Qianye’s vision slowly spread out from Cerulean Wave City, almost as though he could see the entire Fort Continent.
Far off in the distance, a number of small mercenary companies had come together to form a sizable army. They were pus.h.i.+ng their way into the depths of the continent under the leaders.h.i.+p of their commanding officers. These commanders were of varying racial stock—there were humans, demonkin, and vampires. The demonkin were the minority, but they were the elite amongst the elites. Their contribution to the battle wasn’t inferior to the other races.
At the same time, countless expansion forces were rus.h.i.+ng toward the edges of the continent to explore and excavate ore. These areas had always been the most dangerous, both in terms of environment and enemies.
William had been spreading the word about Qianye without a stop, so no one dared to touch the Fort Continent. He even invited the Wolf Sovereign over, so most people believed his words and set out to excavate in the dangerous regions.
The formation and development of these settlements went on without any intervention from the Empire or Evernight. In the end, the various races in the country began breaking ground with great enthusiasm. More and more settlements popped up like bamboo shoots after the spring rain.
The humans proved themselves superior both in the construction and scale of their workshops. They might not be the bravest or mightiest, but they were the best engineers and technicians. Hence, the race’s status and wealth rose steadily on the continent. Even the native werewolf tribes, with their inherited land, were squeezed down to the second position.
Qianye retracted his gaze. “William?”
“What is it?”
Qianye said thoughtfully, “I think we should make some advance preparations.”
“What about?” William asked.
“Racial equality.”
“What’s there to prepare? What do we need to prepare?”
“We need clear laws saying that all races, be they Daybreak or Evernight, are equal. Also, we need to suppress the powers calling for discrimination and stop humans from treating the other races unfairly.”
William was a bit puzzled. “What did you say? Humans cannot, erm… discriminate against the other races?”
“Yes.” Qianye was serious.
William didn’t know what to say, but he nodded in agreement since he couldn’t just tell Qianye that he was overthinking it.
Qianye didn’t explain things, either. This was the first country containing a mix of races from both factions, and such a country was bound to develop differently from traditional nations. Here, the humans’ short lifespan might just become their advantage.
There was no need to explain these things to William at the moment. He would see and understand in the future.
Qianye had no idea how long he would live. For the people living in his country—for the countless migrants who had come with their hopes and dreams—he wanted to remove a potential danger before it could ever take root.
It was hard to say what would happen once he went to the Sacred Mountain.
“Then, I’ll be leaving now.”
William was stunned. “You’re leaving? Where to? Why not stay a bit longer since you’re already back?”
“No, this place is fine with you watching over it. I need to settle some unfinished business.”
“Very well, I’ll wait for you. Let’s drink when you return.”
“Okay… huh?” Qianye sensed something halfway through his reply. He saw an airs.h.i.+p fleet landing slowly at a nearby airs.h.i.+p port. These airs.h.i.+ps were mostly empty, with only a few containers of goods. There were even bullet marks on some of them.
“It looks like something has happened, let’s head over and see.”
Also noticing the abnormality, William shot over. The new nation was in a fragile state at the moment. Its prosperity was mostly reliant on the only legal and open market in the Evernight World, the meeting-point between the two factions. Hence, their safe transportation to and from the outside world was extremely important.
Since the Summit of Peaks took up position in Cerulean Wave City, the first thing they did was to clear out all kinds of pilots nearby. The werewolves were ruthless, to begin with. Even the moderate faction that was the Summit of Peaks would put most pirates to death upon capturing them.
As more races found their interests on the Fort Continent growing, they began taking measures to guard the airs.h.i.+p routes. Eventually, the routes to the Fort Continent became one of the safest.
An airs.h.i.+p fleet being robbed like this was no small matter. That was why Wiliam was in such a rush.
Qianye simply stood in the air, waiting quietly for the results.
Moments later, William returned with a serious expression.
“Are things difficult?” Qianye asked.
“A bit.”
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“Tell me. When did the pride of the Summit of Peaks become so hesitant?”
William glanced at Qianye. “The trade fleet didn’t run into pirates. They ran into an Imperial patrol that confiscated most of their goods and two airs.h.i.+ps, citing illicit trade. Nothing would be left if the trade fleet didn’t have an aristocratic family backing them as well.”
“An Imperial patrol?” Qianye found it odd.
“To be precise, it’s from the Fifth Fleet.”
“I think I remember them, they’re from the regular army. Why would they appear in our trade route and collect taxes from us?” In his memory, Qianye had already cut off all ties with the Empire.
“I don’t know, nor do the traders. What they can confirm is that Marshal Chen Rongzhi of the Fifth Fleet was on board. That’s what I find troublesome.”
“It’s not like you to fear a marshal.”
William replied, “First, I think something is off about this whole thing. I don’t know what the Empire is intending to do by mobilizing their regular army. If this is an all-out war, the Summit of Peaks alone isn’t sufficient to fight them. We must muster forces from all the other races. Then again, we’re currently on the Fort Continent, and we’re not considered part of the Evernight faction.”
“And secondly, it’s you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, I don’t know how you will react.”
Qianye finally understood. “I understand now. Looks like the humans are just like you, they want to know how I will react. They started taxing as soon as I returned, so I’m sure they’re prepared to get slapped. The only difference is how heavy this slap will be.”
William said, “Humans do love these things.”
“That’s because they have countless factions among them, just like the four races of the Evernight Faction. I’ll be leaving now, I’ll settle this matter before I head to the next place.”
With that, Qianye turned around and stepped into the void.
An airs.h.i.+p fleet was slowly moving along the course between the Fort Continent and the Empire. This fleet was rather small, but it was made up of modern Imperial airs.h.i.+ps. Their background was certainly something.
The Martyr’s Palace leapt out of the void in their path. Qianye glanced at the airs.h.i.+ps from atop the Earth Dragon’s head. “Tell Chen Rongzhi to meet me.”
An old marshal with greying hair appeared from the central flags.h.i.+p. “I’m one of the ten marshals of the Empire. How dare you be so rude to me?”
He hadn’t even finished when Qianye flitted past.
Soon after, Chen Rongzhi’s head drifted off into the depths of the void.
Qianye had returned to the Earth Dragon’s head by the time people realized what had transpired. The palace drove away, leaving an echoing voice in the area.
“I’m in a bad mood today, so I killed this annoying person. Go back to the headquarters and tell them that this is all for the bigger picture. There’s no need to bother with such insignificant matters.”