Astral Apostle

Chapter 232: Taking Over (1)

Imperial City, Golden Castle Palace, Imperial Conference Hall.

Becky sat at the head of the table, coughing from time to time. His face was tired, sallow, and clearly unhealthy. Occasionally, he reached out to massage his chest. His heart was not feeling too good.

Ever since Bill defected, Becky had been furious. However, the change in the independence of the tribe left him with no time to recuperate. These days, he could only force himself to give orders and deal with the situation. His body had never fully recovered.

The other ministers sat upright in their seats. Among them, the seat of the Privy Chancellor was empty. This was Roman’s seat.

Becky glanced at the only empty seat and snorted.

“Have you found out Roman’s whereabouts?”

“There’s no news yet,” a minister said carefully.

“Once you find him, tell me immediately. I’ll kill him!”

Becky gritted his teeth.

A few months ago, Bill had made the slip. Becky had thought that there must be a mole helping, so he had organized a large number of people to search for clues. Among them, Roman had been very close to Bill, and so he had been checked many times, but he had never found anything from him.

However, it was not that he had gained nothing. It could even be said that he had gained a lot. Several important officials had been discovered by the palace guards and their search had been diverted. Following these people’s clues, the results were shocking. Becky discovered that a large number of important figures had secretly colluded with the outside world and accepted donations from the tribes.

Therefore, the search became more and more intense. More and more people went to jail, causing the palace to panic.

However, one day, Roman suddenly disappeared. He actually took away a large number of royal books and even stole from the royal family’s private treasury!

......

Moreover, the important figures of the palace gathered in the prison were all assassinated that day. Clearly, they could not escape from him. It even made people wonder if the “problem” on these people was deliberately framed by Roman.

Moreover, on that day, the Golden Castle was set on fire, burning many people to death. Even a few members of the royal family were burned to death. Roman was also a huge suspect.

At that time, the truth was basically revealed. They knew that Bill’s escape was most likely caused by Roman. The Privy Chancellor had long been disloyal and had caused huge losses to the royal family.

Becky hated Roman so much that he was determined that Roman was the reason his plan of monopoly and to retain authority had completely failed.

If Roman had not “hooked up” with Bill, how could the latter have had the chance to experience a different side? He would have fallen in his hands long ago!

He had long decided not to let Roman off. As long as he found this person, he would send the royal guards to chase him to death.

At this moment, the Military Affairs Minister interrupted Becky’s thoughts as he solemnly spoke out,

“Your Majesty, the situation is very disadvantageous now. Those rebellious tribes are helping each other and have the new blood potion. What should we do?”

From the perspective of the Empire, these so-called independent tribes were all rebels. The royal family also claimed this to the outside world.

Becky composed himself and looked anxiously at the sand table mockup of the Terra Empire.

The towns currently controlled by the Terra Empire were marked with blue chess pieces, while the territories of the various tribes were in various colors. The current situation in the sand table was that the blue side was divided and surrounded, and the territories were scattered left and right like spots.

The territory that the royal family could still command was the core area that extended out from the capital. There were only a dozen or so towns, and the cities far from the capital were separated by the territories of the various tribes. Most of their connections with the palace had been cut off, making it difficult for them to direct and mobilize. The situation was very disadvantageous to them.

There was only one problem in front of Becky now.

Should he fight regardless of the losses, or should he temporarily compromise?

“What do you think?” Becky asked in a low voice.

Everyone looked at each other in silence.

After a while, a minister broke the silence and probed, “Your Majesty, although our military strength is superior, we can’t start a war with all the tribes at the same time. I think it’s better to be conservative…”

The veins in Becky’s palms bulged as he pressed them against the table, but he said nothing.

Seeing this, the military affairs minister could not help but say, “Our chances of winning are too low. Once we fight, we will be attacked from all directions and won’t be able to resist at all. I don’t recommend starting a war.”

“Yes, I also think the risk of starting a war is too high…”

With someone the lead, many ministers in the Imperial Conference quickly expressed their opinions. No one agreed to the war.

On one hand, they could not win. On the other hand, they were more afraid that the capital would be conquered and they would not have such a noble life in the future. As for whether the various tribes were legitimate or not, they did not care that much.

Becky said coldly, “Then how can we win?”

Everyone looked at each other.

In the end, the Military Affairs Minister pondered for a moment before saying, “If we want to win, we can only plot slowly. We have to consider it in the long run and make ourselves stronger. We have to drive a wedge between the various tribes and break their alliance.”

“Tell me more.” Becky looked at him.

The Minister of Military Affairs cleared his throat before slowly explaining,

“Our current predicament is nothing more than having too many enemies. With thei Alliance, we will be surrounded by enemies from both sides and won’t be able to fight against everyone at the same time… Therefore, only by changing this can we resolve the problem of the tribes.

The current stability of the various tribal alliances is because they have a common enemy. In order to guard against the Empire, every tribe will think of ways to strengthen themselves. However, if we compromise and seek peace, as time passes, friction will sooner or later arise between the various tribes during their expansion and development. This will give us a chance to join forces with some of the tribes and attack them one by one…”

“Isn’t it too unrealistic? The various tribes know that the Empire is powerful, so even if there’s friction between them, they won’t fall out and create an opportunity for us, right?” A minister asked curiously.

“This is an uncertain matter. I’m just providing a possible idea.” The Military Affairs Minister looked at the minister who was undermining him unhappily and cursed his useless teammates.

Therefore, they would only have a chance through long-term development… Becky’s expression was heavy.

