280: Chapter 274 What treason? This is called purging the court of corrupt officials!

Avril stopped outside the door, and City Lord Eji performed a standard knight's salute.

Gazing at the Middle-aged Man in the center of the hall, who wore a respectful smile, the fire in her heart gradually died out.

If it really were my junior, how could he not recognize me...

She realized she must have mistaken him for someone else again, but she felt a bit unwilling to accept it.

After a moment of silence, she asked softly, "City Lord Eji."

"Yes."

"That." She pointed at the ground, at the phone that had been crushed during the previous chaos. "Is it a magic item? Or is it called a tool?"

"Tool?" Eji muttered to himself blankly, then smiled and said, "Princess, I haven't heard of tools.

Besides, it belongs to Mr. Resit. If you want to know its specific name, you'll have to ask him."

"Thank you for your answer."

"It is my honor to serve the Princess." As he spoke, he bowed once more.

Avril nodded in response and turned to walk out the main gate. Piaou, who was waiting across the stone-paved road, saw her and immediately ran over.

"Why did you suddenly go back in? Although my Royal Brother dispersed the Guards on duty, he might still be nearby.

If he sees you, he will definitely charge you with the crime of contacting a City Lord without permission."

"It's just... nothing, sorry." She replied, but her eyes were staring blankly at the ground.

It couldn't be my junior; he has no reason to impersonate the Lord of Gur City.

Furthermore, even if his disguise magic could fool City Lords from all over, it couldn't escape the eyes of the Church—especially since City Lord Eji visited the Church on his first day in the Royal Capital.

Seeing her dazed expression, Piaou asked curiously, "What are you thinking about? Did you discover something unexpected?"

Startled back to her senses, Avril forced a smile. "No, I... let's go back to the palace."

"Wait a moment, Danielson just sent an aide to hand me a note."

"What did it say?"

He led her into a nearby alley, glanced around to ensure no one was watching, and then lowered his voice to explain the matter of the Blood Sacrifice Array.

After hearing it, Avril didn't show the shocked expression he expected; her lips merely twitched stiffly.

"That fits my understanding of them."

Piaou froze for a few seconds, then said in shock, "In your heart, is Father really that cruel?"

Giving an inscrutable smile, she proactively ended the topic and walked toward the alley entrance.

"I'll leave the matter of the Blood Sacrifice Array to you."

"And you?"

"I have more urgent matters to attend to."

The ice-blue figure reached the alley entrance, turned left, and disappeared.

Standing there, Piaou had an idea of what she meant by "urgent matters."

The Royal Family's inherited Magic Tower.

Under normal circumstances, the two of them would have to defeat Andre and ascend the throne before they could enter the Magic Tower.

But the rate at which Avril's physical condition was deteriorating far exceeded expectations; she likely wouldn't last until the day the heir to the throne was announced.

Andre didn't even need to act; as long as he did nothing, she would die from the side effects of the secret technique.

However, things had now taken a turn.

The King and the two Grand Dukes were ambitious, wanting to use the Blood Sacrifice Array to ascend to Gods Blessing, while Andre intended to seize it for himself.

Clearly, the conflict between the two sides was sharp and irreconcilable; a decisive battle was bound to break out in the Royal Capital.

When the Royal Capital fell into chaos, Avril could take the opportunity to slip into the Magic Tower and receive the inheritance from the Ice and Snow.

Piaou sorted out the threads of the situation.

The only thing he could do was to distract both sides so they wouldn't have time to worry about Avril.

Thinking of this, he stopped dazing and hurried toward his own residence.

...

"Both of them have left." Mihe pushed the door open and entered the room, reporting to Zhang Mu, who was sitting at the wooden table in the living room.

"What did they talk about?"

"They didn't mention you."

Mihe seemed to answer indirectly. Zhang Mu looked up and glanced at him. "It's fine if you've guessed it yourself, but don't go spreading it around."

"Understood."

After saying that, he scanned the room. "Where are the other two?"

"Since Domit had nothing to do staying at the hotel anyway, I sent him into the world to train the troops.

As for Soren..."

"Lord City Lord." Soren entered backward, pushing the door open with his rear while holding a cardboard box. "They're all here."

"I sent him to get back all the City Lords' phones."

Finishing his sentence, Zhang Mu took a laptop from his inventory, placed it on the table, and connected it to a phone with a data cable.

Then, under the curious gazes of the two, he copied the video of Andre talking to himself onto every phone.

Because there were so many phones, this process took a full two hours.

Once everything was ready, Zhang Mu stood up. "It's dark, and the City Lords have returned to the hotel from their meeting. Send these to them."

"The City Lords are all at the hotel."

"Hmm? No meeting today?"

