Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 46: The Battle of the Century
After a secret meeting with the Prime Minister of the Empire, Meteor, the Second Prince Alex announced his resignation as the commander of the Western Frontier Legion and handed over all command of the legion and the jurisdiction of the Crescent Oasis to the Empire.
Luke took over the government affairs of Crescent Oasis and announced that the Western Frontier Corps would be reorganized into the Imperial Royal Second Magic Corps, and he would temporarily take over the position of Corps Commander. Then Luke selected a group of officers from the Corps and sent them to Raging Waves City to participate in the development and manufacture of magic weapons.
The original government affairs and official system of Crescent Oasis were retained, but all of Alex's confidants were eliminated and some idle positions were assigned to them as a reward for their following Alex.
As for the second prince, Alex, after handing over power, he stayed indoors and waited to return to the imperial capital on the prime minister's special train.
Therefore, there were no setbacks in the handover of the Crescent Oasis and the transition of the legion. Everyone acquiesced to this result, but they were all wondering in their hearts what Meteorite and Alex talked about when they fell to the ground that made the prince, who was obsessed with the throne, so cooperative.
Luke did not stay in the Crescent Oasis for too long. Counting the round trip, he had already spent about three months on matters related to the West.
Late autumn has arrived and another winter is about to come.
The conditions for recommending Queen Christina to ascend the throne as the emperor of the empire are now ripe. Since it is a new emperor ascending the throne, it is better for the empire's territory to be intact. I don't know what progress Agatha has made in the negotiations with the Art County Union. The empire needs a big victory to push the country into the next era.
And Leo.
Luke didn't have much energy to care about Leo's affairs, and Pan was hiding and postponing the ceremony of establishing the kingdom again and again, so Luke decided to put this matter aside for the time being.
But he didn't expect Pan to reach his hand so far.
When clearing out the Abyss Mages lurking in the Sun City, the demon hunters discovered something related to Leo. After interrogation and further information collection, it was proved that Victor received a large amount of funding from Leo, not only funds and equipment, but also a team of lookouts participated in the plan to attack the World Tree.
If the funding for Tedga Hill is added, Pan really feels that he is dying too slowly!
Therefore, after everything in Crescent Oasis was stabilized, Luke handed the remaining work over to Yomington and the Prime Minister's staff, and he took the Second Prince Alex on the special train for the return trip.
A cold air mass from the polar ice sheet swept across the entire northern part of the empire. A thin layer of snow fell in Saint Lun City and the temperature dropped sharply.
At the Saint-Lun City Railway Station, Princess Agatha and her entourage were waiting on the exclusive platform. She did not hide in the warm waiting room because of the cold wind, but let the wind carry the snowflakes on her shoulders and looked towards the west of the railway track.
When Agatha heard a series of whistles coming from the west, a smile appeared on her face.
The train came from a distance, and the steam it emitted created a long trail of white mist. It rushed into the station with a long train of cars, and then slowly stopped in front of Agatha.
The carriage door opened and Luke walked out first.
"Your Highness!" Luke bowed to Agatha and said, "When I left, the capital was still very hot. I didn't expect it to be so cold when I came back. It was even snowing."
Agatha asked her attendant to put the windbreaker on Luke and said, "The weather is always unpredictable, just like you are unpredictable. When you left, you said you would solve the problem of the World Tree, but you ended up solving the Empire's chronic disease...
Count Urd , welcome to Saint-Lun City. On behalf of the Augustin family, I welcome the visit of our dear friends."
When Agatha saw Count Urd walk out of the train, she immediately corrected her manners and saluted the Count.
Earl Urd saluted Agatha and said, "Good morning, Princess Royal! Prime Minister Meteor is a precious asset to the empire. I believe that with his assistance, the empire will surely reach a new peak."
"Yes, the Prime Minister of Meteorite is a valuable asset of the empire and someone I cherish."
Count Urd noticed that Agatha looked at Meteorite in a peculiar way, so he smiled and said, “Blessings to both of you!”
Agatha smiled and said, "Thank you!"
Then the second prince, Alec, got off the train.
He looks very bad.
He had thought about how he would return to Saint Lun City, whether it would be as a new king or as a prisoner, but he had never imagined it would be this way.
I feel frustrated that my passion has been completely wasted before I could even express it.
