Imperial Crown.

Chapter 649 "Liver." "Gallbladder." "Appearance." "Photograph."

"Stand at attention!!!"

"The Godfather has arrived."

Nord Province, Snow Maple County, Eagle City.

Inside the spacious conference hall of Eagle Fortress, a hyena's roar erupted.

A large group of people suddenly stood up in the conference hall.

Raven, dressed in a black and gold suit, strode into the hall with an air of nonchalance, followed by two flamboyant skeletons.

"Everyone, take a seat."

Raven took his seat at the head of the table and waved his hand.

Chirping Linga, White Moon, Igni, Pan... and their attendants... Vesdon, Thor, Eric, Link... and others took their seats.

January 1, 1211 (Bright Calendar)

Along with the second batch of 500 million pounds of grain, a sixth-tier magic array, personally delivered by Mr. Krabs and secretly being set up in the mountain territory, also arrived! This time, Mr. Krabs brought a total of nine fifth-tier beings. In other words, almost all nine elders of the Death Hand had been mobilized.

Once this formation is complete, the mountain territory will become a large rainforest extremely suitable for "trials".

The mountain territory had been abandoned for many years, overgrown with towering trees and weeds. It was even dense with thorns and home to small magical beasts. Back then, the "Pale Lord" was too ruthless, wiping out the entire Hudson clan. The resentment was immense. At least 23 cases of inexplicable and tragic deaths were personally ordered by Raven.

To appease Hudson's resentment, Raven simply "made use of the waste," transforming his mountain territory into a "venue" for a tournament and a "training ground" within the territory.

With this training ground in place, holding the tournament is merely a way to recoup some of the financial costs. After all, in this damned real world, you can't get by without money.

Raven's true purpose was to use this place as his breeding ground for "superhumans," and his secret base for building his "superhuman army"! Because what Mr. Krabs brought this time was not only the magic circle itself, but also many magical beasts of various ranks, elves, dwarves, Vikings, sea monsters captured from all over the world... as well as hundreds of thousands of skeletons and hundreds of thousands of corpses that were forcibly summoned.

Although Raven was penniless after paying the remaining 200 million gold coins, he was still in a good mood. He decided to meet with the orcs who had long wanted to meet with him today, and see if he could squeeze any more money out of them.

If Bai Yue and the others knew Raven's true intentions, they'd probably vomit blood and die of anger on the spot. They traveled thousands of miles to support Raven, only to receive nothing but a share of the spoils, and now Raven even wants to rebel against Tiangang and exploit them. No wonder everyone calls them "despicable little bees"—their reputation is truly well-deserved.

Although Raven paid for the military expenses of his orcs, those orcs had to do extremely arduous physical labor every day. No work meant no military pay, and any misbehavior within the territory would result in immediate capture and public execution. Military orders were absolute and extremely harsh. And their leaders only received a monthly salary of around 30-50 gold coins. What could that possibly do?

The conference hall of the New Eagle Fortress was spacious and grand, unlike ordinary conference rooms with long tables in the middle and benches on both sides. Instead, it was an arched hall resembling a grand palace. Facing the main entrance, a three-tiered platform was built, upon which sat a very imposing and grand main seat. In the middle was a completely open area, with a row of heavy stone chairs with backs more than a meter high standing on each side.

Another detail is that the floor of the conference hall was not covered with monster carpet, but was specially paved with granite marble excavated and transported from the old territory.

The purpose of such a design is self-evident; Sima Zhao's intentions are obvious to everyone.

Raven sat down, and apart from the golden crown on his head that had been bestowed with blessings by the Church of Light, he had almost everything else...

I won't go into the details of the ingredients.

So when Pei Dinan, dressed in a men's cheongsam, followed Raven into the conference hall for the first time, the eerie green flames in his eyes flickered slightly as he took a deep look at Raven's back.

