Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 175 Changes in the sky
From the moment she woke up, Suliman felt as if she had entered paradise.

"The weather is really nice today; perhaps my luck has finally turned."

She was woken up at three or four in the morning and should have been in a terrible mood, but after an emergency meeting, she got what she wanted most.

"Viscount Suliman, you've done enough. For now, remain silent. The affairs of the underworld will be handled by the various organizations."

She was called to the hearing, and in a daze, she surprisingly performed exceptionally well in answering all the questions, earning high praise.

In the end, all she got was verbal praise from the higher-ups and the extended vacation she had always wanted!
"Yay! We don't need to worry about the underground ruins anymore."

As a middle manager who's eager to slack off and coast along while still getting paid, the saddest thing is that your boss has new ideas every day, and you're the person she trusts most.
"Saliman, go and contact those international organizations. Be careful with your attitude; don't let them look down on the kingdom." She had to order them to work, maintain relationships, and preserve the so-called "dignity of a fallen monarchy."

Suliman could understand the task, but it was difficult for her to complete.

“Saliman, go and talk to those conservative and radical nobles. The royal family needs their support, but they shouldn’t ask for too much.”

As the representative of the nobles and the royal family, Suliman basically handled all the transactions and private negotiations with the nobles, without Her Highness the Princess personally appearing.

"Sallyman, the situation with Knight Rean" even reached some of the key execution tasks at the implementation level, which Sallyman had to handle head-on with a heavy heart.

Every day, Princess Dania has new goals and new tasks.

Every day, Suliman thinks about when she can retire and give up.

With Suliman's psychic abilities and reputation, many tasks are not a problem for her, but there are some that are simply beyond her control and have been weighing on her shoulders.

The most straightforward thing is the recent "underground raid" at the kingdom level.

"I've emphasized this many times: we're here for underground exploration, not for power struggles. This is a real threat to our city, not a means to suppress dissent."

Regardless of what the royal family said before, the nobles and powerful figures of Radiant City all felt that this was a political project, that the princess, who was about to come of age, was beginning to try to take power, and in some ways, this was indeed the reality.

Even if the high-ranking nobles and leaders of various organizations know the truth and give it the green light, the people who actually do the work are always the middle and lower classes.

When the middle-level members of other forces and organizations feel that you've reached into their pockets, and the higher-ups seem to have already compromised, they won't confront you directly, but delays and feigned compliance are certain, and ultimately, whatever you want to do will be extremely inefficient.

This isn't something that can be solved by simply reading minds and saying nice things.

Each organization has formed its own faction, and the real middle-level managers all have their own core interests. It is meaningless to persuade one person alone, and even if an individual tries to force it, it will encounter great resistance from the surrounding community.

But from this day forward, everything is different; Suliman no longer needs to forcefully push things forward.

"We will reorganize a committee specifically to advance this work, which is expected to have around two hundred people. Representatives from various organizations will participate, and the royal family will have dedicated personnel to follow up and liaise with them."

This is the normal practice for a kingdom to accomplish major tasks: top-level decisions are made, and middle-level liaison mechanisms or even specialized organizations are formed to specifically take charge of advancing various tasks.

Now, Suliman is completely free; she no longer has to communicate with people one by one about those tedious tasks.

"I've said it so many times, our goal is the underground ruins, but they just won't believe me."

Such a thorough change also reflects a complete shift in the attitude of the top leadership.

Even those high-ranking officials who received information from the princess, and who believed the news that the "deer" was about to awaken, were hesitant.

After all, they have too many interests involved. If they make a decision, they will not only be responsible, but also bear the pressure of losses and wrong decisions.

It's like predicting an earthquake two years from now and needing to relocate residents in advance to prepare for disaster. They will make preparations and plans, but how proactive they will be is hard to say.

After all, disaster preparedness is an ineffective investment with no visible benefits, and it also requires fighting off subordinates' complaints and insincere compliance.

“We’re already working hard enough on a regular basis, and now we have to prepare for things that could happen at any time.”

"They're just wasting their time. They're already exhausted from working overtime, so let them go to hell." There are always complaints, especially when you can see the increased workload and resource input, but you can't see the overtime pay.

"Boom!" The tremors from the underground community changed everything.

We were initially worried about an earthquake, but if a small earthquake comes first, all the resistance disappears instantly.

Now, all the senior and middle managers have reached a consensus and are getting to work with full force.

This doesn't mean we didn't do it before, but rather how we did it. For example, I have twelve soldiers here, some responsible for guarding headquarters, some for hunting cultists, and some for routine investigations. Their abilities and skill levels are clearly different.

You want me to send people to join your punitive expedition? I'll naturally send the bottom three in the rankings to make up the numbers.

After all, it doesn't matter to me if you do a bad job, but I have to take responsibility if I mess up something that directly affects my interests.

