I! Cleaner!

Indeed, I didn't expect you to actually find the crux of the matter.

Watching the 'Prince Vernon' fall silent after explaining his own philosophy, his eyes fixed on him like torches, Lyon couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise in his eyes, and he began to look at him with new eyes.

Although the two sides haven't directly revealed their cards yet, 'Prince Vernon's' series of remarks just now were no different from a direct showdown. The true face of this 'Prince Vernon' must be the former Serpentarius Director of the Bureau of Clearance.

According to what he had heard from the Taurus Director, this Serpentarius Director seemed to be a standard 'mixed bag'. Although he was outstanding in terms of talent, he could be called the most outstanding Serpentarius Director in thousands of years, but in terms of IQ… intelligence… um… his brain seemed to be slightly lacking.

However, as the saying goes, even a fool can sometimes have a good idea. Although the proposed solution was extremely unreliable, the Serpentarius Director still successfully found one of the root causes of the problems in the present world – the Bureau of Clearance.

...

In a sense, the Serpentarius Director's judgment was correct. The reason why the present world is so rotten is because both the Thirteen Kingdoms and the Bureau of Clearance have existed for too long, and have basically lost their ability to 'adjust' themselves.

If there was no Bureau of Clearance pressing down on them, after a normal human kingdom had been in operation for several hundred years, the vested interests would have divided up everything that could be divided, and then they would start reaching down further without any bottom line, and the people who had been fleeced bald by them would then try to find ways to fleece downwards to replenish themselves.

When the lowest level, with nowhere to fleece, had no way to go, they would use the most direct means of violence to overthrow and kill the people riding on their heads, and then the banner on the city tower would change, either a relatively humane person would emerge from the vested interests, or the hero would simply turn into a dragon, and everyone would do it again.

Theoretically, it should be like this, but this world just happens to have a Bureau of Clearance.

Recalling the robber siblings who escaped from the floating crystal mine in the Kingdom of Corvus, and the royal ship in the lower hold of the Dead Realm that was full of torture instruments and cages, Lyon couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

In order to maintain the effectiveness of the Watchkeep, and to ensure that the most important front line against the Outer Gods did not have any problems, the Thirteen Royal Families could be said to have been forcibly preserved by the Bureau of Clearance, and the most acute part of the contradiction had always been suppressed, and had never been completely vented.

So, although the Bureau of Clearance did not directly take action, the Kingdom of Corvus's bottomless bloody exploitation of the floating crystal mining area, the Kingdom of Thousand Sails' plundering that had lasted for at least a thousand years, and the other kingdoms' outrageous operations all had a share of the blame behind them.

Under the protection of the Bureau of Clearance, the Thirteen Kingdoms stubbornly existed for who knows how long, until only two have been lost in recent years.

One was the Kingdom of Eastern Carvain, which was harmed by the Serpentarius Director, whose entire population was taken away in one wave and could not be rebuilt, and the other was the Kingdom of Corvus, which pursued 'elitism', resulting in a population that was too small, and was eventually incorporated into the Kingdom of Thrush under his… help.

As for the other kingdoms that were forcibly preserved by the Bureau of Clearance, they were indeed as the Serpentarius Director said, mostly rotten to the core. If one had to say which one stank the least, it would be the Kingdom of the North, the Land of Witches, and the Kingdom of Thrush where he was located.

...

Ignoring the 'Prince Vernon' opposite him, after glancing at the bas-relief below the flying buttress, which depicted the Bureau of Clearance helping the Carvain brothers establish their kingdom, Lyon's thoughts suddenly began to wander uncontrollably, pondering the three countries that were also established with the help of the Bureau of Clearance, but were relatively harmonious.

The reason why the Kingdom of the North was relatively humane was because they had a 'tribal' system. The king was more like the leader of the largest tribe than a king. The power itself was not concentrated, and the ability to exploit was relatively limited.

In addition, the Kingdom of the North was sparsely populated, people lived very scattered, and there were often terrible disasters that affected the entire territory. For several months of the year, they were blocked by blizzards and could not go out, so going to exploit others was actually a dangerous job, and it was easy to die halfway.

In short, it was not that they wanted to be human, but that they simply lacked the ability to be inhuman.

The situation in the Land of Witches was somewhat special. The lineage of the Great Witch King was basically passed down through a single line, and each generation had a level close to that of a true god, and could arbitrarily peep into the past and future, and had little interest in the power and wealth within the kingdom.

When he was doing… helping in the past, he specifically observed that the life of the Great Witch King lineage was actually quite simple. The so-called palace was just a small, fairly elegant courtyard, and he would hardly interfere in any political affairs.

As for the seventeen major societies and many small and medium-sized societies, which were the actual power institutions of the Land of Witches, they were groups gathered together because of the practice of the Great Court Mysteries, and their interest in materials and secret arts was far greater than their interest in wealth and power.

Therefore, the 'ecology' of the Land of Witches was very strange. If you want to control power, you have to enter the seventeen major societies, but you just can't learn the secret arts if you can't learn them, and if you can learn them, you can easily become addicted to them and lose your excessive desire for wealth and power.

Even if a chosen bastard really appeared, with a good talent for secret arts and not being human, and could resist the temptation of the secret arts themselves, and successfully ascended to the top and single-mindedly acted like a tyrant, he would most likely be slapped to death by the Great Witch King lineage.

And even if he managed to hide it from the Great Witch King, who could see the future, his children and descendants might not be able to inherit his talent, let alone his strong desire for power. Wealth and status would basically not be passed down through generations, so the upward channel was always open.

Therefore, apart from being loosely organized, superstitious, and having a shockingly low efficiency, the internal situation of the Land of Witches was surprisingly healthy, and it could be called unique among the Thirteen Kingdoms. The only place where major problems might occur was that it was easy to be unable to provide effective rescue after a major disaster.

However, the Land of Witches has no shortage of various prophets, and there is even a Great Witch King who can directly see the future. Often, before the disaster even occurs, people have already moved away in advance, using divination to save lives, and relying on computing power to make up for their lack of action.

So, overall, apart from the fact that there is no way to rise without a talent for secret arts, the Land of Witches can even be called a peaceful and prosperous country, and it is a rare paradise among the major kingdoms of the present world.

As for the last Kingdom of Thrush, which is relatively humane… it's mostly because it's too weak.

After recalling his younger brother's 'Kingdom History' textbook, Lyon couldn't help but sigh slightly.

The history of the Kingdom of Thrush is basically a series of beatings. It was bullied by the poor and hungry Kingdom of the North, bullied by the pirate Kingdom of Sao roaming at sea, and bullied by the Kingdom of Thunderstorms, which has always had territorial disputes. If it weren't for him, it would be bullied by the Kingdom of Corvus, which has its eyes on the volcano, in the future.

And the royal family of Thrush, who have arrogant blood flowing in their veins, are all born with high ambitions. How could they stand this kind of humiliation? Therefore, basically every generation has plans to work hard to govern and then bully them back.

Although the ancestors of the Thrush royal family were generally not very capable, and had a lot of problems themselves, they often didn't change in the right direction.

But with a bit of arrogance in their hearts, they can be called tireless in their efforts, and they have indeed done a lot of practical things, at least stirring up the stagnant country and giving the suffering people at the bottom a breather…

...

Heh, still a bit naive after all!

Looking at Lyon's expression changing again and again, and the successive appearance of surprise, contemplation, disgust, helplessness… and other emotions on his face within just a few seconds, 'Prince Vernon's' mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly, and he quietly retracted the half of the rein he had broken in his hand.