In the Name of the Queen

The Xidai River flows through the center of the city, and the Xidai Island in the center of the river is also the origin of the city's name.

Xidai Island is not big, but it is a fortress that has existed for thousands of years and is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

It used to be a refuge for kings of all dynasties.

Although few monarchs were really protected by the Xidai Palace, the strong defense system still allowed many rulers to hide in it when they were afraid.

Marco looked down on these monarchs.

In his opinion, no castle could protect the corrupt feudal lords.

He once thought that he would never hide in a turtle shell until someone rushed into the presidential residence.

When he truly realized that he would die, be overthrown, and even no longer represent progress, all his pride disappeared.

He did not live in the presidential residence, but moved into the Xidai Palace.

This is the favorite refuge of monarchs of all dynasties.

It is also the place where the last emperor was dragged out and sent to the guillotine.

Glancing at the mirror, Marco looked at the person in the mirror.

For a moment, he seemed to see the young man who was once full of vigor and vitality.

He was a few years younger than Carlo, and the group of old friends buried the last emperor together and sent the corrupt monarchy to the garbage dump of history.

Then they had differences.

Mr. Carlo's Buonaba family was Count Jacques, a standard noble.

He advocated a relatively mild policy towards feudal lords other than the emperor, and did not want to solve all problems at once, and let those lords who did not directly oppose them continue to exist.

Carlo's reason was simple. The feudal lords still had strong power. They did not support the emperor because Emperor Reus was too ridiculous.

The last monarch offended the feudal lords, capitalists, ordinary citizens and even farmers through several meetings and funny performances.

The whole country was looking forward to his death, so the revolution could succeed.

Once the flames of revolution burned to other groups, support would turn into opposition.

Marco firmly opposed this compromise.

He was an extreme reformer who advocated doing it in one step. He even made the astonishing statement that "incomplete revolution is equal to no revolution at all."

Because he was too radical, there was no place for him in the government led by Carlo.

Although he was appointed as a senior official by Carlo, he had no real power and could only write articles for the Golden Kite News Agency.

Marco was dissatisfied. This was not the new world he wanted.

He gradually found the source of the problem, which was the remnants of the old forces like Carlo who had mixed into the revolutionary team and were hindering him.

After realizing the root of the problem, he put forward a series of theories and won a good reputation for himself.

Although Carlo's moderate reform was more in line with reality, there were also many problems.

He was also a little overwhelmed by how to take care of the interests of each class and how to unite everyone.

Faced with the complex political situation and the Golden Kite people who had awakened their resistance consciousness, Carlo adopted an advanced way of hiding behind the scenes to manipulate the political situation.

The problems were the government's fault, and the achievements were Mr. Carlo's strategizing.

Carlo's approach also aroused opposition from many people.

Marco won the support of many radicals with his spicy articles and radical views.

The coup finally broke out.

The radicals defeated the moderate reformists and took power.

But they also knew that the means of coming to power were not glorious.

Although Mr. Carlo has many shortcomings, his prestige is very high. Marco had to use the name of revolution to eliminate dissidents and form a de facto one-man rule.

Now he lives in the emperor's castle, enjoys life like an emperor, and has more authority than the emperor. What is the difference between him and the emperor except that he is not an emperor in name?

Marco in the mirror looked a little haggard, with slightly dark circles under his eyes. Even those incompetent emperors who indulged in alcohol and sex looked better than him.

Looking at his haggard appearance in the mirror, Marco suddenly woke up.

In order to relieve stress and to appease the young lover left by the last emperor, he anesthetized himself with alcohol and women every day.

This won't work. From today on, you must quit drinking!

Marco loosened his clenched fists, frowned, and began to look through the documents on the table.

Just as he was thinking about who would die today, the head of the intelligence agency hurried over and knocked on his door.

"Come in!"

The person Marco least wanted to see during this period must be the director of the intelligence agency.

Every time he came, it was bad news.

"Tell me, what bad news is there?"

The intelligence chief looked very unhappy, but some things could not be left unsaid.

He hesitated for a moment, and finally gave up the idea of ​​celebrating a funeral, and reported honestly:

"Mr. President, Alina..."

"I know, she and her mob are about to land, right?"

Marco's face was a little more ruddy.

If it was construction, he might not be very good at it, but he was very good at fighting people.

He had a channel to learn about the movement trajectory of the Fourth Fleet.

With accurate intelligence, he easily calculated Alina's possible landing location and made preparations.

The Sussex Empire is strong and weak, and their cabinet and the queen are fighting openly and secretly.

The Sussex Navy has four super fleets that can challenge the navies of other countries, but their queen can only command half of the fleet.

The Fourth Fleet's departure to sea means that Queen Sylph is completely on the opposite side of him.

Although the matter of taking in wanderers has long exposed Queen Sylph's true attitude, such a direct face-off still makes Marco a little annoyed.

The damn Queen Sylph, instead of fighting for power with the cabinet, wanted to interfere in the internal affairs of the Golden Kite, which was simply ridiculous.

Considering that the Queen was young and ignorant, Marco had reason to believe that this was Roland's masterpiece.

He never believed the report of Ambassador Dilas.

Although the ambassador to Sussex sent capable personnel to examine Alina's body and reported the whole story, he still doubted it.

The reason was simple, Alina died too smoothly.

Every step she took seemed like the best solution in desperation, but she was a little unlucky in the end.

Marco did not believe that Alina was so smart in despair.

He had been waiting for the news of Alina's appearance, and now he finally waited.

He waited for Alina to land frantically and die foolishly.

There was no doubt about it.

The Fourth Fleet was the only navy that Queen Sylph could mobilize, and it was very important.

It was okay to help transport some soldiers, but it was not in her interest to directly participate in the conflict.

The direct participation of the Fourth Fleet was equivalent to a war between the two countries.

Against the backdrop of hostility with the Vladimir Empire, Sylph had no reason to offend Jin Yuan.

Marco's lips curled up slightly, waiting for the intelligence chief's victory report.

Without the continuous support of the navy, more than 10,000 people landing would be a waste.

"Let me guess, was poor Miss Alina captured alive? Or was her head taken off by General Surt?"

The intelligence chief lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly.

"Mr. President, Alina..."

"What happened to her? Was her body blown to pieces and can't be found?" Marco was a little unhappy.

He needed Alina alive or at least Alina with a complete body to deter opponents.

The body fragments could not prove her authenticity.

Looking at Marco's not-so-good expression, the intelligence chief said helplessly:

"Alina landed successfully and persuaded General Surt's men to surrender. Surt died on the spot."

Marco was silent for a long time, and slowly asked: "Then what?"

"Then her army surrounded Port If."

Marco, who was originally a little nervous, smiled instantly when he heard the news.

"Stupid, Port-If cannot fall, she is courting death."

"Mr. President"

The intelligence chief took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweaty cheeks, lowering his voice: "Port-If has surrendered."