"Hehehehe"

After Raven sat down, he first looked at the orcs seated to his right, letting out an extremely amiable laugh. This laugh carried a sense of warmth, as if he had done something wrong but wanted to laugh it off. "My allies," he said, "the reason I was able to resolve the crisis in the North Sea," "bring peace to the capital," "survive the life-or-death ordeal," and "return to Nord," "was all thanks to the unwavering support and tremendous assistance of my orc allies!"

"But as we say in our Nord dialect," "Only jugglers and street performers need applause and flowers."

"Your bravery and ferocity have absolutely no need for such fancy appearances!"

“You are my family, Raven’s family.”

"Come on, come on!" "Let's have a toast, we're like family!"

As he spoke, Raven's storage ring flashed, and he used his battle aura to envelop three bottles of Collector's Edition Angel's Tears, presenting them to Chuchulinga, Igni, and Baiyue. He deliberately omitted one from Pan's collection. It wasn't because he disliked Pan; he simply didn't want to waste money. A single bottle of Collector's Edition Angel's Tears had already fetched around a hundred gold coins at auction in the noble world—at least three times its initial price. Aren't 100 gold coins a lot? Isn't that enough?
At the same time, Raven opened a bottle of regular Angel's Tears for himself, raised it high, coughed heavily, his face stern, his eyes flashing like lightning, and said in a deep voice, "Liver." "Gallbladder." "Appearance." "Illumination."

Chiu Chiu Linga and the others raised their glasses, shouting, "We'll live and die together!"

After saying that, the four of them tilted their heads back and gulped down several large mouthfuls of wine.

Setting the bottle aside, Raven began to ask the group about their lives in Eagle City with a smile.

In the blink of an eye, it's been exactly six months since Raven returned. Raven remembers that he last came back on July 13th. Today is January 13th. Six months have passed.

"Hiss" "Hiss hiss"

While the group was talking, a spider the size of a thumb quietly descended from the dome, its web trailing behind it. Eagle Fortress had a temperature-controlled array, so even in the dead of winter, the insects and rodents inside remained active. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. This spider's abdomen was swollen, either from eating too much or waiting to lay eggs. It landed not far in front of Chirpinglinga.

Today, Chuchulinga was dressed in a brand-new silver suit, layered over a black jacket and a white fleece-lined shirt. He wore a blood-red tie and frameless gold-rimmed glasses. His legs were clad in meticulously tailored, slim-fit silver trousers, and on his feet were specially made pointed-toe shoes. They were "specially made" because Chuchulinga wasn't tall. Even with his pointed horns, he was barely 1.7 meters tall. Therefore, his actual height was probably around 1.58 to 1.62 meters. Furthermore, goblins are naturally hunched over, making them appear even shorter. Yet, his gleaming pointed-toe shoes looked like something a standard 1.8-meter-tall person like Raven would wear. A pocket watch was also attached to the left side of his suit jacket. The watch had three exposed gold chains, constantly reflecting shimmering golden light.

To be honest, with this outfit, Chiu Chiu Linga really does look like a "refined scoundrel" in the literal sense.

Even Raven couldn't help but glance at it a few more times.

"Clatter"

However, the next moment, Raven wished he could gouge out his own eyes. Because he actually saw with his own eyes that Chirping Linga rolled its eyes, opened its mouth, revealing four fangs like a vampire, and then, its long, thin tongue, like a frog's, stretched out and swallowed the fat, thumb-sized spider in front of it in one gulp!

"crunch" "crunch"

The sound of thick juice splattering echoed through the empty hall. In an instant, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

Including Raven, Thor, Eric, Viston, Link, Hyena... even the skeleton Ferdinand in a cheongsam and the skeleton Crouch in overalls... all showed ugly expressions, looking as if they were about to vomit.

Igni, Baiyue, and Pan, on the other hand, remained calm. Back in the Orc Empire, what didn't they eat when they were hungry: snakes, centipedes, toads, lizards, scorpions, rats…? Of course, Baiyue had never eaten any of those. Because she was never short of food. But eating spiders was perfectly normal, too.

Paine was simply used to it.