"Only the five City Lords you beat up went to the palace. All the other City Lords called in sick."

"Oho, every one of them is getting quite bold." Zhang Mu sat back in his wooden chair and said cheerfully, "Aren't they afraid of being targeted by Andre?"

Soren put the phones scattered across the table into the cardboard box while replying, "The City Lords originally planned to go to the debriefing meeting, but following your instructions,

while I was collecting the phones, I happened to mention Andre's plan. After that, they didn't seem to have any interest in attending the meeting."

"Knowing their master wants their lives, it would be strange if they did.

Hmm... since they're all here, send them now."

"Yes."

Soren picked up the box full of phones and walked out of the room.

Zhang Mu put away the laptop and looked at Mihe. "Who do you think will come first? The Second Prince's City Lords, or Andre's?"

He stroked his beard a few times. "The one closest to our room."

"Hahaha... makes sense!"

Just as Mihe expected.

About a minute later, the City Lord living next door knocked on their door.

Mihe opened the door.

This City Lord was clutching his phone tightly. As soon as he entered, he asked hurriedly, "Is it true?!"

"You haven't watched the vi... the image?"

"I watched it."

"Then why are you asking?"

He was momentarily speechless and stammered for a long time before saying, "It's just... I just can't believe the Royal Family would actually sacrifice all the City Lords."

"Not all, just the City Lords with rebellious tendencies."

"But, isn't that everyone?"

This time it was Zhang Mu's turn to be stunned. "What did you guys all do?"

He rubbed his hands awkwardly. "Everyone... everyone has privately expanded their Legions."

The facts were indeed as he said, but not all City Lords wanted to become independent.

When the news of the King's serious illness spread, City Lords with ill intentions began to recruit more Soldiers.

The rest were quite innocent; they recruited troops purely for self-preservation or with the intention of suppressing rebellions for the Kingdom.

Logically, the latter only needed to report the truth.

The problem was whether the King would believe them.

The answer was obviously no.

Zhang Mu's mouth twitched. "You guys are real geniuses. What's the use of recruiting so many ordinary Soldiers?"

At this point, he didn't even address Zhang Mu by name. "We heard rumors that City Lord Eji used a legion of entirely ordinary humans in Gur to heavily defeat the Kingdom army.

This included a large number of low-tier Professionals and five High-tier Professionals.

With the example you set, we reflected that we might have looked down on ordinary human legions too much in the past, so we..."

Zhang Mu was dumbfounded.

What kind of weirdos were these people?

You didn't go to the scene to review the battle; is just recruiting Soldiers going to work? Do you even know what a legion is, or what war is...

Halfway through cursing in his heart, he suddenly realized that it was normal for these City Lords to know nothing about war.

Lake's borders with neighboring countries were all within the territories of the two Grand Dukes.

The rest were places like the Silent Forest, which had natural barriers where major battles would never break out.

This situation had persisted in Lake for a thousand years, meaning they hadn't fought a war in over a millennium.

Add to that the fact that they were all High-tier Professionals who could slaughter ordinary human legions like dogs, and they disdained learning how to lead troops in battle even more.

With all these conditions stacked up, it wasn't surprising they could do something so absurd.

Sighing, Zhang Mu brought the topic back on track. "Let's talk business. You've seen the image. Regardless of whether the King or Andre wins, we all..."

"City Lord Eji!" Someone suddenly burst into the room, asking a familiar question, "Is it true?!"

Zhang Mu estimated more people would come, so he stopped talking. "Let's wait until everyone is here."

Sure enough, as Soren distributed the phones to more people, City Lords rushed into the room one after another, and their first words were always, "Is it true?!"

At first, Zhang Mu would say, "Go stand over there and wait for everyone to arrive."

Later, he got annoyed and just pointed somewhere in the living room for anyone who came in. "Stand there and wait."

About ten minutes later, the strange sight from not long ago was successfully recreated.

The entire suite was packed with City Lords; even the bathroom wasn't left out.

The City Lords who arrived later couldn't squeeze in, so they simply blocked the doorway until the hallway was full.

Zhang Mu sat by the wooden table in the living room. Although it was shoulder-to-shoulder, the City Lords surrounding him in a circle still centered on him, managing to leave a small open space.

"City Lord Eji, your aide said all the magic items have been distributed," one City Lord relayed.

"Why isn't he coming in..." Seeing the doorway blocked solid, Zhang Mu stopped himself and took out his phone to check the time.

"It's past ten in the morning. Blova will probably be back around noon. Fine, let's make this quick."

Stowing the phone back into his Storage Pouch, he got straight to the point. "I assume everyone is clear on the situation?"

The City Lords nodded their heads vigorously.

"Then I won't beat around the bush.

