Chapter 1190: Saint Intervenes
“President Felic, no matter what happened with the sailors previously, why didn’t you handle it using a normal method? The fact that you brought your men to create a scene at the royal guards’ barracks was an insult to the dignity of the Gilded Kingdom. You can’t deny that, can you?” Bradlor said, suppressing the anger within him. If possible, he would have tried to take down Lin Li. However, he also understood that since High Priest Poer wasn’t around, he wouldn’t be able to take down a Sanctuary powerhouse.
“Is that so?” Lin Li couldn’t help but sneer as he stared at Bradlor without compromising, and said, “Since the dignity of the Gilded Kingdom is that important, can it be trampled on so easily by the Tower of Dusk? You have to earn pride and respect, not take it from others. Since the Gilded Kingdom is embarra.s.sed, you should earn your pride back yourselves.”
The Tower of Dusk might only be one of the many forces in the Breezy Plains, but Lin Li didn’t think that they were inferior to the Gilded Kingdom. Since the Gilded Kingdom dared to capture the people of the Tower of Dusk, it was already considered offensive and a provocation to the Tower of Dusk, regardless of how important the sailors were. Hence, Lin Li naturally would not be polite with the Gilded Kingdom.
“President Felic, do you know that you’re declaring war on the Gilded Kingdom!?!” exclaimed a middle-aged general who had been silent almost from the start. He was one of the several important ministers who were in support of war. After hearing his words, everyone in the council hall of the palace fell silent, while the military generals from both camps glowered at Lin Li furiously.
The middle-aged general who spoke was tall and burly, with sideburns and a full beard on his face. He was clad in a navy blue uniform with golden embroidered hems. There was a golden whale emblem on the chest area of his uniform. It was of extraordinary significance, and was said to be one of the badges given by the founding king to the families of several statesmen as a symbol of the highest honor of the Gilded Kingdom.
The statesman’s family that received the whale emblem had once been called the Whale Family. The middle-aged general was Cridia, the current patriarch of the Whale Family. He was also the commander of the First Fleet, which was known as the ace naval fleet of the Gilded Kingdom.
As the commander-in-chief of the First Fleet, which was the kingdom’s ace fleet, Cridia could be considered the top military powerhouse in the kingdom, be it in terms of the strength of the fleet under his command or the heritage of his family.
Although Cridia didn’t quite express his opinion in the council hall of the palace, the generals who were in support of war were all voicing their opinions according to his wishes. Even Cate, the commander of the royal guards who had never been on good terms with the navy, was also very respectful to Cridia.
At the same time, while Cridia was speaking of war, Bradlor’s face turned sullen, and he seemed to no longer have any expectation for the so-called peace.
In fact, although the people of the Gilded Kingdom had greeted Lin Li and the representatives of the forces of the Breezy Plains with utmost respect using the national salute of the greatest honor, all of them, including King Bradlor, actually didn’t see the latter as important people who were worthy of being on equal status with them at all. Well, they couldn’t be blamed for it. After all, the Gilded Kingdom was a human kingdom that was comparable to the Felan Kingdom, Ledin Kingdom, and Rotterdam Kingdom, while the forces of the Breezy Plains were merely regional forces.
Bradlor had previously gone to visit Lin Li and the others personally in a bid to resort to peaceful means in order to eventually achieve his final goal of encroaching on the Breezy Plains. Once the kingdom really acquired the Breezy Plains, the forces including the Tower of Dusk, Mithril Alliance, and whatever would all be under the jurisdiction of the Gilded Kingdom. How could Bradlor possibly put the Tower of Dusk and the other forces on a level equal with the kingdom?
Hence, in the opinion of Bradlor and the ministers of the Gilded Kingdom, the pride of the Tower of Dusk was second to that of the Gilded Kingdom. It was no big deal for the Tower of Dusk to be embarra.s.sed, but the pride of the Gilded Kingdom could not be trampled on.