With limited total resources, the priority is naturally to take care of oneself rather than preventative projects that look to the future.

Now that the crisis is blatant, everything changes. The warehouses are opened and logistics are at full capacity. The top ten soldiers have all been transferred here, leaving only a few old, weak, and disabled soldiers to maintain daily operations.

Early in the morning, Suliman saw mercenaries and knights running back and forth outside the manor (the noble district), strategic supplies were being allocated, and even the defenses of the noble district were noticeably strengthened.

When everyone started paying attention to the underground ruins, Suliman no longer had to suffer from both sides, and she was able to take a break.

Some people will be responsible for setting up bounties and distributing rewards, while others will organize explorations. With the participation of mid-level core members from various organizations, her role as a liaison officer can be transformed into a leisurely inspector.

"Ah, His Highness's relationship with Rean has improved, and he even asked me to give him these rewards."

As a "middle-level" and "intelligence officer," being bullied by both sides was practically a daily occurrence for her. She had also been very uncomfortable being caught between His Highness and Rean, who were having a conflict.

The story of the knight being lifted high has now spread, and although the princess appears quite angry, Sallyman can tell that the princess is not in a bad mood.

Now the two sides are even more closely bound together, and their relationship has inevitably improved. Princess even gave an extra "reward" because of Suliman's report.

"Hiss hiss (idiot)."

The snakehead sighed; this guy was truly beyond saving.

But what made Suliman happiest, as if she could already see the dawn and the New Year, was still...
"Auntie is gone! That's wonderful!" Although it's easy to misinterpret, it probably means that Purple Rose is gone.

Even though she had known this for many days, the thought still made Sallyman giggle happily, and she even danced with joy several times.

"Hiss (idiot)"

However, some people seem to have quite a few opinions.

"Why hasn't he come to visit me yet? He should come soon. Should I go and see him? Would that seem unladylike?"

"Hiss hiss hiss (You fangirl! You idiot!)"

"How could you swear?" With these words, Suliman gradually began to recognize the "essence" and the "truth".
-
Rean was still busy in the dock area when, due to the unexpected incident, his original plans were naturally postponed.

He was unaware that, for some reason, the city's preparations for war had been significantly accelerated.

That seemingly insignificant earth dragon's turn gave the local superhumans a tremendous shock (in a physical sense).

"If this level of energy were to erupt on the Earth's surface, the city would be gone."

Various reconnaissance equipment issued warnings, but these were truly irrelevant to ordinary people in the dock area.

As long as the earthquake doesn't disrupt your daily life, you should continue living your life as usual.

Now that he'd come all this way to the dock area, Rean naturally wasn't going to leave in such a hurry.

As usual, he practiced swordsmanship with Dimon and checked on his progress. But this time, the session ended much shorter than usual.

Even without his gloves, Rean's overall attributes in actual combat far exceed what is shown on the character sheet.

Once it activates dragon vein abilities like the dragon claw, its strength and stamina will be further enhanced, especially when used for attack.

While Dimon's advancement to a third-tier paladin might seem extremely absurd, it's still far from Rean's transformative change in the underworld. Paladin sparring is all about head-on clashes, and without activating his severing abilities (which would be too wasteful of his weapon), Dimon, even as a third-tier Oath Knight, could only endure the pressure from Rean.

Rean was also surprised to find that Dimon's soul ability had also entered the Silver rank. According to Dimon himself, if his physical hardware hadn't been lacking, he should have been able to improve further.

"Even with the blessing of heroic spirits, this growth rate is a bit outrageous." The alchemists watching were also amazed by Dimon's bravery and skill in battle.

With your skills and growth rate, why are you hanging around the docks? Why not join a knightly order and become a noble?

"Perhaps I've monopolized the inheritance of a heroic spirit," Dimon patted his belly, showing no pride whatsoever.

As for those who advised him to develop further, he just smiled and pretended not to hear them. Perhaps it was this obsession and this "foolishness" that earned him the recognition of the heroes and enabled him to make rapid progress.

Rean, however, seemed lost in thought. Having awakened his psychic abilities and snake-type talent, he could see Dimon's almost materialistic obsession.

"Perhaps, as the power of the mind and soul grows and evolves, the more extreme and biased the emotions, the better?" Rean thought of the "anger" marked under the Holy Sword Profound Meaning of Sul.

The growth of spiritual abilities requires the enhancement of the soul and the nourishment of emotions, and in this respect, Dimon is probably much stronger than Rean.

Watching Dimon, who was personally training his apprentices and weaver knights while carrying two large swords, Rean seemed to see the rise of a future powerhouse.

Dimon will soon rise to fame and substantially influence the future and even the course of history.

"Perhaps, very soon."

(End of this chapter)