Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

These words startled the citizen representatives.

Good heavens, the Azure King is in the Ursus army. Was he captured or has he betrayed us? How should I process this report?

Left with no other choice, he could only say, "Leaving aside Lord Qingjin for now, Miss Skadi, please come back with me first. This place is about to become a battlefield."

Skadi wasn't unreasonable; she was well aware that the war zone was unsafe. However, with Roy so close, she saw no need to leave and said:

"You take the villagers away, I'll wait for him here."

The citizen representative was almost moved to tears. What a profound sentiment!

Even though Lord Lapis Lazuli has most likely been captured by Ursus, and even though the brutal Ursus army is closing in step by step, Miss Skadi resolutely decided to stay here and face everything with Lord Lapis Lazuli!

This is simply the pinnacle of pure love!

He couldn't resist bending down and making several more cuts on the garrison representative's kidneys and calves, eliciting a few weak but utterly desperate screams.

You think you're a cuckold? You've cut up all the cowboys!

Having vented the anger of the pure-love warrior, the citizen representative bowed solemnly to Skadi, bypassed her, and rushed into the village.

He couldn't leave Skadi here; the garrison representative had already "died in battle." He had to deliver the news of Ursus's invasion to the Silver Spear Pegasus in the city, and he also had to fulfill Skadi's request to take the villagers away.

"May you and Lord Qingjin get through this ordeal!"

As the citizen representative silently made a wish, dozens of miles away, Roy, who was overseeing the central command and escorting the prisoners, sneezed on the spot.

But this did not dampen his spirits at all. He opened the module page and excitedly read the latest special reward.

The hidden conditions for the D-tier module [Stranger] have been met (Your fame has reached a new level; through you, the name of the gods will surely spread throughout Terra!). Special rewards have been distributed.

Congratulations on obtaining the Grade A collectible: Scale-Catching Raincoat.

Volume 1: Chapter 167 Damn it

As everyone knows, Hai Si is unlikely to catch a cold, so Roy has already assumed that the reason he sneezed must be that someone was talking about him, triggering some kind of superstition.

I just don't know who this person is. Is it the tiny and adorable Platinum, the gentle and virtuous Viviana, or the Maria that I find so ruthless?

It's highly unlikely to be Skadi's. I know Skadi's personality. I don't have any connection with her at all. Even if I want to increase her trust, I'll have to wait until I help her find teammates. There's no reason for her to worry about a land dweller who can't even use a toilet.

Although Roy, a land dweller, knows how to use a toilet.

But that's not the point. The point is the newly acquired Grade A collectible—the scale-catching raincoat.

Grade A Collectible [Scale-Catching Raincoat]: When you use ranged weapons, you will not become the target of enemy ranged weapons.

This effect is almost insane. While it doesn't offer the exaggerated combat power boost of the Sun Sword, the fact that it prevents one from being targeted by enemy ranged weapons is already incredibly overpowered. Keep in mind, on Terra, where most people still use bows and crossbows and other melee weapons, this is essentially giving oneself a death-proof card. Especially after Roy learned the trick of exploiting this bug to use the Meteor Slash, he used to worry about enemies timing him while he was casting the spell. Now, he can't be hit until the spell is finished! You'll have to take a hit from my Stella first!

It's a pity the slump lasted too long, so it couldn't be blasted a few more times, otherwise it would have been so satisfying.

It's unclear whether this buff, which prevents the user from being targeted by "local long-range weapons," will affect area-of-effect weapons, such as the Terra mini-nuclear bomb in the hands of the Stranger, or the long guns and cannons in the Lateran arsenal.

Is that thing some noble creature that doesn't seek partners?

Putting aside the card dealer's matter for now, the most important thing is that, in Roy's understanding, collectibles shouldn't have levels. After all, the three collectible items he acquired in his previous two acquisitions—a Kiss of the Kheshig that had already been blown up, a Sun Holy Sword currently tucked into his waistband, and a Sky Lab ID card whose purpose is currently unknown—were all items without a specified level. But this time, the module system clearly gave the Scale-Catching Raincoat a level.

Was it because the system found Roy's analysis of the ranking system reasonable, and therefore followed suit? Or was it because this item was a special material for breaking through the limits of the [Stranger] module? Roy didn't know until he obtained the next collectible. But at least, after several months, he finally obtained the method for advancing to the D-rank [Stranger] module, which had won his own "Promising Future (Currently Useless) Award" module.

