Chapter 967
After the Order Ceremony ended, Rhode’s Void Territory was officially recognized. Even though the Light Parliament asserted that Rhode’s ‘immoral character’ made him unfit to be a dragon soul heir, no one bothered with their nonsense. The fact that he was on par with Lilian, Ion, Siena, and Nalea was enough to prove his identity. After an endless amount of time, the heir of the Void Dragon who was missing finally showed up.
There weren’t any huge changes for Rhode. After he discussed with Marlene about the Mage Tower, he eventually agreed for them to construct the Dimension Gate. But he only approved for the Dimension Gate to face outward and not inward. If not, he would immediately cancel the agreement and destroy the gate. On the other hand, the Mage Tower agreed and at the same time, the stationing works of the church, Mercenary Association, Alchemist Association, and various large-scale organizations also proceeded in an orderly manner. As a result, the Void Territory became much more lively now. Not only were there more immigrants, but there were also many people who arrived in the Void Territory for sightseeing. After all, they didn’t dare to go to the Country of Darkness and the Country of Law seemed similar to the Country of Light in appearance. On the contrary, Rhode’s Void Territory was like a scene from ‘outer space’ and was extremely unique.
In terms of external affairs, apart from handing Erin over to the Void Territory, the Country of Darkness didn’t take any other actions. The Country of Law had no responses too because they had already sent their representatives to the Land of Atonement earlier on. Back then, they were sent to communicate with Rhode and for convenience in monitoring.
However, the Country of Light was in the most conflicting situation. After their entire border army was wiped out by Rhode, they no longer had any intention of conducting high-level contacts with the Void Territory. Of course, they used the incident in Highland City to announce that the Country of Light would never recognize the Void Territory as a nation and prohibit all diplomatic ties with them. Not only that, but they also attempted to stop all trade associations of the Country of Light from entering the Void Territory regardless of purpose and forbid merchant ships from also entering the Void Territory’s port, stopping all trades completely. It was particularly enforced for important resources like military armaments and foodstuffs. Moreover, they also announced that if they discovered any territories who violated the ban, they would hand out severe punishments.
The people of the Country of Light celebrated after the ban was announced because they were totally sick of the Void Territory after their failure in war against the Country of Darkness and the incident in Highland City. But it was a pity that not everyone supported the ban, especially the five largest financial groups. Everyone knew that the Void Territory was first founded by opening up the land of Chaos, which meant that it was full of business opportunities. The five largest financial groups had initially decided to make a fortune, but they didn’t expect the parliament to meddle with their affairs. Although the five largest financial groups were obviously unhappy, they didn’t have any countersolutions. Even though they were basically the political mastermind behind the scenes, they couldn’t dictate all aspects of policy making. Moreover, most people in the Country of Light were supportive of this movement and eager to teach the Void Territory a lesson. Of course, this was all temporary.
It seemed like this was a great move by the parliament as the Void Territory had basically nothing at this point. Even though Marlene and Lapis were around, there was insufficient infrastructure and few magic power plants for them to build upon. Although they could create their own, it would take a long time.
But…
Yes, the main point was ‘but’.
There was an important point in the parliament’s ‘ruling’. Perhaps they could dispatch fleets of warships to block off the channels or stop merchant ships from entering, but there was one thing that they couldn’t control.
And that was the transfer of money.
Rhode puckered his brows. During the Order Ceremony, he clearly witnessed the system prompts about the Deepest Labyrinth’s signals being activated. For some unknown reason, he felt like there was a certain secret that was related to him. That was an intuition that exceeded his instincts as though he ‘knew’ that ‘something’ was really there, but he didn’t know what exactly it was.
“Indeed… It’s a good idea to grind some levels in the Deepest Labyrinth. Leader, you’re strong enough now, it’s just that your level is increasing really slowly… Hmm… You’re also as aware of the place. Big Sister and I can at most reach the 40th floor and even with you around, we still can’t reach the end.”
If it were in the past, Mini Bubble Gum would have agreed to hunt for newer equipment. But now, she had already received a new set of equipment from Marlene, so she wasn’t too interested in getting lower-level equipment anymore. Of course, the main reason was also her… ‘unlucky looting aura’.
“Don’t worry.”
Rhode looked at the two young ladies.
“I’ve confirmed with Alice that the Deepest Labyrinth was created by the Creator Dragon Souls. Since I have the power of the Void Dragon in me, the guardians won’t attack us. What we need to deal with are most likely the hidden creatures residing in the labyrinth. If we were to face enemies stronger than us, I can summon the guardians to fight for us.”
“Heh heh. In this case, it’s gonna be interesting.”
Mini Bubble Gum snickered with an excited expression as though she was deluded. Canary saw her expression and let out a helpless sigh. She and Rhode exchanged glances and witnessed a bitter smile in their eyes. They couldn’t be blamed because as players, they were equally as proud as Mini Bubble Gum upon hearing this news. The thought of controlling and turning those powerful BOSSes who were capable of wiping out their party into meat shields felt so amazing.
“But will everything be fine, Rhode?”
“Even though scaling the technology tree is important to us, it doesn’t affect the people much. During this period of time, it is most important to help settle down the immigrants and ensure that they lead stable and peaceful lives… Since I can’t handle it myself, I might as well let Marlene manage them. For now, my priority is in strengthening myself. As for the specific development of the territory, I will get to that after I return.”
As Marlene had become one of his summoned spirits, Rhode could communicate with her spiritually. So even if something were to happen in his territory, she could immediately report the situation to him. Besides, with the Deity Wardens of Wisdom and History holding down the fort, the weaklings from the Country of Light could forget about returning home after paying a visit.
“What about the Country of Light? I heard from Marlene that their election has ended. In this case, will the new parliament chairman take actions against the Void Territory?”
Canary asked in a rather worried tone as Rhode revealed an uncharacteristic, amusing smile.
“Haha… We’ll worry about it when they find the time to settle down.”