Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 240 A Century-Old Chess Game (Part 2)

Rumba let out a long sigh.

“And more than a hundred years ago, the first humble merchant to lend money to King Mindis,” the Grand Duke of Black Sands said quietly, “his descendants are the wealthy ‘Sunflower’ family, one of the thirteen noble families of the Star Kingdom today, the powerful Earl of Changqing Island, the Shukader family.”

There was silence again.

But the air seemed much colder than before.

Even the flames in the brazier had dimmed considerably.

After a long pause, Archduke Aurelius finally spoke with difficulty.

"The Star People are better at maneuvering behind the scenes—just like the ancient empires of the past, which proves nothing," the Grand Duke with the bowl cut shook his head solemnly, seemingly trying to convince himself:

"We were still the victors in the war twelve years ago."

The other dukes looked at him; Trudida hesitated, while Leco remained silent.

"Under-the-table maneuvering?" Rumba's eyes narrowed as he pondered the words.

He then coldly snorted, "I bet even if you went back a thousand years, back to the most prosperous period of the ancient empire, you still wouldn't be able to see the current state of the stars."

"And the winner from twelve years ago?" Rumba straightened up, his eyes sharp. "Really?"

He said coldly, "Twelve years ago, the Star Kingdom was in the midst of internal strife and was too busy to take care of itself. Moreover, it was running out of soldiers and food and could hardly protect itself."

"We are essentially using the entire nation's resources to attack a dying, dying star." Rumba's hands were bulging with veins, almost tearing through his sword sheath.

The faces of the dukes turned grim.

Rumba's expression was dazed, as if he had returned to the battlefield of yesteryear: "Back then, none of us doubted that the invincible army of Exter, renowned for its battle prowess and unmatched in the West, would sweep away their futile resistance in just a few months."

"Just like for the past few centuries."

"Our cavalry's iron hooves will break through every one of their lines, our catapults will smash every one of their gates, and our heavy infantry will tear apart every Southerner who tries to resist."

“We will conquer the Northern Territory and the Clifflands without any difficulty, and then take over Eternal Star City.”

"At least we should be like 'Grand Duke of the Giant Spirit' Kahn Trudida four hundred years ago, leading our army to the gates of Yongxing City, plundering every village, looting every bit of wealth, and planting the black flag with a red dragon in front of Yongxing City before leaving!"

Rumba suddenly raised his head, as if he had come to his senses.

"The results of it?"

The Black Sand Grand Duke's face was filled with immense grief, and his following words seemed to be uttered word by word, bitten out between his teeth:

"We spent several months under the fortress, suffering heavy casualties. Even our pitiful supply lines were riddled with holes by that Star Butcher. It wasn't until an internal traitor betrayed Horace Star and at the cost of a Grand Duke's death that we were able to take the fortress by force."

Aurelius lowered his head, as if he had remembered something.

Rumba took a deep breath, seemingly trying to suppress his emotions: "Spring has arrived, and we are heading south to the North. Fortunately, facing these neighboring northern lands, Exter's overwhelming numerical superiority is an invincible guarantee. Apart from a slight increase in casualties, we have had a smooth journey from Coldhold to Ice River City."

Trudida sighed.

“Then,” Rumba said absentmindedly, “it was the Star Legion.”

Leko gave a soft hum, his expression complex.

"Although the overall situation is progressing, things are getting worse as we leave the North and head further south."

"The battle lines are getting longer and longer, supplies are becoming increasingly difficult, and our forces are becoming more and more dispersed. We are being dragged into the mud by those child soldiers, making it difficult to advance or retreat. This makes our bold claim of taking Yongxing City within a year seem like a joke."

"Soon, we had to abandon the idea of ​​launching a multi-front war and a full-scale invasion, and instead concentrate our forces to attack the Central Territory and Yongxing City, attempting to defeat them in one blow," Lumba took a deep breath and said seriously, "We did not succeed."

"So we had no choice but to turn back to the Cliff Territory and try to open up another battlefield."