If Bill was still around, the royal family would be able to monopolize the new blood potion and expand their army. It would not be a problem for them to develop. However, this plan had already collapsed, and the formula that everyone had was no longer precious.

The most troublesome thing was that Bill seemed to be working for the tribe. Who knew if he would create another shocking potion in the future? Instead, it would become a monopoly of the tribe that the royal family could not touch.

However, after 40 years of development, the Empire had still accumulated a lot of knowledge of the various tribes. Currently, it still had a huge advantage in terms of technology. For example, the Miraculous Armament Technology was still a card in the hands of the royal family.

Therefore, in terms of development, the outcome was really hard to say. Becky did not have much confidence in coming up on top from that.

“I just want to get rid of these rebels quickly!” Becky said angrily.

“This…” The Military Affairs Minister hesitated for a while before saying helplessly,” If we can mobilize all the Imperial Hunters, we won’t be afraid of starting a war with all the tribes at the same time. ”

Hearing this, many ministers nodded in agreement.

Currently, the Empire’s greatest advantage was actually the nearly 2,000 Imperial Hunters it had. If they were to enter the battlefield, they could completely crush all the tribes.

However, Becky’s expression turned ugly.

He had long considered this method, but the Imperial Hunters did not listen to all orders.

During the pursuit of Bill, there were already objections from the Imperial Hunters. Although they were mobilized, it was only a show of compliance.

It was impossible to command the Imperial Hunters to enter the war and slaughter ordinary troops. Becky had long given the order tentatively and realized that there were very few Imperial Hunters who responded.

Most of the Imperial Hunters had a clear attitude — it was fine for them to fight mutant beasts, but he could go find someone else to do the civil war.

This situation made Becky rather angry.

In his opinion, the Imperial Hunters only enjoyed the benefits given by the Empire, but they were unwilling to fight for the Empire. This was being ungrateful!

However, Becky was helpless. Even if the Imperial Hunters did not listen to him, they were still considered a team of the Empire. He could not easily give up on this powerful force.

However, Becky had a new idea as a result.

He looked around and solemnly said, “I’ve decided to select some people who are truly loyal to the royal family from the Imperial Hunters to form a new army.”

The Minister of Military Affairs was surprised, “Aren’t there already royal guards?”

“It’s not enough. There are some hunters who are willing to listen to more orders, but they won’t really devote themselves to the royal family. They still want to be hunters. I want to screen this group of people out from the Empire’s hunters and form a more direct Mutant Blood Army to give them better treatment.”

Becky solemnly announced,

“They are usually still hunters who mainly hunt mutant beasts, but they will occasionally carry out other missions for the royal family, including spying, assassinating the enemy’s leader, killing the enemy Mutant Blood Warriors, and so on.”

Everyone understood that this was to optimize the structure of the team and separate out the hunters who listened to orders. From then on, the Imperial Hunter team would become the source of troops in the periphery, and this team would be the directly related to them.

The Military Affairs Minister asked curiously, “Then what’s the name of this army?”

Becky already had a script in mind. He boldly stated,

“The Royal Demon Hunter Army!”

Everyone looked at each other.

The more Becky spoke, the more excited he became, “According to my calculations, among the Imperial Hunters, we can probably select two to three hundred Royal Demon Hunters. This is a hunter team that can be thrown into the battlefield!”

The Minister of Military Affairs hesitated and asked, “Then who will command this team?”

Becky said in a low voice, “Keriber is trustworthy. I’ve already spoken to him. He’ll be the leader of the royal Demon Hunters!”

“Uh… Then who will replace him and lead the Imperial Hunters?”

“Jace! He’s the successor to begin with. Let him take office early.”

Becky answered without thinking.

Seeing that the king had already made a decision, the ministers had nothing to say. They could only nod in agreement.

“When the opportunity is ripe, we’ll try to start a war. We can’t let these rebels become independent.”

Becky’s tone was cold as he slapped the table.

Unable to persuade the king to admit defeat and compromise, the ministers could only sigh in their hearts.

...

In the capital, Imperial Hunter Base.

“Have you heard? The Empire is going to form a new hunter team. I think it’s called the Demon Hunter Army.”

“It seems that Boss Keriber is going to be a commander.”

“I wonder what they’re doing by selecting people from among us.”

In the dining hall, the hunters gathered in twos and threes to chat about the recent rumors.

At one of the tables, Keriber and Jason sat opposite each other. The hunters around them looked over frequently, their gazes mainly focused on Jason, the next appointed Imperial Chief Hunter.

Keriber looked at Jason and whispered,

“Jace, the King has other plans for me. I’m going to command another force. It’s said that I might go to the battlefield. I’ll leave the Imperial Hunters to you.”

He was already old and wanted to retire, but now that such a change had happened, he did not mind responding to the King’s orders and playing his part.

Jason’s expression did not change as he nodded calmly, “Alright.”

Keriber felt a little worried, so he continued, “After I leave, you have to report to the King often as the commander of the Imperial Hunters. Let him know about the situation of the Imperial Hunters at all times. Don’t forget.”

“Ok.”

“Also, this duty is not power. Don’t treat the Imperial Hunters as your subordinates. You have to treat everyone as your peer.”

“Sure.”

“… Are you really listening carefully? Can you not answer so perfunctorily?”

“Alright.”

Keriber held his forehead and said helplessly, “In short, the King specifically asked you to take over my position early. Don’t let the King down.”

“Don’t worry,” Jason said expressionlessly. “I’m with the Empire.”