Lin Li would never let himself lose out; hence, he naturally wouldn’t give in to the Gilded Kingdom. After hearing Cridia’s blatant threat, Lin Li’s face remained unchanged, and he simply answered nonchalantly as if nothing had happened at all. “War? I’m looking forward to it too. Since you’ve taken things so far, I will wait for the Gilded Kingdom’s army’s arrival at the Breezy Plains.”
As soon as Lin Li said that, there was no longer any room for negotiation. Bradlor’s expression changed immediately, and then 20-30 warriors walked out from the corridors on either side of the throne. All of them were Legendary powerhouses, and they stopped between him and Lin Li. At the same time, the throne that Bradlor was sitting on also emitted a brilliant ray of light, and a large and powerful s.h.i.+eld protected him.
What a joke. How could Bradlor not be prepared for a negotiation with a Sanctuary powerhouse? If Lin Li were to make things hard for him or even kill him, there would be no chance of regaining their pride anymore.
However, Lin Li did not have the slightest intention of making a move, and watched the movements of the Gilded Kingdom with an icy cold gaze. When the Legendary-level guards of the Gilded Kingdom had set up a defensive battle formation, and catalyzed the magic s.h.i.+eld to the maximum, he finally said in disdain, “King Bradlor, you underestimate me too much. If I really want to attack you, do you think you can stop me with this?”
Lin Li’s words were not exaggerated at all. Although Bradlor had put up several defenses that seemed to be very solid and strong, they could only withstand and block at most one or two attacks from the average Sanctuary powerhouse. If Lin Li really wanted to kill Bradlor, he could turn everything into ashes with a single Light and Darkness Sword.
Lin Li’s words immediately made the people in the council hall nervous. At this point, all of them, regardless of whether they were in support of a war or not, thought of a deadly problem. It seemed to be a common thing for the president of the Tower of Dusk to take them by surprise and act out of the ordinary. If they really provoked him, he might get rid of all the elites of the Gilded Kingdom.
It was instantly silent in the council hall, as if the air had frozen. When the tension between the both sides rose, and they seemed to be ready to fight, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the council hall, which sounded extraordinarily ear-piercing to the people in the hall. At this moment, everyone’s heart was about to jump out of their chest, and it was as if the slightest movement would lead to Lin Li misunderstanding them and attacking.
However, immediately after the sound of those footsteps, two figures walked into the council hall one after the other. Upon seeing the people who entered, the people of Gilded Kingdom finally heaved a sigh of relief because they were none other than Saint Edmund of the Chaos Sanctuary of the Illuminati and Elder Zumar, who followed closely behind the former. They believed that Lin Li wouldn’t be able to do anything with those two around.
After Edmund led Elder Zumar into the council hall, they were immediately shocked. Edmund then frowned, and chided, “What are you doing here? Stand down!”
Cate, the captain of the royal guards, was immediately surprised when he saw the powerhouse Edmund. “Saint Edmund, Elder Zumar, Felic is going to harm His Majesty. Please help us take him down!”
The royal guards were originally in charge of guarding the capital, and if the king and ministers were now implicated because of the barracks incident, Cate would be in serious trouble. Even if he died here with all of them, his family would definitely not escape the sanctions of the kingdom. If the people found out about this matter, they’d probably be skinned alive.
Hence, when he saw that Edmund had come, General Cate was really more excited than anyone else. In his opinion, Edmund was one of the four saints of the Illuminati, and his strength was close to the peak of the Sanctuary-realm. He felt that Lin Li was far from comparable to him. As long as Saint Edmund intervened, Felic would have no choice but to swallow his pride and admit his mistake no matter how arrogant he might be.
Edmund and Zumar were originally leading the team to Four Seasons Island on the aircraft that Lin Li had left behind. However, before they could get far from Ice Island, Elder Zumar remembered something terrible. High Priest Poer had previously sent a message back to the Gilded Kingdom to say that he was confident of keeping Lin Li and the others of the Tower of Dusk on Ice Island forever.
