Chapter 1920 - 1919: Transformation

Dawn City

"Latest news from Ilotan," Sett raised his head and handed the document in his hand to Christos, "Eric is dead."

"What do you mean?" Christos was slightly taken aback, he raised his hand and took the document.

"Davis was bribed by the Consortium and caused a chaos, then took control of the army, entered the Mayor’s Mansion, and forced Eric," Sett sighed, "Then Eric committed suicide."

"Weren’t Davis and Eric good brothers?" Christos flipped through the document in his hand somewhat confusedly, "How could he act against Eric?"

"’Good brothers’ was what Eric conveyed to us," Sett sighed, "But the facts prove that their relationship wasn’t as great as he imagined."

"Actually, it’s not necessarily the case, perhaps they truly were close brothers," Christos looked at the data in his hand and fell silent for a moment, "It’s just that Davis is someone who can ’kill’ his brother."

"That’s even more terrifying." Sett was silent for a while, speaking hoarsely.

"I’ve previously reviewed information about Davis, he comes from a lower class, grew up in the slums, initially made his mark in the City Defense Army with sheer ferocity, people with this kind of background usually place special importance on family," Christos raised his head, looking at Sett, "But there is also another extreme, which is seeing ’family’ as something that can be ’sacrificed’ too, however, discussing this now is meaningless,"

He lowered his head, gazing at the document in his hand, "We got this intelligence a bit late."

"Ilotan is too far from us, our intelligence division has very few bases over there, the Consortium blocked off information, and our external network was also cut off by the Consortium," Sett spoke in a low voice, "If not for the Nolanka Group passing the intelligence over through their channels, our intelligence would have been even later."

Sett looked at Christos, "But the Nolanka Group seems to have opened the intelligence channel over there, when I came, they said new intelligence summaries were sent from Ilotan, I asked them to send them directly to you."

"Let me see," Christos opened the computer, clicked on the email, and found that there was indeed a new file, he opened the file, and he was directly stunned, "Davis hung Eric’s body in the city center for public display? What’s he trying to do?"

"Intelligence says it was the Consortium’s suggestion to him." Sett chimed in.

"The Consortium usually wouldn’t make such a suggestion, it’s against their rules, unless they’re desperate," Christos shook his head, continuing to look through the data, he was silent for a moment, "It seems this was Davis’s own idea, he wants to use Eric’s body to draw out Eric’s diehard supporters and then eliminate them."

"This approach is too cruel, it’s only during the great calamities of the city-state era that such traditions existed," Sett murmured thoughtfully, "It seems Eric’s death caught him off guard, forcing him to use some extreme methods."

"This person’s thinking is probably even more extreme than we imagined," Christos continued to look through the data in his hand, "However, the data says that some of Eric’s supporters stole his body and buried it."

"That’s good." Sett let out a breath, "Displaying bodies is still too barbaric."

"Yes." Christos nodded softly, continuing to look through the data on the computer, and suddenly paused.

"What’s wrong?" Sett looked at Christos with some bewilderment.

"Davis dissolved the Ilotan Parliament, then restructured it completely under his control, and pushed through the bills Eric hadn’t implemented, including anti-monopoly bills, health care bills," Christos turned the computer screen towards Sett, "and enacted them all."

"What side is he on exactly?" Sett was somewhat bewildered.

"I fear he may be on neither side," Christos continued looking through the data on the computer, "The parts of those bills that excessively target the Consortium have been removed by him, he didn’t clear up the things the Consortium did previously in Ilotan, but instead restored their factories and assets, meanwhile, he’s arresting Eric’s supporters in large scale within the city."

"So what does this mean?" Sett looked somewhat confusedly, "Will the Consortium allow him to do this?"

"Why wouldn’t they allow it?" Christos had fully come to his senses, he looked at Sett, speaking softly, "The Consortium’s main enemy now is us, while Davis is extremely capable in battle, they cannot rely on force to take back Ilotan in the short term, for them, as long as Ilotan doesn’t help us, it is the optimal solution now."

"So," Sett had some realization coming through, "Davis wants to be a third party? Helping neither?"

He frowned slightly, "This doesn’t seem like a long-term decision."

"But in the short term, he can achieve such maneuvering, the Consortium’s indulgence can allow him to complete the control over Ilotan, the bills Eric left behind will help him win over a portion of the lower-class citizens and stabilize his rule." Christos lowered his head, seemingly contemplating something.

"Should we send someone to contact him?" Sett looked at Christos, hesitating to speak.

"No need," Christos shook his head, "We are still too far separated from Ilotan,"

He paused for a moment, "Additionally, Eric’s matter cannot be left to just pass like this."

Sett raised his head, looked at him, then nodded slightly, "Alright."

"But our current primary aim is to survive ourselves," Christos raised his head, looking at Sett, "How are the negotiations going?"

"There are still some key issues that haven’t been negotiated clearly," Sett looked at Christos, "Each side has its own interests, some points are difficult to negotiate."

"Then contact the leaders of each side, list out all doubts and difficulties," Christos stood up, "Let all the leaders come and negotiate personally, once the Consortium resolves Ilotan, they will soon turn against us, we don’t have much time."

"Alright." Sett nodded heavily.

——

New Netherworld

"So, does your story end like this?" The young man sat beside the swaying cornflowers, looking at the man beside him, "Sounds a bit regretful."

"Yes," The man smiled slightly, "Actually, there isn’t much regret."

He leaned back, supporting himself with both hands on the ground, gazing into the dense mist ahead, "There were people who warned me, and not just once, so I can accept the final outcome — it was my own choice, I must bear the consequences."

"But your ’brother’ betrayed you," the young man looked at the dense mist, "If it were me, I’d surely always hold a grudge."

