Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 42: Pacification of the Western Territory
On the Moonlight Royal Court battlefield, the war ended quickly as the barbarian warriors launched a counterattack. When the last sand terracotta cavalry was chopped into a pile of loose sand, cheers rang out across the grassland and sea of flowers.
The warriors roared and waved their weapons, venting their excitement of victory.
The World Tree stopped growing, and it shook its leaves, making a sound like wind chimes. The sand and gravel left by the battle were absorbed into the soil, and the flower spirits continued to fly away.
The battle in the air also ended. Unfortunately, due to the rapid growth of the World Tree, the crown of the tree rushed into the battlefield, which caused a loophole in the encirclement of the Fallen Angels. Garland took advantage of the chaos to escape with two Fallen Angels. In this battle, twelve Fallen Angels died in the sky above the Moonlight King's Court, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to the already small number of Fallen Angels.
The angels and the Shining Gold did not pursue the fallen angels who had escaped. They were more concerned about the sudden changes in the World Tree. Even in the eyes of the angels, the fallen angels, their mortal enemies, had to give in for the artifact.
Under the World Tree, Moon Lake returned to calm. From here, the World Tree did not seem to have grown, and its trunk still occupied such a large area of the lake.
The light here is so thin and holy that no one dares to desecrate it.
Angels, golden men, and dragons landed on the lake.
The clear sky is already waiting here.
Archangel Gold, Elder Tong of the Shining Gold, and Golden Dragon King Tyran walked up to Qingkong.
Gold was the first to salute Qingkong and said, "Your Majesty, the angels, the shining gold men, and the dragons have fulfilled our promise to you and stopped the fallen angels from destroying the World Tree. I also congratulate the Moonlight Royal Court for blocking the attack of the Disaster. We admire the bravery shown by your warriors."
Clear Sky responded to Gold: "Thank you angels, shining gold people and dragons. Especially the dragons, at the most critical moment, you chose to protect this world treasure and prevented the tragedy from happening again."
The Golden Dragon King Tyron nodded and said, "The dragons came here sincerely to protect the World Tree. Now that the war is over, we will soon return to Saint Lun City, where more important things are waiting for us."
When Archangel Gold and Elder Tong of Shining Gold heard that the dragon was going to leave the Moonlight Court, they looked at the Golden Dragon King Tyran in confusion.
The dragons must know that the World Tree can be promoted to a divine artifact, but why don’t they stay in the Moonlight Court to snatch the World Tree?
Thinking of the angel's sudden arrival in Saint Lun City, Gold and Elder Tong had different thoughts.
Qingkong guessed that the Golden Dragon King Tyron must have known that Dragon Soul Banat was involved in the World Tree's promotion to a divine artifact, so he was unwilling to get involved in the muddy waters of the Moonlight Royal Court. Rather than being bullied by the angels and the Golden Man, it would be better to wait in Saint Lun City and see what the angels were doing.
Qingkong did not try to stop the dragons: "May the moonlight bless the dragons! I will have my subjects prepare gifts and send them to the dragon's nest in Saint Lun City to thank the dragons for their help to the Moonlight Royal Court."
Elder Tong of the Golden Star couldn't wait to ask Qingkong: "Your Majesty! Can we know why the World Tree suddenly grew so fast? If it weren't for the impact of this sudden growth, we would never let Garland escape.
The appearance of the fallen angels this time is a major hidden danger to the stability of the world for the next thousand years."
"Elder Tong, I'm sorry I can't answer your question." Qingkong said to everyone: "Before this, I was just like you. I never knew how the World Tree grew. It may be that this war stimulated the World Tree, or it may be due to other reasons.
You should all be very interested in the sudden growth of the World Tree. As a scholar, I also want to know the reason. Why don’t we set up a research group and study the sudden growth of the World Tree as a topic? "
Now that the World Tree has awakened its divinity and the artifact is in his hands again, Qingkong doesn't mind conducting beneficial research on the World Tree under his supervision.
Angels and Shining Gold were very happy to hear Qingkong's suggestion.
Although they established the Holy Temple and the World Bank branch in the Moonlight Royal Court, their research on the World Tree was conducted secretly. Now Queen Clear Sky actually invited them to form a joint research team. Isn't this like asking a weasel to watch the chicken coop?
Many private activities can be put into this topic for public research.
Archangel Gold and Elder Tong both expressed their support for the establishment of this research group.
Qingkong was giving out rewards to all parties involved in defending the World Tree, and Luke had a general understanding of the function of the artifact tree bud.
