Chapter 607 - 369: Insidious Zog is Fishing

Chapter 607: Chapter 369: Insidious Zog is Fishing

"A disgrace! An absolute disgrace!"

In the Sutton Royal Palace, Sutton VII tore the newspaper in his hands to shreds.

Judging by the large group photo that took up the entire front page, it was obviously about the noble reform.

No investigation was necessary; by now, pretty much every intelligent being in Feilin knew.

"They just signed it like that, can you believe it? They just signed it!"

Faced with the King’s furious expression, the attendants and guards present chose to play dead. It was the first rule of survival for palace staff: see nothing, hear nothing.

Just then, the dispatched envoy returned.

He was the envoy sent to the other three domains to summon the Dukes’ corps.

In truth, this could have been handled by email, but the mail service belonged to the Zog Group, which Sutton VII refused to use. Besides, email wasn’t formal enough and didn’t align with noble etiquette.

The envoy knelt, struggling to organize his words as if he were summoning all his courage.

Sending troops to aid the Kingdom in a time of crisis was a duty a Duke could not refuse.

But judging from the envoy’s conflicted, fearful expression and his reluctance to speak, perhaps that duty wasn’t so "irrefutable" after all.

Sutton VII gave a cold laugh. "Go on. I can guess the result. I won’t take my anger out on you."

"The Eastern Domain... the Duke of the Eastern Domain says he is indisposed. He wishes to aid the Royal Family in their plight, but claims he lacks the strength."

"Hmph. Sick, is he? Can’t even come up with a decent excuse. What about the others?"

"The Duke of the Western Domain... says he’s bedridden..."

"Another one’s sick!" Sutton VII’s composure was visibly cracking. "Can’t they even come up with a new excuse? Or did those two old bastards cook this up together!"

He paced back and forth, wanting to vent his bitter resentment, but there was no outlet.

He couldn’t afford to alienate those Dukes now. The pressure from the north was already immense. It was better for the other Dukes to simply withhold support than to join the rebellion.

"What about the Duke of the Southern Domain, then? Don’t tell me he’s also claiming to be sick."

"No, the Duke of the Southern Domain isn’t sick."

"Oh? That’s unexpected. So, will he send aid?"

"He won’t be, no. The Duke of the Southern Domain says a severe plague has broken out in his territory. His soldiers are suffering from mass diarrhea and dehydration, leaving them completely unfit for battle."

"Ha, hahaha..."

Sutton VII was so angry he laughed. "A plague? If there’s a plague, why wasn’t it reported? Doesn’t he need medical assistance?"

The envoy glanced timidly at the King and stammered, "The Duke says that, being considerate of the Kingdom’s difficulties, the Southern Domain will unite to overcome the plague on its own. He does not wish to add to Your Majesty’s burdens."

"’Considerate of my difficulties!’ He’s ’considerate of my difficulties!’" Sutton VII finally snapped. With a sweep of his arm, he sent everything on the table flying to the floor, where it all shattered with a deafening CRASH.

"Get out! All of you, get out!"

As if granted a pardon, the envoy scrambled out. He backed all the way to the doorway, then turned and silently mouthed a stream of curses at Sutton VII, too afraid to make a sound but needing the satisfaction of doing it.

’You’re the one who told me to say it, but now that I have, you’re mad...’

Sutton VII sank back into his chair. He stared at the wreckage before him, pondering his next move.

’The more I think about it, the more I realize I’m not entirely without a chance to turn the tables.’

’Figxin’s only advantage is her equipment, not superiority in any other area.’

’Especially that bullshit noble reform. It does nothing but push every Lord into opposition, yet she dares to promote it as if it’s some brilliant idea.’

’In my opinion, the great nobles of the Kingdom are still on my side. They just don’t see a path to victory right now, so they’re focused on self-preservation.’

’If I can just show them there’s hope of victory, I won’t even need to summon them. The nobles will flock to my side on their own.’

’But how to create that hope of victory?’

’My side has the advantage in both Transcendents and military corps.’

’Based on intelligence we received before Delong Castle fell, we’ve already created a Defense that can temporarily resist those guns that fire high-temperature Elemental Streams. It should be enough for our corps to close into melee range.’

’The more critical problem is that High Tier Array that falls from the sky. I still have no way to deal with it.’

’My spies in Delong Castle have come up with nothing. All they’ve gathered are scattered rumors. There’s very little intel on that Magic Array. All I know is that it deploys from a small device, can be dropped by Dragons, and can supposedly be fired from a cannon.’

’Based on this limited information, the Royal Mage Corps hasn’t developed any effective countermeasures either.’

Time waits for no one.

Figxin and her corps could resume their southward march at any moment.

’I have to take a more drastic approach.’

’I need the help of the Soul Ascenders.’

’Although Loman no longer supports me, the Soul Ascenders’ equipment is still in my secret chamber.’

’I am still a member the Soul Ascenders wish to cultivate.’

Sutton VII had little appreciation for the sect’s philosophy, but he was quite interested in their consciousness-uploading technology.

’When the day comes that I’m about to die, if my consciousness can be uploaded... wouldn’t that be a form of immortality?’

For this reason, he still entered the Holy Sanctuary from time to time.

During this process, he had discovered the Soul Ascenders’ staggering accumulation of knowledge. The information housed in the Grand Library, and the number of top-tier Transcendents hidden among the Soul Ascenders’ members, far surpassed the archives of the Sutton Royal Family.

In the library’s public discussion forums, he often saw numerous participants discussing exceptionally High Tier Magic.