Chapter 1237 A New Kingdom (Part 2)
Several hours later, North America.
The walls of the mega base built in Washington D.C. were firmly protected by hundreds of heavy machine guns, four large goblin cannons, and more than ten thousand soul evolvers whose mission was to contain the sea beasts that occasionally came off the coast with malicious intentions.
Just as the soldiers were relieved that during the last week they had only been attacked on one occasion, the face of one of them and the bearer of an eye skill called Extravision turned pale as he gazed off into the distant horizon.
"Mike? What do you see?"
The captain in charge immediately realized that something was wrong, and instead of taunting as some of the younger soldiers did, he immediately made a gesture of silence.
"E-Enemy approaching from the east!" the soul evolver with Extravision howled as he gripped his crossbow with strength he didn't know he had: "Big... Something huge is coming our way! I think it's as big as the red dragon the Leader killed before!"
The expression of the captain in charge immediately paled and the others nearby also realized that this was not a good time to joke after seeing the trembling in their companion's hands.
The captain waved his hand and unsheathed his sword as he roared fiercely: "Get the cannons ready! Enemy incoming from the east!"
Those in charge of readying the cannons looked at each other in shock.
Usually, they would fight for a long time before using the cannons or simply would not use them at all as they consumed too much energy with each shot. However, this time they were ordered to ready the cannons straightaway.
None dared to delay now that things seemed about to get more difficult.
Just as the captain was planning to sound the alarm, a group of people approached from the ladder connecting the ground to the top of the wall.
"L-Leader!"
"His Majesty Angelo!"
The old captain sighed in relief as he saw that the heavy knighthood arrived without needing to be summoned. He hurriedly moved forward but just as he planned to speak he saw Angelo calmly waving his hand.
"All right, all of you. Lay down your weapons and don't panic."
Angelo looked towards the horizon where he could already see a tiny black dot getting bigger and bigger with each passing second: "... That's not an enemy."
"Not an enemy?" The old captain stared at him with wide eyes.
Something that big was not an enemy? Could it be a giant human? Because within the old captain's knowledge, there were no dragon allies of his America.
"I-it's a city...!" Mike, who possessed the skill that allowed him to see up to hundreds of miles away naturally, gasped when he finally got a better look at the approaching object.
"What?"
"A city?"
"A city in the sky?"
"Don't fool around!"
Andrea looked up at the horizon with a complicated expression before glancing at Angelo with some concern. She whispered softly, "Angelo, really... you....?"
"Do we have any other choice?" Angelo sighed, knowing what Andrea was referring to even if she didn't finish her words, "You also saw him a while back when he fought that nine-headed dragon... Besides, that guy has gotten a lot stronger since then."
"But..." Jack clenched his fists so hard that his palms began to bleed. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked down at his feet and muttered helplessly, "We really have to hand everything over to someone else who didn't work for it? He's not even American...!"
"Why are you crying as if you were unaware of the way the world works? Don't be a little girl will you?" Eleanora glanced at Jack in disgust as she said coldly, "You come from a prestigious family don't you? You should know better than anyone that the strong take while the weak give up without being able to do anything but submit."
"Eleanora, you!" Jack glared at her and even raised his fist with the intention of hitting her. His hand trembled in the air as he stared at her gasping, "Could you be a little more understanding of your own team? For God's sake! Do you have to be a hateful woman even in this kind of circumstance?! Holy fuck!"
"Keep crying, little girl." Eleanora sneered mercilessly and fearlessly.
"Enough." Angelo looked at Jack first before looking at Eleanora, "Both of you."
Eleanora might not care about anyone on her team but she still cared and respected Angelo. Seeing him intercede, she took a step back without another word.
The flying city stopped about two kilometers away, hovering motionless in the sky and projecting its large shadow on the ground.
"I'll go first." Angelo didn't wait for someone's response but directly activated his wings and launched himself towards the city at lightning speed.
...
In the throne room of the Sky Emperor Palace, Bai Zemin was about to stand up when Lilith put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him with a shake of her head.
"What's wrong?" Bai Zemin looked at her in confusion.
