A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 986 - Chapter 986 Chapter 680 Choice

Chapter 986: Chapter 680: Choice Chapter 986: Chapter 680: Choice For players, territory building has been the most frequently encountered aspect of the game since its inception.

But alas, building a territory is not so easy.

Just like in many sandbox construction games, most players are only able to build coffins, and only a select few big shots manage to build castles and fly planes. The work of territory building is even more tedious. Duanmu Huai remembered that the topic of territory building was a long-lasting hot issue on the forums. Of course, most people liked agricultural worlds and garden worlds, while some preferred to build Hive Cities or forge worlds.

However, liking something is one thing, and being able to build it is another matter entirely.

Luckily, among the players there are hidden dragons and crouching tigers, with no few graduates in city management among them. They could not only construct perfectly circulatory territories but also create blueprints to sell to other players–this relieved many players.

After all, most are at the sandbox house-building level where they can only build coffins, or at best build vented coffins. Asking them to plan a city? That’s practically asking for their life.

Of course, the Duanmu Huai in the game world doesn’t have to worry about such things, or rather, most Soul Walker players don’t care about this. Their combat power comes entirely from Fragmented Worlds and Soul Cards, so they don’t need to bother with conscripted planets, agricultural planets, or forge planets like other occupations.

Soul Walkers believe in quality over quantity. You might conscript millions of soldiers on your conscripted planet, but I bet their combat power won’t even match one of my squads.

Of course, on the flip side, you wouldn’t care if a million of them died, but if one of mine died, I’d be devastated.

However, Duanmu Huai certainly didn’t have the mood to play something like Cities: Skylines. Stefal also sold city blueprints, and many times when players really couldn’t handle it, they’d go to Stefal to buy a blueprint to build. There were Chinese, Japanese, European styles, and those fantasy styles that players talked about the most.

Well, the reason they’re talked about is because almost all the fantasy city blueprints are carved from the same mold. Basically, it’s just a circular wall on the outside, divided into four districts inside, and then you slap the Royal Palace in the middle and call it a day. In fact, many anime and Isekai games also have the same layout for their royal cities, causing players to comment if the authors all used the same template…

Duanmu Huai, on the other hand, did not use this generic template. After all, he had aesthetics to consider, so he bought a city construction blueprint named Yilusheel from Stefal.

The reason he chose this city was because its style also belonged to the Gothic style like the Tribunal, with Gothic spires, buildings, and cathedrals scattered throughout the city. And, in essence, that’s what the Tribunal was–a similar organization. Duanmu Huai felt that Yilusheel was quite representative.

After all, this territory was the face of the Tribunal; Duanmu Huai wanted to show others the Tribunal’s majesty–not to mention, the Tribunal is not like Tyler or Tom, those kind angels and envoys of justice. The moment it discovered any links to the Evil God, it would instantly turn into the most terrifying Sharp Blade, utterly destroying everything.

So, oppression was far more important than approachability.

As for Duanmu Huai, up to today, his was purely Imperial style–steel, skulls, and cathedrals were his trademarks, and he had no plans to change. Besides, Gothic cathedrals were genuinely beautiful and majestic, quite a pleasure to behold.

After handing the blueprint off to the Night Guard, Duanmu Huai washed his hands of the matter, leaving what came next to the consultants and the Night Guard. He, a Great Judge, surely couldn’t spend his days worrying about wall repairs.

So, after confirming the general development plan for his territory, Duanmu Huai returned to Luminas–thank heavens, at least this time he didn’t have to crawl out of Olaya’s bathroom again.

And to his side, only Ogis remained.

But just a short while after Duanmu Huai arrived in Luminas, he was caught.

“Where have you been these past few days?”

The black-haired maid grabbed Duanmu Huai, her face clearly unhappy.

“Princess has been sending people to find you, and no one could.”

“Went out for drinks.”

“Drinks? Couldn’t you drink whatever you wanted in the Royal Palace?”

“Heh, heh, heh, I’m afraid the Royal Palace wouldn’t offer that.”

Seeing the black-haired maid with a naive look, Duanmu Huai stopped teasing her.

“All right, just tell me what you need to say. Could it be that my reward has been approved?”

“This…”

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s question, the complexion of the black-haired maid changed.

“No, that’s not it, but…”

“Spit it out if you have something to say.”

“…The conflict between us and the Revion Principality has been escalating recently, and His Majesty has ordered the Princess to personally investigate…”

“Do you have a bad relationship with the King?”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai posed the question point-blank. What kind of situation was this? She had just returned triumphant, and without even receiving a reward, she was sent out again. And for an internal friction between states, not even warfare–was it really necessary to have the Princess take personal action? Hadn’t it only been a few days?

“Of course not!”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s disrespectful inquiry, the black-haired maid quickly began to explain.

