Chapter 403 - 17: Subordinate Lord
With tens of thousands of friendly hero units standing guard, he could build resource-generating structures—farms, mines, lumber mills, and so on—out to the very edge of his territory without a worry.
As for the Heavy Rock Quarries, which were vital to the Titan Clan People, he built them everywhere.
Developing so freely, his territory’s strength would skyrocket in less than a month.
...
A little over an hour before Al was appointed as a lord by Lin Yu, a Titan Race lord named Blake, who happened to be away from his territory on patrol when Lin Yu’s army attacked, was pouring out his grievances to the other lords in the race’s chat channel.
Blake had learned the details of his territory’s fall from his soldiers who managed to escape the city.
After Al’s soldiers tricked their way through the city gates and killed the guards, a ferocious army stormed in, seized the Lord’s Mansion, and took control of the territory.
Naturally, Blake believed it was Al who had conquered and destroyed his territory.
[Titan Race Chat Channel]
Blake: "Everyone, that guy Al has gone insane! He sent people to raid my territory, and after conquering it, he just destroyed it!!"
...: "Huh? Is Al really that strong?"
Blake: "Bah! That bastard ambushed me! He sent someone claiming they had business to discuss. The moment my men opened the gates for them, his troops killed the gate guards, and his army made a beeline for my Lord’s Mansion. After they took it, they destroyed my territory."
Blake: "I happened to be out on patrol with my heroes, hunting down those damn rats (civilians/slaves). If I’d been there, I would’ve made him regret it!"
...: "I can understand conquering your territory, but why would Al choose to destroy it?"
...: "@Al, why the hell are you destroying other people’s territories?"
...: "Huh? Why does it say El is offline? What’s he doing?"
...: "That Al is nothing like his older brother. He has none of the bearing of a Noble. To think he’d resort to trickery to attack someone."
...: "Forget it. He’s been trained as an heir for less than five years. It’s not easy for him to have gotten this far. Don’t be so hard on him."
Blake: "Isn’t anyone going to do something about that madman Al? He dared to destroy my territory today; he’ll dare to destroy yours tomorrow!"
...: "Hahaha, Al? That coward? If he dares to leave his little turtle shell, I’ll make sure he never goes back."
...: "Al only dares to bully weaklings like you on the frontier. You think he’d dare come to the Central Region?"
Blake: "Alright, big shots, is anyone willing to take me in? My soldiers’ morale is dropping fast."
The lords in the chat channel went on with their own conversations, ignoring Blake for a long time until another voice appeared.
Kazaria: "@Blake, looks like no one wants to take you in. How about joining me? I can shelter you."
Before Blake could even reply, others in the chat erupted.
...: "Kazaria, you better hope we don’t find your territory, or you’ll be sorry."
...: "Kazaria, you bastard! Was it you who sent people to destroy my farmland yesterday?"
...
Kazaria was the leader of the Civilian Lords among the Titan Clan People. During the first and second phases, he had wholeheartedly assisted the Noble Lords.
But at the end of the second phase, taking advantage of the moment when everyone’s territory was undergoing a major transformation, he used a Territory Transfer Talisman to move his own territory to a random location on the continent.
Then, after the third phase began, he led the Civilian and slave lords in a frenzied assault against the Noble Lords.
Moreover, most of these civilian and slave lords had, in a premeditated move, also used Territory Transfer Talismans at the very end of the second phase. Coupled with the fact that they were extremely careful to conceal their movements, attacking different locations each time across a vast area, the Noble Lords found it very difficult to locate their new cities.
This infuriated the Noble Lords. After bolstering their own defenses, they sent their subordinates to search far and wide for the cities of these hidden lords.
Kazaria: "Hehe, you should worry about yourselves first. There will only be more and more lords like Al."
Kazaria: "Let me tell you the real reason Al destroyed that territory!"
...: "Shut up! Kazaria, if you shut your mouth right now, I might still let you off the hook if I run into you later!"
...: "Kazaria, hurry up and tell us! Ignore his nonsense!"
...: "Oh?? A secret? Spill it!"
...
Kazaria: "See? Plenty of people want to know!"
Kazaria: "When you destroy another person’s territory, you get land tiles equal to half their territory’s area, half of their resources, and you can take their Territory Core back to your own territory to increase your own Core’s experience."
Kazaria: "Friendly reminder: when you absorb someone else’s Territory Core, there’s a chance you’ll acquire their territory’s special characteristics!"
...: "So that’s how it is!!"
...: "What do I do? I’m suddenly tempted!"
...: "Damn it, dozens of territories have already been wiped out, right? And you guys hid this from us this whole time! If it weren’t for Kazaria, we’d still be in the dark!!"
...: "You can’t put it like that. We were mainly worried everyone would start fighting amongst themselves..."
...: "So that’s why! No wonder you guys were fighting so enthusiastically among yourselves, even with those lowlifes causing trouble!!"
Kazaria: "@Blake, see? No one cares about you. Just join me. We’ll treat you well."
...: "Get lost. I’ll take care of Blake; my territory is close to his. @Blake, come to my territory for now. Get your army reorganized first, then we can talk about other things."
Blake: "Thanks, cousin!"
...
In the Titan Clan People’s race chat, as the group continued to talk, Blake’s accusations against Al were completely forgotten. No one even cared that Al was offline anymore.
Instead, they began to denounce the Noble Lords who knew about the benefits of destroying territories but had kept it a secret.
It was clear that if they weren’t given a cut, they would no longer follow orders.
Watching the group of nobles bicker amongst themselves, Kazaria happily began plotting his next sneak attack.
...