The key point now is that regardless of whether the King or Andre wins, it won't change our fate as sacrifices."

Someone couldn't help themselves. "City Lord Eji, since you've gathered us here, you must have..."

"Let me finish." Interrupting him, Zhang Mu continued, "Based on the information I have, the materials required for an array that can sacrifice hundreds of High-tier Professionals are definitely not common.

Therefore, as long as we destroy the Blood Sacrifice Array set up in the Royal Capital, we can temporarily resolve the crisis."

"And then? We take the opportunity to flee back to our cities?"

The City Lord who had stood up to support Zhang Mu earlier gave a cold laugh from the crowd. "Flee?

With the King awakened, plus the two Grand Dukes and Jarvis—a total of four Saint-levels—and five thousand Griffin Legion troops hounding us, can you escape?

Remember, those are real Griffins, not the inferior ones that can only run on four legs on the ground."

The crowd, which had become restless thinking they had found a chance at life, fell silent.

Indeed, Jarvis and the King's side were currently on opposite sides, but if all the sacrifices ran away, they would surely cooperate to catch them first before deciding on a winner.

Otherwise, if even the prize was gone, what would be the point of fighting? Fighting for fun because they were bored?

Seeing the low atmosphere and everyone's dejected faces, Zhang Mu laughed. "What's the panic? Don't you still have me?"

"City Lord Eji, do you have a proper plan?!"

"We just need to kill all the villains who want our lives."

The expectation in their eyes instantly froze.

"Sorry, City Lord Eji, it's not that I doubt you, but leaving aside the Griffin Legion, just the four Saint-levels alone..."

"Four Saint-levels are indeed terrifying, but it's not as if there's no room for maneuver." Zhang Mu stood up, his hands behind his back. "First, Jarvis has no interest in the Blood Sacrifice Array; he's only involved because he supports Andre.

So as long as Andre is dead, he'll have no reason to trouble us.

Second, City Lords, do not underestimate yourselves.

If you unite, can you not manage to stall a Saint-level for a while?"

Hearing this, they immediately puffed out their chests. "Of course!"

"In that case, we'll execute my plan." He organized his words in his mind for a few seconds and said slowly, "The four Saint-levels are not in the same camp; it's one against three.

On the day the Blood Sacrifice Array is activated, the King will have to send at least one Saint-level to keep Jarvis in check. That leaves two.

You go and stall one of them. Once I've finished off the last one, I'll join you to surround and kill yours, then we'll go find Jarvis and his opponent together."

As his voice fell, the City Lords remained silent.

After a long while, someone asked hesitantly, "City Lord Eji... I remember you are a Magister?"

"Yes, what about it?"

"I am also a Magister, but I can't sense any mana fluctuations from you. Have you ascended to Saint-level?"

Zhang Mu shook his head.

The speaker was stunned for a moment. "...You said you'd kill a Saint-level yourself?"

"Don't believe me?"

"You should ask... why should we believe you..." The man's features crumpled, fully displaying the conflict in his heart.

"If you think I'm boasting, then everyone can just disperse."

Zhang Mu sat back down in the wooden chair. "I will continue with my own plan, and you can try to save yourselves."

The crowd looked at each other with troubled expressions, not knowing what to do.

At this moment, a voice rang out from the crowd: "I trust City Lord Eji."

All eyes in the room converged on him, and Zhang Mu was no exception.

The speaker was no stranger; it was the City Lord who had refuted Andre in the first-floor hall a few hours ago.

He returned their smiles and repeated his words: "I trust City Lord Eji."

"And the reason?" It was none other than an intrigued Zhang Mu who asked.

"In the image, the two Grand Dukes mentioned you. They have high hopes for you, wishing for you to lead the Kingdom's Legion after the array is finished.

Therefore, you could have completely sat by and watched us become sacrifices instead of trying to save the situation."

The City Lords dazed for a while, then all turned their gazes toward Zhang Mu, staring in silence.

Finally, someone muttered softly, "Yes, City Lord Eji isn't designated as a sacrifice. He could have just stayed quietly on the side."

The man who had questioned him earlier stepped out from the crowd, placed his right hand on his left chest, and bowed slightly. "Please accept my apologies."

I'm not actually that selfless.

Zhang Mu suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and waved his hand. "If no one has any objections, then we'll do as I said?"

The crowd said in unison, "We follow City Lord Eji's orders."

"Fine, Blova is coming back soon. Everyone, return to your own rooms."

They all turned to leave when someone suddenly said hesitantly, "I just thought... City Lord Eji, is what we're doing considered treason?"

Someone nearby cursed angrily, "The King wants our lives, and you still care about..."

Zhang Mu chuckled. "Sigh~ what treason? This is called Purging the Sovereign's Side."