120: Chapter 120: Appointing the Regent? The entire server is in an uproar!

Strings of gilded palace lanterns hung from the eaves of the main palace hall all the way to the edge of the plaza, their warm, golden light illuminating the entire palace as if it were broad daylight.

Three thousand meritorious Royal Guards, clad in brand-new black armor, stood in formation on both sides of the plaza, the armor plates gleaming with a cold light under the lanterns.

The civil and military officials were seated according to their rank; even the most stubborn conservative nobles kept their heads bowed, not daring to breathe—they had clearly seen the efficiency with which the Remnants of the Three Clans were purged three days ago, and no one wanted to follow in the footsteps of Zhou Mingyuan and Zhao Wenyuan.

The officials had opened a server-wide livestream early on, with hundreds of millions of players camping in the stream; gifts flooded the screen so fast it was almost impossible to see, and the chat was filled with "Camping for the reward for Big Brother Lin Zhe" and "Queen, hurry up and give us benefits."

Su Ninghua, dressed in an imperial robe of black embroidered with golden dragons, stood at the very center of the high platform, clutching the bright yellow edict of appointment. Her cold, clear gaze swept across the audience, and the previously noisy plaza instantly fell silent.

"Today, in celebration of our victory, there is one person we must thank first." Su Ninghua's voice was not loud, but it carried the unique majesty of a monarch, spreading across the entire plaza via the amplification magic array and even reaching the ears of every player on the server through the livestream. "This purge of the Remnants of the Three Clans, achieved with zero casualties and victory in three days, with five million gold coins in seized supplies, is entirely due to the efforts of Mr. Lin Zhe. Without him, who knows how long the empire would have been plagued by these remnants, and how many elite soldiers would have been lost."

She paused, raising her eyes to look at Lin Zhe standing beside her, her admiration undisguised. Her fingertips snapped open the bright yellow edict, and her voice rang out clearly: "Today, in the name of the Queen of the Human Empire, I proclaim to the world—I hereby appoint Lin Zhe as the Honorary Prince Regent of the Human Empire. He shall enjoy the treatment of a Prince, all imperial officials must bow to him upon meeting, and all imperial resources, armies, and secret realms are unconditionally open to the Prince Regent. To see the Prince Regent's command is to see me!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue fell into a deathly silence for three seconds.

The wine cup in the Minister of Rites' hand fell to the ground with a "clatter," and he didn't even notice the wine spilling all over himself. The officials present were dumbfounded. Honorary Prince Regent? And holding the power to mobilize armies and open secret realms? This was equivalent to handing half the empire over to Lin Zhe!

A few conservative nobles were about to reflexively speak out in opposition, but when they looked up and met Su Ninghua's ice-cold gaze, and remembered Zhou Mingyuan's head hanging at the city gate and Zhao Wenyuan, who had been left hanging from the main hall's crossbeam for three hours, they swallowed the words right back. With a "thump," they were the first to kneel, their voices trembling like chaff: "We pay our respects to the Prince Regent! May the Prince Regent live for a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"

With them leading the way, all the officials and soldiers knelt in unison, their thunderous shouts of "Greetings, Prince Regent" shaking the very palace lanterns.

The livestream chat went blank for three seconds before completely exploding.

Hum—! In the field of view of every online player on the server, a bright red pinned announcement popped up simultaneously. It shone for a full thirty seconds before disappearing, the scarlet characters making everyone's eyes blur:

[Server-wide Announcement: Queen Su Ninghua of the Human Empire officially proclaims to the world the appointment of Lin Zhe as the Honorary Prince Regent of the Human Empire. He shall enjoy the treatment of a Prince, all imperial officials must bow to him upon meeting, and all imperial resources, armies, and secret realms are unconditionally open to Lin Zhe! The final right of interpretation for this announcement belongs to the Imperial Family of the Human Empire!]

The entire server lagged for three seconds.

The messages on the world channel scrolled so fast it was impossible to read the text; tens of millions of messages piled up, all ecstatic howls:

[Holy crap? Prince Regent? Am I fucking blind? Big Brother Lin Zhe was just a Refugee NPC before! This promotion speed is faster than riding a rocket!]