—Increase your visibility and spread your fame throughout Terra!

Maybe I should just give up being a Knight of the Ages and become an idol instead. I feel like the penguin that Emperor is way more famous than me, a Knight of the Ages.

Just kidding. After this incident, Roy had a general idea of ​​the inherent requirements of this "fame system." It wasn't simply a matter of having more fame. In fact, Heng Knight's influence in the competitive knight industry had reached its zenith, as evidenced by the fact that wealthy businessmen from Victoria, Australia, were willing to spend lavishly to establish a foundation for Heng Knight. It's safe to say that in the entertainment knight industry, no one else could surpass Roy's abilities. But why hadn't the fame system been triggered before this battle?

This only shows that its judgment criteria are not based on "fame," but on the industry, or rather, on how different types of people perceive you.

Roy's victory in this battle made him a household name in the military world of Kazimir. 1,202 men held off nearly 100,000 Ursus troops. Even if Corsica I were resurrected, he would not have been confident of winning such a battle with such a disparity in troop strength. But Roy not only won, he won a great victory.

This will undoubtedly spread the reputation of the Knights of the Ages to the military in the future. It also means that when people mention Roy, their first reaction will no longer be "His girlfriend is Nearl, a competitive knight who won a major championship!", but rather "His girlfriend is Nearl, a legendary knight who fought against thousands on Whitewater and won a major championship." The concepts of these two titles are worlds apart.

However, it is strange that, in theory, he won this battle only a few hours ago, yet the messenger sent back to report the news was so fast that the news had already reached the Great Knight Territory and everyone knew about it.

He never expected that, apart from the aforementioned people who might be worried about his safety, and the Supervisory Council who had not yet obtained firsthand intelligence from the front lines, in another mobile city thousands of miles away, two other figures who were somewhat well-known on the Terra land were also beginning to show some interest in Roy's health and well-being.

One of them was Emperor Feodor of the Ursus Empire, and the other was his favorite minister, the Imperial Chancellor Islam Witt.

"In the Empire, the Emperor is omniscient." This famous quote comes from the words of the former Emperor of Ursus at a court meeting, but it actually deviates slightly from the original, seemingly minor, statement: "In the Empire, the Emperor should be omniscient."

One sentence can be a seemingly confident or even arrogant boast, while the other can be a statement of responsibility to oneself and a requirement for one's subordinates.

The current Ursus Emperor Fyodor lacks the prestige of his predecessor; he was hastily placed on the throne after that night, obscured by history. To paraphrase a humorous remark from Minister Victoria: "You know everything, but we decide what you can know."

The Ursus Guard had long been aware of the Third Army's solo operation. They monitored the borders and would keep an eye on a Grand Duke who had been stripped of his military power and was under house arrest in a nursing home. How could they not notice such a large-scale military operation as the mobilization of an army group?

However, they did not report to Fyodor immediately. Clearly, the military's solo operation was categorized as something the emperor "could not know everything." But the subsequent defeat and capture of the army group fell into the category of something the emperor "could know everything."

Unlike the messengers of Casimir who travel on foot, the people responsible for conveying sudden military intelligence to Fyodor are the Ursus Guard, known as the Emperor's Blade. They possess a special ability called the Kingdom, and communication across thousands of miles is as easy as a short distance.

Three hours after the defeat of the vanguard of the army group, the emperor received the news and summoned his trusted minister, Speaker Witte.

Ursus's official working hours start at eight in the morning, but the emperor, in order to show his diligence in governing, often gets up at seven o'clock sharp to start working. As his advisor and ally, Speaker Islam Witt would also symbolically get up a little earlier. However, when Islam was pulled out of bed, the clock had just struck six.

It's not even dawn yet!

Dragging his old bones, the neatly dressed Werther couldn't hide the weariness on his face as he entered the palace. The first words he heard that morning were a series of textbook-perfect insults:

"How dare they do such a thing behind my back! They completely disregard my laws! Who gave them such audacity!"

"Damn it, they beat me up behind my back, and then they fucking lost!"

"If we win, I don't get any benefits; if we lose, I have to clean up the mess. Screw you!"

Volume 1: Chapter 168 Give Me Back My Army!