"He only made the choice that benefited him," the man was silent for a while, "Following me was beneficial, now betraying me is beneficial, it’s just that I always ’misunderstood’ him."

"Are you still defending him?" The young man turned his head to look at the man.

"It’s not defending," the man paused for a moment and then laughed silently, "Just accepting reality."

He lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over the boundless sea of flowers, "I always thought that when people die, their souls dissipate, never expected there’s truly an afterlife."

"It was indeed like that before," the young man lifted his head, looking into the thick fog, "After the being in that fog created this world, the dead have a place to go."

"Just imagining it is enough to be awed by that terrifying power." The man lifted his head, looking into the thick fog.

"So you have no attachments to the world of the living?" The young man looked at him, "Your city, your ideals, your career, none of it matters to you?"

"It’s not that easy to let go," the man smiled, releasing his hand from supporting himself, lying directly in the sea of flowers, looking at the clear and boundless sky, "But death is death, I can’t interfere with them anymore."

A slight sound came from beside him, as the young man also leaned back, falling into the sea of flowers.

The man turned his head to glance at him, continuing to speak, "Actually, I’m not the most capable one. Without Davis, I wouldn’t be able to control the army, carry out military control, or repel the Consortium’s alliance. Compared to Christos, Vian, Linen... these resolute and capable people, my will isn’t as steadfast,"

He put his hands under his head, "I believe they can definitely carry out our ideals. The world of the living will eventually, one day, be filled with flowers like here."

"From your description, can they hold on?" The young man looked at the sky, "After Davis controlled Ilotan, couldn’t the Consortium’s supply line be restored?"

"Davis may not necessarily help the Consortium," the man shook his head, smiling,

"Davis doesn’t trust anyone, only trusts himself, so he will definitely keep a tight grip on Ilotan, and the Consortium, to deal with Christos and the others, will definitely tolerate his autonomy.

"And the premise of all this is that Christos and the others are still around."

He turned his head, looking at the still somewhat puzzled young man, continuing, "As long as Christos is still fighting against the Consortium and the Gray Stone Palace, the Consortium can’t spare any efforts to deal with Davis. So for Davis, the best situation is for the civil war within the Federation to continue indefinitely."

He smiled, "So Davis won’t help the Consortium Alliance; instead, he might slightly disgust the Consortium when they have a significant advantage, hindering their actions, creating opportunities for Christos and his group."

"The human heart," hearing these words, the young man simply sighed, "is truly complex."

"It is indeed complex." The man also sighed softly.

"So do you think," the young man turned his head, looking at him, "Davis can keep ’playing’ like this?"

"It’s difficult," the man shook his head, speaking slowly, "Do you know what it means to be ’the perfect partners’? The perfect partners mean ’two people, who can’t do without each other’."

His tone paused slightly, gazing at the clear sky, "One day, he will also meet his end."

The young man also lifted his head, looking at the sky above.

The cornflower sea swaying under the celestial dome.

——

Yilan City

"What do you mean? Saint Joen City has been breached?" Lante raised his head blankly, looking at Corvey, "The Consortium attacked from the South?"

"They probably started preparing after finalizing cooperation with Davis," Corvey raised his hand, opening an electronic map, speaking quickly, "First, they continued to attack us, covering the Southern army, then secretly transported troops and supplies southward, launching a sneak attack while we weren’t paying attention."

He lowered his head, looking at the map in front of him, "We got the news too late, even the Nolanka Group got the news too late, leaving them no more time to prepare."

"What’s the situation in the south now?" Lante asked in a low voice.

"The mercenary corps responsible for guarding the South for the Nolanka Group has been defeated, the southern pass of Kaye City has also been breached by the Federation and Consortium’s army, now the Nolanka Group’s mercenary corps is retreating to the vicinity of Kaye City for rest," Corvey looked at the map, "The situation isn’t exactly favorable."

"It seems the negotiations need to be further advanced," Lante took a slight breath, looking at Corvey, "I’ll persuade the city council, in some areas, we can actually make some concessions."

"Do you need me to go with you?" Corvey looked at him.

"Those council members aren’t easy to deal with," Lante rubbed his temples, "Many of them have some enterprises related to the Consortium, unlike Kaye City, where the Nolanka Group can have the final say, nor like Dawn City, where Christos almost controls the council."

"What if I bring a City Defense Army?" Corvey continued.

Lante’s eyes widened for a moment, looking at Corvey, "What are you trying to do?"

"Have you seen Ilotan’s report?" Corvey looked at him, asking.

"Of course I did," Lante quickly said, "that guy Davis directly armed and disbanded the council—"

Speaking this, he paused, lifting his head, looking at Corvey, "What do you want to do?"

"We have to make some choices," Corvey looked at him, "it’s wartime now, I don’t know how you all discuss politics, but I know if we keep wasting time on internal disputes, we will undoubtedly lose, and everything we worked to create will be overturned by the Consortium."

"Let me think, let me think." Lante took a deep breath, holding his head, instinctively lifting his head, looking out the window.

The sea of white jasmine flowers swayed gently outside the window.

"What will the people say?" Lante lifted his head, looking at Corvey.

"Everyone can see what you’ve done over the years," Corvey looked at him, "Everyone knows you’re Linen’s successor and will protect people’s interests."

"If it were Linen, what would he do?" Lante lifted his head, still asking the question.

"He would support me," Corvey looked at Lante, "Of course, that’s just my judgment."

Lante took a deep breath, after a brief pause, rasping, "Then let’s do it, I’ll go up and reason with them first, if they don’t listen..."

"Then I’ll go reason with them." Corvey naturally answered.