Man on the ark, forced to become king

……

"Let the fire rage, let the empire crumble from this day forward."

Landing on the outstretched branches of the Golden Tree, Lin Lu observed the conversation between the commander and his adjutant through the Golden Tree's senses, and was in a great mood.

Everything is going according to plan.

This natural disaster is large in scale, but not enough to cover the entire ice plains. However, the Golden Tree will continue to amplify the aftereffects, and soon the Originium radiation will sweep across the ice plains, turning the remaining Ursus soldiers on the ice plains into infected.

Once communications are restored, the Ursus leadership will discover that an army of tens of thousands of infected has appeared on the ice plains. What will their expressions be then?

Oripathy infection is not a big problem for the Golden Tree, but an army of infected transformed from an elite legion is enough to be the death knell for the Ursus Empire.

Add to that the sudden loss of three Grand Dukes, and the presence of Black Serpent, a high-ranking inside man, and the already corrupt empire had no one to stop the fire from spreading.

The old things will become fuel for the fire, and the remnants of the old era will be reduced to ashes in the flames. They will all have to pay the price for their past decisions.

From the icy plains to the emperor's palace, the collapse of a thousand-year-old empire will begin today.

Chapter 232 Saltwind City

"This is Iberia, it doesn't look any different."

The off-road vehicle swayed and bumped along the rugged road. Warfarin peered out the window, her large, bright red eyes darting back and forth, a hint of disappointment flashing across her face before she lay back down in her seat.

Iberia is located on the southern coast of the continent of Terra. Its main ethnic group is the Liberians. After the Great Tranquility, they lost contact with the other nations of the continent, and no one knows what is happening in Iberia now.

Therefore, before setting off, Kal'tsit had considered the difficulties that might be encountered on this journey and specially ordered this off-road vehicle from the engineering department.

Although it's called an off-road vehicle, it only looks similar. In reality, it can be called a motorhome, capable of providing accommodation in the wild, carrying supplies, and many other functions.

After all, the situation in Iberia is what it is. Although similar field missions inevitably involve hardship, who would want to actually endure the elements if given the opportunity? The more comfortable the better.

"After the Great Tranquility, Iberia ceased to communicate with the continental nations. The royal family also collapsed in the disaster, and even the defense forces crumbled. The court now controls the country. As far as I know, their situation is not good. They can only barely maintain the concept of a nation and have no capacity to do more. Therefore, it is normal for you to think that this place is very similar to Kazdel."

As she drove, Kal'tsit explained that of the three, she knew the most about Iberia, even if she didn't know the specific details, she still had a general idea.

"Does this mean that the villages and cities here, like Kazdel, have been abandoned?"

Warfarin was petite; she barely occupied half the space on the large seat, looking like a toy doll on the seat. Her legs, clad in black stockings, swayed back and forth with the movement of the vehicle as she asked curious questions.

Although she lived for many years, she rarely left Kazdel to travel far away, let alone to a place as far away as Iberia.

Before coming, she had briefly imagined what she might encounter, but the actual dilapidated scene she saw still exceeded her expectations.

Along the way, they had encountered several abandoned villages, but had not yet come across any relatively prosperous large cities. Even the roads for people and vehicles showed obvious signs of neglect, overgrown with weeds, clearly indicating that no one had maintained or repaired them for a long time.

To put it bluntly, it's not even as good as Kazdel.

Although Kazdel has been embroiled in decades of civil war and is a battlefield, it still has a significant population. While basic transportation routes are somewhat lacking, they are still present.

But in Iberia, it was as if the entire country had been destroyed in a disaster; it was a desolate wasteland where you couldn't even see a person.

"The Iberian coast has been polluted, and the Tribunal has focused most of its efforts there, leaving no time to attend to the cities closer to the interior. After the disaster, the loss of the army to maintain stability has made the wilderness unsafe, so most villages and towns should have been consolidated together. And those merged cities are probably located closer to the interior. We are heading towards the coast, so what we see are naturally abandoned ruins."

Kal'tsit wasn't entirely sure about the current situation in Iberia; most of what she said was guesswork, but she felt that her guesses were probably not far off from the truth.

"I see... That's a good thing, though. If a fight breaks out later..."

Warfarin nodded, muttered a few words, but didn't finish her sentence.

She was indeed born a Blood Demon, but she was more averse to war and didn't want to talk about it too much.

"Speaking of which, after traveling for so long, we should have seen the sea by now, right? This is the first time I've ever seen one."

The petite Blood Demon changed the subject, her eyes darting around as she looked at the silent girl leaning back in her chair, clutching her dark gold greatsword, and asked softly, "Skadi, what's the ocean like?"

"what?"

Skadi shook her head blankly, seemingly lost in her own world and unable to react. After a long while, she finally blurted out, "The sea... the sea... is it all water?"

"What kind of description is that..."

Upon hearing Skadi's answer, Warfarin was also taken aback, somewhat puzzled.

She tried to imagine what a place 'all water' would look like, but after thinking about it, it didn't seem to be anything special.

She had never seen the sea, but she had seen many rivers and lakes. Weren't they all just water?

"But that's how the ocean is, all water, and lots of monsters..."