Rumba clasped his hands together, the veins on the back of his hands slightly bulging: "We didn't succeed either."

"At the same time, our casualties are increasing, the logistical pressure is growing, and the Star Legion is becoming more and more difficult to deal with each time."

“Not only that,” Grand Duke Leco added hoarsely, “they are also recruiting locally, fighting and replenishing their ranks as they go.”

Rumba nodded, his expression solemn.

“What’s worse,” the Grand Duke of Black Sands sighed, “is that our supplies will run out in just a few months.”

Trudida frowned: "We've always planned to resupply locally, haven't we?"

Rumba snorted angrily.

"Come on, Starfield is already a wasteland, and local resupply is simply not in time," he said coldly. "Spring planting and grazing have been delayed, the country is in dire straits, the vassals are in conflict, and on top of that, our terrible transport—an expedition of 100,000 men—is worse than a disaster for Exter's logistics and supplies."

Archduke Aurelius clenched his fist.

“When even transporting supplies to the Broken Dragon Fortress became a problem, when the soldiers could no longer scavenge enough food, when even the strongest troops no longer had complete formations, when our invincible army was stuck between cities and castles, unable to exert its strength, and for a whole month the results were lackluster…” Rumba’s face was extremely gloomy:

“That’s right. Xingchen was the first to propose peace talks. It seems that they were seeking help from all sides, relying on foreign intervention, begging for peace, admitting defeat, and pleading with us to let them go.”

Trudida, who was rebuilding the tower, narrowed his eyes: "His Majesty Nuen once said that the threat of a united front of nations made him uneasy, and he worried that after annexing the stars, our vulnerable and unstable state would become the target of everyone's attacks..."

"Diplomatic mediation by various nations?" Lumba slammed his fist on his sword sheath. "What are those fly-like forces to us, Exter?"

"Commas? We've taught them a lesson countless times in the Golden Corridor! Hamber? Defeated in three continental wars! Su Ye? Their army takes months to cross the ocean!"

"As for the Holy Tree Kingdom, Steel City, and even the Star Fox who came to negotiate? Humph!" Rumba gritted his teeth.

"Do you think my uncle, the king, has ever backed down because of diplomatic means outside the battlefield?"

Trudida stopped talking.

“Admit it,” Rumba sighed, his voice trembling with pain, “the reason we were willing to negotiate was because we had exhausted all our resources and strength in that war. Even if we had some strength left, we had no chance of continuing the fight.”

"It's only slightly better than the Star Kingdom, which has suffered countless damage and is on the verge of collapse."

Grand Duke Ronnie closed his eyes as he listened to all of this.

“King Nuen is a smart man,” Lumba shook his head helplessly. “He has fought more battles than anyone else and knows when to back down. He knows when to retreat gracefully so that things don’t end up looking too ugly.”

Aurelius looked up, staring blankly at the dragon spear pattern in the clouds above.

"So came the Treaty of the Fortress," Grand Duke Leco said sadly, picking up where Rumba left off, "and that humiliation we cursed for twelve years."

Rumba nodded emphatically.

“But only a few, only a few know,” Rumba trembled, bowing his head, and in the darkness where the firelight couldn’t reach, he struggled to utter the words: “The true humiliation…”

"It is our powerful and proud Kingdom of Exter..."

Trudida turned his head away and stopped looking at them.

"Faced with a royal family plundered, a new king unstable, and the Star Kingdom exhausted to its last drop of blood by internal and external troubles, the kingdom trembled in fear..."

Aurelius remained motionless, his expression somber.

"Faced with the Star Kingdom, which was weaker than ever before, unable to field even a complete legion and forced to fight only with a bunch of child soldiers..."

Grand Duke Ronnie looked at Rumba in disbelief, then at Leco.

Rumba, his face contorted with rage, declared, "We, the seven dukes, with a force of one hundred thousand, the entire nation's strength, leading the invincible warriors of Exter, have yet to even manage to separate the Northern Territory from the Central Territory of Muhe..."

