Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 863 - 741: Alliance Strategy
Phaletis Kingdom, St. James's Palace.
The weather in Beckler at the beginning of April is neither too cold nor too hot, with the warm sunshine passing through the magnificent floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the small floral hall on one side of the garden, giving a golden edge to the two people enjoying afternoon tea.
"My wise and majestic Majesty Galliot, how many times has it been now? 'Octopus Ghost' Hawkins, 'Crowned Ghoul' Pickman's avatar, Titled Knight 'Thorny Fire' Balboa, and now this Tier 4 [Crawler].
Besides [Nation Destroyer], titles like [Titled Killer], [Tier 4 Slaughterer] might soon be attached to your name, hahaha..."
Dismissed the elegant court maids nearby, Liweina, who wore a crown and a low-necked red gauze dress with ruffled sleeves, cheerfully poured a cup of royal-special red tea for Aiven herself, adding milk and a slice of lemon.
Aiven picked up the delicate bone china teacup and sipped lightly. Although he preferred the original taste, these two extra ingredients were acceptable, especially with Her Majesty's personal service.
"Haha, beautiful Majesty Liweina, the New Continent is far from the church's central area of control, and this time we have attracted quite a lot of fire for the Kingdom. And although the loss of personnel wasn't significant, the property damage was extremely severe..."
Seeing Liweina, who was smiling just moments ago, quickly adopts a defensive posture, covering her proud chest as if she's determined to protect her family's pockets at all costs, Aiven pouted:
"Tsk, I'm not asking for economic compensation, but what about the 'Immigration Law' I mentioned before, how's the discussion going on?"
Only when money isn't mentioned does Her Majesty return to her composed demeanor; even landlord's families have no surplus food these days. She lightly coughed, dipped a spoon into caramel pudding meant for afternoon tea, and put it into her mouth:
"I was just about to talk to you about this matter. Now that most of the land divided from the Ilya Kingdom has turned into excellent sheep pastures, the need for labor in the entire country has greatly reduced.
The proposal you submitted, I've already discussed with Tyrone's Magnus III, and it's entirely feasible.
Issuing a mandatory administrative order from the mainland requires each merchant ship traveling between the New and Old Continent to carry a portion of Ilya immigrants, which can be used to offset taxes when docking in the New Continent.
Achieving an immigration scale of at least one million within ten years is theoretically completely possible, not to mention the population of voluntary immigrants."
"That's good, currently, the main population of Tulip within the Duchy is still too small. There's no issue in the short term, but if population imbalance occurs later, making adjustments becomes troublesome. By the way, what's your view on what the Saint Angel said?"
With the complete decline of the Ilya Kingdom and the strong rise of the Galliot Duchy, Phaletis Kingdom, Tyrone Kingdom, and Galliot Duchy have now become the new triumvirate of the Tulip Seven Nations Alliance.
According to "Saint Angel" Belenus, to cope with the unknown changes on the side of the "God of Black Wings," the full promotion of the "Great Navigation" and "Steam Industrial Revolution" trends is needed, naturally relying on the strongest trio.
"Hmm, our steam industry's industrial layout doesn't have any major issues.
Moreover, since you proposed that 'productivity' fundamentally determines 'production relations,' Mother and His Holiness the Pope, through Principal Princeton, have contacted Wizard Menon Watt, the chief Crowned Wizard of the Alchemy School.
His interests are completely aligned with ours, providing a powerful force we can rely upon.
The most crucial issue now is that to continuously advance our 'Steam Industrial Revolution,' a massive supply of raw materials and dumping market is required!"
Liweina's stunning appearance does not overshadow her exceptional ability as a Monarch, she glanced at Aiven, who was attentively listening, and continued:
"So I believe the 'Great Navigation' and 'Steam Industrial Revolution' are actually two sides of the same coin.
My idea is to drive the trend and convert it into power mainly divided into two parts: one is humanity's overall exploration map, the other is the map under the Goddess's Tulip control.
There are two routes before us: one is the western line, a 'Broken Star Sea,' which humans have not yet extensively ventured into; the other is the eastern line, the Peacock Islands, which we have yet to explore."
Initially, Liweina was just constrained by the limitations of this era, lacking Aiven's insight and vision. With a slight hint, she immediately showed the ability to extrapolate.
Completely deserving of her hard-earned experience from over twenty years of study and training, making her a fully qualified teammate.
"I have already planned to take advantage of the internal chaos within Hilus, to initiate the military's planned control of the Eritrean Sea route.
The thirty-plus Level 3 and above battleships captured earlier were transformed by you into five Galliot-type Heavy Cruisers, right? Plus the three already launched, totaling eight forming the Raiding Fleet.
I will relocate the East Lenz Company altogether to the Peacock Islands, start with offshore trade and intelligence gathering, preparing for capturing it in advance.
Particularly, cutting off New Continent's gold and silver mines, dividing the tax source Frisia Kingdom, and severing the Peacock Islands' interest delivery route to Hilus will make this maritime overlord like a tiger losing its claws, unable to roar again.
'Sea Monarchy' will also truly become the Goddess's renowned title!"
Aiven stared at Liweina, who was speaking assertively, smiling. Her Majesty's alabaster face shone at this moment, displaying her uniquely brilliant glow, and was stunningly beautiful.
"Well, not bad, not bad. The merging of Great Navigation and Steam Industry as well as this east-west strategy plan, I also agree. As our next action guide, it poses no problems."
