Chapter 2447

"That thing was lost."

Su Xiao threw the small ball back to the Sand Emperor. The small ball was still flying in the air when it was clung to by a crimson energy, and it only dissipated when it landed in the Sand Emperor's hand.

"Lost?"

The Sand Emperor's voice lowered a bit.

"When my clansmen were executed, I don't know where it was dropped."

"Let's not talk about that. It's fine that it's lost. That blade can be bought anywhere. I'll buy you a hundred more."

The Sand Emperor gripped the small ball in his hand and asked: "You came back this time, are you representing yourself, or the Brave Skull tribe?"

After saying this, there was a trace of expectation in the Sand Emperor's eyes.

"The Brave Skull tribe."

Su Xiao answered without hesitation. Hearing this, the trace of expectation in the Sand Emperor's eyes vanished.

"Is that so."

The Sand Emperor's voice became colder. He rested his head on the Queen's lap and threw the small ball in his hand to the head of the bed.

"I came to take back the military power of the Brave Skull tribe."

"Ha... ha... ha, go take it then, it's with Uno."

The Sand Emperor turned around, resting his head on the Queen's lap, lying there with his back to Su Xiao, his body curling up a bit. Seeing this scene, the Queen wanted to speak but stopped. Finally, she could only gently stroke the Sand Emperor's head with her hand, the tenderness in her eyes seemingly about to condense into water droplets.

"Power, all thinking about power, even you. I thought you came to see me."

After the Sand Emperor snorted coldly, the sleeping hall fell silent.

"Leave Sand City. Go get 500,000 gold coins and go anywhere. Leave now."

"..."

"Why aren't you leaving yet? Red Sand, drive him away."

"Your Majesty."

The Queen spoke softly. She blinked at Su Xiao and pointed to her own mouth, meaning for Su Xiao to hurry up and say something.

"Lord Kuku-Lin, please leave."

Red Sand walked out from the shadow in the corner.

"Red Sand!"

The Sand Emperor suddenly roared. The sense of majesty in that instant made Red Sand retreat quickly and kneel on one knee.

"You actually came specifically to see me, and took back the military power by the way, right?"

After the Sand Emperor drove Red Sand away, he lay on the low bed with his back to Su Xiao and spoke.

"No."

"You, you..."

The Sand Emperor was so angry he sat up, pointing at Su Xiao, and then his arm dropped.

"Kuku-Lin, you really haven't changed. Can't you flatter me a little? I am the Sand Emperor, the only fourteen-year-old Sand Emperor in history."

The Sand Emperor stood up, hands on his hips, his head slightly raised.

"Pfft~"

The Queen chuckled.

"Wanting to take back military power, the problem isn't with me. Uno and Karos are biting onto that side tightly."

As the Sand Emperor spoke, he looked down at the Queen. The Queen turned her head away, not daring to look the Sand Emperor in the eye. Karos was her sister.

"I am the Sand Emperor, that's true, but some things can only rely on yourself. The 300,000-strong army at the border were all Brave Skull tribe warriors. Now they take orders from High Priest Uno. I hold the rope that ties Uno, but who he will bite, I find it hard to control. Except for me, he dares to bite anyone. Karos is in charge of finance; she is the rope, Uno is the fierce dog, and the soldiers are the teeth in Uno's mouth."

The Sand Emperor sat cross-legged very casually. I don't know when, but the small ball had returned to his hand.

"This fierce dog I'm holding, can you help me kick him hard? He has been... a bit disobedient lately."

On an unknown sea area, a huge sea beast was swimming rapidly in the sea. Amu and Beni were on the head of this sea beast.

The sea beast let out a dull cry. Beni, who was lying under a small parasol, looked up and saw the small dried fish in its claws fall.

Beni was stunned because it saw land in the distance. After seeing the scene before it, it almost shed tears, and this piece of land was the northernmost part of the Peru Kingdom.

"Where did you go?"

"Went to beat Uno up."

"?"

The Sand Emperor looked at Su Xiao in confusion, seemingly a bit bewildered, not understanding what "beat Uno up" meant for a moment.

Bang!

The two large doors of the sleeping hall were crashed open, and a slightly chubby old man rushed into the sleeping hall, his face bruised and swollen.

"Your Majesty, I was attacked. The attacker is right..."

High Priest Uno stopped halfway through his sentence. He turned his head somewhat stiffly and looked at Su Xiao.

"It's him!"

High Priest Uno's voice cracked.

"Uno, there must be some misunderstanding."

"Your Majesty, you must uphold justice for me. I was cooling off below, and this barbarian suddenly rushed over, grabbed my hair and beat me, and even hung me up and kicked me. Look at my face, is there a footprint?"

High Priest Uno knelt on the ground, snot and tears streaming down.

"Uno, are you sure? Did such a thing really happen?!"

