You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 180 Family Motto is—

Ulster was completely disheartened.

"Are you going to stage a coup? A coup by one Black Iron Duke against another?" he asked.

Payne wouldn't want to do this unless absolutely necessary.

This is Dragon Castle.

The owner of Dragon Castle was Ulster.

The Archduke of Cracked Armor still commands a formidable army, a superhuman legion comparable to the Knights of the Storm.

Once the bloodshed at Dragon Keep is claimed, Gael will be branded a traitor, and the army that belongs exclusively to the Cracked Armor will not recognize him.

He hoped to resolve the matter peacefully, without necessarily having to shed blood in Dragon Castle.

Moreover, he respected and admired him. He had also looked up at that tall and upright man with longing eyes, regarding him as an idol second only to the conqueror.

But even heroes grow old.

But power must be transferred.

He's too weak to walk now, and he's just occupying a position without doing any work.

He no longer has a place at the top.

Although he could live another twenty years, extraordinary resources would nourish his body and help him prolong his life until he died peacefully.

But this is not the outcome everyone wants to see.

He can survive, but he cannot exist as the Grand Duke of Cracked Armor.

“Ulster, we shouldn’t have come to this. You would have supported me when you were younger; you were my hero back then. But then you fell into depression! Something unseen bound your hands and feet, and you ended up like this, when it all didn’t have to be this way. Don’t you feel any resentment? I don’t believe you don’t feel a little bit of bitterness. What you can’t do, I will do, okay?”

It's all a lie.

Ulster thought to himself.

Is he a dishonorable oath-breaker?
Pine said all this to persuade him to help him.

He also had to admit that his language was very persuasive.

Each generation faces different problems and makes different choices.

When conflicts arise between two generations, ordinary people can still coexist.

But this is not the case for those in power.

They are waging a battle for the future.

However, the moment the Guardian family perished, the political struggle between the Rift Armor and the Raging Tide came to an end.

It all ended last autumn, the moment the Guardian Family flag fell.

He was only focused on drinking and having fun at the time, and knew nothing and did nothing.

The fact is that Payne precisely plunged a sharp knife into the Cracked Armor Clan's major artery.

He was too slow to realize it; he only reacted after the most powerful military force of the Liejia family had disintegrated.

As someone in power, he knew perfectly well that he shouldn't have delegated those matters to others, and he knew he was susceptible to being misled and deceived.

He shouldn't be so slow to understand.

Even if we disregard his younger self, or even twenty years ago, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation.

But that's exactly what happened.

"If the Black Iron King knew what you had done, do you know what would happen? We are, after all, vassals of the Conqueror's family. You can't hide it from us, Payne."

“Then let the Iron Lands be torn apart!” he said. “Ulster, the Conqueror faces different problems than we do. We cannot follow his path; the goal is no longer pure. Times have changed, and we need a new path.”

Ulster had no doubt that his power was sufficient to achieve this.

But he was saddened by Payne's determination.

The order of the conquerors will be the first to break.

Without order, he can do whatever he wants.

No one can stop him; the will of the Raging Tide Duke will engulf this land. "What do you seek from me?" said the Armored Duke.

The Angry Tide Lord looked at him squarely: "I want the family legacy of the Cracked Armor."

Under his intense gaze, the face of the Armored Duke remained expressionless, and the wrinkles formed by his fat did not tremble at all.

“I want to talk to Gale…” he said with his eyes closed.

The Duke of Nuchao was a man of deep thoughts, rarely showing his emotions, but now he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He stood up, immediately drawing the attention of everyone present.

Payne announced loudly, "Lord Cracked Armor has agreed to fully cooperate with our war, and Lord Gale will fight alongside us!"

He is the victor, so whatever he says goes.

Grand Duke Crack Armor remained silent.

"This toast is to our Lord Rift Armor!" Earl El, a loyal follower of the Raging Tide family, stood up and said loudly.

The dozen or so family representatives present and the hundreds of knights on the periphery all stood up in a rush.

The nobles at least possessed some decorum, while the knights appeared rather crude and barbaric, leaving a messy table and bones scattered everywhere when they ate. They were warriors from all corners of the land.

Grand Duke Nuchao downed his wine in one gulp, then poured himself another.

"This cup is a toast to the Black Iron King of the Conqueror Family, for the Conqueror Order!" Payne had seaweed-like, unruly hair, a rough face that remained calm, but deep within his eyes, a dark current surged.

After saying that, he poured the glass of wine on the ground.

Some nobles were baffled, but they had no choice but to follow suit. There were no set rules of etiquette in this era, and there was nothing wrong with the behavior itself; everything was done according to one's heart.

"For the order of the conquerors!" they responded in unison.

Grand Duke Cracked Armor calmly watched all of this, filled with both sorrow and helplessness.

……

When the banquet ended, he was carried back to his bedroom by his servants.

After Gale entered, he dismissed the servants.

Ulster wasn't angry; he simply said, "You want my position?"

“Yes, Father.” Now that things had come to this, Gale no longer pretended.

“I can give it to you. But you can’t, and neither can I, Gale. If you had said it earlier, if you had told me earlier… sigh, what have you been waiting for all these years?”

Gail's heart skipped a beat. He had a firm grip on the position, yet now he was being asked what he was waiting for.
“Since Payne left, I have had my own fiefdom, and I have never dared to make a mistake. I have worked diligently and done everything to the best of my ability, but you have never looked at me, and you have never paid attention to my desires.”

Gail was in agony. After waiting for so many years, all she got in return was this one sentence. No one would be willing to accept that.

Ulster's eyes were filled with sorrow. "You lack courage; you always wait but never fight for it. How can I pass the throne to you?"

Gail's face suddenly turned terrifyingly cold.

If he really says that and does that, what awaits him?
Everyone knows he is power-hungry; who would give up the rights of a duke while still alive?
“Gail, it’s so similar, you and I are so alike, we are similar…” Grand Duke Crack Armor spoke slowly.

“You are the only duke in this land, you can say whatever you want.” Gale’s smile was bitter.

"It's different. Do you think I'm suppressing you? Yes, I am suppressing you, but do you know what's suppressing me? It's the entire era..."

"When I was young, I was arrogant because I was in a high position. There was no one more prominent, younger, or more powerful than me on this land."

"I once thought I was omnipotent and had everything, that I was the darling of the times, but what happened?"

"I have lived a mediocre life, without any glory or achievements, and now I have become an outcast of the times."

“Gail, a true Cracked Armor will never waver or doubt; he can give up a life of wealth, a bright future, and everything he has…”

"The so-called 'overcoming obstacles' means to carve out a path in a barren wilderness, to forge it with one's own hands, rather than to inherit it—"

"The first Grand Duke of Rift Armor was that kind of person; he followed the conquerors and founded the Rift Armor family."

"How can someone who only waits and relies on others become a true, invincible successor who can overcome all obstacles and break through all defenses? I am not qualified, and neither are you. We are ultimately the outcasts of this era..."

(End of this chapter)