wearing a gorgeous military uniform and stood at the bow of the ship in high spirits.

The sea breeze blows the thick cloak behind him into the air.

Behind him was a row of sailors blowing their horns.

The rows of huge warships will surround the temple, symbolizing the guardian temple, and they will guard the city of Tozeth under the watchful eye of Shamash.

It was a moment of great honor for the soldiers of Aaron Landis.

Garlan looked at the small figure that was too far away to see clearly, and remembered the message Seth had passed to him last night.

Seth was excluded from the task of guarding the temple ritual.

The order issued by Taka made him and his fleet stay in the military port, and he could not obtain such glory.

He was watching, when suddenly, the back of his hand felt cold.

Looking down, he saw a little water mark.

Where does the water come from?

Garlan looked up at the sky, only to see that the sun was shining brightly in the blue sky.

…………

While the inauguration ceremony of the temple was being held solemnly, the upper city seemed a little empty at the moment.

After all, almost all the powerful and powerful people attended the inauguration ceremony of the temple, so the upper city was much quieter than usual when it was free.

In a wide open space deep in a dense forest, nearly a hundred people gathered here.

The clothes of these people are all shabby, their skin is dark and rough, and most of them have mottled scars left on their bodies, most of which were whipped out.

Their faces are full of vicissitudes and dark colors, but they all have thick hands and feet, strong bodies, and strong physiques.

Because those among them who are in poor health have long been exhausted or beaten to death.

The people gathered here are big and small, old and young, with different skin colors and accents, but the only thing in common is that they all have a clear brand on their faces or bodies.

That's the brand of a slave.

The leader of these slaves was a stout man, he was bowing his head in silence, as if hesitating for something.

And the few people standing opposite the man were trying to persuade him with glaring tongues.

"What are you waiting for? If you miss this opportunity, you will only be slaves for the rest of your life!"

"There will never be a better chance than this time! As long as you succeed, you will be liberated from those noble lords and vicious businessmen."

"Look at the wounds on your body, how long will you be enslaved by those black-hearted guys?"

"You are not humble, you have powerful power, enough to subvert this unfair world."

The man's words stirred people's hearts, a little bit aroused the blood of the slaves who were still hesitating.

"Now, resist, it's time to knock down those who oppress you!"

"Those who are cruel to your life and death - those who brutally kill your loved ones -"

"Let them know how powerful you are! Let them know that even slaves have the power to resist them!"

It was an extremely passionate voice.

"Hit them! Let them no longer control you!"

"We will distribute their properties, houses, and land to you. From then on, you can live a life where you will never be beaten or scolded again, and you can still eat and drink enough."

The man's promise made the slaves look forward to the future.

"The Tozes Navy will be held back by the enemies outside, and it will be too late to come here. The city guards are all gathered in the lower city. Those black-hearted and timid guys need them to protect themselves and will not let them come here."

"So, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

The man suddenly raised his volume.

"Don't hesitate any longer, now is the time for you to free yourself from slavery!"

Many slaves looked at each other. At this moment, they saw the blazing flames in each other's eyes.

Filled with pent-up rage, hatred for those who enslaved them, and longing for the bright future they promised—

It all came together to burn almost everything to ashes—

…………

........................

pat pat pat.

The waves beat against the hull one after another, and the tall warship swayed in the sea.

On the edge of a small island not far from Tozes, a large number of warships are moored here, as if waiting for something.

On the leading and largest warship, everyone was busy making preparations for the battle.

There was only one tall man lazily sitting on a deck chair on the deck, basking in the sun with a leisurely look.He still held a green apple in his hand, and took a few bites from time to time.

When he opened his mouth to gnaw the fruit, those teeth were exposed, reflecting a golden light in the sunlight.

Among the mouth full of white teeth, there is a golden incisor.

A thin person suddenly leaned over and asked him.

"Boss, do you really want to do that?"

"Nonsense, I have already given orders, how can it be fake?"

"Hey, after all, we've been working together for so many years. Boss, you suddenly said that you want them... a bit uncomfortable."

The man smiled at the man like a dog.

"After all, the boss you said back then, even if you are a pirate, you have to be faithful."

"Pooh!"

The man just spit on the floor, and smashed an apple core directly on the man's forehead, raised his eyes, and looked at his own idiot with contempt.

"Are you stupid, you have faith with your own pig?"

"What?"

The man hummed twice and lay lazily on the rocking chair.

He looked in the direction of Tozeth City with a half-smile, and said, "The pig is fat."

He said: "I have to kill it quickly while someone helps me."

…………

........................

pat.

Garlan snorted and raised his head. The sun had weakened at some point, and a thin layer of clouds blocked the scorching sun just now, making people feel much cooler.

The wind began to blow, blowing from the sea, with thick humidity.

He felt another drop of water fall on his calf.

Is it going to rain?

But the sun is still bright.

Garlan thought, turning his head to look at the sea surface, the sea surface as far as he could see was still calm, and in the color of sea blue, the waves rippled softly.

