After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

The unique sound of the air gun being fired drew everyone's attention and silenced the entire corridor.

The nobleman whose head had been shattered by a steel ball fired from an air gun lay limply in the corridor, his blood and brain matter flowing from the wound gradually staining half of the corridor.

The knights were stunned. They truly hadn't expected the Aleseans to obey orders and fire directly.

The nobles were chilled, because they never expected anyone to shoot at them.

They all stared at the nobleman's corpse as it fell, and while they were still in shock, Alessar's soldiers lined up in a row behind them, their air rifles aimed at the knights' backs—or rather, at the nobles the knights were trying to stop.

“We have received orders to execute any intruders at will,” the commander of Alessar stated, a cigarette dangling from his lips. “You are nobles of the Romans, but to us, you are merely intruders into the Roman palace—you may come in and complain, but before you do, we will follow orders to send you to hell.”

The Alessands truly never imagined such a stroke of luck would happen.

They were already worried about how to reduce the influence of the Roman Empire's nobles, but when they arrived, not only were most of the nobles in the Roman capital dead due to the attack by the Isugardians, but Prince Garsen of Roman was so foolish as to actually let them into the palace and gave them the authority to shoot the invaders at will.

Even nobles, if they enter the palace without permission, are considered intruders and can be shot.

This gave the Alese people unparalleled convenience.

This also made the Aleseans realize that the Roman queen had disappeared.

(It seems the disintegration of the Roman Empire is now a foregone conclusion.)

The Alessands all wished they could kill a few more nobles on this occasion.

But the Roman nobles had no backbone whatsoever. After one of their nobles died, they fled even faster than they had come.

It's amazing that they can use words like "pure loyalty" to demonstrate their courage!

The Alese man returned to his post with a cold laugh.

During this period, the Alese people repeatedly enforced the law against the nobles.

Even the nobles of Romana could no longer tolerate it.

There's no upper limit to the bounty at the end of Volume 4!

@@@@=W=As we all know, with each chapter of Hillmi containing 8 words and a stable 3 updates per day, Hillmi has already paid back the 20-plus chapters she owed for the last unlimited bounty!

So this time, Hillmy will still use the same rules as last time~

根据刺猬窝普通4K一章8K两章的更新为标准，8K一章是希尔咪每天的标准更新量，而剩下两章8K则相当于大多数作者4更的分量咪！

In this situation, after updating one chapter (8K) daily, Hillmy will use the remaining two chapters (8K) to make up for the chapters she owes. According to Hedgehog Nest's standards, one 8K chapter is equivalent to making up for two chapters!

So—Hilmi is opening up an unlimited bounty again for the New Year!

The standard this time is

500 votes + one 4-word update

100 monthly votes + one 4-word chapter update

A donation of 1 RMB + a 4-word update

100 blades + 4K words per chapter update

A Happy Ending with a Golden Chest + 20 Chapters, 4K Words Update

A Happy Ending with a Silver Chest + 5 Chapters, 4K Words Update

And there's no limit to how much you can do it! =W

[Anyway, based on Hillmi's monthly update pace of 50 words, she should be able to finish paying it off this month.]

So Hilmi isn't worried at all! Hilmi!

@@@@

Updating, please wait a moment. Once updated, log back in to get the latest chapter! If you like the app, don't forget to share it with your friends by clicking the share button in the upper right corner!

Chapter 1: Roman, Shattered into Countless Pieces, and the Predicament of Isgard (8K)

January 1, 006 in the Imperial Calendar.

Roman was divided by the actions of the nobles.

Its division came faster than anyone imagined. Perhaps it was the disappearance of the young queen, perhaps it was the inaction of Gassen as the last member of the royal family, perhaps it was the attack by the black dragon on the noble district of the capital, or perhaps it was the disgraceful event of the Aleseans occupying the Roman Palace to defend the court...

In conclusion, under numerous influences, the Roman Empire fractured.

If Yang Hao were at the revived party gathering in the suburbs, looking at the map in front of him, he might subconsciously exclaim, "This is even more divided than the Holy Roman Empire!" But since he wasn't there, the nobles could only look at the colorful map in front of them with worried expressions, lost in thought.

"...This is really unexpected."

The members of the Restoration Party did not reside in the noble residential areas of the capital, so they did not suffer significant losses in the previous Black Dragon attack.

Even so, they seriously underestimated the actions of the other nobles whose relatives and friends had died from the dragon's breath.

