Chapter 410 - 399: The King’s Request
On the day after the battle, the old King ordered a nationwide celebration, and the entire kingdom rejoiced.
And so, Golden Stone City went mad.
By day, waves of cheering threatened to topple the very foundations of the Sky Throne.
At night, the great white city was lit up as bright as day. Barrels of fine wine were hauled from the cellars and placed on every street corner, free for all to enjoy.
People lit huge bonfires in the squares, dancing, singing, and weeping wildly around the flames.
Fervent revelry erupted in every corner of the city.
Allen turned a deaf ear to the clamor outside.
Twelve light screens circled him, broadcasting real-time footage of the battlefield cleanup operation.
Thousands of Factory Servants, like diligent worker ants, operated engineering vehicles to dismantle and collect the carcasses of the Heart Eaters.
He was assessing the wear on the two Cyclops units and devising repair solutions.
"Commander," said Jarvis, "Prince William of the Aiselan Kingdom has sent a communication request from outside Cybertron. On behalf of King Alexander, he invites you to attend the celebration in the Royal Capital."
Allen didn't even raise an eyelid.
'A celebration?' He felt not even a ripple of emotion. 'A boring ritual. A waste of time.'
It would be nothing more than mundane affairs like bestowing rewards and granting honorary titles.
He was here to complete missions for Credit Points, not to play god for the natives.
"Tell him all the spoils of war are mine, as per the contract. For everything else, I'll contact them when I need something." Allen's tone was completely level.
The connection was severed.
But a mere five minutes later, Jarvis's voice sounded again.
"Commander, Prince William is requesting to communicate again. He stresses that His Majesty the King wishes to meet with you to discuss a matter of great importance."
"A matter of great importance?" Allen raised an eyebrow.
'What could this old King possibly want to talk about?'
"Tell him I'm not going to the celebration." Allen stood up. "I'll be at the palace council hall in one hour."
...
「One hour later. The High Council Chamber of the Royal Palace.」
Like a phantom, Allen's figure materialized out of thin air in the center of the empty hall.
He had bypassed the city's reveling crowds and all of the palace guards.
A moment later, the great doors were pushed open.
Old King Alexander entered alone. He was not wearing his magnificent royal regalia, but a simple white robe.
"Lord Weisren." Alexander placed his right hand over his heart and bowed deeply.
"Your Majesty." Allen returned the gesture with a nod. "Your city is quite lively."
"They are celebrating a rebirth."
Alexander straightened up. His voice was low, yet it held an undercurrent of strength. "They celebrate because the Aiselan Kingdom, after three hundred years of a slow, chronic death, has finally seen a glimmer of hope for survival."
He waved his hand, and more than a dozen attendants filed in, carrying several heavy chests. They placed them before Allen and opened them one by one.
The hall was instantly flooded with the gleam of gold and the shimmer of jewels.
"These are the kingdom's treasures, collected over a thousand years." Alexander gestured to the mountains of Gold, gems, and art. "It is but a humble token of our deepest gratitude."
Allen's gaze swept over the treasures that would drive any mortal mad, yet his expression showed not a flicker of emotion.
In his eyes, all of this wasn't even worth a standard unit of Black-Patterned Magic Iron.
His gaze swept over the contents of the chests, then suddenly stopped on a corner.
Piled there were several fist-sized, dark purple ores with an irregular metallic sheen. A faint glow of Magic Power clung to their surfaces.
"Those," Allen said, pointing. "What are they?"
Alexander followed his finger, paused for a moment, then answered, "Ah, that is 'Starfall Iron.' Legend says it's a stone that fell from the heavens. It is incredibly hard—it cannot be smelted by any flame or shaped by Spirit Art, so it's always been relegated to the bottom of our collection."
'Can't be smelted? Can't be shaped?'
'That's only because your processing capabilities are insufficient!'
"Take this gold and jewels back," Allen said, his tone flat. "Bring these stones to me. And any other similar ores in the kingdom that you're unable to process."
A keen glint flashed in Alexander's eyes.
'This off-worlder has no interest in worldly wealth, but he still has needs.'
This gave Alexander more conviction for what he was about to say.
He dismissed all the attendants, leaving only himself and Allen in the vast council chamber.
"Lord Weisren." The old King's expression turned incredibly solemn. He walked over to a massive sand table, his withered fingers tracing the blood-soaked northern coastline.
"I will not sugarcoat this. My kingdom is dying."
"For three hundred years, the Heart Eaters have been slowly bleeding us dry. When Lord Maurice was with us, he was powerful. He could single-handedly block the strongest assaults of the Beast Tide and save the Royal Capital from disaster."
Alexander's voice fell, filled with a bone-deep sorrow.
"But he couldn't stop this... this slow decay. He alone could not cover a seven-hundred-kilometer defensive line. In the places beyond his sight, my soldiers were still dying by the tens of thousands."
The old King turned and stared intently at Allen, his eyes like those of a dying patient pleading with their only doctor.
"But you... you are different."
"Yesterday, on the city walls, I saw your Steel Legion. I saw how efficiently and relentlessly they exterminated those monsters."
"What I saw was not a single powerful individual, but a... system."
Alexander enunciated every syllable, speaking a word Allen had never expected to hear.
"I saw the city of steel that rose from the ground overnight. And I understood. Your power does not belong to you alone. Your legion is not of flesh and blood. They are 'manufactured'!"
"A system of warfare that can be replicated, mass-produced, knows no fatigue, and fears no death! That is the most fundamental difference between you and Lord Maurice!"
The old King's voice grew louder, the flame of hope burning in his eyes.
"This is the only way to eradicate this terminal disease! A power that doesn't rely on one powerful individual, but belongs to an entire civilization!"
Allen's eyebrows rose slightly.
'This old man is far more perceptive than I imagined. He actually saw past the surface and grasped the essence of industrialization.'
"So?" Allen asked, curious to see what the King was truly getting at.
"And so, I must ask a favor of you." Alexander took a step forward and bowed deeply once more, his forehead nearly touching his knees this time.
"Lord Weisren. On behalf of the thirty-five million people of Aiselan, I implore you."
"Please, teach us!"
"Please bestow that great 'system' upon Aiselan! We do not dream of possessing magnificent creations like your 'War Titans.' We only hope to learn how to manufacture the most basic of steel soldiers, so that my people no longer have to plug the defensive lines with their own flesh and blood!"
"Lord Weisren, what is it that you desire?"
The old King raised his head, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a desperate resolve that would stop at nothing.
"As long as you are willing to help Aiselan establish its own defense system, as long as you can free my kingdom from this fate of a slow death! Everything Aiselan has to offer—the kingdom's territory, its mines, its wealth, even the bloodline of my House Aiselan... so long as it is in my power to give, you have but to name your price. Everything is negotiable!"