Chapter 1186: The Cause

“Quiet down! What a racket!” hollered Burgess pretentiously after he waited for the other generals to air their views. “Your Majesty, we definitely should not ask the lord of the Illuminati for their opinion right now. But, my son is the disciple of the lord, and his words could represent the views of the Illuminati. Why don’t we ask him over?” said Burgess as he turned to King Bradlor.

What Bradlor feared was Lin Li’s abilities as a Sanctuary-level powerhouse. If they could get help from the Illuminati, he wouldn’t need to bother to look like he was an advocate of peace at all. Hence, he agreed to Burgess’ proposal. “Alright, go ahead. Summon Cantory over,” replied Bradlor.

Lin Li’s problem cooked up a dispute between the two ideological camps within the kingdom. It even caused King Bradlor’s judgment to waver. All of this happened while Lin Li brought his men back to the embassy for the Tower of Dusk as if nothing concerned him.

The representatives from the Breezy Plains did not return to their respective embassies immediately. They followed the group to the embassy of the Tower of Dusk. All of them had felt the clear difference in the treatment they received from the Gilded Kingdom when Lin Li left to explore the cursed island. They were definitely well aware of the reason—they did not have the backing of Sanctuary powerhouses.

While the Mithril Alliance and Caesar Family had Sanctuary powerhouses, they could tell that it was only a façade, and no one from the Gilded Kingdom ever saw them as a threat. To real Sanctuary powerhouses, people in the Legendary-realm were no different from ants. There wouldn’t be any threat even if there were 1,000 of them.

But beginner Sanctuary powerhouses were not the same. They were not too far away from peak Legendary powerhouses, and the number of Legendary powerhouses still mattered to them. Dozens of Legendary powerhouses were enough to challenge beginner Sanctuary powerhouses. Moreover, the Gilded Kingdom seemed to have the support from a powerful force like the Illuminati whose might was comparable to the Supreme Council’s. These forces were not short of real Sanctuary powerhouses. Before them, beginner Sanctuary powerhouses and Legendary powerhouses were definitely at a disadvantage.

Therefore, Lin Li’s return reassured the people from the Breezy Plains, and they saw him as someone they could depend on. They followed closely after Lin Li’s group for two reasons: first, to show their allegiance to Lin Li; and second, to hear from Lin Li regarding his next steps. Although Lin Li did not seem to care, they believed that his actions had definitely provoked the Gilded Kingdom.

Hence, some of them hastily reached out to Lin Li the moment they entered the embassy. “President Felic, you might have been a little too impulsive in this matter! That was the military grounds, and we are in the capital of the Gilded Kingdom. We’re afraid that the Gilded Kingdom might use that reason against all of us!”

While the Gilded Kingdom did not say much when Lin Li wiped out their precious Fifth Fleet, things were different this time as it was the royal military grounds that were involved. There might not be a big deal if their camp were to be located in Helena Port. However, it wasn’t. It was situated in the capital of the Gilded Kingdom. This changed the essence of the problem. While the military suffered minute losses, the kingdom suffered greatly in its reputation.

However, Lin Li only gave a faint smile. He did not seem affected by the reaction of the Gilded Kingdom. He directed his attention to the sailors that he had just brought out of the cells. “What exactly happened?” asked Lin Li.

Although Lin Li was clear that this matter had to have been plotted by the Gilded Kingdom—or more specifically, Delano—he wasn’t sure of all the details. He needed these sailors to share them with him. If the sailors were part of the problem, Lin Li would definitely not let them return to The Star anymore.

The several sailors had initially thought that they were going to be beheaded for their deed of assaulting the prince of the kingdom. They did not expect Lin Li to make such an effort to rescue their insignificant lives from the cells. The fact that they were able to look at the outside world again after escaping from death filled them with extreme ecstasy.

However, they felt trepidation on the way back to the embassy. This was because they were aware that the situation had really grown beyond their scope. If there were to be a war between the Gilded Kingdom and the Breezy Plains just because of them, they knew they would become the sinners of the Breezy Plains.

Of course, these sailors were not people who would want to sacrifice their lives to prevent a war from happening. This was what made them grow anxious. Now that they were freed, they certainly did not want to be sent back to the cells for the same reason. After all, they were only outsiders who were hired to operate The Star. They did not have many interactions with Lin Li, and were not aware of the personality of this young Sanctuary powerhouse.

After hearing Lin Li’s question, they knelt neatly before Lin Li with looks of guilt, and one of the more experienced sailors decided to volunteer to speak up. “Captain, this was what happened. We really did not know that darn fatso was the prince of the Gilded Kingdom…”

As these men were the sailors of The Star, they naturally addressed Lin Li as ‘captain’ instead of ‘president’. After hearing their side of the story, Lin Li quickly understood the details of the situation. He discovered that it was really a simple matter: a few sailors were drinking and having fun with the waitresses in the bar, and they met an extremely cocky fatso who wanted to book the place. The sailors started to make comments among themselves as it was the first time they heard somebody book a bar. Yet, their comments were picked up by the fatso, and he flew into an outrage. Their bickering transformed into a physical fight, and the police rushed into the bar. They recognized the identity of that fatso, and arrested the sailors for assaulting the prince of the kingdom.

Lin Li knew he guessed it right after he heard from the sailors. He saw through Delano’s lame plot. Yet, it was a fact that those sailors had assaulted Prince Vincent. This made the cause of the fight secondary. It was unforgivable for commoners to assault any noble person in this world.

