Chapter 527

Damn it, you're bullying honest people, huh?

Players aren't the type to willingly take a loss, especially when they're clearly doing good deeds.

Moreover, the Northeastern noble clique seems to be acting like an elder brother, standing up for the Western Border's younger siblings, but in fact they just want to throw their weight around and crush anyone they like—no elaboration needed.

The Pioneers' reputation in Radiance plummeted just like that; although it couldn't shake their base in the south and even the Royal Capital, the support they had painstakingly gained in the Northeast was all spat back out.

There's nothing to be done; in life, what matters most is worldly wisdom, and not every noble can have the courage to say 'I am a barbarian' like Elinor.

Furthermore, compared to noble colleagues who have been intermarried for generations and know each other inside out, the Pioneers, who are newcomers and always making a fuss, are truly 'too untrustworthy'.

But if the Western Border nobles' accusation is handing a knife to the Northeastern nobles, then the Northeastern nobles' scheming is also giving the Pioneers a reason.

Damn it, you're bullying honest people, huh?

Players aren't the type to willingly take a loss, especially when they're clearly doing good deeds.

Now the fists are hitting them back, so all major guilds and even national authorities can't just sit by; they immediately mobilize all their connections to start acting.

Moreover, with a major enemy at the door, no matter how many pests Radiance has, not every noble is busy with internal strife.

Even if the Xiguang Duke guarding the front line is busy, the Arc Light Duke and the Sun King are still watching them from the Royal Capital.

Seeing the Pioneers resentful and Lord Xiguang struggling to hold on, Andong Liushi slapped his thigh and simply wrote a petition signed by all the nobles of the Royal Capital.

What else could the petition advocate? Naturally, it advocated that all the enlightened and passionate youths of Radiance unite to share the ruler's worries, right?

Holy shit.

Seeing this, the Rosy Light Duke and the Dawn Light Duke's eyes went straight, and their stunned looks seemed to say, 'Your Majesty, are you also in league with the traitors?'

But as the actual leaders of the Northeastern noble clique, how could they possibly allow the Pioneers to so easily receive the king's protection and swallow the Western Border whole?

They immediately dug out a precedent from the kingdom's history, as thick as a door panel, and, using the 'authority to warn the world' their family had gained since founding their own state, they jointly submitted a memorial blaming the royal edict for being wrong, at no cost.

"Your Majesty, Queen Bella once had an ancestral instruction: only the kingdom's nobles may bear arms and fight on Radiance soil; all others are rebels. You see..."

The reason why this ancestor of Andong had such an order can no longer be ascertained, but it is certain that the situation was definitely different from today.

Therefore, logically, the Sun King could directly refute them with this reason, throwing back their sinister intentions.

However, Radiance follows customary law—where having a precedent means a precedent, and lacking one means this case becomes the precedent—so the ancestral law is truly not easy to change.

Thus, for the Pioneers to fight on Radiance soil, besides the king's approval, they also need noble endorsement; otherwise it's rebellion!

What?

Do you want to know why, at the Battle of Fallen God Mountain, they didn't bring up this ancestral instruction?

This isn't nonsense—back then the fire could really have burned them to a crisp; this… this isn't double standards, is it? Double standards all the way!

So the players had originally mustered their forces, ready to go crush the bandits in the Western Border with gusto, but hearing this news they instantly flared up in anger.

"Is this even human?"

But there's no helping it—rules are rules, so they had to quickly find a noble they knew to arrange free mercenary contracts, then head to the battlefield as hired troops.

But unfortunately, the two dukes had already anticipated their response before acting—how could they possibly let them evade sanctions so easily?

No telling how many benefits were promised, but the anti-Pioneer forces in the Royal Capital and the south, which had previously gone quiet, suddenly raised their heads at the critical moment, with many nobles turning on the spot.

Although they ultimately still feared death and didn't dare openly confiscate the Pioneers' property, they were still willing to stab them in the back and feel disgusted.

At least when it came to hiring, they were dead set on opposing the players.

"What hiring? What nonsense, there's no such thing!"

"Fine fine fine, if that's how you want to play, you'd better wait for me!"

Fortunately, the players kept their restraint at the critical moment, not falling for the two dukes' covert provocation to resort to violence, which would have made an already passive situation even more complicated.