"We can't get through."

Everyone remained silent for a long time.

Only the firelight flickered.

After a long while, Rumba finally sighed:

"I believe you all felt the effects of the war to some extent, but your pride, your honor, and your arrogance made you afraid, unable, and unwilling to admit it." No.

There are others, some people who sensed it even earlier than all of you.

only……

Rumba glanced at the head seat on the rectangular table and clenched his fist.

"And what about the other side?" he asked, seemingly on a whim.

“The Star Kingdom, after the tragedy of the Bloody Year,” Rumba frowned, “is clearly depleted of population and irreparably damaged, yet…”

Grand Duke Ronnie raised his head, his eyes flashing.

“But five years ago, King Kessel V led a sickly kingdom through that desert war,” the Grand Duke of Qiyuan City said, his arms trembling slightly as he clasped them together. “The intelligence we received from the desert showed that his forces were insufficient, his combat effectiveness was poor, and even his main force was almost wiped out in the desert. We were all laughing at him for overestimating his abilities.”

Rumba shook his head, his voice weary: "He's reminding us."

Grand Duke of Black Sands turned towards Ronnie.

"Kurikun Ronnie, when you faced the Great Desert," he said calmly, "could you lead a large army deep into the heart of the desert, maintain supplies and logistics along the way in the harsh conditions, fight bloody battles with the orcs and skeletons, and still return safely?"

Ronnie fell silent.

But everyone already knows the answer.

“Don’t even mention you,” Lumba’s voice sounded painful and helpless, “that’s a vast desert that even powerful ancient empires have struggled with for thousands of years, and which even hundreds of thousands of troops couldn’t conquer…”

“But the Star Kingdom, they did it,” the Grand Duke said softly, seemingly very indignant. “Regardless of victory or defeat, they did it: they went in and came out carrying countless skulls of orcs and skeletons.”

"Do you remember one of King Kessel's titles?" Lumba said with a forlorn expression, "'Conqueror of the Dragonbone Throne and the Altar of the Desert God'—don't you understand?"

The four dukes exchanged glances in silence.

“Wake up, everyone,” Rumba whispered, as if it were a murmur in your ear:
Whether you admit it or not.

"Star Kingdom".

"Things are different now."

Under the complex and subtle gazes of everyone, Rumba's face darkened, and he leaned back in his chair, as if he had no strength to get up:
“During the time of Mindis III, very few people understood his actions, and some even openly opposed him—even now.”

"The nobles looked down on the king's wasteful spending and depraved behavior, while the common people regarded him as a benevolent monarch with a naturally kind heart and rushed to take advantage of him."

Grand Duke Ronnie and Grand Duke Aurelius exchanged a glance, their feelings complicated.

"Mandiz III died quietly amidst the ridicule of the nobles and the tears of gratitude of the people."

"A benevolent 'wise ruler' skilled in compromise and negotiation?" Lumba raised his head, meeting the gazes of the four grand dukes one by one, his expression serious and his tone cold: "This title is half mockery and half sincerity."

"Aside from a few artists who were grateful for his kindness and created biographies and paintings of him, no one cared about the kind 'wise ruler' who was praised by the people but secretly despised by the nobles, and his little episodes in history."

Rumba narrowed his eyes, gripping his sword tightly: "But what about now, more than a hundred years later?"

No one speaks.

The atmosphere was very somber.

Several seconds passed.

“This is the wise ruler, Mindis III,” Lumba composed himself and spoke calmly, “The more I learn about his deeds, the more shocking and horrifying they become.”

Grand Duke Lecco stared blankly at the brazier in the distance, his gaze lingering.

Ronnie hugged his arms tightly, almost grinding his teeth to powder.

Trudida frowned, his usual cunning and sly demeanor replaced by deep worry.

As for Aurelius, he simply stared intently at Rumba, as if trying to discern more from his face.

