Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 458: The Strategy of Supporting the King
Late at night, Captain Tommy of the Royal Guards stepped lightly onto a secondary ship, pushed open the iron door of the captain's room, and found that a group of middle and high-level officers of the Northern Army were gathered in the room, discussing something in low voices.

"This kind of thing... do we really not need to inform the commander?" Tommy usually had a nonchalant smile on his face, but his tone was a little nervous when he spoke.

Vaughn thought for a moment and shook his head. "Captain Pierce has more to worry about. There's no need to put him on the spot... Even if Lord Harvey investigates, at least the commander won't be the first to bear the brunt of the blame."

Dave sat aside, holding a cigarette, and nodded repeatedly in agreement with his brother.

Wayne looked around the room, then turned to the several young staff officers and political advisors in the room and said, "Don't worry, the army definitely supports your ideas... We won't use nice words, so you should explain it to everyone..."

Ivan stood up under the encouraging gazes of several staff officers. After a light cough, he said with a firm gaze, "Commanders, you have also noticed from today's situation... the city lord does not seem to intend to replace the former Grand Duke and ascend the supreme throne of the principality."

Not only did he have no intention, but when those nobles in the royal capital who had bowed down to him changed their addresses to "Your Majesty", the expression on the Lord City Lord's face was even more of contempt and disdain, and he did not show any intention to move.

Seeing no one raised any objections, Ivan paused and continued, "But we all know that our current status and power are entirely due to your cultivation and trust. Under your leadership, we have been able to build a magnificent and prosperous city in the vast wilderness. Whether we are refugees from the north or the south, everyone can live equally and happily in their comfortable new home..."

All of this was thanks to the wise and benevolent leadership of Harvey, the de facto overlord. From taking in refugees and expelling the fel orcs, to building an army to defend their homeland, to resisting the invasions and plundering of the southern nobles, he finally came to the point of establishing a city and legislating, bringing most of the territory of the Duchy of Saint Valen under his jurisdiction...

"But the Lord seems unwilling to go any further...it really is..."

"Perhaps... the idea that Your Excellency preached to the people of the territory, abolishing the real power of the nobility and ensuring equality for all people regardless of their background, also indirectly influenced him... causing him to hesitate in his choice to replace the former Grand Duke."

"But such a large kingdom cannot be without a king... Your Excellency's ascension to the throne is the result of the people's will. If he still has hesitations, I believe we should all work together to give this matter a push at this critical moment."

"Don't forget the oath you swore to serve our Lord till death!"

"No! I will never forget!"

"Yes! I will never forget!"

……

The Ralph River was unusually quiet at midnight. Apart from the subtle sounds of the soldiers patrolling frequently on the ironclad ships lined up in a row, the only sound was the surging river water.

Harvey's soul puppet lay quietly in the captain's room of the main ship, with his eyes closed, as if he was in a deep sleep.

Commander Pierce gently pushed open the iron door of the cabin and walked to the heavy wooden box containing Harvey's puppet body.

"Sir... your officers and subordinates are secretly plotting on the ship right now... They plan to wait until the expeditionary force returns to Spark City and encourage the people to join them... in electing you as their king."

The pale puppet slowly opened its eyes, half-raising itself to gaze at Pierce for a moment before chuckling, "Strange, they didn't even plan to inform you? Asdalen, Reiner, and you three clearly pushed this matter forward secretly, contributing quite a bit, didn't you?"

Pierce's face rarely turned red, and he knelt on one knee and saluted, saying, "Sir, please forgive our transgression and abuse of power." Harvey's calm and gentle eyes were still fixed on him, making him feel the invisible pressure surging towards him, which was rare for him, but Pierce still raised his head again, stiffened his neck and defended himself and his two colleagues.

“This is the voice of everyone, the voice of the people…”

"From the moment you saved us, I vowed to follow you until the end of my life. No matter what, Pierce Floyd's life and loyalty will always belong to you."

After a long pause, Harvey slowly shifted his gaze from the kneeling Pierce. He stood up and walked to the cabin window, saying lightly, "The three of you acquiesced to those fanatical subordinates' secret plot to make me the new king of Saint Valen... Haha, wasn't I also acquiescing to everything you did?"

Without turning around, he continued in a low voice, "I don't intend to pull off some hypocritical farce of wearing the yellow robe three times and then refusing it three times... The reason I haven't expressed my position to you clearly is that I believe Saint Valen will no longer need a nominal monarch."

Harvey turned around, looking gently at the stunned Pierce, and said with a smile, "Because this vast southern territory will be completely incorporated into the territory ruled by Spark City... and the northern territory is the development focus of our kingdom. The wasteland will have a new king."

……

The next day, Harvey returned to the inner city of the royal capital and learned two pieces of news from his subordinates - after an all-night search and patrol by the soldiers of the Northern Army who controlled the inner city, they successfully captured the high-ranking members of the church who were still in the city and had not yet escaped, and a high-ranking priest who was almost killed on the spot by the soldiers.

Before daybreak, Pierce hurried to the palace dungeon and conducted an "effective" and in-depth interrogation of the high priest. He soon learned from him the location of the secret laboratory where the former Grand Duke underwent blood transformation, and how the church interfered and caused the plague to spread after the experiment failed.

"Use the Image Stone to record the priest's confession and testimony, then make several copies and give them to your intelligence officers," Harvey instructed 007, the Southern Territory's Chief of Intelligence, who was standing beside him. "Have them spread this news, especially the Church's true motives in fanning the flames, and the collusion between the imprisoned dignitaries of the capital. Don't hesitate to spread the word... I want everyone in the city to know clearly what these conspirators have done."

Intelligence Chief 007 bowed and said, "Understood! I'll do it right away!"

Harvey then turned to look at Pierce. "Use the Magic Brain immediately to notify Chris and Egno in Spark City... and Dean Arturo of the Academy of Magical Sciences. Have them take some necromancers and set off immediately to the capital via the continental teleportation array."

Pierce was stunned for a moment, then said with an embarrassed expression, "Sir, it's easy to deal with Lords Chris and Egno. But Dean Arturo and the others... I'm afraid they're a little worried about coming to Jinhui City openly as a necromancer."

Harvey curled his lips and said helplessly: "Forget it, I will give them the order myself!"

When the plague broke out, this group of necromancers were the first to be innocently accused of killing civilians. On the one hand, they were summoned now to cooperate with the investigation into the Grand Duke's blood experiments, and on the other hand, it was naturally to announce the truth about the plague to the people in the city and "vindicate" these necromancers.

Moreover, before long, he will contact the Federation and ask them to return to Saint Valen to re-establish branches and restore the influence of spellcasters among the secular people. In the past, these orthodox spellcasters of the Federation have always looked down on necromancers. Now that they have the opportunity to slap them in the face, I believe that Arturo and others will not choose to reject him and continue to shrink in the north.

As for those independent spellcasters who survived the persecution and expulsion in Saint Valen… I believe that after a series of events, the Federation will no longer have any trust in them. This has given me a good opportunity to catch them all in one fell swoop and bring them all under my command with various "magic sugar-coated bullets".

After all, snatching talents from the Federation...naturally, you need to use any means necessary.

(End of this chapter)