Simply put, the artifact tree bud is a World Tree Language trigger. Although it cannot directly cast related divine spells in the World Tree Language, it can perfectly activate the subject of the secret spell without auxiliary words.
The artifact is indeed an artifact. Even when it was still such a small thing, its power exceeded that of a "brick".
At the same time, the artifact tree bud can also summon tree people and cast some effective recovery spells. It is simply a perfect auxiliary.
Luke decisively forgot his previous dislike for Shuya and readily took on the responsibility of taking care of the little thing.
After handing over the finishing work of Moonlight Court to Qingkong, Luke returned to Sun City with the artifact tree bud.
The war is still going on here.
After losing the Abyss Temple, the Western Territory noble coalition did not have much to do with the Sun Leader's army, which relied on the strong city to fight. Everyone was in the Western Territory, and they knew each other's details. They fought a stalemate of attrition.
It’s just that the army led by Riyue is fighting at home, with convenient supplies and high morale.
The Western Territory nobles' coalition had come all the way from the ancient grasslands. Once the war was delayed, the quality of supplies declined and fatigue caused the army's morale to drop severely.
In addition, the Moonlight Royal Court had not yet reported the destruction of the World Tree, which made the entire Western Territory noble coalition army even more uneasy. If the nobles leading the army had not all joined the Disaster, the coalition army .
The war caused great damage to the entire Sun Oasis, but the Sun leaders who were guarding their homeland firmly believed that victory would be on their side.
In fact, when Luke returned to Sun City, the victory had already tilted towards the Sun Territory.
Even in the central lake castle of the Sun Manor, Earl Urd and his officers were formulating a battle plan to capture these noble territories.
Upon hearing that the Prime Minister of Meteorite was coming, Count Urd immediately went to greet him. After inviting Luke into the war room, Count Urd first asked, "Prime Minister, what is the current situation at the Moonlight Royal Court?"
The officers leading the army on Sunday also looked at Luke.
They knew very well that the battle in the Sun Oasis was only a secondary battlefield in the defense of the Moonlight Court, and the outcome here would ultimately depend on the outcome of the main battlefield. No matter how well they fought here, it actually had no significant impact on the battle situation.
The barbarian officers looked at Luke more eagerly. If it weren't for their duty to protect the Sun Oasis, they would rather fight to defend the Moonlight Court.
Luke, who was sitting at the head seat, asked Count Urd and the officers to sit down.
"I'm here this time to bring you the latest news from the Moonlight Royal Court. Under the leadership of Her Majesty the Moonlight Queen, and with the support of the entire Western Barbarians and our allies, we have won a complete victory in the battle to defend the World Tree.
All the sand figurines monsters that attacked the Moonlight Royal Court were destroyed, and most of the fallen angels were wiped out, with only three fallen angels escaping by chance.
Her Majesty the Queen has entrusted me to express my sincere gratitude to Earl Urd and Sun Oasis. It was you who helped the Moonlight Court contain a powerful enemy force, and played a crucial role in this victory!"
Earl Urd and his officers were very happy to hear that the Moonlight Court had won. All the barbarian officers stood up and headed towards the Moonlight Court to pay their respects to the Moonlight Queen.
When the atmosphere in the meeting hall calmed down a bit, Luke asked Earl Urd, "Does the Sun Territory feel any pressure in eliminating the rebels outside? As the Prime Minister of the Empire, I don't want to ask the Moonlight Court's foreign troops to help quell the rebellion, but if necessary, the Moonlight Court can quickly organize an army and incorporate it into the Sun Territory's military sequence."
Earl Urd thought about his battle plan and replied to Luke: "As long as the news of the Moonlight Court's victory comes, the other nobles in the West who are watching will know to stand on the side of the victor. The rebels can be eliminated quickly without the need for the Moonlight Court's foreign troops to enter the battlefield.
But how should the territories of these nobles be distributed?"
These were seventeen noble territories, all of which had become ownerless land. If there was a problem with the distribution, the balance between the nobles in the Western Territory would be disrupted, and the entire Western Territory would fall into a long period of open and covert struggles.
Of course, Count Urd wanted to take more based on his loyalty and merit.
Luke did not say how to distribute the noble territories, but said to Earl Urd: "The Western Territory cannot stay on the edge of the Empire's rule for a long time. This is not conducive to the stability of the Empire, nor to the future development of the Western Territory."
Earl Urd asked in confusion: "How can the Westland escape from its current situation?"
