Man on the ark, forced to become king

"Talulah, can we ask the Golden Tree for help? Aren't you..."

As Bozokasti unleashed the ancient Wendigo magic, Yelena also saw the situation on the battlefield and couldn't help but lean closer to Talulah and whisper her question.

She knew that the Golden Tree had the means to teleport remotely and that it had many experts within its ranks. This was evident from Shining before and Surtr who was still with Reunion. Talulah was now a disciple of the leader of the Golden Tree, so she should be able to ask the Golden Tree for help, right?

If they could bring in another powerful expert who was no less capable than her father, perhaps there would still be a chance to break through.

"Should we ask the Golden Tree for help?"

Talulah was taken aback when she heard this, then suddenly realized, "Oh right, how come I didn't think of that?"

Although they were reluctant to rely too much on their teachers, they had already received so much kindness from them that asking for help again seemed harmless; they could repay it slowly in the future...

"let me try."

Nodding slightly, Talulah took out a gold leaf from her pocket, preparing to ask her teacher for help. Although it was shameful and embarrassing, she chose to put aside the issue of saving face compared to the lives of hundreds of people.

So what if I'm shameless... as long as I can save lives.

"You'd better use the golden leaves sparingly. If everyone used them like you, the trees would be stripped bare."

The golden leaf shimmered with golden light, then was caught by a hand and fell silent again.

"teacher?!"

Talulah looked up in surprise and found that Lin Lu had somehow appeared next to her and Yelena.

"Ah, I've been watching you guys for ages, and I'm so glad you finally got it."

Lin Lu casually complained and stuffed the leaf back into Talulah's pocket.

He and Bozokasti came together, but he remained hidden and did not make a move.

In fact, if Talulah had chosen to ask him for help from the very beginning, he certainly wouldn't have stood idly by. Did he really think that his statement, "The Golden Tree will always be your support," was a joke? Anyone who knows Lin knows that he is extremely protective of his own.

But I didn't expect this girl to be so stubborn; she only understood after being reminded by others.

If you can't do it on your own, why not ask your elders or superiors for help? Why insist on carrying it all out yourself?

War doesn't involve so many fancy ideas; as long as you can protect yourself and kill the enemy, there's no means you can't use.

What do mere face and personal relationships amount to?

If you can survive, achieve victory, and gain greater benefits, you can eventually pay back everything. But if you suffer a complete defeat because of a momentary entanglement, then everything will be over.

"Teacher, can you help us break through this?"

Under Lin Lu's gaze, the girl from Drak lowered her head shyly, seemingly ashamed. She really didn't think it was a glorious thing to call her parents when she couldn't win, nor did she want to shamelessly ask her teacher for more when she hadn't done anything herself. But she couldn't let go of these hundreds of lives, so she had no choice but to do this.

"Break through? Why break through? It's just a natural disaster, nothing to be afraid of."

Lin Lu looked up at the vortex that covered the entire sky and gave Talulah a blank answer, while Yelena next to her was also dumbfounded.

This is Talulah's teacher, the leader of the Golden Tree, the one who saved them from the Inner Guard and resurrected her father.

It doesn't seem to have anything special about it; if you had to say, you wouldn't see any racial characteristics.

Apart from that, Yelena hardly sensed any powerful aura, but the spirit that disregarded natural disasters was something she had never seen before in her life.

A mere natural disaster?

That's a massive natural disaster capable of completely destroying an entire region! Who dares say it's not terrifying?

"Then, what should we do?"

Talulah snapped out of her daze and quickly asked, unable to guess what her teacher was thinking. If natural disasters weren't scary, then what were?

Could it be that the Golden Trees have a special way of building shelters during natural disasters, allowing them to survive the catastrophe without leaving the area where the disaster is about to strike?

No matter how you look at it, it's incredible.

"No rush, there's plenty of time. Let me ask first."

Lin Lu glanced at Bozokaste, who was charging around despite the artillery fire and the army's attacks, then turned to look at the air beside her. Her lips trembled as if she were saying something, but Talulah and Frostnova, who were closest to her, didn't hear a sound.

What exactly happened in this natural disaster?

'Some old thing that died on the ice plains has awakened.'

In the unseen realm of souls, a wisp of gray mist quietly emerged, coalescing into a long serpent coiled in the air.

The black snake, its head adorned with two scarlet dots, looked up at the sky and slowly opened its mouth, offering an explanation.

Its true form does not exist in the material world, so it can move quickly within Ursus without hindrance. After sensing the call of the ice field, it quickly projected a wisp of its consciousness over.

'Who woke up and made such a commotion?'

Lin Lu found it a bit strange. Even those ancient behemoth gods, in their full glory, couldn't unleash a natural disaster of this scale. What kind of old thing has such a bad temper when it wakes up? Is it someone with such a high status?

'Besides you, are there any other strange and unusual things in Ursus?'

'I am special, I am different from those things.'

Being categorized as "strange and unusual," Black Serpent offered a brief explanation before stating, "This land has a very ancient history. The Ursus Empire, from its founding to its rise and fall, has only existed for a little over a thousand years."

'The monsters of the icy plains, the savage and bloodthirsty barbarians, the faith of the orthodox religion, the ancestors of the eagles—they all once roamed this land, only to fall into slumber, split, or die for some reason.'

'But death is merely a change in their form of existence; it doesn't signify the true end. As long as traces remain in the world, they will one day return.'