"More than a hundred years have passed. Although he is dead, his officials have transformed the stars into a well-equipped and high-quality steel chariot—we only began to notice it twelve years ago."

Rumba closed her eyes tightly, her shoulders trembling slightly as if she couldn't help it.

“Mandis Canxing III, to me, was a terrifying chess player unlike any other in the world,” he said with difficulty and pain. “More than a hundred years ago, he made his moves as if they were casual, yet the monarchy, the vassals, the people, the nation, and history were all contained in his inconspicuous chess game.”

"With a long-term strategy that even his grandson will never see, he transformed the Star Kingdom, which was originally at a disadvantage against us, and before we knew it, it had left our proud Kingdom of Exter far behind."

"Even Comoros Calother I, the 'Great Emperor' who conquered the world more than a thousand years ago, could not compare."

Rumba sighed deeply, his eyes filled with sorrow: "Compared to the century-long chess game that Mindis laid out for the Star Kingdom, to his meticulously crafted moves, each one linked to the next..."

"Tormond's restoration of the nation appears crude and ugly, and Necaju's victory is just as superficial."

"As for the endless power and destruction of the calamities, they are as despicable and laughable as strong infants wielding hammers."

"What King Mindis III cares about is not the success or failure of a single day or place," Rumba said, his expression desolate, even bordering on despair. " Nor is it the gain or loss, the survival or extinction of a single family, clan, city, or territory."

"He used the nation as a pawn, the world as a chessboard, hundreds of millions of lives as stakes, and an everlasting legacy as the spoils of war."

The brazier crackled and popped.

The dukes remained silent.

Finally, Rumba closed his eyes and sighed softly:
"A single move can start a century-long game."

A deathly silence fell over the hall.

It took Rumba a while to "come back to life" from the almost frozen atmosphere, and he started breathing and speaking again.

"So, more than a hundred years after the death of the 'wise ruler'."

Lumba left his seat—or rather, the seat of Grand Duke Camaren.

“I am Chaman Solon Holt Lomba, Grand Duke of Black Sands.” He walked step by step toward the four grand dukes.

“Killing one’s parents, and killing one’s ruler.” Rumba’s face darkened, and for the first time, he uttered these words with a slight tremor.

The dukes were slightly moved.

“As a Northman, an Exter,” Lumba gritted his teeth, his gaze sweeping over each of the powerful Exter dukes who held considerable military power: “I stand here to plead with you, to plead with the dukes of Exter, to plead with the lords who hold the future of the Dragon Kingdom in their hands.”

His voice was as deep, hoarse, and weathered as ever.

"Stop your pointless infighting and suspicion, put aside your intractable family feuds and conflicts, and stop falling into the trap of the co-governance oath that both maintains unity and promotes division. Don't be like King Nuen, who became muddle-headed and unable to extricate himself from his blood ties and family ties."

"Let us stand together again, facing that terrifying chess player from a hundred years ago, and facing this dreadful star a hundred years from now."

The dukes responded solemnly, and at that moment, even the most eloquent Trudida felt a heavy weight on his shoulders.

"Because in this life-or-death duel between us and the Star Kingdom, between the Northerners and the Empires, even the noblest families appear humble, the most powerful armies are incredibly weak, the most formidable monarchs are powerless, and the most expansive territories are empty and impoverished."

Rumba slowly exhaled.

"Moreover, I have a premonition," under the solemn gazes of the other dukes, the Black Sand Duke narrowed his eyes, "For over six hundred years, what we are facing now..."

"It's probably something from this duel..."

Rumba clenched his fists, his voice dejected:
"It's the last round."

There's been no Thales for several chapters now, and I guess some people will say I'm padding the word count again.

But deep down I felt that this wasn't water.

It's the end of the month, and um, I'm not asking for monthly votes (expectant face), really (rolling on the ground), really (wailing in pain), I really don't want monthly votes (T_T)!
So, what about monthly passes? (Looking forward to it x2)

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(End of this chapter)