They originally thought that even if the Roman Empire split, it would still be divided into four categories: nobles, royalty, parishes, and military districts. The parishes would fight among themselves, the military districts would guard the borders, the royalty would control the capital and surrounding towns, and the nobles would occupy other noble territories under the leadership of the Restoration Party.

Although it may sound confusing, everyone should be able to confirm that there are four main regions, so there should only be four colors on the map...

But what is the reality? In fact, even the Redemption Party itself split into two leaders, one in the west and one in the east, not to mention other noble groups with their own ulterior motives!

Their division has resulted in the Roman Empire being painted with more than twenty colors on its current map! And these twenty colors are not harmonious with each other; they are divided, and... they may become even more hostile to each other!

"Leaving aside the fiercely contested parishes... the western ranchers and some western nobles formed the 'Pastoral Council,' the eastern mine owners and some nobles formed the 'Mining Council,' and then other nobles formed independent alliances based on their own small groups, and these alliances would also clash with each other due to family feuds or other reasons..."

This is utter chaos! If you include the rebels in the central region... the entire Roman Empire is in complete disarray. How can we possibly maintain unity in such a chaotic situation? It's impossible!"

The nobles present gave bitter, forced laughs. Indeed, how could they possibly maintain unity under such circumstances? It was impossible!

Back when the Roman Empire was still intact, even if nobles had sworn feuds, they wouldn't show it too openly. Even if they wished to kill each other, they would choose to endure it due to imperial laws and the authority of the royal family, and cooperate with each other as necessary while maintaining this restraint.

But now the Roman Empire has fractured, the Empress has disappeared, and Prince Garsen has secluded himself after using Imperial Knights and Alessands to protect his palace. With the royal family's prestige shattered and them reduced to a drowning dog, and with nobles becoming independent either for their own interests or out of resentment... who can expect these nobles to cooperate as before?

We were able to cooperate in the past because we were still considered one family to outsiders.

But now, we're not family anymore. We can use our fists and knives to deal with those who raise questions, so why should we cooperate with these rotten eggs instead of just killing their whole family?!

Now things are really messed up. Once nobles with sworn feuds gained independence, they turned on their former compatriots, and those powerful nobles, after the split, single-handedly executed their enemies or rivals they disliked...

The civil war among the nobles intensified, depleting the country's already scarce resources. With the famine still raging, they fed their own peasants with the flesh and blood of their enemies, while they themselves continued to try to purchase fresh food from the coastal areas of the military district.

If one had to pinpoint which groups the nobles would never wage war against, it would probably be the military districts and ranch councils—because only they could provide food before the crops were harvested. But this isn't absolute...

After all, the Mining Council is already very dissatisfied with the actions of the Ranch Council... The two largest noble alliances might go to war in a few days... What will we do then?

This is absolutely terrible.

This is truly terrible—if the Roman Empire in the past could have collapsed due to foreign invasion, now, before any foreign invasion even begins, Roman Empire will collapse due to internal strife among its own people.

This is absolutely terrible—

A few drops of cold sweat trickled down the faces of the nobles present. The collapse of the country due to internal strife was not the real problem; the real issue was if the collapse of the country would drag them down with it, which would be truly disastrous.

The minor nobles present exchanged bewildered glances: they had originally thought they could use legitimate means to divide the Roman Empire into four parts, allowing the Regent to return and protect their interests...

Who would have thought the structure would crack like this!

Their sighs were incessant. And it was at this moment that someone tentatively suggested that if they continued to fight alone, they would surely be slaughtered bit by bit. Rather than dying an unjust and miserable death, why couldn't they unite and work together as one?

Just like those noble alliances, only by uniting can we have a chance to survive in this chaotic world!

The nobleman's speech immediately won everyone's approval. They discussed it animatedly, and finally determined that the alliance members should not kill each other, but should help each other and have a clear division of labor. Thus, a new independent faction emerged once again in the central region of the Roman Empire.

They call themselves the "Central Noble Alliance." Although this force is not as powerful as the Ranch Council and the Mining Council, at least when they unite, they occupy key towns in various places, and it can be said that they have the right to make demands on the territory of the Roman Empire after its division.

Meanwhile, in the military district, General Dereshka showed no intention of resolving the widespread domestic rebellions.

He also had to communicate with the ranch council, requesting that they build a stone wall on the vast grassland to prevent the barbarians from invading, but this request was unsurprisingly rejected.