The two men didn’t dare to imagine how the Gilded Kingdom would treat the representatives of those forces in the Breezy Plains and Lin Li’s subordinates after learning of that news. They dared not imagine how Lin Li would react after he returned to Four Seasons Island, and learned those things that the Gilded Kingdom might have done.
Hence, they were no longer in the mood to follow the aircraft and leave leisurely. After their injuries had healed a little, they immediately flew back to Four Seasons Island as quickly as they could. After the two returned to the capital, they didn’t go anywhere at all, and instead went to the palace to see Bradlor in hopes that he hadn’t gone overboard.
However, they didn’t expect to see such a scene with so much tension as soon as they entered the council hall.
“Bradlor, come with me.” Edmund did not have much of an expression. After all, he knew nothing about the situation yet. Hence, he called out to Bradlor before walking towards the back of the council hall.
Edmund was a Sanctuary powerhouse from the Dark Age. Although Bradlor was already advanced in his years, he wasn’t as high in seniority. Besides, as the other was the saint of the Chaos Sanctuary of the Illuminati, Edmund’s qualification and status were no worse than those of Bradlor. Hence, he wasn’t deferential to Bradlor.
Bradlor was also relieved to see Edmund and Zumar. With them around, he reckoned that no matter how powerful Lin Li was, he definitely wouldn’t be able to hurt him. Hearing Edmund call himself, he hurriedly removed the defensive spells on the throne, and ordered the Legendary-level guards in front of him to retreat. He then glared at Lin Li with hatred, and followed Edmund to the back of the council hall.
Edmund left with Bradlor, while Elder Zumar stayed in the council hall to watch the two parties to ensure that they wouldn’t break into a conflict. Elder Zumar approached Lin Li, and said in a personable tone, “President Felic, what happened? There must be some misunderstanding, right?”
Elder Zumar could tell that something must have happened between the Gilded Kingdom and Lin Li. However, as long as there was no fight, it was not to the point of no return. Hence, there was room to make amends.
As the saying went, never slap a smiling person. Lin Li didn’t give Elder Zumar a hostile reaction, and simply shook his head a little. He calmly said, “You have to ask them if there’s a misunderstanding or not.”
Although he didn’t hear any anger or other emotions from Lin Li’s tone, Elder Zumar’s face turned sullen, and he turned to look at the people of the Gilded Kingdom. He asked, “Can someone tell me what exactly happened just now?”
“Elder Zumar, we actually don’t want this to happen, either, but our efforts for peace don’t seem to be recognized by President Felic.” Cantory could sense that there was something off about Saint Edmund’s and Elder Zumar’s att.i.tude. Hence, before clarifying the situation, he chose not to complain, and tried to explain things more tactfully.
Of course, the generals who were in support of war did not share the same thoughts as Cantory. As soon as they thought that they now had two Sanctuary powerhouses on their side, they felt that it was a good time to take down Lin Li. Hence, they immediately lost control of their emotions.
Firstly, the leader of the royal guards, Cate, eagerly said to Elder Zumar, “Elder Zumar, Felic has gone overboard this time. Not only did he break into the barracks of the royal guards to take the prisoners away by force, he also razed it to the ground and wounded countless warriors. He trampled on the Gilded Kingdom’s pride, and yet he refused to even apologize.”
Hearing General Cate’s words, Elder Zumar couldn’t help but frown. He sized Cate up, and then asked in a deep voice, “Prisoners? Are you guys repeating Delano’s trick? President Felic is our guest, is this how you should be treating our guests?!”
Previously, Delano framed *The Star’*s crew, and used the Fifth Fleet to seize the vessel, only to have his act exposed by Lin Li’s Time Lapse crystal ball. In the end, the Fifth Fleet suffered a huge loss, and the Gilded Kingdom became the party in the wrong. Hence, they no longer had the cheek to pursue the matter and hold it against the Tower of Dusk.