Agatha had learned from the Secret Service that Alex had surrendered his military power, which was equivalent to giving up the fight for the throne. Although she didn't know the specific details, meeting Alex meant that the long-standing battle for the throne in the empire had finally come to an end.
Agatha bowed to Alec, without using any honorific title, but said, "Brother, welcome back!"
Alec did not treat Agatha well: "Faniya and I have been fighting for the throne for so long, but I didn't expect that you would be the ones who benefited in the end. Faniya lost his life, and I lost everything...
I lost, I lost. There's nothing to say. I'll go home. If you need me to say anything, just send someone to notify me."
After Alec finished speaking, he left with his followers.
Agatha asked Luke curiously, "What did you talk to him about?"
"Let's talk about it when we go to the palace to meet Her Majesty the Queen." Luke looked around and saw that everyone in the entourage had already gotten off the train. He then said to Agatha, "Let's not stay here. It will delay the normal operation of the train station. Let's send Earl Urd to his residence first, and then we'll go to the palace together."
"Okay!" Agatha invited Earl Urd, "My Lord, your accommodation has been arranged. You and your family should settle down first. The palace will hold a banquet in the evening to welcome your visit."
Earl Urd bowed and said, "Thank you, Princess!"
After Luke and Agatha sent Count Urd and his family to their residence, they drove into the palace together.
Once the gates were closed, a private meeting of the Empire's three leaders was held.
Luke did not first tell Agatha about his trip to the West, but instead asked about the negotiations with the Art County Alliance.
Agatha replied: "It's just as you expected. The Art County Alliance is not very sincere about the truce. It just so happens that we don't have the idea of truce, otherwise we would be really angry to death by the various demands they put forward.
According to the intelligence from the Winter Capital, the troops mobilized by the Art County Alliance from all sides have arrived one after another. It is winter again, and the Art County Alliance is preparing to launch a new winter offensive. "
Queen Christina said: "I have been keeping an eye on the training of the Snow Corps. Now the Snow Corps has sufficient manpower, is well-trained, and has double the supplies. It should not be too difficult to stop the winter offensive of the Art County Alliance."
Luke thought for a moment and expressed his thoughts: "Now that the southern and western frontiers of the empire have gradually stabilized, we can focus more energy on the war in the north. If we increase our support for the Snow Legion, can we counterattack in winter and take back all the lost territories?"
Agatha and Queen Christina looked at each other and asked, "Isn't the strategy you formulated for the Northern War to be a protracted war, dragging the Ate County Alliance into the quagmire of war and constantly consuming their national strength?
Why did you suddenly change your strategy? "
Luke replied, "Because I didn't expect such a big change in the West Territory before, and even solved the problem of Prince Alex's separatism. I want to nominate Her Majesty the Queen as the Empress of the Empire on the first anniversary of Her Majesty's regentship.
The empress's ascension to the throne requires a complete empire."
Queen Christina was extremely shocked: "So soon?"
Luke said, “It was a little fast, but all the conditions happened to come together. The establishment of an office in the Western Territory was something that no emperor had ever done. The cabinet changed, and the old official system fell into a trough. Sinclair and Alec gave in one after another, and it was the time when the opposition voices could not gather together.
If we delay, we don’t know what unexpected things will happen.”
"But..." Queen Christina said worriedly, "I am afraid that I will not be able to suppress those nobles after I ascend the throne as queen. After all, to them, I am Ruth's benefactor... even though I have Augustine's bloodline."
Luke said, "You don't need to worry about the nobles. I have already talked to the Second Prince, His Royal Highness Alex. He will announce the recognition of your Augustine bloodline at an appropriate time and take the lead in proposing to support your Imperial Empress."
Agatha and Queen Christina stared with their eyes wide open and their mouths opened wide: "What kind of magic did you use on Alec? How could you make him agree to this!
How could he possibly agree to that? "
Luke smiled and said, "I can only say that you don't know Alec well enough. In short, this is a great opportunity. With a new emperor, the empire can focus on doing great things instead of wasting its national strength on internal friction.
Your Majesty, what is your answer?"
Queen Christina replied: "If you think the time is right, I trust your judgment. If I become the empress of the empire, I will never marry. After I dedicate my entire life to the empire, the throne will eventually return to the hands of the Augustin family."
Queen Christina's answer was addressed not only to Luke, but also to Agatha.