The Sand Emperor's expression was slightly angry.

"Yes! Your Majesty, it's him."

"Take him down!"

At the Sand Emperor's command, several guards rushed into the sleeping hall and "escorted" Su Xiao to the room next door.

Before long, a guard invited Su Xiao back to the sleeping hall. By this time, Uno had already left.

"You actually really kicked Uno? I was using a metaphor just now, I didn't ask you to really kick him."

"Oh."

Su Xiao still had no change in expression. He had just arrived in Sand City and needed to establish his authority. Just now was a good opportunity. He wasn't afraid of Uno's retaliation—assassination and the like could be ignored. As for overt retaliation, that wasn't hard to deal with either. With hostile stances, sometimes there was no need to be hypocritical.

"Still 'oh'? Do you know how much he hates you?"

"I can imagine."

"You, I, sigh~, forget it."

The Sand Emperor sighed long. This sudden turn of events was something he hadn't expected at all, but it was really satisfying.

"Tomorrow morning, I will have Uno and Karos come to Rosai Palace to mediate the conflict between you and Uno. Stay here tonight, I'm going to sleep."

The gauze curtains surrounded the bed. Seeing this, Su Xiao walked out of the sleeping hall. The progress was quite smooth.

In the bedroom on the fifth floor of Rosai Palace, Su Xiao snapped his fingers. A slight impact came from his lower leg. Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, who had blended into the environment, appeared in Su Xiao's eyes.

"Go watch Uno. If he makes any moves, let Baja 'visit' him. Use reagent v759, don't kill him."

"Woof."

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang passed through the wall. Only Su Xiao remained in the bedroom. The patriarch of the Brave Skull tribe originally controlled 300,000 troops, but now they were in Uno's hands. Su Xiao's idea was to ask for the 300,000-strong army on the surface, but in reality, he only needed a small number of soldiers and a 300,000-strong establishment. As for the establishment, Uno would likely give it, and use this to plot against him.

According to the Sand Emperor's words, Su Xiao learned that his identity had a deep connection with the Sand Emperor. It should have been when the Sand Emperor was still a child, the old Sand King took him to the Brave Skull tribe's fief, so the two sides met six years ago and had some friendship. At that time, the little Sand King was not yet the Sand Emperor.

This was Su Xiao's greatest advantage. Under the premise of not being able to assassinate, wanting to defeat Uno and Karos in a short time was a dream. One controlled military power, the other controlled finance. Their forces were intertwined in Sand City, and even the Sand Emperor couldn't move them.

To complete the plan, he had to be fast. First, establish a reckless image, then boast, making Uno and Karos lower their guard. Su Xiao knew that the place where he could rise wasn't Sand City, but the border—the war-torn border.

The next morning, in the banquet hall on the third floor of Rosai Palace, a large round table was placed in the center of the banquet hall, covered with various delicacies.

Several servants served behind the seats. Uno was sitting at the dining table, the bruises on his face basically faded, but when he moved his arm, he couldn't help but gasp.

"The brat of the Brave Skull tribe really has no brains, but that's good too."

Uno touched his big belly, hungry. The Sand Emperor hadn't arrived yet, so he didn't dare to eat first.

The door of the banquet hall was pushed open, and a woman wearing a gauze skirt with her brown hair coiled up walked into the banquet hall. She was in her early thirties and gave people a sense of dignity. The Minister of Administration, that is, Finance Officer Karos, had arrived.

"I heard you were attacked last night? Who was so bold as to attack you?"

Karos walked slowly. Suddenly, she paused for a step; a maid had stepped on her gauze skirt.

"My lord, I didn't mean to."

With a thud, the maid knelt on the ground, her forehead pressed tightly against the ground.

"Be careful next time."

"Thank you, my lord, I will definitely..."

The maid was halfway through her sentence when Karos raised her hand and moved her fingers. A guard stepped forward quickly, grabbed the maid's hair, covered her mouth, and dragged her out.

"Woo, my lord, spare..."

Snap!

The maid's neck was snapped. Karos, not far away, walked slowly.

"Uno, who attacked you last night?"

"Right behind you."

Hearing Uno's words, Karos turned to look and saw Su Xiao walking over. She slowly retreated half a step. In her judgment, this was a complete lunatic. Beating the Kingdom's High Priest inside Rosai Palace—if he wasn't a lunatic, what was he?

Su Xiao walked past Karos, stepped on the gauze skirt trailing on the ground, and sat down in the banquet hall. The dust-form Banishing had finished clinging. Once the talks broke down, he would hold Karos hostage and rush out of Rosai Palace. Apollo was already in position, and Baja was also lying in ambush above Rosai Palace.

Before long, the Sand Emperor arrived. After he sat at the head of the table, the early breakfast began.

The Sand Emperor ate berries absent-mindedly. A moment later, he broke the silent atmosphere.