Skadi's voice was soft, and her cheeks were slightly flushed, as if she were a little embarrassed.

She wanted to use a better description to depict the benefits of the sea, but with her limited knowledge, she couldn't come up with anything particularly nice, and could only manage to squeeze out "it's all water," which she herself found somewhat embarrassing.

"In that case, what's the difference between the ocean and a lake?"

"Well……"

Skadi frowned and pondered for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Is the sea bigger?"

"..."

Warfarin was speechless. Skadi's few words had almost completely destroyed her longing for the sea, making it difficult for her to imagine any beautiful scenery.

She didn't think a place that was all water and had a monster in it was anything to look forward to.

"You'll see it very soon."

Kal'tsit was a little short, but she kept her hands on the steering wheel, her eyes fixed straight ahead, which didn't stop her from joining the discussion.

"Actually, just like Skadi said, the ocean is just a vast expanse of water with bigger waves, nothing special. If I had to say something, it would be that bathing in a lake would be very comfortable, but if you bathe in seawater, your body will be covered with a layer of salt and alkali after you dry, which is very sticky."

As she spoke, Kal'tsit's cat ears twitched a few times, as if she were recalling some past events that made Felin uncomfortable.

"Ugh! Isn't that even worse!"

Upon hearing Kal'tsit's additional information, Warfarin shuddered, realizing that all her beautiful fantasies had been shattered.

The ocean, as described in the book, is nothing like the wonderful ocean it is!

"I advise you to wake up. How old are you? Don't have unrealistic dreams like a little girl."

Kal'tsit glanced at the back seat, her words as sharp as ever, silencing Warfarin.

But the Blood Demoness quickly recovered and angrily retorted, "How old are you! How old are you! What right do you, an old woman, have to talk to me like that! I'm considered young among the Blood Demons! Why can't I have dreams!"

"No, in fact, even by the standards of a Blood Demon's lifespan, you are no longer young."

The cruel words pierced Warfarin's heart like a sharp sword, making her blush and unable to utter a rebuttal.

There's a saying that's very true: lies don't hurt, but the truth is the sharpest knife.

"Ahhh! I'll fight you!"

With a shout, Warfarin jumped up from her seat, ready to fight, but as soon as she jumped, a slender arm put her on her shoulder and pressed her back down.

Skadi, with an expression that didn't seem very bright, said softly, "Kal'tsit is driving, something bad will happen, don't make a sound."

"Wow! You two ganged up on me!"

Warfarin held her breath, her eyes wide, and struggled wildly like a fish out of water under Skadi's control, but she couldn't break free from the girl's terrifying strength. She screamed in anger.

"You're too noisy."

Kal'tsit didn't even turn her head, just said something indifferently, and suddenly pushed off with her feet.

Boom!

The SUV suddenly slowed down, and Warfarin, who had just been released, was caught off guard and leaped out of her seat, sticking to the back of the seat in front of her, causing the car to shake.

Skadi blinked, her body swaying slightly, but she remained firmly seated, a stark contrast to Warfarin's situation.

"What are you doing!"

Warfarin was furious. She had every reason to suspect that the old woman was deliberately seeking revenge!

"Look ahead."

Kal'tsit leaned forward, easily dodging Warfarin's outstretched arm as if she had eyes in the back of her head, and raised her chin, gesturing for them to look ahead.

Skadi and Warfarin, who were behind her, followed her movements and looked through the windshield. In the distance, a dark silhouette was clearly visible.

"That's... a city? A city in Iberia?"

Realizing it was time to get down to business, Warfarin quieted down, stopped joking around, and moved closer to examine the shape of the outline.

From this angle, the thing looks a bit like a large ship docked on land. It is long and narrow, with huge skeletons spanning the top. It seems to be some kind of device for the city's airspace, but it is not yet completed. There are also many scaffold-like structures around it.

This shape is very different from other cities on land. It looks a bit like an enlarged land-based ship, but its overall shape is closer to a ship on water. The giant skeleton above the city doesn't seem to serve any purpose. Therefore, Warfarin isn't sure if this thing is a city at all.

"...Saltwind City".

Kal'tsit narrowed her eyes and pronounced the name of the city.

Before the Great Tranquility, Iberia was a very powerful nation. They had acquired some technology from the sea and vigorously developed scientific research and technology. Most scientific research in Iberia was completely free, including emerging disciplines such as cutting-edge bioengineering, and Iberia achieved remarkable success in these fields.

The emergence of numerous advanced technologies led to a rapid rise in Iberia's national strength, an era known as the 'Golden Age'.

At that time, Iberia possessed an astonishingly large naval fleet and was equipped with a large number of world-leading weapons, making their army no less powerful than continental powers such as Ursus.

However, the rapid rise in strength inevitably breeds ambition and desire, but unlike the choices of some countries, Iberia never intended to expand inland from the beginning—they set their sights on the more vast ocean.

In the eyes of the Iberian leadership at the time, Agor, a transoceanic nation with more advanced technology, was the target they should learn from and emulate. They wanted to conquer the sea like Agor, and thus, the plan to build cities in the sea came into being.

However, despite their ambition to conquer the sea, Iberia at that time was far from being comparable to Agor.