"What is... a chief?"
"Sounds like the head of all the clans..."
"Isn"t that the same as the Three G.o.ds Emissary?"
The crowd began to discuss. At that moment, the head of the Black River clan that had descended to fourth place, jumped onto the platform and questioned loudly, "But the king of the northern kingdom you mentioned, Roland Wimbledon, is not a Mojins. How could he rule the entire desert?"
"Here it is,"Ashes thought."This is one of the key problems that they have to deal with if they want to put the Southernmost Region into the prefecture of Graycastle. I"ll see how Echo handles it."
Echo looked at him and asked peacefully, "Were the Three G.o.ds Emissaries who used to rule the desert... Mojins?"
Her voice was not high, yet with the help of her magic power, it traveled to everyone"s ears. The head of the Black River clan was startled when he heard it. "Um, well..."
"We all know that the answer is negative." Echo noticed his silence, so she looked under the platform and said, "The Three G.o.ds Emissaries were real giants. It"s said that they didn"t have uniform looks. One of them had four feet and three hands and another had more than one head. Undoubtedly, they were not Mojins."
At this point, she began to speak in a much higher pitch, "The few words left by the emissaries have become princ.i.p.als that are abided by all Ironsand people of the Mojin Clan. The laws carved onto the slate tells us about the desert rulers, one is being blessed by the Three G.o.ds, the other is opening up boundless oases and keeping all the clans away from hunger, thirst, and death. Anyone who could accomplish any of those can become the ruler of the Southernmost Region."
The discussion in the crowd quieted down. n.o.body wanted to object the laws left by the Three G.o.ds Emissaries at the Land of Fire. In fact, the holy duel was a way to decide power distribution originated from the laws.
"But the Three G.o.ds Emissaries did bring green land to the desert." The head of the Black River clan did not want to be neglected. He pointed at Echo and raised his voice, "It"s said that 1,000 years ago, this area was an oasis! Is the king of Graycastle capable of that? Don"t be deceived by false benefits. Anyone who owns that kind of power is not different from the deity."
"So as long as he could bring new oases to the Sand Nation, you"d admit that His Majesty is qualified of ruling the Southernmost Region and consider him as the chief, right?" Echo said with a smile.
"That"s right. Not only me, I"m afraid all the other clans would agree with me!" The head of the Black River clan kept his mouth shut for the first condition and took most of the audience"s opinions as his own.
"Indeed, His Majesty can"t convert the Southernmost Region into a green land, but he"s willing to take our land into the territory of Graycastle and offer us residences near lakes and forests to keep us from the threats of thirst and sandstorm forever." Echo returned to the platform and said word by word, "This is the promise His Majesty made. He"ll bring you a new oasis, the vast and rich northern area is exactly the boundless green oasis whose color will never fade."
Everybody was startled and could barely believe what they had heard.
Thuram was equally shocked.
This is the real purpose of the Osha clan!
That is the meaning of the new oasis and new order Iron Axe mentioned!
It has always been every Mojin"s dream to live in an oasis that is forever green. Such a temptation is unimaginable, especially to those small clans that are too weak to grab a piece of the Iron Sand City. Although big clans might be hesitant and unwilling to see a drastic change in the Southernmost Region"s order, they could not prevent the transmission of this message, probably within half a month, this astonis.h.i.+ng message would spread through the entire dessert by the clansmen on spot from every Silver Stream Oasis!
"No, this is absolutely nonsense. It"s a lie, a fraud!" the head of the Black River clan shouted. "Have you forgotten the tragic ending of the Black Bone Clan and the Sandstone Clan? Didn"t they die out and become extinct because they easily believed what Garcia, the Queen of Clearwater, said? Offering us an oasis and the source of water? The cunning northerners will never do that. They"ll only give you a pond, or a piece of land as big as my palm, making you fight for these resources unceasingly as you did in the Southernmost Region where you have to work to death for them."
Thuram imperceptibly sighed."If it were before the holy duel, this speech could have suppressed people"s aspirations, but it"s too late now."
In five duels, no one was killed. The merciful image of the Osha clan had spread through the small oasis. People could easily imagine that the northern kingdom"s king who was supporting Osha was equally merciful. Obviously, someone merciful would not oppress the Sand Nation people as the Queen of Clearwater had done.
Even challengers like Black bone and Sandstone were willing to sell themselves cheap to Garcia, which was an indication of how attractive a land of survival was to them. Even if it might be a trap, some clansmen would like to take the risk. If the King of Graycastle sincerely wished to take the Southernmost Region into his domain, those pioneers would definitely become the examples for other clans to follow. As long as it started, the northwards migration of the whole Sand Nation would become inevitable.
