267: Chapter 264 The meeting begins: Have you ever heard of drone swarms?

The reason Zhang Mu set the meeting time for the following evening was actually quite simple.

He needed a day to consider how to dispel the despair the Church's interference had brought upon the City Lords.

For the City Lords on the side of the Second Prince and the Third Highness, this was undoubtedly disastrous news.

Andre already held the advantage, and their hope for a comeback was hanging by a thread; now, with the Church's support...

There was no point in struggling anymore; everyone might as well find a nice place to lie down and wait for death.

As for hiding the truth from everyone, it was basically impossible.

If Zhang Mu's predictions were correct, at tomorrow morning's Debriefing Meeting, Andre would surely find some way, either explicitly or implicitly, to tell them that the Church was standing behind him.

Subsequent facts proved that his guess was extremely accurate.

The next morning, Zhang Mu led Soren and the other City Lords to the palace, arriving at the hall dedicated to meetings.

The hall was very spacious, with several long wooden tables arranged in rows, enough to accommodate several hundred City Lords.

Wooden plaques with names carved on them were placed on the tables, and the many City Lords found their names and sat down.

As an official dressed in noble attire shouted, "The Debriefing Meeting begins," the minister responsible for presiding over the proceedings stepped through the main door, walked to a solitary seat at the very back, and slowly sat down on the wooden chair.

The City Lords were surprised, their expressions varied, except for Zhang Mu, who calmly picked up his teacup and sipped the black tea inside.

They weren't surprised by the minister's appearance; after all, there was one at every meeting.

What stunned everyone was the minister's identity—Andre.

This session's Debriefing Meeting was actually being presided over by Andre.

It was very unusual, but considering the King's "good health," it was impossible for anyone to have coerced the King into making this decision, so they set aside their doubts.

In turn, among the people standing on different sides, some were joyful and others were worried.

The City Lords who had sided with Andre were naturally pleasantly surprised.

Although they couldn't understand why the King would pass on the throne while in his prime, it seemed the next King had already been decided as Andre.

Otherwise, such important work wouldn't have been entrusted to him.

That meant they had essentially won without effort.

Once Andre took office, they would surely be the King's confidants; why worry about being stripped of their positions or having their lives threatened?

Meanwhile, the City Lords in the camps of the other two Highnesses looked very grim.

With a Saint-level Professional as the King's designated heir, did they have any room left to resist?

However, the most desperate part was yet to come.

After Andre settled into a comfortable posture, he didn't immediately announce the city reports; instead, he smiled at everyone without speaking, as if waiting for someone.

Who was he waiting for?

The answer was soon revealed.

Bishop Jarvis, wearing a pure white robe, walked in through the main door.

A servant added a wooden chair behind Andre, and with a gentle smile on his face, Bishop Jarvis sat down.

The Church... had intervened in the Kingdom's internal affairs?!

Despite their disbelief, the fact was right before their eyes.

The already dejected City Lords instantly fell into a state of soul-crushing despair.

With one side unable to stop themselves from laughing and the other looking as if they were attending their own funeral the next day, the work reports officially began in this eerie atmosphere.

Andre flipped open the register handed to him by an official; each time he read a City Lord's name, someone stood up.

They would give a rough account of how their city was being governed, and then a secretary standing behind them would hand over a detailed written report.

The Guards at the door would take the reports and deliver them outside the city gates, where long-waiting special envoys would tuck them into their robes, mount griffins, and soar into the sky, flying toward the horizon.

The work proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Perhaps Andre was being petty and intentionally picked the City Lords loyal to him first; as a result, Zhang Mu became idle and scanned the varied expressions of the City Lords with great interest.

Time flew by, and the sky was about to turn dark.

Andre stood up and announced that they would pause for today and continue tomorrow morning, then turned and left.

Zhang Mu also stood up, cheerfully patted his backside, and headed all the way back to the hotel.

By the time he arrived, night had just fallen over the Royal Capital; it was dinner time.

After Soren pondered Zhang Mu's orders from yesterday for a while, he had a sudden flash of inspiration and ran to the restaurant to help deliver meals.

The kitchen staff were very confused, but after Soren's insistent request, they let him go about his business.

Taking this opportunity, he contacted each of the City Lords who had come to visit last night.

Soon, midnight arrived.

The City Lords, who had long been burning with anxiety, hurried to the room one after another.

Because there were so many people, the room couldn't hold them all; fortunately, the City Lords were all High-tier Professionals who showed off their various skills—some floated to the ceiling, while others hung outside the windows.

When the living room and bedroom were truly packed, they squeezed into the bathroom.

There were even City Lords who had learned disguise magic and simply participated in the discussion from the hallway outside.