The fleet of the Tozes Navy has completed the ceremony they were responsible for, and is slowly retreating, moored on the side coast, quietly waiting for the completion ceremony of the temple before returning to the port.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the solemn ceremony, the chaos of voices was very small at first, and then grew louder.

"What happened over there?!"

someone yelled.

At this time, the sights of all the people present have turned to that direction. On this high platform piled up, you can overlook the upper city of the highland.

I saw that the originally quiet and peaceful place was billowing thick smoke at this moment, and there were more than one place.

It could be vaguely seen that some houses in the upper city had been burned.

Just when everyone was in astonishment, a captain of the city guard ran over quickly and whispered a few words in the consul's ear.

The consul showed an expression of disbelief, and seeing those big businessmen approaching with bad expressions, he quickly whispered out.

Garlan sat there, only vaguely hearing the word 'slave' drifting over.

At this time, a personal guard under Kaihos also hurried over, and knelt down in front of Garlan.

"Your Highness, Lord Kehoes, the slaves in the upper city rioted!"

As soon as the guard finished speaking, Kaihos and Tal looked at Garlan in unison.

They looked at Garlan with astonishment in their eyes, apparently recalling what Garlan said a few days ago, 'Continuing to treat those slaves harshly might cause chaos'.

At that time, they still thought it was impossible. The prince thought too much. How could those humble slaves have the guts? Who knew that they really dared to—

Garlan frowned and stood up.

Just as he was about to speak, a voice suddenly interrupted him.

"Hahahaha, that's too exaggerated."

Bertola came over, with a smile on her fat face.

"Prince, what your subordinates said is too exaggerated. What kind of riot is it? It's just a few slaves making trouble."

He said, with a look of indifference.

"Don't worry, we've already sent someone there."

The consul also walked over with a smile, also with a relaxed expression on his face.

"That's right, the city guard wants to maintain order here, so the fleet that stayed in the military port was dispatched."

"Prince, you don't need to worry at all, we can continue the ceremony." He said lightly, "I think, after the completion ceremony of the temple is over, the matter over there will probably be resolved."

pat, pat, pat.

Raindrops fell suddenly and landed on Garlan's face.

Ignoring the two people around him, he looked up.

The sky that was still bright and sunny not long ago was covered with thick clouds at some point, it was gloomy, and huge raindrops fell from the dark clouds.

The sea surface, which was calm and waveless just now, also became turbulent, the wind howled past, and the waves set off, one after another.

At first glance, it seems that the whole sea is restless.

It was like a sleeping monster that was awakened by someone, so it began to shake its huge body violently.

The waves surged, and huge waves swept in, slapping heavily on the high platform beside the city wall.

There was a loud bang, and the city walls in this area seemed to be shaken by this huge wave.

Boom.

The sky seemed to respond to a loud noise like the waves.

There was a sneer, and a blazing flash of lightning lit up the gloomy sky.

The torrential rain poured down, and in just a moment, it poured over the head and face of the group of people on the high platform, as if they were picked up from the water, and they were soaked.

The umbrella cover behind the chair was blown to nowhere by the strong wind.

"Your Highness, hurry up and go to the temple to shelter from the rain, shall we?"

The consul anxiously persuaded Garlan.

Garlan ignored him, he went up the steps and looked up at the statue of Shamash standing on the high platform.

The heavy rain poured down, and the splashing rain fell down the statue like a waterfall.

In the darkness, the statue's golden eyes looking down at the city seemed to dim at this moment.

The boy stood in the rain, drenched all over, and his wet blond hair was tightly attached to his upturned neck and wet clothes.

The rain hit his upturned face, and drops of water continued to fall from his cheeks.

In the midst of this panic, another scream suddenly sounded.

"pirate--!!!"

The scream was already hoarse, but it was so small in the pouring rain.

When the hurricane hit, Garlan turned his head abruptly.

In the torrential rain, in the dark sky, dozens of boulders hit his place like shells.

They came whistling in the wind, accompanied by rumbling thunder.

boom!

A boulder fell from the sky and hit the leg of the standing statue of Shamash heavily.

With a click, a crack opened where it was hit.

Then, the crack quickly extended to the other side, and in just an instant, it burst open——

The majestic statue in golden armor collapsed.

With a bang, the stone statue fell heavily on the high platform, right in front of Garlan's eyes, and beside him, it shattered into a pile of unsightly rubble.

A terrified scream sounded behind Garlan.

The slightly fat businessman was so startled by the sudden collapse of the stone statue beside him that he almost fell to the ground. He was firmly supported by the servants around him and did not fall down. Step back.

When the stone statue collapsed to the ground, the stones that burst out splashed from the side of Garlan's face standing there, wiping a bloodstain on his face.

He stood there without moving.

Dark red blood seeped out from the cut wound, mixed with rainwater, and stained his cheeks red.

Drenched all over, he just stood on the high platform covered with broken stones, looking into the distance.

The howling wind lifted his wet long golden hair from his neck and flew up into the air in a mess.

There was a loud thunder, and lightning tore the entire sky.

The snow-white light illuminated the boy's suddenly dilated golden pupils.

After the heavy rain, countless warships flying pirate flags rushed towards the city of Tozes like greedy hungry wolves——