This king obviously had all his moves well planned, making a show of strength to draw the clans" attention, killing n.o.body in duels to build a merciful image, becoming the chief of all clans by indisputably winning the holy duels and making the other forgiven major clans reluctant to turn against Osha under everybody"s attention.
Thuram thought he would play a fairly important role in the process of the Osha clan settling in the Iron Sand City, but now he found that his role was only to supply Osha with his clansmen and information about the major clans in Iron Sand City. As to the real plan, he was totally kept in the dark. Echo did not take stationing in the Iron Sand City seriously and revenge was only as easy as lifting a hand to her. Thuram could not help but feel lost.
But after a short while, he rose with spirit again. If everything would go as the new leader said, Osha would undoubtedly become beyond the strongest clan. Then as a member of the Osha, he obviously would gain great benefits. In the face of this promising future, why bother feeling lost for the moment?
As expected, Echo slightly shook her head, "You"re wrong, chief. What Garcia needs are mercenaries, not common clansmen, which was her biggest difference with His Majesty, which was also the reason why she picked Black bone and Sandstone who had stronger fighting capacities. Yet His Majesty won"t do that. He considers all the Mojins as his own subjects, so any clans here can go to the Kingdom of Graycastle, regardless of how many young adults they have or whether they"re powerful. His Majesty doesn"t need the Sand Nation people to die for him, no merciful king would sit by and watch his subjects dying in vain!"
"What do you want in return? We ought to pay something for that." The Wildflame chief Geulz stood up and said, "He won"t help the Sand Nation for nothing. I don"t believe there is such a thing as free lunch!" He clenched the teeth, "Tell me. I"m willing to accept it."
"What His Majesty wants from you is simple, which is to work," Echo said frankly. "Like the other tens of thousands his subjects, work for the kingdom, work for yourself! You"ll get paid, improve your lives, receive education and bring up children... That"s all he wants."
"Is that... Is that all?" Guelz was startled.
"That"s right. A way of living your life without fighting and struggling!" Echo raised her tone again. "Everyone knows that there are fewer and fewer Silver Stream oases... In my childhood, I could occasionally see oases near the south point of the Endless Cape. But now, the white wasteland near the northwest area is constantly expanding. The oases are deteriorating into sandy soil. Even the small oases around the Iron Sand City have shrunk. Do Mojins intend to keep on fighting and killing for living places, immersing the yellow sand with your blood and eventually disappearing with the oases in the Southernmost Region? Tell me, are you willing to accept this consequence?"
"No, my Lady."
"I"d like to go with you, Lady Silvermoon!"
"Please take me with you!"
Noises, like rolling waves, spread from the center of the platform to the surrounding areas.
Looking at the extremely pretty girl on the platform who"d drawn most of the clans" attention, Iron Axe could not help kneeling down with warm tears shedding.
He had dreamed of this occurring countless times, especially that night when the Osha clan became qualified for a duel partic.i.p.ant. But when he woke up, the clan had disappeared and the princess had become a slave. He thought he would not live to see this happening.
But now, what Echo had accomplished was even further than he had dreamed. Although he even dropped tears over this, within his heart he was fulfilled and proud.
"Osha finally gains the Three G.o.ds" favor."
"I understand there are still people hesitating, but soon what I said will be proved." Echo raised her right hand and said, "Those clans who want to follow me to the southern territories of Graycastle may pack right now and meet me at the small oasis before departure. Those who can"t leave right away need not worry. I"ll leave staff behind to guide those who wish to find suitable living places in the northern kingdom. As long as you abide by the Graycastle laws, you"re His Majesty"s subjects and will be protected. Graycastle"s door is always open to you."
n.o.body knew how the cheer started. But it was like a drop of ink falling into water, soon it rippled and spread to the entire Land of Fire.
The major clans still remained silent. But compared with the crowd under the platform, they were insignificant.
The sounds of the clans from every corner of the Silver Stream exceeded that of those from Iron Sand City for the first time.
A crack appeared on the primitive and stiff order.
A new order was taking shape at the riot of sounds.
Tiny and immature as it might seem, but it exuded infinite vitality.
The crowd began to kneel down to cheer for the new strongest clan, as well as to bow to the chief. Not everybody had the nerve to be a pioneer, but there were always people who were brave enough to sacrifice everything for the evergreen land in their heart.
On that day, the cheers spread unceasingly through the Land of Fire.
From that day on, the desert had a new leader.