The ranch meeting's reason for rejection was very simple: We're on a vast plain! Building stone walls in individual villages and towns is one thing, but you want to build a four-meter-high stone wall across the entire plain? Just a thin layer of stone wall would be enough to drain all of the ranch meeting's current resources, and you're demanding a thickness of at least one meter?

General Dreschka, I don't want to be too rude, but even the poor of the Empire know how scarce resources are now. Do you think we are rich now and have the resources to deal with that so-called "threat from the North"?

Upon receiving the reply from the ranch conference, General Dreschka remained silent for a long time before finally ordering his troops to prepare for an attack.

"Although it's impossible to actually build that many stone walls, digging four-meter-deep trenches isn't a problem... These nobles are only thinking about civil war, unaware that the northern barbarians are our greatest enemy—I must eliminate them all, only then can we legally build the Great Wall belonging to the military region on their land."

In the context of the fragmented Roman Empire, General Dreschka was an extremely rare individual who possessed both self-awareness and a strong sense of the bigger picture. However, it was ultimately meaningless for him to be the only one who understood the bigger picture.

After all, he could only utilize his military talents at best—he couldn't politically subdue these short-sighted, clique-like nobles, so what he could do was resort to violence...

Let's just treat it as a selection and training exercise for new recruits.

General Dreschuka looked down at the equipment ratios of the new recruits on the roster. He sighed heavily, muttering to himself unconsciously:

The Alese have been coming more and more frequently lately.

............

In the Roman capital, the number of Alessars guarding the Roman Palace has increased from one thousand to three thousand. After the last incident, with the Imperial Knights suffering heavy casualties and the palace guards temporarily unable to be replenished, Prince Garsen had no choice but to request the Alessars to send more troops to protect him and his palace in order to ensure his own safety.

The Allese were naturally overjoyed: the more land forces they had planted in Roman, the easier it would be to annex Roman later. However, they also knew that they had more to do than simply send troops, so after accepting Prince Gassen's request, the Allese servants used the excuse of "the Queen's disappearance and the annulment of the marriage alliance" to demand that Prince Gassen relinquish a portion of the mine's profits.

According to the contract, if the Aleser army could assist the royal family in suppressing the rebellion in the eastern mines, then the Aleser would take more than 70% of the minerals from the mines as payment, and this was a tyrannical clause that would last for 50 years.

In return, the Allese will support the legitimate rights of the Roman royal family, and if necessary, will send more troops to ensure the Roman royal family's safety...

Anyone with eyes to see knows that Alesser intends to cultivate the Roman royal family into their "agents." If Alesser's plan succeeds, the Roman Empire will be completely destroyed and will never be able to recover.

But Prince Garsen didn't care about that anymore.

He was powerless to reverse the situation. With the help of his attendants, he managed to enjoy a few days of carefree happiness. After completely abandoning the entire empire, Prince Garsen only hoped that the Alessands would protect his palace and his life so that he could live out his days in pleasure.

“Because I have completely lost—I cannot reintegrate the entire empire, nor can I sit in that position; I cannot be that target! I do not want to be that target!”

Gassen's hysterical roar made the nobles who supported him exchange bewildered glances. But he was right; whoever sat in that position now was destined to be hated by everyone.

Garsen lacked both the courage and the ability, while those who possessed such courage and ability had already been sent to their coffins by his own hands.

Therefore, Gassen had no choice but to accept all of the Ares' conditions, and his move undoubtedly won the Ares' favor.

They had even held a small celebration in their own country—because according to Emperor Alesser's calculations, if things continued this way, the Roman Empire would be completely reduced to Alesser's colony within two years.

At that time, whether it is the abundant slave labor force, the fertile land, or, more importantly, the mineral resources of eastern Romana, they will all become the nourishment for Allese to become a world power and the ladder for Allese to reach new heights.

But the Emperor of Aresel was not blinded by his current victory. After cautiously ordering the sea lizardmen to station themselves along the Roman Empire's coast to monitor all incoming merchant ships, he issued a sinister command:

"Let our men don the uniforms of the Roman Empire and then attack the neutral caravans of Isgard under the Roman Empire's flag! We must make them fight even more fiercely, so that we can legitimately transfer half of our army to Roman territory, both to purge their nobles and secure our future rule, and to drag Isgard into a quagmire of war and deplete their national strength!"

By the way, Secretary-General—what do the scholars have to say about the report on steam rifles?