This Game Is Too Real
Chapter 424: The Promise of Troop Deployment and Vassalage

Chapter 424: Chapter 424: The Promise of Troop Deployment and Vassalage

Soon after Fang Chang faithfully secured a substantial investment for the Alliance from a corporation,

Chu Guang, aboard the Iron Heart to Falling Leaves City for an inspection, finally met the delegation from the Honey Badger Kingdom.

Clearly,

they were unaware, amidst the confusion of war, that the Iron Heart had already been commandeered by the Alliance; their knowledge of the Alliance was several months outdated.

Thus, when they saw the towering airship appear in the sky, a group of Guards nearly caused another comical mishap in their panic.

However, seeing this airship cleared up some of Sommer’s confusion.

This airship had once been General Mclen’s personal vessel.

There had been rumors that the king of the Falcon Kingdom had promised a member of the Royal Family to one of the Army’s generals.

But it was unexpected that this member of the Royal Family was the king’s consort...

The airship slowly descended.

Chu Guang briefly asked Ma Ban about the situation of the delegation over the communication channel and then heartily invited the prince and princess who had come from afar to board his airship.

Including Teresa, the consort of the Falcon Kingdom, Chu Guang also invited her up.

It had been two weeks since she was assigned to Work at the Refugee Camp.

He was a bit curious about how the lady consort had transformed...

...

On the bridge of the airship.

Sommer, who had just taken the elevator up, was still getting accustomed to the altitude; perhaps he had never been so high before, and his face was slightly pale.

However, being a worldly individual, this somewhat young-looking youth composed himself and bowed lightly in greeting.

"Good day, Mr. Manager, I am Sommer Honey Badger, the acting king of the Honey Badger Kingdom. This beside me is the late king’s youngest daughter, my own sister, Afni Honey Badger."

"Hello, Mr. Manager, you can call me Afni or Nini," said the young girl with slightly curly hair, also performing a curtsy, her voice clear and pleasant.

Hearing the word Honey Badger, Chu Guang couldn’t help but think of the Bald Brother meme.

Yet, both in front of him seemed frail and hardly matched the picture of a creature that’s either at war or on its way to one.

"Chu Guang, Manager of the Alliance."

He introduced himself succinctly, and with a glance signaled Teresa that there was no need for formalities, then looked on with interest at the young prince and princess before him.

Although their ages were not apparent, they seemed quite youthful.

To have traveled across an entire warzone, making it from Oasis No.3 here, was truly no small feat.

Just as he was about to say something, Afni suddenly blinked and spoke in a crisp tone.

"You look nothing like the Manager in the paintings."

"Paintings?" Chu Guang raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Yes!" Afni nodded, pulling out a sketchbook from her embrace, "It contains stories about you."

Upon seeing the sketchbook, Sommer’s expression immediately twisted into one of embarrassment, as if he wanted to intervene.

But Afni had already handed the sketchbook out, lifting her skirt for a courtly curtsy.

"This sketchbook was bought from the Market, I hope you won’t take offense."

"Ha ha, why would I?"

Chu Guang laughed heartily, signaling for Lu Bei, captain of the Guards, to bring the sketchbook to him.

Someone had turned him into a comic character?

How intriguing.

Chu Guang opened the sketchbook, curious to see how the desert Residents envisioned him.

Yet, as soon as he flipped to the first page, he nearly cringed at the distorted art style.

Damn!

Which Painter had perpetrated this atrocity!

He was drawn so ugly!

He had expected that information might have been distorted due to being passed over long distances, but he did not expect a complete makeover.

Since when had he ever grown such a long beard?

And power armor without a helmet, who would fight without wearing one!

What’s with having four sons?

Chu Guang’s first reaction was definitely that some player had started a rumor.

Then he immediately suspected Mosquito as the first suspect and Tail as the second.

But setting aside the style, the content was quite interesting, it had a "superhero" feel to it.

Just as Chu Guang tried to accept the ridiculous style and flipped through with interest, Somer anxiously glanced at his sister beside him and communicated silently with his eyes and lip movements.

"Have you lost your mind, why did you give him that album?"

"Cool down, big brother, you’re too nervous. Think about it, he’ll find out from someone else eventually, better we clear up the misunderstandings ourselves."

Looking into those gentle eyes, Somer took a deep breath and calmed down.

He admitted that the visual impact of the airship had been too intense, indeed making him somewhat nervous.

"Alright... but I was careless; I didn’t consider that the intelligence discrepancy could be this big. The Manager of the Alliance is so young, even if he has offspring, they can’t be very old..."

"It’s okay," Afni blinked and shaped her lips silently, "whatever arrangements you make, I won’t mind."

Somer stared at his sister, astonished.

