The Master of the Strange Realm

Jenkins asked.

"Yes, but it can only be used once to bribe one person to do one thing."

His Majesty the King replied.

"This is a bit unfair. You have been prepared before the duel began. This coin is obviously a very targeted prop. But I was called here by you without knowing anything, and I didn't even have the opportunity to tell my family that I couldn't go home tonight. I didn't have any preparations, which is unfair to me."

"But life is unfair."

Salhi II said:

"I am in my prime, but I have to stay up late here to play games with you to decide the next heir. Do you think this is fair? William, you can use any means you can think of to win the game, and correspondingly, I will do my best. There is nothing unfair about this, because this is life."

"This is what you said, there is nothing unfair about this."

Jenkins confirmed, regardless of the other party's reaction, and then Announcement:

"After taking over the troops left by her father to guard the palace, Dolores's men also told Her Royal Highness the Princess that her brothers had taken control of the city defense forces. So Dolores first sent all the police officers on duty at the police department to the city, shouting on the streets to remind the citizens to be more alert tonight, as something might happen; on the other hand, she gave up the city of Loen, gathered all the people who were willing to be loyal, entered the palace with her troops, and actively launched defense. Of course, Wendy, Priss, and Ajelina also followed Dolores."

"Let me remind you that this means that your side will take a completely defensive posture and leave all the city of Loen outside the palace to Salote. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Salhi II asked, holding the table with one hand.

"Yes, this is not just my idea, Dolores will definitely do this."

Jenkins leaned back in his chair and stroked the cat.

He didn't care how many tricks Salshi II had left. Now Alexia had gone to Loen to mobilize the Snowman Legion in the Ice Castle in the Cluster Mountains. Jenkins gave her his cane as a token. As long as the army came to Loen, Dolores would not lose even if she wanted to.

Jenkins also had to use props in his turn. He thought about what he had on him, and finally took out a sin coin [Gem of Time].

"This is the true crystallization of time and years, representing a closed time loop and a self-consistent destiny. This is not a general equivalent cast by any intelligent race, it represents the deepest secret of this world."

He briefly introduced it, and then pressed the round gem coin on the chessboard. The cat rushed forward immediately, but was held down by Jenkins who had been prepared for a long time.

Chapter 1713 Chapter 1686 Mercy under the Steam Cannon

"In our duel, this coin also serves as a bribe. But my coin is more valuable than yours. Therefore, while it has the function of the coin you hold, once both of them bribe the same object at the same time, this coin representing the deep years will have a higher priority effect."

Jenkins explained the role of the [Gem of Years].

"Are you targeting me specifically?"

Salhi II asked.

"No, I just happened to have the coin on me."

Jenkins replied.

Time will not be paused because of the conversation between Jenkins and Salhi II. While the two people in the Nolan game are talking, the situation in Rune is constantly changing.

On Jenkins' side, Dolores and the other two princesses under his command acted according to his ideas. While all the manpower was withdrawn into the palace, they also sent people to search in the palace. Dolores herself didn't know what to look for, but from the conversation, it can be learned that Dolores seemed to think that her father would definitely hide something in the palace before leaving Rune.

The situation on the side of Salhi II was not optimistic. He gave the hint that they should give up the search for Dolores, send part of the city garrison to maintain order in the city, and send part of the city garrison to guard outside Loen.

But the eldest prince's idea was completely different from his father's, so his actions were different from his father's hints. After this round began, he almost immediately deployed all the manpower he could mobilize to every corner of Loen City, with the goal of finding Dolores, Wendy and Priss.

The Stuarts who entered Loen did not know the conditions for victory, so the simplest idea was naturally to eliminate competitors. But Dolores did not make a big fuss when she retreated to the palace, so her brothers and sisters immediately launched a city-wide search after discovering that she was not at her residence, instead of going to the palace to look for her.

This resulted in Sallot having almost no results in the third round, and there was a conflict between the city garrison and the police force, and the two sides almost started a gunfight on the street.

"It's really unlucky."

The fourth round was about to begin, Jenkins said in a low voice. Salhi II looked up at him and ignored the ridicule:

"Salot has been like this since he was a child. Although he is capable, his eagerness to achieve success often makes him unable to grasp his true thoughts."

"There is still one round left, and the Northern Guard Corps outside the city will enter the city. I think the princes will probably start a battle to defend the city when they have no choice."

"No, although Salhi has shortcomings of all sizes, at least he is willing to believe in his followers."

Salhi II pointed to the chessboard screen, where a red star was on the edge of the chessboard, which was outside the city of Loen:

"While my eldest son ignored the potential risks tonight, his younger brother noticed. So..."

