Man on the ark, forced to become king

It's not just dislike; the sarcasm in that sentence was almost undisguised. 29 admitted it very frankly: "In essence, we are indeed the same, but we never think there is anything to be proud of about this power, let alone really consider it our own."

"Using that method to acquire power was a last resort. Without it, we wouldn't have the strength to keep those things out of the border."

"But they don't see it that way. Not only are they proud of it, but they've also brought the threat to Ursus. Ha, the thing we sacrificed countless times, our flesh and blood, and fought with all our might to stop, was brought into our country by those hyenas without any burden."

"Unfortunately, we need supplies and reinforcements, as well as fresh blood and manpower. Necessary compromises... no one likes that."

This reason was indeed irrefutable, and Lin Lu thought about it and found it to be very reasonable.

The soldiers stationed on the border naturally felt dissatisfied that what they risked their lives to stop was trampled on by others. Compromise does not mean they had no opinions, and looking down on them is just a euphemism; it is no exaggeration to say they hated them.

"How much do you know about the current situation in Ursus? What is your stance?"

This question was very direct and quite sensitive. When she asked it, Lin Lu was already prepared that the other party would not answer.

Unexpectedly, 29 remained calm and unreserved when faced with this sensitive issue that might involve some hidden secrets, and even gave an answer without much thought.

"The situation in Ursus? If you mean the new emperor's authority has declined, the nobles' desires are uncontrollable, and countless ambitious men thirsting for power are stirring up trouble everywhere... We know all these things. The border is not isolated from the world; the exchange of information has always existed."

"Oppression, turmoil, and the struggle for power—what has happened in history—is still repeating itself today, without any change."

“But those things are irrelevant to us, and we have no position on them, only a mission. This border is the most important thing to us, and everything else is insignificant.”

"Emperors, nobles, power, desires, ambitions—whatever they want, as long as it doesn't affect the stability of the North, we don't care."

"Nothing is more important than the survival of civilization. Those poor wretches who lose themselves in desires have never seen real terror and despair. Their self-perceived vision is nothing more than that tiny, narrow world. We and they are forever two parallel lines. We can see each other, but we will never intersect."

"Even if the emperor changes, you won't care?"

Lin Lu's smile grew even deeper.

This statement is taboo in Ursus; even the great nobles wouldn't dare to mention it openly. However, 29 clearly doesn't care about such things.

"Who cares?"

He asked a question in return, his tone completely flat, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"For the North, the enemy on the border is always the top priority. As for supplies and equipment, we only need those, and we'll accept whatever it takes from whoever provides them."

"The struggle for power ultimately revolves within Ursus, and whoever ascends to that position cannot ignore our existence."

In the end, Ursus is still Ursus, and we are still us.

"Nobody cares who sits in that position."

"We need someone on the throne, or maybe not a person? That's all."

Chapter 267 Let the Demon Suffer a Little Longer

Having understood, Lin Lu had basically guessed why these border guards treated their homeland in this way.

Because the relationship between the Northern Legion and Ursus has long since changed from one of subordination to one of non-interference!

It is likely that one of the emperors of Ursus established the Northern Legion to defend against the invasion of alien demons. The Ursus Guards probably did not initially possess the technology to use demonic power.

However, as the threat of the demons grew stronger, Ursus, with its cold climate and scarce resources, unlike Yan Kingdom with its vast and fertile land, found that the strong who grew naturally through traditional methods would likely not be able to fill the bottomless pit of the border. Therefore, they had no choice but to seek a way to quickly cultivate elite warriors. In the end, they turned their attention to their mortal enemy—the demons.

Those who have come into contact with demonic power know how dangerous it is. If it is not controlled by special means, the pollution will spread to the surrounding area every moment, eroding fertile land into dead land and turning creatures into monsters.

However, people's ambitions always grow stronger with the increase of their strength. Having tasted the sweetness of demonic power, how could the emperor, as the ruler of an empire that worships force, not take advantage of it?