"Zemin, I understand that you see Angelo as an ally and perhaps even a potential good friend. Yet, remember that your subordinates are in the Sky Emperor Palace and are watching your actions." She patiently explained as she looked at him with her ruby eyes brimming with affection and deep appreciation, "Soon you will be the emperor of this world, so even your smallest action will have consequences. Right now Angelo's position is no different from yours from the point of view of the vast majority, and even the Soul Record sees you both as equal Kings. For now, what you have to do is to show that you are above all, yes? This will save you a lot of trouble in the long run."
Bai Zemin hadn't given it much thought as he didn't think something as simple as going to greet someone would carry so much weight. However, after listening to Lilith's explanation and thinking a little deeper, he was quick to realize that she was right.
"I understand."
Seeing him nodding obediently, Lilith caressed his face with a beautiful smile, "Good boy..."
And just as the doors opened from the outside, Bai Zemin felt the practically ignorable weight in his lap disappear completely as did Lilith's presence.
Angelo walked into the throne room with a serious expression. His eyes which had been wandering in shock throughout the palace immediately focused on Bai Zemin when the double doors opened.
Cai Jingyi leaned against the wall as she watched everything with a smile. She had escorted Angelo here and although her task was complete she had no plans to retire anytime soon anyway.
Angelo stopped a couple of feet from the stairs to the throne. His eyes looked at the young asian man in front of him but towering from his current position, and after a long time he finally sighed.
"I knew this day would come eventually, but somehow I hoped it wouldn't be this soon."
Bai Zemin opened his mouth and was about to say something but Angelo beat him to it.
"Can you promise me that you will not be unfair in any way to my people?" He looked at Bai Zemin almost pleadingly, and even went so far as to try to kneel down, "Take it as me begging you if you want... Or do it for the times we fought together at least."
Even though he was astonished in his heart, Angelo kept trying to kneel down while some kind of invisible and impenetrable wall did not allow his knees to descend to the ground.
"Can you stop doing that?" Bai Zemin frowned as he said in a firm voice, "I am not a racist nor do I see the Chinese as a superior race or species you know? All I want and intend to do is to bring humanity together to fight whoever tries to destroy us. Nothing more than that."
Angelo finally stopped trying after a few seconds, and after hearing Bai Zemin's words and seeing the sincerity in his black eyes, he finally sighed feeling relieved.
"In that case... I guess it's okay."
Angelo naturally did not want to surrender his position.
Besides, although Jack's words were somewhat harsh, Angelo agreed that handing over everything he and the rest had built to someone who had done nothing to help wasn't particularly enjoyable even if Bai Zemin had helped them in the war against the dragons.
However, many times it was not enough to simply be unwilling but one had to be strong enough to resist.
"You Chinese have a saying... What was it like?" Angelo thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Right... The winner is the king and the loser is the thief. Your fist is stronger than mine so, for everyone's sake, this is for the best."
Bai Zemin said nothing but watched silently as Angelo slowly knelt on his right knee and lowered his head.
"I hope you keep your word..."
Previously Angelo was going to kneel to beg, but Bai Zemin would never let an ally and someone who could potentially be his friend in the future kneel to beg him for something.
However, this time he did not stop Angelo.
This was because Angelo was not begging this time but was kneeling to show his respect to someone stronger as well as his submission to the one who would rule them.
[King Angelo of the 'United States of America' has submitted to you and has become your Loyal Follower of his own free will].
[The faction 'United States of America' is dissolved and is now part of your faction].
[The number of kingdoms under your rule is increased by 1.]
[Choose a name for your new kingdom.]
'United States of America.' Bai Zemin thought silently.
[The new kingdom has been established under the name United States of America.]
"What now?" feeling himself getting weaker, Angelo looked at Bai Zemin with some bitterness in his eyes.
"Nothing." Bai Zemin stood up with a smile and walked down the steps until he came in front of the kneeling Angelo. He held out his hand in a friendly manner and said calmly, "Nothing will change. You will remain the Leader of the United States and do what you have been doing... I will send some people to supervise you, but nothing will really change if you do what you should do. You will still be the king of this kingdom and the United States of America will still be the United States of America."
Angelo blinked, and as he looked at Bai Zemin's outstretched hand a single word came out of his mouth.
"Eh?"
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A/N: Yesterday I was going to upload a chapter but I had a fever... late but here it is, 3 chapters in less than 24 hours as promised.
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
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