Chapter 1 Court Meeting

The royal capital, Golden Fort Palace, the imperial conference hall.

Becky sat in the main seat, coughing intermittently, his face haggard and sallow, clearly unwell. He occasionally reached out to rub his chest, his heart not feeling quite right.

Ever since Bill defected, Becky had fallen ill with anger, but the sudden independence of the tribes left him no time to recuperate. These days, he could only force himself to issue orders and deal with the situation, and his body had never fully recovered.

The other imperial ministers sat upright in their respective positions, the seat of the Grand Secretary vacant, where Roman used to sit.

Becky glanced at the only empty seat and snorted coldly, "Have you found Roman's whereabouts?"

"No news yet," one of the ministers said cautiously.

"Once you find him, tell me immediately, I will kill him!"

Becky gnashed his teeth.

Months ago, when Bill ran away, Becky believed that there must have been an internal traitor helping him. So, he organized a large number of people to look for clues. Roman, who was very close to Bill, was investigated many times, but nothing was ever discovered.

But it wasn't a complete loss, it could even be said to be a "great gain." Several important ministers were found to have problems by the palace guards, shifting the focus of the guards' search. Following these people down the vine, the results were shocking. Becky discovered that a large number of important figures were secretly communicating with the outside world and accepting tribal tributes.

Therefore, the search intensified, and more and more people were imprisoned, causing panic in the court.

Then one day, Roman suddenly disappeared, also running away, taking with him a large number of royal classics and stealing the royal family's private money.

Furthermore, the important palace figures gathered in the prison were all assassinated that day, which was clearly related to him. One couldn't help but suspect whether the "problems" of these people had been deliberately framed by Roman.

Moreover, a fire broke out in Golden Fort that day, burning many people to death and injuring even more. Several members of the royal family were burned to death, and Roman was also highly suspected.

Only then did the truth basically come out, knowing that Bill's escape was mostly caused by Roman. The Grand Secretary had long harbored disloyal intentions, causing huge losses to the royal family.

Becky hated Roman with a passion, believing that Roman was the culprit who completely ruined his plan.

If Roman hadn't hooked up with Bill, how would Bill have had the chance to run away? He would have been in his grasp long ago!

He had already decided that he would never let Roman go. As long as he found this person, he would send royal warriors to hunt him down to the death.

At this moment, the Minister of War interrupted Becky's thoughts and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, the current situation is very unfavorable. Those rebellious tribes are helping each other and have new-style different blood potions. What should we do?"

From the perspective of the empire, these tribes claiming independence are all rebels, and the royal family claims this to the outside world.

Becky calmed himself down, looked at the map of the Terra Empire on the table, and looked anxious.

The towns currently controlled by the Terra Empire are marked with blue pieces, while the territories of the various tribes are colorful. The current situation in the sand table is that the blue side is divided and surrounded, with territories scattered in pieces, like spots.

The territory that the royal family can still command is the core area around the royal capital, which is only a dozen towns. The cities far away from the royal capital are separated by the territories of the various tribes, cutting off most of the connection with the court, making it difficult to directly command and mobilize. The situation is very unfavorable.

Now, the only question facing Becky is:

Should he start a war regardless of the losses, or temporarily compromise?

"What are your thoughts?" Becky asked in a deep voice.

Everyone looked at each other in silence.

After a while, a minister spoke to break the silence, tentatively saying, "Your Majesty, although our military strength is dominant, we cannot fight all the tribes at the same time. I think it's better to be conservative..."

Becky's hand on the table tensed up, his knuckles white, but he didn't speak.

Seeing this, the Minister of War couldn't help but say, "Our chances of winning are too low. Once a war breaks out, we will be attacked from all directions and unable to resist. I don't recommend starting a war."

"Yes, I also think the risk of starting a war is too great..."

Someone took the lead, and many ministers in the imperial conference expressed their opinions, none of whom agreed to start a war.

Not being able to win was one aspect, they were more afraid of the royal capital being captured, and losing their privileged lives. As for whether the independence of the tribes was legitimate, they didn't care so much.

Becky said coldly, "Then how can we win?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Finally, the Minister of War hesitated and said, "If we want to win, we can only plan slowly. We must consider it in the long term, strengthen ourselves, and divide the various tribes, breaking their alliance."

"Explain in detail," Becky looked at him.

The Minister of War cleared his throat and slowly said:

"Our current predicament is nothing more than too many enemies, guarding and uniting, and we are attacked from all sides, unable to fight everyone at the same time... So, only by changing this can we solve all the tribes.

Now the tribal alliance is stable because we are a common enemy. To guard against the empire, each tribe will try to strengthen itself. But if we compromise and seek peace, as time goes by, the various tribes will inevitably have friction in their expansion and development, giving us the opportunity to unite some of the tribes and defeat them one by one..."

"Isn't that a little unrealistic? The tribes know that the empire is powerful. Even if there is friction between them, they won't turn against each other and create opportunities for us, right?" a minister asked curiously.

"This is an uncertain thing, I'm just providing a possible idea." The Minister of War looked at the minister who was taking the stage in dissatisfaction, secretly scolding him for being a pig teammate.

So, the long-term route can only rely on development... Becky's expression was heavy.