After sharing their story, the sailors looked at Lin Li pitifully, and no one dared to utter a single word. These men had been left at Helena Port due to their lack of ability to embark on the precarious journey. It was evident that they could only make so little contribution to the Tower of Dusk and The Star. In the end, they not only did not render any help, but caused such a big trouble. If they had been their own captains, they wouldn’t have tolerated themselves.

However, these sailors were not Sanctuary powerhouses, after all. None of them knew what was on Lin Li’s mind. Lin Li’s expression remained the same after hearing their story. He only gave them a gentle nod, and waved his hands to signal them to take a rest. He did not even tell them how he was going to deal with their behavior.

“President Felic, no matter what the Gilded Kingdom intends to do, the Caesar Family is definitely going to stand with the Tower of Dusk. If they want to use this as an excuse to declare war on us, let’s let them know that the people of the Breezy Plains are not to be trifled with!” said Claus from the Caesar Family after the sailors left the room.

Claus could tell from Lin Li’s treatment of the sailors that Lin Li absolutely would not give in to the Gilded Kingdom. Hence, he immediately made their stance clear. Since the Caesar Family would never be able to withdraw from the conflict between the Gilded Kingdom and the Breezy Plains, he knew that he definitely had to take a side.

Although it seemed like the Gilded Kingdom had greater power as they had the backing of the Illuminati, Claus knew that he would immediately offend the Tower of Dusk if he were to choose to support the Gilded Kingdom. After all, the Caesar Family was situated in the Breezy Plains which was located far away from the Gilded Kingdom.

Claus had a deep understanding of the power the Tower of Dusk had. Not to mention that president in the Sanctuary-realm, he knew that the Sky Castle was not something that the Caesar Family could challenge. If the Tower of Dusk were to attack the Caesar Family, the Gilded Kingdom would definitely not be able to send help to such a far place.

Moreover, Claus was clear that his organization was not well looked upon by the Gilded Kingdom. He was sure that Caesar Family was just a disposable force to the kingdom.

Claus’ worry was not invalid. Hence, he reasoned that it would be more beneficial if he were to pledge allegiance to the Tower of Dusk. He was certain that the Tower of Dusk did not have plans to rule the Breezy Plains, unlike the Gilded Kingdom. There was nothing for the Caesar Family to lose if they were to be an ally of the Tower of Dusk.

And the representatives of the other forces present all had the same idea as Claus. All of them righteously declared their allegiance after Claus, as though they were ready to live and die with the Tower of Dusk.

Of course, Lin Li was not unaware of what these people were thinking about. But, there was no need for him to expose them, either. He patiently waited for most of them to say their piece before waving to gesture them to stop. “I am aware of all your intentions. But, this matter is not as grave as you think it is, so if there is nothing else, you can return to your embassies,” said Lin Li smilingly.

Seeing that Lin Li was unaffected by the matter, the representatives from the Breezy Plains knew that there was nothing else for them to say. Although they were also curious about the happenings on the cursed island, they knew it would be disrespectful to bug them for the story for they had just returned from the long journey. Hence, they started to bid Lin Li goodbye.

Only when the rest of the people from the Breezy Plains left did the vice captain of the team of mages, Dorick, went up to Lin Li uneasily. “Mr. President, just now we…”

It was Dorick who led the men to barge into the military grounds. He was also the one who ordered his people to turn the place into ruins. Hence, he was a little worried that he would invite trouble for his president and the Tower of Dusk.

However, Lin Li stopped Dorick with his hand as well. “Don’t think too much about it, you’re doing a good job. Since the Gilded Kingdom wanted to burn the bridges, there is no need for us to show them any respect, either,” said Lin Li.

Lin Li had come to Anril a few years ago, and had seen enough of this world. It was a place that reflected the survival of the fittest. People with power had the right to disregard rules. No one would blame them as long as they had a harder fist.

In fact, this was the same for one’s progression in abilities. Before reaching the Legendary-realm, everyone had to adhere to the laws of the world. At the Legendary-realm, people started to comprehend and use the laws, and at the Sanctuary-realm, they started to master and change them before ascending to divinity. Hence, rules were meant to be broken by people with power.

According to the laws of the Gilded Kingdom, the sailors would be given a death penalty for assaulting their prince. However, Lin Li’s fist was large enough to rescue them from the cells. While it was akin to giving the kingdom a humiliating slap on their face, when Lin Li’s mages razed the military territory into flat ground, Lin Li’s large fist would render the Gilded Kingdom helpless.

Although Lin Li was not a person who liked to abuse his power, he was never one who would offer his right cheek after he got a slap on his left. Although it seemed like Lin Li had gone considerably overboard in this matter to the rest of the people, Lin Li was extremely clear that he wouldn’t have been able to rescue his sailors had he gone through the supposedly legitimate channels.

Lin Li could totally imagine how long the Gilded Kingdom would have tried to delay in returning him his men if he had picked the civilized way. He might’ve even put their lives at stake if the kingdom had decided to execute them before he learned of it. This would be another slap on Lin Li’s face.

After sending Dorick and the others away, Lin Li returned to his room, and took out the blueprint of the mageweath of the seven monuments to study it. He did not want to delay any longer. He was totally not affected by the Gilded Kingdom’s possible retaliation. He was prepared that there might be a war, and thought that there would not be a need for him to waste his time thinking about it.

The mageweath on the monuments was a divine-level mageweath. Although he had gained a little understanding of it in the underworld, it was too insignificant. Yet, that did not mean that it did not have any use in solving the mystery. It was just like one of the ends of a tangled string. As long as he started with this end of the string, he was certain that time was all he needed to unravel the mystery.