The emergence of this type of internal defender today may have started from that time.

The emperor began to use the power of evil spirits to train a large number of elite troops and establish his own secret army, thus firmly controlling all the power of the empire in his own hands.

This is where the disagreement arose.

As 29 said, some things are hard to understand without experiencing them firsthand. Even emperors and nobles who are high above the world will not truly empathize with the warriors of the harsh lands.

The Northern Legion guards the frontier, building defenses with their flesh and blood and countless sacrifices to keep evil out of civilization. Their hatred for alien demons is greater than anyone else's.

How could the soldiers who had shed their blood on the frontiers be willing to accept that what they had fought so hard to stop was being brought into their homeland, which they once regarded as the most precious thing?

Even an emperor cannot perfectly control people's hearts and forcibly strip away deeply ingrained hatred.

If it were a different entity, the Emperor of Ursus would have many ways to resolve the rift between the upper echelons and the army, but the existence of the Northern Legion is unique.

Those capable of fighting demons, regardless of the methods employed, are the best of the best, the elite among the elite. It would be virtually impossible to replace them with a new group of people. Their role is irreplaceable. Therefore, whether the emperor realized the hidden dangers he had created by coveting the power of demons or not, he had no way to deal with the Northern Army.

As long as the Northern Legion remains stationed on the frontier and continues to play its role, he can only pretend not to see it and take no action to maintain a delicate balance in the relationship between the two sides.

Originally, this would have been a good outcome for Ursus. The Northern Legion would have remained true to its mission, independent of Ursus's political and military system since its inception, and would not have left once it arrived at the frontier. As for the possibility of a superficial alliance, it would have been irrelevant.

But is that all?

After thinking it over, Lin Lu felt something was off. The issue of demonic power didn't seem enough to push the relationship between the Northern Legion and Ursus to such a bad state. 29's meaning was almost a clear statement: Ursus's actions are none of our business. We are only responsible for guarding this line of defense, and we don't care about anything else.

From a national perspective, this is essentially no different from a rebellion.

Ursus's affairs are Ursus's affairs, and the North's affairs are the North's affairs. The only connection between the two is that Ursus needs to provide supplies in exchange for border security.

Rather than a relationship between ruler and subject, it was more like a cooperation, with both sides having equal status. This icy plain had essentially become a state within a state established by the Northern Legion.

It is unlikely that a mere disagreement on how to deal with evil spirits would push the relationship to this point.

After that, there were probably other events that played a key role.

Battle of Sunset Canyon!

Based on the available information, Lin Lu had a flash of inspiration and came up with a clear conjecture.

That was a war between Ursus and the demons that took place several years ago. It was one of the most devastating wars in modern history. According to the information pieced together from the Golden Tree, twenty or more inner guards, as well as elite warriors such as war mages, were killed in that battle. It was a heavy loss, causing Ursus to lose a large number of powerful warriors and severely weakening it.

The causes, consequences, and specific details of that war remain shrouded in mystery. The only thing known is that most of the so-called "Emperor's Blade" are newcomers who appeared after that war, and their strength is significantly inferior to that of the older generation of Imperial Guards.

Based on this inference, we can probably conclude that 'Ursus, after the Battle of Sunset Canyon, used some means to create a new generation of inner guards to fill the gap in high-end combat power'.

From the perspective of the Northern Legion, it was undoubtedly another betrayal—the newly formed Imperial Guards were not fully deployed to the border, but instead were largely integrated into the Emperor's private forces, becoming tools in the power struggle. What they hated to the bone once again crossed the line of defense they had been holding onto in a rather ridiculous way.

Undoubtedly, this was a denial of the beliefs upheld by the Northern Legion, rendering all their efforts pale and powerless.

Today, they no longer hold any hope for that increasingly corrupt empire.

Of course, whether this is really the case remains to be seen.

However, Lin Lu didn't care much about those things. He was just trying to ascertain the Northern Legion's stance. Their current attitude was very beneficial to the Golden Tree's plan.