In the picture, Sarlotte Stuart suddenly received a letter from a servant. After reading it, his expression changed drastically, and then he immediately went to find the commander of the city defense force.

Although everyone in Nolan could not see the specific content of the letter, they roughly guessed that the eldest prince's party had discovered traces of military operations in the mountains outside the city.

“No one is perfect or almighty, not even a king. So to lead a country well, the most important thing is not to be almighty yourself, but to know your own shortcomings and be able to find followers who can make up for these shortcomings. By."

Salshi II said to the three daughters at the table. The three of them didn't understand why they were told this, so they could only nod to show that they heard it.

"Then next round, are you going to let your sons deploy defenses to defend the city, or are you going to attack the palace and capture Dolores?"

Jenkins asked, then paused and said:

"This is really powerful. If the Northern Guards outside the city successfully enters the city and carries out a large-scale purge of the nobles in the city, then your goal will be achieved; and if they are successfully stopped by Sarlot and his brothers, then you will The chess pieces have become the heroes guarding Loen... It seems that no matter which outcome, it is beneficial to you. "

"So, when making any decision, you must try to ensure that you are invincible."

Salshi II smiled. He picked up the tea cup and took a sip. Jenkins noticed that his hands were shaking. Even though he was in good spirits, his body was failing after all, and his ability to stay up late was no match for a strong young man like Jenkins.

"Then in the next round, Sarlot will rely on the Loen City Wall to launch a comprehensive defense. He will search the Loen Armory and find some unexpected things in it."

"You don't have a few steam cannons hidden in the Loen Armory, do you?"

"Just a small caliber one."

The king said, "And there are only thirty or so. "

The princesses at the table looked a little strange, and Jenkins was also a little surprised.

Probably because of the principles and some steam technology reasons that Jenkins doesn't understand, the power of steam cannons in this world is far greater than all the firearms that can be called "cannons" in the other world, and because of safety, cost and transportation issues, even if Even Loen shouldn't have so many steam cannons.

"You are indeed prepared."

Jenkins said, but then questioned:

"Since you said tonight's showdown was impromptu, what were the steam cannons hidden in the armory used for in your original plan?"

The three princesses were also curious about this question, but they did not dare to say it directly like Jenkins. Salshi II covered his mouth with a handkerchief and coughed twice before answering slowly:

"Once the progress of the army's 'cleansing' of Loen is not satisfactory, then these cannons will be used to 'clean' them."

The tone of his words was very calm, but the meaning behind his words was really mind-numbing.

"But that's your capital, do you really plan to do this?"

Jenkins couldn't help but ask again. He knew that the kings were hard-hearted, but he didn't expect the other party to be able to do this.

"The country can be rebuilt once it is gone, and citizens cannot move elsewhere. If this can allow the kingdom to smoothly transfer power, then it is worth it."

"Tsk~"

Jenkins couldn't help but was speechless. Seeing him like this, the king of the North Kingdom said to him again:

"If you plan to inherit Fidictry, then sooner or later you will understand my thoughts. Once you bear the responsibility, you will definitely look at the problem from a different position. When you reach my age, you will not have the same thoughts as you do now."

Although the instructions given by Salshi II in this round are defense, one round only lasts half an hour. The city of Loen is so big that even with the ancient city wall as a support, it would be better to abandon the slums around the city. defense, but it is also very difficult to deploy all the few people in half an hour to prepare.

Salhi II certainly thought of this, so before Jenkins began to arrange it, he took out a folded yellowed paper from his pocket. This is not modern paper, but a small piece of neatly cut parchment.

PS: Judging from the current progress...I'm afraid this book won't be finished this month, and there are still several major plots to be written.

Chapter 1714 Chapter 1687 Symbols of Power

Salshi II showed the paper to Jenkins by the firelight of the fireplace, and Jenkins read what was written on it:

"B-07-5-7325 [King Stanley's Restraint]? This thing is actually in your family's treasury?"

Jenkins was surprised that there was no name for this thing even on the list of items provided by Dolores.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Of course I know that this is a magical item that a human king sacrificed his entire family in the twelfth century in exchange for a god whose name was not recorded. As long as the person who is recognized as the king comes into contact with the parchment, every If he reads the words on the parchment at dawn, noon and dusk, there will never be rebellion in the country he controls."

"So, that country has been around for a long time?"

The eldest princess Yanni Stuart couldn't help but ask.

"No, that country was destroyed by an abnormal meteor shower the following year, and no one in the country survived. Afterwards, no king dared to touch it."

Jenkins sighed and said:

"So, never ask for power from any existence you don't understand, it's a very dangerous behavior."

Salhi II didn't care, probably pretending not to hear the hidden meaning in Jenkins' words. He pressed the parchment on the blank space of the chessboard:

"In accordance with the ancient contract, all combatants will not die easily in the next war. As a price, the farmland around Loon will be harvestless this year."