Moreover, although the two dukes wield tremendous power, Radiance is certainly not their One-Man Rule; at the crucial moment, the Moneybags faction and the Sword and Shield faction erupted with strong initiative, rallying many nobles to actively hire the Pioneers.

The players' long cultivation finally bore fruit: a group of southern nobles led by the Sheer Cliff Duke clearly realized the Northeastern nobles' shamelessness, refused to swallow their promised bait, and instead chose to support their own Pioneer allies.

As for Elinor…

"Haha, we've chatted so much—just after signing the contract we passed out from exhaustion, and just woke up."

Faced with this situation, the Rosy Light Duke and the Dawn Light Duke originally still wanted to stir up trouble, such as demanding limits on the number of mercenaries each noble could retain, and so on.

But there's no game in this world where only one side can play cards at will, so before they could act, the Xiguang Duke and the Arc Light Duke also jointly submitted a memorial.

What they wanted to express was very simple—just one word: 'Pioneers, benevolent and brave!'

And the Sun King clearly had already coordinated his script with them, immediately writing a letter of praise.

"Great praise—when the nation is in peril, the Pioneers actually gathered at once to respond, sharing the ruler's worries; my heart is greatly comforted!"

After elaborating on the core idea that 'there are no traitors, only loyal subjects,' he also promised that, upon the Pioneers' triumphant return, he would personally ennoble a batch of new nobles.

The Rosy Light Duke and the Dawn Light Duke had no choice but to sheepishly recall the envoys they had sent out, effectively admitting defeat before the king.

By this point, the matter had settled, and the mud-slinging between the two sides seemed to stop here.

But the impact of this event goes far beyond that, after all, is there anything in this world that unites people better than external war and defending against enemies?

Since everyone dropped the pretense, the drums were laid bare, and a brand-new line emerged.

The original Moneybags faction and Sword and Shield faction joined forces, plus some southern nobles led by the Sheer Cliff Duke, forming a unified interest group, abbreviated as 'Royal Capital'.

And the Rosy Light Duke and the Dawn Light Duke, who had made their grand entrance at that earlier banquet with followers spread across the land, formally became the leaders of the 'out-of-power' interest group.

From then on, the power structure of Radiance's upper echelons entered a new era.

Of course, that's the nice way to put it; in the less flattering version, the former are 'steadfast royalists,' while the latter are… well, you don't need me to spell it out.

Moreover, the nobles' remote magical duels are over, but the actual bloodshed on the ground has only just begun.

Although it definitely won't be as exaggerated as the previous Battle of Fallen God Mountain, the players, still seething, have mustered tens of thousands of troops to march to the Western Border battlefield, preparing to suppress bandits while supporting Radiance's army.

"Ah… this."

Moreover, once the numbers exceeded ten thousand, shaking the earth and reaching the heavens, the local nobles were outright dumbfounded by the Pioneers' all‑out surge into the Western Border.

But since they came bearing the king's command, the nobles daren't say anything; they can only shut their gates tight, not daring to let a single Pioneer in. And as soon as the bandits gained a slight edge—before they could even lay a hand on a champagne bottle—the players' pursuit left them with no way to heaven or earth.

"They're all lunatics, they're all lunatics!"

"Boss, quickly think of a solution, I really can't run anymore!"

"I…… solution? Critique! You think I'm the western idea king, just wait for us to die!"

Faced with the players' full-scale purge, they had no room to resist and were all executed on the spot, leaving not even a trace.

With the help of these truly fearless warriors filling the ranks, Lord Xi finally had the spare strength to regroup his troops and launch a counterattack.

Thousands of armored cavalry, under the command of a level‑70 expert, launched a counter‑attack out of the city with such terrifying momentum that even the experienced Deep Forest border troops felt a shudder of fear.

Although Lord Xi ultimately failed to break the Deep Forest border troops' formation and suffered heavy losses himself, this might be the first time since the Changge Marquis committed suicide at the Sun Palace that the Radiant people have brandished their swords against the Deep Forest people.

No matter how great the cost, it is enough to lift spirits!

Moreover, although everyone knows who they are and who their stakeholders are.

But at least in name, this group of Deep Forest border troops are merely "bandits on the Deep Forest border who disobey the king's orders," so the Deep Forest people cannot openly reinforce them.