"Uno, the Brave Skull tribe's King-killing case has been confirmed to be a misunderstanding. Now that Kuku-Lin has arrived in Sand City, the border army should be allowed to be deployed by the Brave Skull tribe."

The Sand Emperor looked at the delicacies on the dining plate, tapping lightly with a wooden fork.

"Your Majesty, you must think thrice. I, Uno, don't care who holds that 300,000-strong military power. In the end, aren't they all your soldiers? But this person named Kuku-Lin only arrived in Sand City today. The Brave Skull tribe suffered such injustice; it's very possible they would defect to the Peru Kingdom. If that happens, I dare not imagine, your subject really dare not imagine such a thing."

Uno was full of heartache, a big "Loyalty" character almost written on his forehead.

"Your Majesty, I share Uno's view. At least let him serve you in Sand City for five years or more before considering handing over that 300,000-strong army to him."

Karos also spoke up. These two were very difficult to deal with. They didn't refuse directly. One splashed dirty water, saying Su Xiao was a spy for Peru; the other said to let Su Xiao serve in Sand City for five years. After five years, they could add another ten years—dragging it out indefinitely. It wasn't that they wouldn't give it, but they called it testing his loyalty. Moreover, during those five years, the two had countless ways to splash dirty water and provoke the relationship between Su Xiao and the Sand Emperor.

"Give me 12,000 soldiers, and I will lead these soldiers to the front lines and capture Peru's border city, Segona, within six days."

Su Xiao leaned back in his chair and spoke, looking at the chandelier above.

"Your Majesty, look, he has already started talking nonsense."

"Your Majesty, everything is decided by you."

Seeing such a good opportunity, Uno and Karos took turns to strike.

"Kuku-Lin, you..."

The Sand Emperor was in a dilemma. Of course, he knew that was impossible. Let alone 10,000 soldiers, even 100,000 soldiers couldn't take Segona City, let alone within seven days.

"Your Majesty, I can make promises too. I want to capture Segona within three days. Is that really okay?"

Karos shook her head, seemingly mocking, but actually provoking him.

"If I can't take Segona City within seven days, execute me at the border."

Su Xiao was "provoked" in a second. He was waiting for this sentence.

"Good!"

"Do you dare to admit this seven days later?"

Uno and Karos spoke one after another.

"No!"

With a bang, the Sand Emperor slapped the dining table. Broken porcelain shards splashed, and blood flowed down his palm.

"Your Majesty, be careful."

Uno stepped forward quickly with a white napkin. The Sand Emperor flicked his hand and said: "Kuku-Lin, what are you thinking?"

"Your Majesty, Kuku-Lin might really have some way."

Uno wrapped the Sand Emperor's hand with a white napkin.

"Yes, I have a way."

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the Sand Emperor was so angry he felt blocked in his heart and said: "Good, good, good, I'll give you 10,000, 20,000 soldiers, go capture Segona then."

The Sand Emperor walked out of the banquet hall. Uno and Karos both looked at Su Xiao.

"Military Commander Kuku-Lin, you now have 20,000 soldiers to die for you."

Uno smiled, picked up the fruit on the table, and took a big bite.

"Not Military Commander, but Grand Commander."

As Su Xiao spoke, he breathed a long sigh of relief in his heart. Playing a reckless fool without wisdom wasn't simple. Fortunately, the behavioral standards he had shown before were just like this.

Su Xiao said this because a Military Commander had at most a 30,000-strong establishment, while a Grand Commander had a 300,000-strong establishment. Even if there were no soldiers and no military funding, the establishment was still there.

"You can only be a Military Commander."

"He is a Grand Commander now, a Grand Commander of 20,000 soldiers."

The Sand Emperor's voice came from the entrance of the banquet hall. He hadn't left, but had been leaning against the wall next to the door.

"I dare not disobey Your Majesty's conferment."

Uno bowed and saluted. A reckless fool who craved power and status—in his view, this couldn't be considered an opponent. Perhaps in half a month, this would be a topic of conversation after a meal. What could 20,000 soldiers do? Just marching to the vicinity of Segona City at the border would take five full days. The remaining two days—wanting to break through Segona City was a dream. He had seen too many such reckless fools who craved fame in a single battle, and their ends were all very miserable. Uno really didn't care.

Su Xiao picked up the wooden fork and tasted the delicious food. Today's breakfast was exceptionally good. Soldiers and establishment were both there; now the only thing missing was gold coins.

In the vast ocean, Amu was swimming at full speed. Beni was squatting on top of Amu's head, looking up at the sky. There was also a dolphin on the nearby sea surface; this was Amu and Beni's new friend.

"Meow!!"

Beni let out a loud cry, furious at its own incompetence. Sometimes, the ocean was a very powerful opponent. After Amu, Beni also suffered from "oceanophobia."