For High-tier Professionals, as long as someone wasn't deliberately obscuring things, the door didn't interfere with their ability to hear the conversation at all.

Standing in the center of the living room, Zhang Mu looked around.

Except for beneath his feet, he was surrounded by pairs of eyes staring at him.

Their gazes were filled with doubt, as if asking: 'You, whose strength is neither prominent nor considered a Core member of our group, on what basis do you claim to give us a way to live?'

Indeed, worried that someone might ignore his summons, Zhang Mu had specifically instructed Soren to make sure to emphasize during the notification: "I have a way to save you."

It was undeniable that the City Lords had some trust in him.

After all, he was the Kingdom hero who had single-handedly repelled the surprise attack from the Kingdom of Lagu.

Asking themselves, if they were in the same situation, they definitely couldn't have done better than Zhang Mu.

Well, actually, that was a way of flattering themselves; if they were really put up to it, surrendering outside the city would have been the only outcome.

But that alone wasn't enough to support his wild claims.

One had to know that the enemies they faced now were the King, a Saint-level Professional, and Bishop Jarvis of the branch headquarters.

Either one of them could crush them with a wave of a hand, let alone both of them together.

Soon, the ban on using force within the city would be lifted, and even if they were all tied together, they would be no match for a Saint-level Professional.

Zhang Mu knew very well where their problem lay.

Therefore, his first sentence went straight to the point.

“First of all, the King that day was an impostor. Furthermore, Jarvis and the Saint-level Professional hidden by the royal family will be handled by me.”

Unsurprisingly, the City Lords were stunned.

The King was fake? That meant they had one less Saint-level enemy?

They all spoke at once, asking Zhang Mu what evidence he had.

Finally, Mihe stepped forward and told everyone that the Church had a type of potion that could create illusions.

Few people had heard of this potion, and even fewer had seen it, but there were still a few who had.

Coupled with the fact that they had met the King more than once, now that they were reminded, they recalled carefully and keenly noticed that the King who appeared a few days ago indeed acted somewhat abnormally.

And the fact that the King hadn't appeared again since was also strong supporting evidence.

Working together, they confirmed that what Zhang Mu said was true. They couldn't help but feel happy that the situation had improved, but they quickly fell silent again.

Jarvis.

A Saint-level Church Bishop who had the support of the statue of god and could use True Word Spells.

With such strength, even if force were allowed in the city, it would still be enough to wipe them all out.

Recalling Zhang Mu's previous words, a City Lord asked urgently, "Do you have a teacher or a companion who can deal with Bishop Jarvis?"

As soon as these words came out, they naturally drew looks as if they were looking at an idiot from everyone.

Do you know what the Church is? Do you understand what the Saul Continent is?

In a place where even your own father can't be relied upon, you're saying there's a companion willing to become an enemy of the Church for you?

What are you thinking?

Being stared at by everyone, he also realized he had said something stupid and was slightly embarrassed.

But he immediately toughened up, "City Lord Eji is a Magister. Aside from what I just asked, is there any other possibility?"

When he said this, everyone also came to a realization.

That's right, you're a Magister saying you can stop Jarvis—if you don't have outside help, are you going to fight him with your head?

Thinking of this, their gazes turned toward Zhang Mu.

Zhang Mu smiled slightly, indicating that the specific method was a secret.

“However, to prevent you from thinking I'm deceiving you, tomorrow, on the day the heir is announced, I will invite Jarvis to a duel outside the city.”

To increase the credibility of his statement, he added, “I will swear an oath to the gods.”

It was common knowledge.

On the Saul Continent, swearing an oath to the gods meant one must fulfill their vow.

Someone once tried to be clever and use word games to evade an oath, only to be dissolved by a beam of light falling from the sky, leaving not even a scrap of flesh behind.

Whether the beam of light was sent by the gods or the Church was impossible to verify due to a lack of evidence.

But from then on, all people on the Saul Continent were clear on one thing: breaking an oath promised to the gods results in death.

Seeing Zhang Mu like this, they seemed to have found a pillar of support, and they began asking one after another how exactly he would deal with Jarvis.

Although their hearts felt as if they were being scratched by a cat, in the end, Zhang Mu still didn't satisfy their curiosity.

With the phrase "It cannot be said," he sent them all back.

The City Lords each returned to their rooms, thinking that if City Lord Eji really fulfilled his promise tomorrow, they would surely regard him as their leader.

Zhang Mu didn't care at all about the City Lords' hearts full of apprehension and conflict; he went to his own room to tell Palina and Leah to rest early, then activated his Shadow Technique and made his way to the Second Prince's manor.

It was already late at night, yet lights were still burning deep within the manor.

Clearly, the Second Prince wasn't feeling calm either.