[All you idiots who spread rumors that Lin Zhe was the Queen's puppet, come out and get beaten! Can a puppet become a Prince Regent? Can they mobilize the imperial army? Your faces are going to be slapped swollen!]

[From now on, I'm someone under the Prince Regent's protection! Who would dare charge me a toll when I go to the Imperial Main City to grind dungeons? Just report Big Brother Lin Zhe's name and I can walk sideways!]

[I just received the intermediate potion from the public warehouse! I told you, following Big Brother Lin Zhe means eating meat! From now on, whoever dares to speak a bad word about the Big Brother, I'll be the first to hack them!]

The new players who had been misled by the Holy Temple Knights' rumors blushed after reading the announcement and rushed to the world channel to apologize, saying they had been blind to believe the rumors, and immediately set Lin Zhe's exclusive avatar frame to the most prominent position. Many players in the main cities crushed their directional teleportation talismans on the spot, rushing towards Luofeng Village and Holy Light City, just to bask in the Prince Regent's glory, hoping they might even stumble upon a hidden quest.

Zhou Ming, at the official operations headquarters, looked at the skyrocketing active player data in the backend and grinned from ear to ear, quickly ordering the technical department to add five more servers to avoid any lag that might displease Lin Zhe.

A cold system notification sounded in Lin Zhe's mind right on time: [Ding! Detected that the top-tier female NPC, Human Queen Su Ninghua's favorability towards the host has increased to 99. Third Bond trigger progress +10%, current progress: 70%!]

Lin Zhe stood on the high platform with a calm expression, his fingertips moving slightly. He could clearly feel that as the edict of appointment took effect, the rule threads of the entire Human Empire moved significantly closer to him. Previously, he could only view player data, but now he could slightly adjust the dungeon drop rates and monster spawn speeds within the empire, his range of authority expanding once again.

He raised his eyes to scan the officials kneeling on the ground, then scanned the dense barrage of comments in the livestream. His Rule Perception spread out, and he could clearly feel several waves of aura from afar: In the Wanlong Nest of the Dragon Domain, Ao Ningshuang tapped her fingertips lightly against the dragon crystal table, ordering her subordinates to triple the generous gifts already prepared and deliver them to Holy Light City as soon as possible; in the Temple of Light of the Celestial Realm, Saintess Yun Qingwan held the newly refined Holy Water of Light, ordering the priests to set off for Holy Light City first thing tomorrow morning to offer congratulations; in the Abyss Demon Realm, Mei You shook the dark crystal core in her hand, ordering all her subordinates not to set foot in the Human Empire for the near future, lest they provoke Lin Zhe's ill will; in the Endless Sea, Empress Cang Lan was also ordering the Sea Clan craftsmen to rush the creation of a top-tier deep-sea pearl necklace, preparing it as a congratulatory gift to be sent over.

All parties had received news of the appointment, and their wariness of Lin Zhe had deepened, causing them to accelerate their efforts to make contact.

Su Ninghua walked over and personally handed a golden seal of the Prince Regent, engraved with a five-clawed golden dragon pattern, into Lin Zhe's hand. Her fingertips inadvertently brushed against the back of his hand, her ear tips turning slightly red, and her voice was very soft: "Sir, from now on, you and I shall decide the affairs of the empire together."

Lin Zhe took the golden seal, the heavy object glowing warmly under the lights. He gave a faint "Mn" in response, raising his eyes to look at the distant horizon. Behind the clouds, he could vaguely see the directions of the Dragon Domain, the Celestial Realm, and the Abyss, with countless possibilities surging towards him.

He knew that the first step for the Human Empire had been firmly established. Next, a broader stage awaited him; the gestation of the Third Child, the contact with major powers, and the control of the entire server were all advancing step by step.

The soldiers and officials on the plaza were still shouting their well-wishes, the gifts in the livestream were flooding the screen, and the "Lin Zhe is awesome" messages were still frantically scrolling on the world channel. The eyes of the entire Aethera Continent were focused on this former lowest-tier Refugee NPC.