Without a doubt, her gaze conveyed that she was prepared to sacrifice herself.

Closing his eyes slowly, he clenched his fist and unwillingly shifted his gaze away.

Marrying the Manager’s son to Afni was the best option.

If the two were of similar age, by the time their children came of age, he would only be in his forties or fifties. Even if he abdicated the throne, he could still serve as a regent prince and keep the power in the hands of the Honey Badger family.

By that time, the aging Manager would be in his twilight years, and the Alliance would enter a chaotic period of power transition, inevitably too distracted to concentrate on the states of its vassals.

Whether the Alliance would ultimately crumble or transition smoothly, the Honey Badger Royal Family could control the initiative of their position.

However, what Somer hadn’t expected was that this dignitary was so young...

Whether marrying Afni to the Manager of the Alliance or to his possibly newly-born son, neither was a good idea.

A leader full of ambition, with plentiful energy and in the prime of life; even if he outlived him, he had no confidence in rivalling this man.

A man who could withstand the onslaught of the refugees’ wave amid chaos, unite those panic-stricken by the Looter, and even lead them to counterattack...

Such a person’s methods were far from simple! Behind that fatherly smile must be ruthlessness and decisiveness invisible to the ordinary eye.

He even began to suspect that his own little schemes might have been seen through long ago.

That’s why the Manager had invited him onto this flying ship, to demonstrate the military might of the Alliance and to tell him that his cunning was futile.

Was this an ultimatum?

What should he do?

Somer’s mind raced, trying to keep calm and wondering how to break out of this situation.

At this moment, the Manager of the Alliance finally finished browsing through the album in his hand and smilingly handed it to the captain of the Guards nearby.

"This album is indeed outlandish; I didn’t even know I had four sons."

Somer nodded in apology.

"It is our oversight for not clarifying the rumors... once I return to the Oasis, I will issue a command to remove these albums from the market."

Chu Guang said with a smile.

"You don’t have to do that; let them keep drawing. If there is a new Work, remember to send me a copy."

Chu Guang nodded to Lu Bei, signaling him to return the album to Princess Afni.

Then, Chu Guang looked at the handsomely featured prince and joked.

"As you have discovered, I’m afraid I can’t fulfill your request. I can’t very well introduce your sister to someone who doesn’t exist. And even if I had children, I probably wouldn’t arrange marriage for him, he should learn to pursue a girl on his own."

Somer was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding the Manager’s meaning.

Or rather, he did not expect him to say such a thing.

Was he suggesting that the Alliance did not need the vassalage of a nonexistent kingdom?

Afni glanced at her brother, sighed softly in her heart, and knew he had likely become obstinate again.

His second brother had always been smart, his thoughts more meticulous than his peers, which is probably why their father had chosen him as the successor to the throne.

But thinking too much was both his strength and his drawback.

Before him was neither a powerful court official nor the king of another kingdom, but the leader who had just deeply wounded the elite forces of the Army on the frontline Battlefield.

An elephant does not boast of its muscles in the face of an ant, nor does it hint at anything.

Its very existence says it all.

If that adult wanted something, he had no need to hint at them.

Either say it outright.

Or reach out and take it.

To give her brother a little time to think and to prevent the meeting from becoming too awkward, she blinked and picked up the conversation from him.

"But as your son, shouldn’t you consider the Alliance more?"

This question was quite interesting.

Although Chu Guang had few memories of parents, only remembering the grandfather who had raised him, he had thought about how he would educate his children when he became a father.

Looking at the innocent-faced Afni, Chu Guang smiled and said.

"That’s right, the son of the Manager should do that, and if I had one, I would expect him to do so, but he could do it in other ways."

"Such as?"

"Such as becoming a scientist, or a teacher, or a soldier, or an engineer... Whether it’s a research institute, a hospital, a school, a factory, a construction site, a farm, or the Army, among so many professions he’s sure to find one he likes and that others happen to need."

A hint of surprise, or perhaps confusion, arose on Afni’s face.

"Is that enough?"

Chu Guang said with a smile.

"It’s enough. The Alliance you see before you is made up of these kinds of people. As a father, I think it would be enough for him to live a meaningful life, to not waste his time. As for the rest, it’s up to him."

Afni was silent for a moment, perhaps thinking of her own childhood, and sighed softly.

"Then you must be a good father."

Chu Guang laughed.

"Thank you for the compliment."

Afni, curious, continued to ask.

"Do you have a wife?"

"Not yet; maybe after this war is over."

Chu Guang joked.

He knew what those subordinates beside him were thinking.

Including Old Luka who was not here, including that Lu Bei beside him whose hair had not yet fully grown, everyone was eager for him to hurry up and find someone to continue the lineage and to provide the Alliance with a young master.