After crossing the wall and entering the courtyard, Zhang Mu avoided accidentally intruding into the rooms of the Second Prince's female family members; he didn't take any more shortcuts through walls but instead followed the corridors and walkways in the courtyard to slowly find him.

His first target was the study used for handling affairs.

It went smoothly; Zhang Mu listened at the door for a while and heard only one person's breathing inside.

Naturally, the person who would be staring blankly in the study alone was its owner.

He straightened his collar, which had been ruffled by the wind on the way—though he was covered by an illusion, and the Second Prince couldn't see if his clothes were messy anyway.

Then he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

“Norma? Haven't you slept yet this late?”

“Highness, it's me, Eji.”

The sound of a chair falling over came from inside the room, followed by a series of hurried footsteps approaching the door.

“Mr. Eji?!” The surprise on the Second Prince's face was almost uncontrollable; just as he was about to speak, he remembered something and looked around with a serious expression.

After confirming no one was there, he quickly pulled Zhang Mu into the room.

Zhang Mu was somewhat stunned: “Is your manor... also unsafe?”

“It's not that.” The Second Prince relaxed, shook his head with a smile, and then hurriedly asked, “The hotel is guarded by the Griffin Legion, and my brother even sent High-tier Professionals to assist them;”

“How did you get out without them noticing?”

“A little secret.”

Brushing it off, Zhang Mu didn't waste time and spoke of his purpose.

He first recounted the meeting with the City Lords at the hotel, then stated that he hoped the Second Prince could provide the information he had regarding Andre.

The Second Prince's expression was very strange as he sized up Zhang Mu for a while.

“Allow me to ask, do you have a grudge against my brother?”

Frowning in thought, Zhang Mu felt that the conflict that had occurred in the forest north of Kas Town should count as a grudge, right?

So he nodded.

The Second Prince had a look of realization: “No wonder Mr. Eji is willing to take such a huge risk to become my brother's enemy. Uh, but how do you plan to deal with Jarvis?”

It wasn't that he suspected Zhang Mu of being a mole.

After all, everyone knew the current situation; Andre was basically certain to win, so there was absolutely no need to send a mole.

He just hoped that if Zhang Mu was only acting on impulse or didn't have full confidence, he should follow his own plan to flee back to Gur.

Only by staying alive could there be a future.

Hearing him say this, Zhang Mu directly said, “The Church is going to cancel the regulation prohibiting the use of force in the city.”

The Second Prince was dumbfounded.

He almost roared out, “Why didn't I know about this?!”

Zhang Mu was very confused, thinking that the debriefing letters were sent by your royal family; if you don't even know what's going on, you're asking me?

In the end, the Second Prince still restrained his excitement and calmly asked Zhang Mu what his plan was.

“It's simple: Andre's reliance is the Church, and the Church's biggest trouble is Jarvis.”

“I'll handle him; as long as you can stall Andre for a while, I'll be able to return and support you.”

The Second Prince's smile was a bit bleak: “Mr. Eji, the most important issue isn't that... even if you really defeat Bishop Jarvis, the Kingdom... ”

“The Church will definitely send troops to crusade against the Kingdom.”

“Why be so pessimistic? According to what you're saying, why don't we just wait for death?”

As if startled by Zhang Mu's blunt tone, and also as if encouraged, he puffed out his chest: “You're right.”

“Even if the Kingdom is destined to perish, it should never be in silence!”

This guy is actually suited for sales; he's good at giving motivational speeches.

After complaining inwardly, Zhang Mu said: “I need information on Andre, the more detailed the better.”

“Tomorrow I will send someone to deliver it to you.”

“Will the hotel Guards cause any interference?”

“That little difficulty is something I can still handle.”

After saying that, the Second Prince seemed to think of something and asked: “Regardless of who wins or loses this contest, there will surely be a large number of casualties among the City Lords.”

“At that time, if the Church sends Believers to cause trouble again, I'm afraid many cities' Vice City Lords will raise troops and declare independence.”

“Mr. Eji is proficient in warfare; regarding the legions in various places, do you have a proper way to deal with them?”

Before Zhang Mu could speak, he added: “I know your legion is very powerful, but I also saw with my own eyes that your legion suffered heavy losses, and the remaining numbers cannot cover too many cities.”

His vision was actually quite long-term.

These words from the Second Prince made Zhang Mu feel that he had gained a bit of the aura of a King.

As a King, one must consider things thoroughly, deduce all possibilities, and then formulate the most complete alternative plans possible.

This wasn't arrogance, but a necessary ability for a King.

Praising him inwardly, Zhang Mu stood with his hands behind his back and revealed a mysterious smile: “Second Prince, have you heard of drone swarms?”

“drone swarms?” The Second Prince's eyes showed deep confusion, and his thoughts searched every corner of his mind before he asked, “What is that?”