'If I'm not mistaken, what has awakened this time should be the thing believed in by the orthodox religion.'

It's clear that Black Serpent has little interest in or respect for those old-fashioned things, which makes sense. After all, no matter how powerful those past beings were, the Ursus Empire now occupies this land, so it naturally has a superior level of confidence.

'Orthodox faith? What's that? Is it powerful?'

Lin Lu had no impression of the religious culture in Ursus, mainly because religion was not a significant thing in a country like Ursus that revered force, and it was far less influential than the church in Laterano.

'Strong... well, not really, but its abilities are rather unique; it possesses the capacity to control natural disasters to a certain extent.'

'This natural disaster didn't arise out of thin air; rather, it was destined to accumulate here, but was prematurely detonated and revealed, or perhaps it brought together multiple impending natural disasters to achieve this scale.'

Chapter 229 Controlling Natural Disasters

'Controlling natural disasters? That's a very rare ability, but natural disasters...'

Even now, Lin Lu has some guesses about the composition of this world. The wolf mother once revealed the term 'false sky'.

There may also be a 'pre-civilization' shrouded in mist. The seemingly normal world of Terra may not actually be naturally formed, but rather deliberately created to carry out some kind of mission.

So, what exactly is the nature of natural disasters? This is a question that invites much thought.

However, given the lack of information, there is no need to rush to find the truly correct answer. As long as the Golden Tree gradually grows stronger, one day the truth of the world will be fully revealed.

'Our script ends here. Let's give our dukes a magnificent finale.'

Turning her gaze away from the swirling celestial clouds, Lin Lu casually decided the fate of the three Grand Dukes standing at the very top of the Ursus Empire.

'Where's that old man?'

'I'll handle that. Also, the two army groups on the ice plains are mine.'

Lin Lu didn't take the old thing that the black snake mentioned, which had awakened from its slumber, to heart. The golden tree had already grown to a certain height, and the so-called gods of this world were not difficult for him to deal with.

If He wakes up, let Him fall asleep again, the kind of sleep where He never wakes up.

'Okay, but I need a promise from you.'

The black snake twisted its head, its scarlet vertical pupils staring at it.

What promise?

'Ursus will be as enduring as gold.'

An immortal black serpent, an immortal Koschke, a shadow looming over the empire... He has had many titles, adept at manipulating people's hearts and plotting conspiracies. It can be said that He is far more complex than most of his kind.

However, He is also very simple, because no matter what He has done or will do, His purpose has never changed—the prosperity of Ursus is the only thing He cares about; everything else is secondary.

The situation is now very clear: the rise of the Golden Tree is unstoppable, and the rules of this world will be reshuffled. Even He has no confidence in leading the already corrupt empire to fight against the Golden Tree. That is almost impossible. Putting aside everything else, the top experts and gods in the Golden Tree alone completely overwhelm the current Ursus, as well as an extraordinary existence like Lin Lu. What can they use to fight?

Rather than participating in a war that is destined to fail, it is better to stand on the side of the victor from the very beginning. In the end, Ursus will still be Ursus, and for Black Serpent, that is enough.

As for what the nobles of the empire and the emperor on the throne thought, it was not within the scope of the Black Serpent's consideration. What it saw was always 'Ursus' itself, not any individual within it. In its eyes, the emperor and the nobles were no different from the infected who suffered cruel oppression.

'Your request has been granted.'

Lin Lu glanced at it and nodded slowly. The black snake said nothing. Its body, which had been coiled in the air, dissipated like wisps of smoke and disappeared without a trace. The communication on the soul level had ended.

"teacher?"

Talulah couldn't see Linlu and the black snake communicating. All she could see was Linlu pausing for a moment in an empty direction, then nodding, as if communicating with something unseen. This eerie scene sent chills down her spine.

"I have a pretty good understanding of the situation."

After finishing his conversation with the black snake, Lin Lu smiled and patted Talulah's head. He quite enjoyed the gesture. The strength of Drak's physique was evident at this moment. Even though he spent most of his time in the icy wilderness with howling winds and snow, Talulah's hair was not as dry and rough as that of ordinary infected people, and it still maintained a fairly smooth feel.

"Now, let's see how I solve this problem."

The clash between Bozokasti and the army continues, with both sides essentially locked in a stalemate. Bozokasti is unable to eliminate the entire armed and well-organized army group in a short period of time. The army group's firepower is extremely fierce, but it cannot truly harm Wendigo, who can recover quickly with the help of the Golden Tree.

This is quite normal. Bozocaste's fighting style is more inclined towards single-target attacks and he does not have any large-scale destructive methods. In fact, the Forge Knights of the Borderlands are similar.

The Forge Knights are the elite troops of the Golden Tree who obey the King. Their duties are often to guard important places or carry out decapitation missions against the enemy's high command. Although they can also break through the enemy's lines on the front lines, large-scale annihilation battles are not their forte. Moreover, Bozokasti has not yet mastered all the Forge spells and is not flexible in their use.

If they were to fight like this without anyone else intervening, it would probably take several days and nights to determine a winner—unless the Ursus army continues to reinforce its ranks, otherwise it still wouldn't be enough for Bodracas to kill.

Lin Lu naturally wouldn't let the battle continue indefinitely, since it was pointless. So, after taking a look at the battlefield, he made his move.