He needs Ursus, under the control of the Golden Tree, to provide a large army; the Northern Legion needs a stable supply route. As for who sits on the throne, they don't care. Their goals don't conflict; in fact, there's a lot of room for cooperation.

"Would you be interested in discussing a collaboration?"

After thinking for a while, Lin Lu looked at 29 standing in the wind and snow and suddenly spoke.

This question startled 29 for a moment, then he shook his head and said, "We don't need cooperation. We are willing to communicate with you because we hope you can leave here as soon as possible."

"It's not up to you; I think you need it."

Lin Lu gently raised her hand, and the golden seal, which flickered like breathing, suddenly lit up. The golden light dispersed the surging black mist outside the seal, and the light extended to a greater distance.

"As you can see, we have better means to fight them. In fact, the Yan Kingdom, which is also fighting demons on the border, has already established cooperation with us."

"The Golden Tree has ways to deal with their pollution, immortality, or other troublesome characteristics, and in a much simpler and more efficient way than yours."

"I think, given your current state, you have no reason to refuse, Mr. 29. You wouldn't want to see your comrades and compatriots die tragically at the hands of evil, would you?"

"..."

29 remained silent.

He had to admit that he was indeed tempted.

In fact, the relationship between the Northern Legion and Ursus was indeed very delicate, and differed somewhat from Lin Lu's guess, but the result was the same—the emperor could not command this powerful border army, and the Northern Legion did not care about any problems within Ursus. The two sides were nominally emperor and subject, but in reality, they were almost cooperating.

This made the Northern Legion's situation difficult.

The ice fields of the far north are unsuitable for growing crops. Even with vast tracts of land, they are useless wastelands. They cannot achieve self-sufficiency on the ice fields, nor do they have a complete scientific research system to update their equipment. They have to rely entirely on resources from the Ursus government.

This was also one of the emperor's methods of controlling the Northern Army.

No one will offer much help to a subordinate they can't command, and the emperor is even less likely to provide a large amount of supplies to allow the Northern Legion to continue to grow stronger.

Within Ursus, only just the right amount of supplies are provided to limit the strength of the Northern Legion, leaving them with nothing to do but perform their duties. The Northern Legion's resources are often scarce, barely enough to sustain them. Under such circumstances, even if they really wanted to do something, what they had was insufficient to support them.

Furthermore, the recent demonic invasions have become increasingly frequent, putting greater pressure on the defenses and leading to a shortage of manpower. They definitely need help.

If this organization called the Golden Tree can truly provide the Northern Legion with something to reduce the pressure on the defensive lines, cooperation is not out of the question, provided that Ursus is not betrayed.

The Northern Legion and the Ursus leadership were utterly at odds with each other, and the ascension of the new emperor had not changed this situation. He could not even maintain his own authority, so how could he care about anything else?

However, this does not mean that the Northern Legion truly does not care about Ursus at all. They simply do not care who sits on the throne, nor do they consider the emperor or nobles to be synonymous with 'Ursus'.

The power struggle between the emperor, nobles, and the army is essentially an internal change in Ursus. No matter what happens or who wins or loses, it will not affect the survival of Ursus. In the end, it all comes down to internal conflict, so it doesn't really matter.

However, if an unexpected event occurs, such as Ursus being invaded by a foreign enemy with the intention of destroying this thousand-year-old empire, then the Northern Legion will certainly not stand idly by.

They have always been loyal to Ursus and have been guarding the frontiers of Ursus. This belief has been passed down to this day and will not change for any reason.

"What, you don't believe me? Then I'll show you!"

Lin Lu raised an eyebrow, feeling it was time to show off her special skills.

His verbal skills are still a bit weak, as he's a beginner. His real strength lies in presenting facts and reasoning, although his method of reasoning is somewhat...unpleasant.

However, for the sake of the Golden Tree plan, let's make the demon suffer a little longer.

Any living being attacked will feel pain or fear, but demons will not feel those feelings.