"Oh? Are you sure you want to do this?"

Jenkins asked in surprise. Salhi II did not help the Salote side, but helped everyone in the subsequent turmoil. He could understand this behavior. After all, they were his children and his subjects anyway, but it would be too cruel to let the farmland fail.

Loon, the capital of the Northern Kingdom, is located on the edge of a rare plain in the north of the kingdom, with its back against the northern mountains. This is an important production area in the north of the kingdom. Although there is only one harvest a year, the soil fertility is amazing, so the output of farmland near Loon is enough to support the food needs of one-seventh of the kingdom's population.

"Don't worry, I have my own arrangements for this matter."

Salhi II said calmly.

"I am very curious, where did you get this chessboard? Don't say it's something from the royal treasury. I don't believe your family can collect such a treasure."

Jenkins finally asked this question.

"It was given to me by the ancestor who gave me enlightenment and made me understand that there was something wrong with my approach."

"Ancestor?"

Jenkins thought in his heart, guessing that the ancestor of the Stuart family was passing on the message to his descendants. If the ancestor really had the opportunity to enter the kingdom of the master because of the fate of the ice shooter chess piece, it seems acceptable for him to "appear" again at this time and give instructions to his descendants.

After Salhi, it was Jenkins, who continued to give Dolores instructions to defend the palace. Although Dolores had fewer people, she had plenty of firearms. In addition, the palace itself was built on a small hill in the center of the city, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, so defending the palace was much easier than defending Loen City.

Jenkins did not forget the missing clone of Salshi II, nor did he forget that the Duke of Rodbyer had an item that Salshi II asked him to keep. So he asked Dolores to bribe the Duke directly with the "Sin Coin Token" to get the item.

"Are you sure you want to consume that ancient coin?"

"Of course, aren't we taking out props just to use them?"

Using this prop in the duel is just a symbolic use, not consuming the [Gem of Ages], but the gem is no longer considered a chessboard prop after this, and it cannot be placed on the chessboard again during the duel.

"Finally, the item I'm going to place this round is this."

Jenkins took out another coin from his pocket, this time a green wooden coin representing blasphemy:

"The blasphemy born from the most terrible knowledge, the sin drawn from the depths of the soul, this is the meaning of this coin. It is a priceless treasure, representing the deepest secret of this world. The function of this coin is the same as the one that will be used in this round."

Pop~ The coin was pressed on the table, and then the cat who tried to pick up the coin was stopped again.

"You don't carry a lot of this strange currency with you, do you?"

Salhi II asked.

"Of course not, I only brought four."

Jenkins told the truth, but it seemed that even the princesses at the table didn't trust him.

The situation in Rune changed rapidly. Less than ten minutes after the start of this round, Sallot received accurate information that a fully armed army was heading towards the city from the vicinity of the snow-capped mountains. But fortunately, in the last round, another Stuart in the Sallot camp discovered the traces of the Northern Guard Army in advance, so although it was a bit hasty to arrange defense now, it was not too late at least.

Of course, no one knows the purpose of this army yet, and Sallot does not want to fight with his own people in his own capital for no reason. So he has sent an envoy to inquire about the purpose of the army, but he has not received a reply for a while.

On the other side, Dolores arranged for people to search the palace, but did not find anything left by Salhi II, so she thought the same as Jenkins, and directly "bribed" Duke Rodbyer with the first sin coin symbol, and the Duke handed over the thing he was entrusted to keep - the heirloom ring of the Stuart family, symbolizing the identity of the family's head.

At the moment when Dolores received the ring from Duke Rodbyer who was kneeling on one knee, Salshi II at Nolan's table said to all the Stuarts in Loen in the tone of reading official documents:

"In the year 1866 of the Common Calendar, at the end of the 18th Era, the Stuart family will decide the next king through a sacred duel. In the duel between Stuart and Middleton, the victory condition is that Loen is completely controlled by one party. It is difficult to completely control the city through normal means for a whole night, so when one party gathers three items that symbolize national power, it automatically wins."

"I knew it."

Jenkins, who was sitting opposite Salshi II, smiled and said:

"You don't intend to let your children fight for the throne in Loen at all."

"Why should I let them risk their lives, Viscount?"

After the aging king finished explaining the rules, his spirits suddenly became as bad as when the game started. The eldest princess walked behind her father and massaged his back. Salhi II did not speak to her, but continued to say to Jenkins:

"This time I just want them to show themselves as much as possible, instead of letting them kill until only the last person is left. Although I am strict with myself and a little unkind to the country and my subjects, at least I still care about my family. You must remember..."

This sentence was replaced by saying to his daughters: