"After Zong Ge was attacked by the Blood Vengeance Axe, I deliberately collected a lot of information to understand the origin of the Blood Vengeance Axe."
Zi Di continued, "Before the Great Rebellion, Blood Kin City was called Xue Qingcheng."
"The City Lord of Xue Qingcheng was a member of the royal family. When the rebellion swept through, he was defeated and cowardly surrendered to the rebels in shame."
"The current King of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom successfully quelled the rebellion and recovered Xue Qingcheng. Originally, he intended to deal with the City Lord of Xue Qingcheng, but the King’s mother pleaded on behalf of the City Lord, as he was also of royal blood."
"Thus, the King retained the position of the City Lord of Xue Qingcheng, only changing the city’s name. It was renamed Blood Kin City."
"After learning of the city’s new name, the City Lord of Xue Qingcheng was overwhelmed with guilt and committed suicide that same night."
"From that day forward, the Blood Vengeance Axe fell into various owners’ hands, eventually landing in the possession of a powerful Snow Elf. With this axe, he carved out a place in the city and founded the Axe Gang."
Cang Xu listened quietly, then suddenly spoke: "Miss Zi Di, before you arrived at Blood Kin City, you were ambushed midway. The mysterious Golden Level who appeared in the ambush was likely the Gang Leader of the Axe Gang."
Zi Di nodded, "Although we have yet to uncover this truth, after Zong Ge killed the Axe Gang Leader, we discussed and analyzed, and all felt this possibility was very high."
"As for why the Axe Gang Leader acted, it was probably because of his personal friendship with Teng Donglang."
"He recruited Jia Bing and Lin likely to ensure foolproof execution. According to the information we’ve gathered, this aligns with the Axe Gang Leader’s habitual use of soldiers."
"Fortunately, there was the Pearl Bubble, otherwise..." At this point, Zi Di showed a hint of fear.
Cang Xu followed up: "Teng Donglang is a gang leader, Lin is the head of the largest gang in Ice Spear City, and the Axe Gang Leader, needless to say... don’t you think the identities of these three are too coincidental?"
Zi Di: "Really? Transcendents who retired from the military have no other production skills, relying on martial power to make a living, isn’t that quite normal?"
Cang Xu shook his head slightly: "If so, it would be more natural and reasonable for them to be mercenaries, why are they all in gang underworld? The value concept between local gangs and soldiers is different."
"I think retiring is just their facade, and this is all arranged by the royal family."
"It’s simple to verify, just check and count the number of such people. I think there must be many such cases. They probably started 40 years ago and have been increasingly pervasive."
The Dragon-man youth mused: "If it’s really like this, isn’t it a bit strange?"
"Why would a large number of soldiers retire and not become City Guard but instead become a chronic gang problem?"
Zi Di voiced whatever she thought: "By doing so, it can save military expenses."
"The gangs themselves generate income. Meanwhile, the organization of retired soldiers encroaches on the space originally occupied by gangs, which can be considered as indirectly improving security."
Cang Xu: "This is not the true purpose of the Ice Sculpture Royal Family. Personally, I believe the royal family is secretly expanding their army, using local gangs as a guise for secretly nurturing the military. When needed, the King will certainly call upon a large number of gangs to respond eagerly and enlist."
"The reason why the Ice Sculpture Royal Family acts this way should be to counterbalance the mighty Holy Bright Empire."
The Dragon-man youth was taken aback, "Wait a minute, are you saying to counterbalance the Holy Bright Empire?"
Zi Di looked puzzled, "The relationship between the Ice Sculpture Kingdom and the Holy Bright Empire is quite good. The Holy Emperor even went so far as to send his thirteenth prince as a hostage to the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. Where does this idea of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom counterbalancing the Holy Bright Empire come from?"
Cang Xu look perceptive, reiterated: "That’s right. The royal family’s action is precisely to counterbalance the Holy Bright Empire."
The Dragon-man youth and Zi Di exchanged a bewildered glance.
Both felt that Cang Xu’s arguments were becoming increasingly far-fetched.
Cang Xu said: "The Ice Sculpture Kingdom is a country dominated by Snow Elves. How do you think the national character of this country is?"
The Dragon-man youth affirmed, "Elves are inherently proud, and dueling is prevalent domestically, the national character is quite fierce."
Cang Xu nodded: "With such national character, how could they possibly bow to the Holy Bright Empire? The Ice Sculpture Kingdom has always been a sovereign country with independence."
"At the founding of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom, it was the unity of the Snow Elves that defeated the Barbarian tribes and completely dominated Ice Sculpture Island."
"After establishing the nation, they cleared the surroundings and often launched military expeditions."
"In the subsequent history, they repeatedly defeated formidable invaders, often counterattacking all the way until destroying the enemy’s base before stopping."
"The martial spirit of this nation is very abundant."
"This is the country’s temperament, it will never easily surrender. Even though the Holy Bright Empire is incredibly powerful, it cannot make the Ice Sculpture Kingdom a vassal state."
"Our Emperor understands this, which is why He sent the Thirteenth Prince as a hostage, taking proactive steps with the identity of a strong nation to foster close relations between the two countries."