Moreover, gambling requires capital, but what the Deep Forest people want to do is a zero‑cost business; if they really pour a lot of money into it, they'll lose!

In short, after experiencing a battle lasting half a month, this "Summer Raid" that no one had anticipated came to an end.

Although the cost was mutual loss, the Deep Forest's attempt to steal a chicken ended up losing the rice; not only did they lose the handy bandit group they had been using, but the border troops also suffered some losses, profits were greatly reduced, completely failing to cover expenses, resulting in a loss!

The Radiant had several villages and towns plundered and slaughtered, the regular army also suffered heavy losses, and even the current concrete numbers are hard to estimate, let alone the subsequent compensation and reconstruction work, which also entails a loss!

But in the past, the Deep Forest people made huge profits while the Radiant people suffered huge losses; now both sides are losing money, so there's no need to say who the victor is!

So the Sun King was naturally delighted, holding a banquet at the Sun Castle for a large number of nobles and Pioneer representatives, and in front of everyone began to loudly praise the Pioneers.

Moreover, didn't the opposition previously say that the Pioneers are outsiders, not of our kind, with different hearts, and that we must exclude them?

Haha, from now on it won't be spicy!

Because after the banquet ended, he directly had the Arc Light Marquis announce his enfeoffment, in one go granting one count, three viscounts, eight barons, and countless honorary knight titles.

Although the fiefs were mostly located in the southern part of the kingdom, effectively granting people their own land, and the plots were both small and barren.

But a royal command is a royal command, so the Pioneers naturally held their heads high and smoothly entered the Radiant power circle, never to be separated again.

Moreover, good things come in pairs; while the players celebrated their own victory, joking that "Radiant" would become the world's greatest power since everyone counted as Radiant people, a sizable trade fleet cut through the waves, braving summer hurricanes to reach the basically completed White Eagle Port.

"Dear tower friends, your loyal Spirit Creek friend James has come to see you!"

They are naturally the Spirit Creek people who, by a twist of fate, previously came to the Wilderness.

After purchasing various local specialty goods from the players, they immediately returned to Spirit Creek to sell them.

Naturally, rarity breeds value; these novel curiosities from the Wilderness saw their prices climb steadily, letting each of them earn a handsome profit.

Especially firearms; this exquisitely unusual mechanical device even left the king's employed dwarf master craftsman astonished, prompting the king to spend a fortune to buy them all.

Gold King: "What the hell do you want me to fork out…… holy shit!"

Now it's not just a sky‑high deal; the Gold King summoned all the fleet's senior personnel, including Professor James, to the palace.

"Your…… Majesty?"

The Gold King said nothing, but instead pulled out a black card blessed by the Goddess of Wealth, functioning like a bank card, and tossed it over.

Then.

The king invested, so the duke invested.

The duke invested, so the crown prince invested.

The crown prince invested, so everyone invested.

With this tremendous wealth, the fleet's commander became so excited he could almost fly, immediately beginning to organize a new voyage.

Merchant ships?

Buy, buy big ones, otherwise the gold coins won't be enough to fit!

Escort ships?

Rent, rent ones with more cannons, otherwise the gold coins won't be able to protect!

Escort?

Hire, hire strong ones, otherwise the gold coins won't be able to pull!

Wealth moves hearts; no rhetoric can match gleaming gold, so he quickly organized a trade fleet of unprecedented scale.

And, less than three months after leaving the Wilderness, he returned to this land that seemed to flow with milk and honey, carrying even larger trade orders.

But since this voyage involved the participation of many nobles, including the Gold King, it could not be as simple as it appeared on the surface.

In fact, while this convoy was still being organized, another squad of faster small ships had already set out from the Royal Capital, swiftly heading to the Garol Grasslands north of the Deep Forest.

In just seven days, Bei Mo Si Ke Han Heli Degge, upon receiving his ordered supplies, also received a secret letter from the Gold King.

【Friend, I still remember my original promise; I think I have found a potential ally for you, but the situation is still unclear, so please wait patiently for my good news】

And upon learning of the many changes that had occurred inside Radiant over the past month, especially the clash between the Pioneers and the Deep Forest people in the western border, which had forged a deep grudge,

When the trade fleet had already set out, the Gold King's second secret letter also reached Heli Degge's hands.

【Friend, do you still remember the potential ally I mentioned earlier? I think they can be it】