Agatha said: "You don't need to consider my feelings and choose to be alone for the rest of your life. In my heart, the empire is the empire, no matter who sits on the throne, or whether his last name is Augustine or not.
I just want to create and witness a great new era with the meteorite, let me burn like a fire in this era and become a shining star in this history. "
Queen Christina laughed: "It seems that after I ascend the throne, the empire will be preparing for the second happy event."
After discussing some specific procedures for the new emperor's enthronement, the three ended the meeting.
On the other side, Qingkong, who had just returned to the Saint Lun City Museum, received an invitation from the Golden Man, inviting Qingkong to visit the Golden Valley, the headquarters of the World Bank.
Before Qingkong responded, Luke also received an invitation from the Golden Man, inviting the Prime Minister of the Golden Shield Empire, Meteorite, to visit the World Bank headquarters in Golden Valley.
At the same time, Luke received intelligence from Winter Capital Helkkin that the World Bank was secretly meeting with the top leaders of the At County Federation. The World Bank might break the rule of non-interference in regional politics and secretly provide a war loan to the At County Federation.
Luke realized that the World Bank had long been aware of the challenge that the Golden Shield Empire had launched to their financial hegemony.
Of course, if they didn't realize it, the World Bank wouldn't be the World Bank.
The energy strategy of the Golden Shield Empire cannot be concealed. After all, energy trading is the largest transaction in the world. As soon as the fire crystal raw stones mined by the Golden Shield Empire in Longguo entered the international market, they immediately had a great impact on the entire energy market.
In addition, some areas within the empire carried out a pilot program to limit the use of gold certificates and silver dollars, and used preferential policies to encourage the use of the Reichsmark in energy transactions.
If the World Bank is targeted in this way and it is unaware of it, the head of the Shining Gold Man will really be caught in the door crack.
The World Bank's response was just as Luke had expected.
Gold and energy are not on the same track. It is difficult for the World Bank to use its authority on gold to effectively crack down on the energy market, especially when all countries are actively promoting their own paper currencies and their dependence on gold is decreasing.
Then hiding behind the scenes and attacking the Golden Shield Empire's national strength through proxy wars becomes a good choice.
So the Golden Man found the Art County Alliance.
Luke analyzed that the reason why the Golden Man invited him to visit the World Bank headquarters was to threaten the Empire to stop at the brink. If he signed an unequal treaty under pressure, the World Bank would not need to waste money on the At County Alliance.
After much consideration, Luke decided to go to Golden Valley, the headquarters of the World Bank.
Throughout the winter, the Empire had to recover the lost territory in the North in preparation for the Queen's coronation, so the Art County Federation could not be allowed to obtain funding from the World Bank before then.
In addition, the audio issue cannot be delayed any longer.
Pan's trouble in the West Territory has been exposed. I don't know what crazy thing he will do next. Let's see if we can rescue Yin by going to the Golden Valley this time.
I wanted to go to Golden Valley, and Qingkong also agreed.
The Golden Valley is the lair of the Shining Gold People. It will definitely be extremely dangerous to go there, so you must increase your military strength as much as possible.
It just so happened that Qingkong had completed all the preparations for the Seraph Wings, and it was time to ignite the Angel Light Wings. Moreover, with the assistance of the artifact tree buds, the success rate of making the Seraph Wings would definitely be greatly improved.
Luke rushed through cabinet business to make time for a visit to the World Bank headquarters.
At the museum, Clear Sky is performing an operation.
Jennifer was lying on the operating table, her naked body covered with a white cloth. There was a wound on her chest, but no blood was flowing out. There was nothing where a heart should be.
Qingkong stretched out her hand, and a seed emitting green light floated in the palm of her hand.
"Jennifer, you are lucky! When I was thinking about what materials to use to make a heart for you, the World Tree scattered the seeds of hope. I planted the seeds of hope, and it will sense your hope and turn it into a beating heart.
You no longer need to drink dragon's blood to maintain body temperature, and you will gain more emotions, as well as troubles."
Qingkong placed the seed of hope into Jennifer's chest.
The seed of hope quickly expanded and sprouted in the green light. The sprouts connected to the blood vessels, and the seed turned into a beating heart.
Red blood was produced, and after being pressed throughout the body by the heart, it oozed out from the wound...