Receiving a compliment from Aiven, Liweina's rosy lips curled slightly, feeling inexplicably happy.
Having a divine teammate certainly feels good, but there's considerable pressure as well. However, this Queen has not yet noticed that now facing Aiven, she unconsciously has placed herself in... a lower position.
"Soon, the Duchy will organize another exploratory attempt toward the Broken Star Sea. I'm very curious about what Saint Angel said is inside the 'Broken Star Sea,' and naturally, the 'World's Favor' is always beneficial."
"Hey, look, a peak transcendent is appearing on the battlefield."
In reality,
Aiven's true form was still in the duchy, busy dealing with the aftermath left by the "Crowned Demon" and "Angel of Disease." It was only after receiving Liweina's message about the "change in the war situation" that he finally spared some energy to refocus his attention on the battlefield of the Old Continent.
In fact, the whole world had already turned its eyes here, engrossed in the massive event of the "Frisia Independence War," which hadn't occurred in a century. For the time being, no one was paying attention to the small commotion over on the New Continent, nor to the "Gospel Church" that had suddenly turned from evil to good.
At this time, across the La Manche Strait, which was only a mere 240 kilometers wide from the Eastern Border of Tulip.
High above the skies outside Antwerp City, six figures silently stood above the clouds, away from mortal eyes.
They were the peak transcendent beings belonging to the Hilus Empire and the Lowland Republic, respectively.
Whoosh—!
The atmosphere was somewhat grim.
Apart from the fallen "Thorny Fire," the other three Titled Knights, "Supreme Knight," "Steel Melting Furnace," "Bone Shattering Warhammer," were all present.
Among them, both "Supreme Knight" and "Steel Melting Furnace" had already cultivated their own Titled Sacred Artifacts, ranking among the strongest of the Titled Knights.
On the side of the Lowland Republic, just as Aiven had analyzed for Liweina in the past, the leader was also a legitimate human Titled Knight.
"Northern White Wind" Gultestier, a middle-aged man with short ice-blue hair, no one knew his exact age, but he was a powerful transcendent who had been active in the Northern Islands for many years.
It wasn't surprising that in that Icelandic country, a Titled Knight predetermined by the "God of Black Wings" would appear. Historically, that area had always been rife with pirates, at the most rampant period, the bloody shadow had shrouded the coastal areas of the continent for nearly four centuries.
Having a large group of potential followers of the "God of Black Wings" was also nothing out of the ordinary.
Behind him, naturally, there were also the beloved ones of the Ancient Gods.
Having once participated in the Ilya Independence War, the pale, slightly stooped, tall and thin, Crowned Demon, under the banner of the "Cold Monarch," the Ghoul [Taunting Tunnel Forager] Pickman.
The other was a slightly chubby young man, entirely pallid from skin to hair, to clothes except for the green eyes, "Just Angel" Aihote's subordinate, the Ancient God's descendant "Azure Beast" Latopedia.
In principle, within the existing ruling order of the Old Continent, non-Titled Knights did not qualify to stand on the forefront.
However, the existence of the [Seven Gods Ladder] and Titled Knights was meant to maintain the True God's dominion over the Source Continent. Now that a True God had personally joined the fray, how could He be bound by rules He Himself set?
Just like the so-called "free trade" often touted by a certain nation, when in an advantageous position in international trade, they of course strive to uphold it. When in a disadvantage, it's hardly better than a piece of toilet paper, and a used one at that.
And such minor infractions, after the True God incarnate "Angel of Prosperity" showed resolve to the "Eternal Flame," evidently fell far short of prompting a united divine crackdown.
Even other True Gods, who were not [Humanized Divine Positions], had begun preparing to establish new diplomatic ties with the "God of Capital and Wealth," who was transforming towards a True God.
A leading evil god "reforming" was also something Natural Spirits were happy to witness.
For human minds are variable and can often be two-faced, but a god's path determines His future conduct. And the divine positions of [Capital] and [Wealth] really don't seem to possess intense aggressiveness.
Compared to past [War of Injustice], [Violence], [Plunder], [Theft], this was indeed a million times better.
And in the city's tallest tower, a group of well-dressed authorities had gathered.
"Mr. Speaker, do you think the peak transcendent beings can withstand the opposing Titled Knights?"
At the outbreak of the independence war, the capitalists, represented by the big bankers, had announced the founding of the country, renaming the Kingdom of Frisia to the "Lowland Republic."
Chairman of the Netherlands Bank Group Executive Committee, Saint William Orange of the "God of Capital and Wealth," had already become the first presiding officer of the "Lowland Republic's" parliament.
If he successfully led the independence war to victory, he would undoubtedly be the founding father.
Surveying the faces filled with worry, this saint, however, was confident:
"If it were only us and the Hilus Empire, indeed, possibly only when one side falls or can no longer prolong the struggle could the war end completely.
But with the Tulip Alliance, a formidable enemy, watching from the sidelines, always coveting the overlord throne of Hilus.
As long as we demonstrate strength and determination, showcasing a deterrence capable of causing significant harm, the Hilus Empire wouldn't engage us in an all-out fight; Philip II would be even less willing to see a loss in peak combat power.
We can even rely on our economic foundation and the support from 'Eye of Wealth' foreign members, to collapse Hilus's economy, causing this outwardly strong but inwardly weak country to directly declare bankruptcy.
In this war, the Lowland Republic can afford the cost!"