Zi Di interjected: "Now everyone is saying the Great Emperor deliberately made the Thirteenth Prince a hostage, actually as a strategic move for attacking the Wilderness Continent."
Cang Xu nodded again: "To see through the current chaotic situation, we must study from a higher perspective, overlook from a grander vision."
He sighed deeply, then spoke passionately: "Holy Emperor, with great ambition, did not stop after unifying the Holy Bright Continent, but took the initiative to attack, using the power of the entire nation to attack the Wilderness Continent, which is the theme of our era."
"And to attack the Wilderness Continent, the empire’s army must cross the vast ocean and establish stable supply routes."
"Holy Emperor has been planning for a long time. He sent the Thirteenth Prince as a hostage, actively offering him to the Ice Sculpture Kingdom, which is one step in the plan. Another step is that the empire’s deities target the God of Ocean, suppressing and hunting them down, with Mei Lan God being one of the victims."
"However, when the empire’s army has already established a foothold on the Wilderness Continent, the pirate throne rises at this critical juncture, causing pirate activities on the Main Plane to surge to unprecedented levels. What do you think of this?"
"Indeed, on the Main Plane, the Holy Bright Empire’s power is indisputably the first, and the only force ruling an entire continent. Other forces absolutely don’t want to see the empire successfully attack and annex another continent."
"So, on the surface, it’s empire conquest versus Beastman resistance, a struggle between two continents, the Holy Bright Empire vs the Beastman Tribe Alliance. But in reality, the Holy Bright Empire is battling the pressure from the entire world. Except for the Beastman Tribe, other forces have not openly clashed."
"For the Great Emperor to ensure the conquest’s success, he must first ensure stable maritime transport routes. Relying solely on teleportation is not economical and might bankrupt the empire halfway through."
"If the Divine Country Descent Technique were useful, from ancient times to now, why wouldn’t numerous deities often use it? Over long periods, the Divine Country Descent Technique should have become a routine transport method. But in fact, it hasn’t. Similarly, it proves the inefficiency of other transport methods."
"Therefore, honestly engaging in maritime transport is the only solution."
The Dragon-man youth nodded in agreement, pondering: "Indeed, the Divine Country Descent Technique has risks. Mei Lan God was forced into a risky situation. In this context, He arranged Holy Beasts at sea to escort in the Ocean Nest. Thus, it seems I can frequently use the Divine Country Descent Technique because Mei Lan God is in slumber, yet the divinity has granted this access. It’s indeed my great fortune!"
Cang Xu: "To establish maritime transport routes, the Holy Bright Empire started exerting strength long ago, issuing numerous policies. Our journey through Snake Rat Island, Twin Eyes Island reflects these policies. Island Master Beach Loach of Snake Rat Island, Hun Tong of Twin Eyes Island are Nobles motivated by imperial policies. They conquered one insignificant island after another, paving the path for the empire’s war chariots with blood and flesh, creating numerous star-like maritime strongholds. These strongholds, when linked, can support several main maritime transport lines."
"Of course, as we know now, Snake Rat Island can only play a supporting role, Twin Eyes Island’s position seems critical, like a hub for one of the transport lines."
"If Twin Eyes Island is such, then what about Ice Sculpture Island?"
The Dragon-man youth and Zi Di were both shaken.
The two exchanged glances, each seeing the dawning realization in the other’s eyes.
They began to understand fundamentally the essence of the confrontation between the Ice Sculpture Kingdom and the Holy Bright Empire.
Cang Xu: "Ice Sculpture Island is unlike most islands; it is immensely vast and has a very long history. The Ice Sculpture Kingdom has three Holy Domain forces now, and once had Legendary levels, with substantial foundation. Their attitude and alliance undoubtedly have a huge impact on maritime transport routes."
"From the perspective of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom, their national character longs for freedom and desires to maintain autonomy."
"From the Holy Bright Empire’s perspective, annexing the Ice Sculpture Kingdom is the best outcome for security. But the empire cannot directly move forward. On one hand, Ice Sculpture Kingdom has strong forces, advanced alchemy techniques, and a fierce cultural spirit. On the other hand, the Snow Elf tribe has two major external connections. One is Frost Continent, where the Snow Elves originate. The other is Life Continent, where many elf clans compose large and small kingdoms."
"If the Holy Bright Empire acts rashly, it might trigger intense reactions from the other two continents, hence the empire must exercise utmost caution."
"Thus, we see the many empire’s spies, such as Snowbird Port City Lord, actively operating within the Ice Sculpture Kingdom. Snowbird Port City Lord codenamed ’Turn Over,’ and above him is ’Coup,’ just by the spy codenames, you realize, they intend to overthrow the contemporary regime of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom! Such a blatant attempt shows clear ambition."
The youth nodded repeatedly. He secretly started investigating the identities of other empire’s spies. Snowbird Port City Lord is already exposed, ’Coup’ is certainly more significant. The Dragon-man youth initially suspects the Lijian family. This family controls the Second Navy Fleet and remained neutral during the naval battle with Da Han’s pirate coalition, which is highly suspicious.