But precisely because they still held such thoughts, it was not the appropriate time.

The Alliance belonged to everyone, and it was more than just a slogan. After two centuries in decline, they must realize that they never needed any kind of savior.

They were their own saviors.

As a young person from a civilized society who had received nine years of compulsory education, Chu Guang had never thought about becoming an emperor, although he often joked about Sigma with his players.

It might sound a bit idealistic, but after all, it was the house he had built, bit by bit, with everyone, and he had grown somewhat attached.

All he hoped for was to live in peace in his old age, and that his house wouldn’t become a dilapidated shack that could be knocked over with a kick.

This place bore too many people’s emotions, and he had seen everything that had happened here.

Afni nodded thoughtfully.

She couldn’t see what those eyes were pondering, but the blueprint he described in abstract terms was indeed very promising.

Though this was not the teaching of the Spirit of the Sand Sea.

But the ancient counsel told her that an elephant would not lie to an ant.

If he was truly thinking this way, he likely wouldn’t make life difficult for the people living on that Land.

The Alliance was made up of every single person living there.

Just as Somer, deep in thought, finally came up with an idea and was about to take over the conversation, something unexpected happened.

The little princess of the Honey Badger Kingdom suddenly lifted the hem of her skirt and knelt down on one knee.

"Then may I?"

Surprise, amazement, confusion, and delight appeared on a variety of different faces.

The atmosphere at the scene instantly ignited...

...

That must have been a proposal, right?

After all, the Alliance’s law only specified the age for marriage, without dictating who must propose to whom.

If possible, Lu Bei really hoped the Manager would accept the offer.

It didn’t matter who it was from.

Even if they were from a foreign tribe, that was fine.

Even if he—well, too bad he was a man, being anxious would not help.

Unfortunately, the Manager did not accept the proposal from that foreign princess.

However, the prince from the Honey Badger Kingdom still received the promise he wanted.

"... I cannot reveal to you the battle plans, but the Alliance will send troops to fight the Looter and his servants."

"Whether it’s Residents of Oasis No. 3 or Oasis No. 2, they will all be ultimately liberated. We will not force them to abandon their beliefs, but we will fulfill our duty as a refuge, opening schools there to teach them the laws of science, to teach them how to cultivate the land, and even the Spirit of the Desert Sea shall not interfere."

Somer quickly said.

"The wolverine king’s room will cooperate with your Work."

Chu Guang nodded.

He wasn’t without self-interest, as any help had a price. Prioritizing the interests of one’s own people was the foundation of unity, but he would choose a relatively mild approach to extract payment.

In the long run, education was the best solution to eradicate ignorance.

Once Luo Xia Province had the foundation for reform, its people would naturally go with the flow of history.

As for what the wolverine king’s room planned to do then, that would be their own business.

But it was still too early to discuss that.

When that day actually came, they might even beg to join the Alliance.

After all, it wasn’t only the Residents of the desert who needed to go to school; the Royal Family did as well.

The tide of thoughts brought by the players from that other world would somewhat influence them.

After a pause, Chu Guang looked at Afni, who was showing a hint of disappointment.

"If you truly long for the world I’ve described, spend these days walking and looking around the cities of the Alliance. I’ll arrange a guide for you."

He wouldn’t flatter himself by thinking this young girl had fallen for him at first sight, so he felt no embarrassment at all.

The words spoken in that situation, whether taught by her brother or decided on her own initiative, held no reference value.

If it was to save her homeland ravaged by war, then she should seek salvation through other means.

After hearing what Chu Guang said, Afni gently shook her head and spoke to him earnestly.

"I don’t need a guide. If possible, may I be allowed to follow you? I want to become your student."

Student?

Chu Guang smiled, finding the word a little nostalgic.

After all, he had only graduated a few years before being unceremoniously sent here.

"Unfortunately, I don’t teach, nor do I have the time to teach you anything. However, if you want to find a job to pass the time before returning to the Desert Sea, you could help me sort out those books that have not yet been categorized."

"There are many interesting books there, from the distant Prosperity Epoch, which might give you some inspiration for the Work you will do in the future."

He had previously recovered a large number of books from Yong’s, all stored in the warehouse in the City of Dawn.

Currently, the Merchant Guild was responsible for sorting them, but they could spare few hands.

With the ignition of the Fusion Reactor and the successive arrival of enterprise support Devices, there were vacancies everywhere in the Alliance, especially for those with the ability to write independently.

Afni nodded submissively.

"I will complete the task you assign to me."

Chu Guang nodded in approval, giving her an encouraging look.

Maybe his plan would proceed even more smoothly than he had anticipated.

After all, it had only been two hundred years since the Prosperity Epoch; it wasn’t too late for everything.

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