“In fact, the Princess used to have a very good relationship with His Majesty, but ever since His Majesty fell ill… it’s been…”

The black-haired maid seemed to struggle with her words, and Duanmu Huai had no interest in these royal family melodramas.

“That’s none of my business. So what does Olaya want with me?”

“Because this situation involves Sea Monsters.”

“What the hell is a Sea Monster?”

It must be said, upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai was taken aback, and the black-haired maid rushed to explain.

“Our country and the Revion Principality have always been separated by the sea, and both sides have been interacting across the Silent Sea. But lately, Sea Monsters started attacking merchant ships in the Silent Sea, sinking many vessels and causing numerous deaths and injuries.”

“But what does that have to do with you? Are those Sea Monsters ones you’ve raised?”

“How could that be possible? But the Sea Monsters are only attacking ships from the Revion Principality, not those from Luminas. So… the Revion Principality is demanding an explanation from us.”

“So that senile old man sent Olaya there?”

Duanmu Huai chuckled and nodded his head.

“Well, if you think about it, a sea battle is quite something. If you lose, that’s that, but even if you win, the ships sink, and most likely, the outcome is drowning at sea anyway. It’s easier to explain, and whatever happens on the ship, even if someone knows, it can’t spread, right?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

The black-haired maid frowned, her gaze full of dissatisfaction as she stared at Duanmu Huai.

“The way you say it, it’s as if His Majesty is planning to kill the Princess…”

“Is that not the case? I can’t believe that this matter is so urgent that only Olaya must go. Or are you saying that Luminas has no one else?”

“This… Of course not…”

Having numerous princesses at his side, Duanmu Huai was also familiar with worlds like this one.

Essentially, there were two types of princesses.

One type was like Ann, a princess with real power. Don’t be fooled by her idling at school all day; she had the authority to approve state affairs. Many of the King’s affairs were essentially managed and approved by Ann. Incredibly talented and the strongest Sorcerer Princess in Manaria, aside from sometimes being a bit eccentric, she hardly had any flaws.

The other type was like Greiya, holding the title of a princess but beyond that, essentially a vase. Ann could command legions in Manaria, but in Regnes, Greiya’s words probably went unheard by many. Calling her ‘Princess’ was just a courtesy.

Olaya basically belonged to the former type, but the problem was she was still a princess.

To put it simply, unless the King died suddenly, she had no way to defy him.

Ah, why didn’t I just go straight to the throne and finish off that old fool with one swing of the sword back then? Wouldn’t that have been a classic reenactment?

“You don’t believe it? Proving this point is simple.”

Duanmu Huai sneered and looked at the black-haired maid.

“Just like this, you go back and tell Olaya to suggest to the King that I take charge of investigating this matter. If you’re worried, you can send someone trustworthy to follow me, and Olaya can guarantee it with her own assurance. Then you’ll see whether His Majesty the King agrees or not.”

“…I feel like you’re causing trouble…”

After hearing Duanmu Huai’s mockery, the black-haired maid stomped her foot and pondered anxiously for a moment.

“I understand. I’ll convey the message to the Princess.”

Duanmu Huai did not go to the Royal Palace, so he was unaware of how his message was conveyed by the black-haired maid. However, when he saw the cold-faced Olaya and the same maid with her head lowered in front of him the next morning, Duanmu Huai could almost guess what had happened.

“Hehehe, how does it feel to be betrayed by your own father?”

“…This was not Father’s idea.”

In response to Duanmu Huai’s mockery, Olaya clenched her teeth and fists tightly.

“It was Christie’s idea, that suspicious man manipulated Father, so …”

“That’s not important.”

Duanmu Huai waved his hand dismissively.

“The question is, what do you want to do now? Obediently follow his instructions and go fishing for sea monsters at sea?”

“Is there any other choice?”

“Of course.”

At Olaya’s retort, Duanmu Huai sneered.

“You go into the Royal Palace now and kill that man who is manipulating the King. Wouldn’t that solve everything?”

“Huh?”

It had to be said that Duanmu Huai’s suggestion was quite a shock to Olaya.

“But… if it weren’t for him, Father probably would have died a long time ago…”

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s no different from a living dead now,” Duanmu Huai said with calm assurance.

“An old fool who’s incoherent, letting him sit on the throne is practically a crime against the people of Luminas. Think about it, Princess Olaya, how many soldiers at the Northern Fortress died because of your father’s foolish decisions?”

“…………”

This time, Olaya did not immediately reply and bit her teeth tightly.

“Royal power is not eternal, Princess.”

Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Olaya.

“Do you want to watch this country decline? After all, his life will one day come to an end, and you… will be crowned as King.”

As he said this, the corners of Duanmu Huai’s mouth turned up slightly.

“Do you choose your father, or do you choose this country?”

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