Luke still did not give a direct answer, but said: "The main reason why Zai Mie was able to form such a large-scale army in the Western Territory almost silently is that the vast majority of the Western Territory nobles are dissatisfied with the Moonlight Royal Court. Therefore, they were invaded by Zai Mie and their dissatisfaction was transformed into hatred.
Dissatisfaction and hatred cannot be eliminated, but nobles with armies and territories can do much more than ordinary people."
Earl Urd had a bad feeling, so he asked tentatively, "Does the Prime Minister want to get rid of all the Western nobles who are dissatisfied with the Moonlight Court?"
Luke smiled and said, "I don't know who is dissatisfied with the Moonlight Court. I just don't want Zai Mie to use these nobles to quickly threaten the Moonlight Court and affect the stability of the Western Territory."
Count Urd already knew what the Prime Minister wanted to do. He said awkwardly: "But the land was left to us by our ancestors!"
Luke finally stated his purpose: "I am not trying to take away your territory. As long as you do not betray the Empire, your property is sacred and inviolable. I just want to promote a model of joint management between the Empire and the lords in the West... The lords have ownership of the land, and the Empire has the right to manage the land."
This still made Earl Urd very difficult to accept: "Master Prime Minister, this is equivalent to taking away our territory indirectly."
Luke said in a very tough manner: "Count Urd, do you think that after this incident, the Empire will allow the nobles of the West to keep their own army? Will the Moonlight Court allow the nobles of the West to assist the Disaster to prepare for a second attack on the World Tree?
At this time, a powerful barbarian army was ready to go in the Moonlight Court. They had enough reasons to attack all the nobles in the Western Territory, and the Western Territory would not receive any support from the Empire.
Only by voluntarily surrendering their armies and handing over their territories to the unified administrative system of the empire can the nobles of the Western Territory retain their last dignity and continue to live a prosperous life relying on their ancestors! "
Luke's words made Count Urd shudder unconsciously.
He originally thought that with the success of this team-up, he could get a few fertile oases, and the Urd family would be able to prosper even more by relying on the Prime Minister of the Empire.
But no one expected that the Prime Minister would have such a good appetite this time and wanted to swallow the entire Western Territory in one bite.
Stop the meteorite from invading the western territory this time?
What can stop it?
The principle of the Western Territory nobles advancing and retreating together had been dead in name only since the last meteorite came to the Western Territory, and this time it was no longer even in name.
Some of the nobles in the western border were labeled as rebels and deprived of their territories and honors; some stood on the sidelines and watched to protect themselves; and his own Sun Territory became a pawn in suppressing the rebels.
The Moonlight Royal Court is now in a great victory, and has a large army gathered. If they suddenly send troops to attack the western border.
In a situation where the empire does not care, who can stop it? Who will stop it?
The Western Territory is really doomed this time!
Count Urd suddenly felt like a deflated ball, and his good mood was gone in an instant.
Luke knew that his blow with the big stick was effective and it was time to give him some sweet rewards.
"Of course, as the Prime Minister of the Empire, I have seen the loyalty of the Urd family to the Empire. If you, Count, take the initiative to propose that the 17 ownerless noble territories in the Western Territory be returned to the Empire and hand over the military and administrative power of the territories, I can recommend you as the first governor of the Western Territory.
If the Western Territory is stable and prosperous under your governance, the Empire can issue a decree to allow the Western Territory to appoint and dismiss its own governor in the future."
Count Urd, who had just been disheartened, suddenly had his eyes brightened.
Governor of the West!
Although the Governor of the West may be a hollow mascot role after handing over the military power and land administration power, he is nominally the "King of the West", and it may be hereditary.
Now facing the dual pressure from the Moonlight Court and the Empire, the Western Territory nobles, who are already in disarray, are like leaves after autumn and cannot cause any big waves.
Since I can't change anything, I might as well be the first to come forward and grab this honor for future generations. As for the infamy, do I, Earl Urd, still care about this infamy?
Earl Urd immediately said: "My Lord Prime Minister, I know how much trouble the Western Territory has caused to the Empire. It is a headache for all the emperors of the Empire. Now there is an opportunity to fully integrate the Western Territory into the Empire. As one of the nobles of the Western Territory, I have the responsibility to lead the Western Territory into the open arms of the Empire.
No matter what the Prime Minister wants to do, the Urd family and the Sun Territory will fully support it!"
Luke smiled comfortingly and said, "Let's quell the rebellion first. I will write a letter now to request Her Royal Highness the Queen to establish .
You just need to prepare the Western Territory Governor's Office."
"Yes, Prime Minister!"