"Raven," he said, "stop with the pointless small talk."

Clearly, eating the spider was intentional on Chirping Linga's part. He looked at Raven and said, "Even brothers have to settle accounts clearly, right?" "We don't ask for much, and our appetites aren't big." "You now control two major provinces, Nord and Northsea." "It shouldn't be difficult to carve out a county, right?" "Wasn't the neighboring Hippocrates County completely wiped out by Tyrone and Hyde?" "I think that's a good place; you can grant it to the three of us as our territory." After saying that, Chirping Linga picked up the wine bottle again and chugged down two mouthfuls.

But damn it, after drinking the wine, he wouldn't swallow it. First, he slurped it around in his mouth, then tilted his head back and made a gurgling sound to clear his throat. Just when everyone thought he was going to spit it out, to everyone's surprise, he actually swallowed it.

Raven was disgusted. But he couldn't show it. After all, the meeting had been delayed for so long; it was understandable that he was resentful. He could only swallow hard, his face pale. It was as if he, not Chirp Linga, had just eaten the spider.

"Could this be Chirping Linga's negotiation tactic???" Raven thought to himself. It was incredibly effective. From now on, if he ever found himself at a disadvantage in negotiations, Raven decided to strip naked and defecate in circles on the spot.

Previously, these orcs had traveled thousands of miles to support him, so Raven's interests were naturally aligned with theirs. Now that they've entered the stage of dividing the spoils, the orcs are naturally the ones truly on the same side. Damn it, it seems the three sides had already secretly planned this, just waiting to put pressure on him during the meeting.

Raven couldn't refuse outright, so he looked to his right.

Viston immediately stood up and said, "Brother, although Hyde has wiped out all the nobles in Hippocrates, many direct and collateral branches of nobles still exist." "These people have already applied to inherit titles in the Noble Council of Mon'en City!" "Moreover, the most urgent task at hand is to liberate the province of Morinil." "The province is a place where things could easily get complicated if things drag on!"

Raven nodded approvingly, then turned and said, "Great Goblin Chieftain. You've heard the actual situation." "Actually, I don't think you need to rush," he continued, "The entire empire is engulfed in war and chaos." "The Fourth Continental War has begun." "There will be plenty of opportunities in the future to conquer, achieve glory, and dominate the territory." "What is a small prefecture compared to this?!"

"In the future, a province, even a country, might be conquered by your valiant efforts!" Raven unleashed his most proficient charade: empty promises. "Besides," he continued, "we're all one family." "Why distinguish between you and me when we're family?" "If we must divide, then for now, I can only offer a baron's domain." "As for who stays and who goes, you can decide that internally." "I heard from my aunt that the werewolves got there first and have already obtained a baron's domain."

Are you kidding me? Letting orcs occupy the very doorstep of his own lair. How will Raven ever sleep a wink again?

If this were a novel, it would be one thing if the characters, once they submitted to Raven, were loyal to him to the death. But the more Raven looked at them, the more he felt these three were not good people; where was their loyalty to him? If Raven didn't bleed a little today, the three of them might easily join forces and kill him.

The main issue is that Raven is morally at a disadvantage in this matter. If a conflict arises, who will dare to help him in the future?

If you have reason, reason with me; if you don't, don't stir up trouble first. Following this line of thought, Raven suddenly added with a smile, "Haven't any of you missed home after being away for so long?"

boom! ! !
However, no sooner had Raven finished speaking than a tremendous commotion erupted in the hall. Igni shoved her butterfly knife into the armrest of her chair, crossed her long legs in black leather pants, and glared at Raven, angrily demanding, "What do you mean, Raven?" "Are you trying to cross us and then discard us? Are you trying to send us back?"

Igni was the most furious. She had genuinely dreamed of marrying Raven, only to realize it was all a deception by Chuchulinga. For the past six months, Igni hadn't spoken a single word to Chuchulinga, and they didn't even greet each other when they met.