If Bill was still around, the royal family would monopolize the new-style different blood potions and be able to continuously expand their army. Development wouldn't be a problem at all. But now this plan has failed, and the recipe that everyone has is no longer valuable.

The most troublesome thing is that Bill seems to be working for the tribes. Who knows if he will create amazing potions in the future, which will instead become a tribal monopoly that the royal family cannot get their hands on.

But after forty years of development, the empire has still accumulated a lot of knowledge from the various tribes, and still has a huge advantage in technology, such as the Miracle Armed technology, which is still a card in the hands of the royal family.

So, in terms of development, the results are really hard to say, and Becky doesn't have much confidence.

"I just want to solve these rebels quickly!" Becky roared.

"This..." The Minister of War hesitated for a while before helplessly saying, "If we could mobilize all the Imperial Hunters, we wouldn't be afraid to fight all the tribes at the same time."

Hearing this, many ministers nodded in agreement.

The empire's biggest advantage right now is actually the nearly two thousand Imperial Hunters under its command. If they were投入(tóurù, throw into) the battlefield, they could completely destroy all the tribes.

But Becky's face turned ugly.

He had considered this method long ago, but the Imperial Hunters don't listen to every order.

During the pursuit of Bill, there were already dissenting voices among the Imperial Hunters. Although they were dispatched, they were just doing things perfunctorily.

It's even more impossible to command the Imperial Hunters to engage in war and massacre ordinary people's armies. Becky had already tentatively issued orders and found that few of the Imperial Hunters responded.

Most Imperial Hunters have a clear attitude - they can fight异兽(yìshòu, different beasts/monsters), but they won't participate in civil wars.

This situation made Becky quite annoyed.

In his opinion, the Imperial Hunters only enjoy the benefits given by the empire, but are unwilling to fight for the empire, which is ungrateful!

But Becky was helpless. Even if the Imperial Hunters listened but didn't follow orders, they were still considered a force of the empire, and he couldn't easily abandon this powerful force.

However, Becky therefore had a new idea.

He looked around and said solemnly: "I have decided to select some people from the Imperial Hunters who are truly loyal to the royal family to form a new army."

The Minister of War was surprised: "Isn't there already a royal guard?"

"Not enough. There are some hunters who are willing to listen to more orders, but will not truly commit to the royal family. They still want to be hunters. I want to select this group of people from the Imperial Hunters to form a more direct line of different blood army and give them better treatment."

Becky said solemnly:

"They are still hunters as usual, mainly hunting异兽(yìshòu, different beasts/monsters), but occasionally they will perform other tasks for the royal family, including reconnaissance, assassination of enemy leaders, killing enemy different blood warriors, and so on."

Everyone understood that this was optimizing the team structure, separating the hunters who listened to commands. From now on, the Imperial Hunter team would become an outer source of troops, and this unit would be an advanced direct line.

The Minister of War asked curiously: "Then what is the name of this unit?"

Becky had already had a draft in his mind and blurted out:

"Royal Demon Hunter Army!"

Everyone looked at each other.

Becky became more and more excited and said: "According to my calculations, about two to three hundred Royal Demon Hunters can be selected from the Imperial Hunters. This is a hunter unit that can be thrown into the battlefield!"

The Minister of War hesitated and asked: "Then who will lead this team?"

Becky said in a deep voice: "Clayber is trustworthy. I have already talked to him. He will be the leader of the Royal Demon Hunter Army!"

"Uh... then who will replace him to lead the Imperial Hunters?"

"Jess! He was originally the successor, let him take office early."

Becky said without thinking.

Seeing that the king had already made a decision, the many ministers had nothing to say, so they had to nod in agreement.

"When the opportunity is ripe, we will try to start a war and not allow these rebels to be independent."

Becky's tone was cold as he made a decision on the spot.

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

…

The royal capital, Imperial Hunters' camp.

"Have you heard? The empire is going to form a new hunter unit, which seems to be called the Demon Hunter Army."

"It seems that Clayber boss is going to be the commander."

"Personnel will be selected from among us. I don't know what they will do."

In the cafeteria, the hunters gathered in small groups, chatting about the recent rumors.

And at one of the tables, Clayber and Jesson sat opposite each other, and the surrounding hunters looked over frequently, their eyes mainly focused on Jesson, the designated next commander.

Clayber looked at Jesson and said softly:

"Jess, the king has other arrangements for me. I'm going to command another unit. It's said that it may go to the battlefield. The Imperial Hunters will be handed over to you."

He was getting old and wanted to retire, but now that this kind of change has happened, he doesn't mind responding to the king's order and发挥余热(fā huī yú rè, make a contribution with the remaining strength).

Jesson's face remained unchanged, and he nodded calmly: "Okay."

Clayber was a little worried and continued to instruct: "After I leave, you must often report to the king in the capacity of the Imperial Hunters Commander so that he can understand the situation of the Imperial Hunters at all times. Don't forget."

"Oh."

"Also, this responsibility is not power. Don't treat the Imperial Hunters as your subordinates. Treat everyone as colleagues with equal status."

"Okay."

"...Are you really listening carefully? Can you please not give such perfunctory answers?"

"I can."

Clayber supported his forehead and said helplessly: "In short, the king named you to take over my position in advance. Don't let down the king's trust in you."

"Don't worry." Jesson said expressionlessly: "I'm on the empire's side."