Although negotiations are necessary due to interests, it's always his subordinates who handle the communication with Chiu Chiu Linga.

"Huh?" "No, no, no." "No."

Raven shook his head hastily. "Sigh." "I just misspoke!" "Please forgive me, Miss Igni." "I absolutely didn't mean it that way." "You know me, I'm not very old, and I'm quite naive." "Children say the darndest things, children say the darndest things."

Raven thought he had told a lame joke. But the hall remained eerily quiet. On the left, a row of Vesdon and the others stood expressionless. On the right, a row of Chirp and Linga glared at Raven with barely concealed anger.

"Sigh..." Pan, sitting on the fourth stone chair, sighed inwardly. His three bosses, all 60-70 years old, were utterly inexperienced compared to Raven. Of the three, the dumbest... no... the most clueless was probably his boss, Bai Yue. Next was Igni. The most intelligent was Chuchu Linga. But Chuchu Linga completely failed to grasp Raven's purpose in digressing. He was deliberately trying to pull them to his side. Sure enough, the impatient Chuchu Linga immediately revealed his ambition—Hippocrates. He was now on the defensive. Raven's strategy was—"Aim low, achieve moderate success." The principle was simple: when someone refused to open a window, he would rip off the roof. This would force someone to agree to open the window.

So, did Raven deliberately say, "Don't you miss home after being away for so long?" He was using this method to warn his side. If pushed too far, if pushed too hard, Raven might really turn on them and send them back to the Orc Empire, even if it meant bearing the infamy. With this "worst-case scenario" as a safety net, his side naturally wouldn't dare to make any more unreasonable demands. Judging from Chuchu Linga's current silence, the plan had worked. Chuchu Linga was probably the least willing of the three to return to the Orc Empire. Because in the Orc Empire, goblins were considered "slaves" by other orcs! "Serfs"!
But here? He's suddenly become Raven's honored guest. Where else can you find such good treatment?

So, after hearing Raven's question, "Do you miss home?", the previously aggressive Chiu Chiu Linga fell silent, as if she had been mute.

In addition, Raven had another plan, which was the classic "two peaches kill three warriors".

Despicable!! Absolutely despicable!!! But the most despicable tactic was the third one, "shifting the blame"—publicly exposing the secret deal the werewolf clan had made with Danis behind the backs of the other two clans. He wanted to see the orcs fight amongst themselves, and then "defeat" them one by one to win them over. Even though Raven had some feelings for Bai Yue, even though Raven knew that Bai Yue was devoted to him, and was the one who initially suggested and most firmly chose to support Raven, he didn't care at all about hurting Bai Yue when it came to personal gain.

Actually, manipulating someone like Raven is quite simple. This kind of "ambitious person" is easily led by the nose if you maximize his interests and then take a share from his inner turmoil. As his turbulent thoughts gradually settled, Pan En coughed lightly, stood up from the stone chair, and stepped into the empty hall, saying:
"The Godfather"

“I think Mr. Vesdon’s words make a lot of sense!” “Now, the Fourth Continental War has broken out again, and the Keynesian Empire is beset by internal and external troubles.”

"The Southeast was invaded by the Hand of Death and the Orcish Empire."

"The Northeast was once again suffering repeated defeats at the hands of the Insa Empire."

"More bad news has come from the southwest: warlords have seized power and established their own empires."

In my humble opinion, the most urgent task at present is to send troops south to quickly defeat Jonah, seize Molinell, and completely control the three northwestern provinces. After this is accomplished, we should consolidate our position for a period of time and develop our strength cautiously.

"Then he would rise up, raise a call, and declare himself king."

"The country's name will be 'Griffith Empire'." "The emperor's title will be 'Bloody Emperor'."

After speaking loudly, Pan En knelt down as if a mountain of gold and a jade pillar were collapsing, and shouted in a resounding voice, "Your humble servant..."

"Greetings, Your Majesty Raven!"

"Greetings, King Raven!!"

"Greetings, Emperor Raven!!!"

……

(End of this chapter)