Fyodor's rage lasted for quite some time, during which Islam Witt stood silently by the knight's armor at the gate, leaning on his cane, as if imitating the statue beside him. Only after His Majesty the Emperor felt somewhat embarrassed did he cough lightly and say:

"Your Majesty, what is it that has angered you so much?"

Fyodor put his hand to his mouth and pretended to ponder for a moment before saying, "Ahem, I'm not angry."

Islam Witt gave him a subtle glare, but didn't argue. Instead, he bowed apologetically and said:

"I apologize, I misread it."

Fyodor's expression softened considerably, and he said with a hint of complaint:

"Minister Islam has arrived without even greeting me. It's still early, I'm sorry to trouble you. Someone, bring my minister a comfortable chair."

A servant brought over a chair, and Islam Witt nodded his thanks to Fyodor before slowly sitting down, resting his cane on the edge of the chair. Fyodor's voice followed:

"Islam, do you know what happened three hours ago?"

Witt didn't answer, his eyes behind his small round glasses revealing a hint of speechlessness. If I knew what had happened, would I need you to summon me?

However, when it comes to speculation, he does have some.

The emperor's fury was simply due to the problem of the army that had been disobedient. Fyodor's indiscriminate insults during his anger also basically confirmed Witte's conjecture.

He could know these things, but he couldn't say them aloud. It's never a good thing for a subject to appear far more intelligent than the emperor.

Sure enough, Fyodor didn't seem to think Witte could answer the question either, and then the following happened:

"My army, haha, or rather the Third Army controlled by Grand Duke Baikal and Viscount Dunkirk, started a war against Kazimir three hours ago. This was certainly without my permission! If my personal guards hadn't relayed the intelligence back, I might still be in the dark."

Islam Witt glanced discreetly at the shadow behind Fyodor's throne. It was, of course, empty, but he knew that the Imperial Guards were watching them from somewhere.

Witte believed the nonsense that intelligence only arrived belatedly after the war was started.

He withdrew his gaze, pondered for a moment, and calmly analyzed the situation for Fyodor:

"Your Majesty, this is not necessarily a bad thing."

"The soldiers of Ursus are very simple-minded, only knowing how to serve the country and His Majesty. The Third Army's reckless advance must have been instructed by those two nobles. In my opinion, this may not be a bad opportunity for Your Majesty to have a legitimate excuse to weaken the power of the pro-war faction."

"Of course, the pro-war faction, having won the battle, is now in a state of extreme arrogance. Direct confrontation is not advisable. Instead, you should divide them. You can dismiss the two nobles from their military positions and strip them of their titles on the grounds of constant transfer orders. At the same time, you should also reward the officers and soldiers who have made contributions in this war for their bravery in battle and for being at the forefront of the country. You should also promote other pro-war nobles who are close to the power of the Grand Duke of Baikal and Viscount Dunkel but have little friendship with them. In this way, you can gain three steps and retreat two steps, thus dividing the pro-war faction and making the army grateful for your kindness, so that they will serve Your Majesty wholeheartedly."

Islam Witt spoke slowly, as if afraid that Fyodor wouldn't understand; he even added explanations of how to do each step.

If his method is followed, the currently arrogant pro-war faction will inevitably fall into internal strife due to the unequal distribution of spoils. At the same time, the emperor can also win the favor of the military by promoting lower-ranking officers instead of demoting them, thus extending his influence into the originally monolithic Third Army. This is a win-win situation. This wisdom of leveraging the situation is one of the reasons why he, Islam Witt, a civil official, was able to shoulder the heavy responsibility in the warlord-dominated Ursus Empire.

However, the more patiently and earnestly he instructed Fyodor, the more strange and ashamed Fyodor's expression became, until Witte finally couldn't help but stop his plan and ask:

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Fyodor opened his mouth, but no words came out; he raised his hand, but couldn't make any movement. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke with great difficulty:

"Prime Minister Islam, do you think it's possible that we've lost?"

Islam was stunned. His first reaction was that it was impossible, absolutely impossible. Our Ursus army is invincible!

He knew perfectly well what kind of bunch of idiots Kazimir was on the other side. The power struggle between the Overseer's Guild and the Merchants' Association was no less intense than the power struggle between the old and new nobles of Ursus. Their armies hadn't even completed their modernization reforms and were still relying on classical charges, with close-quarters combat deciding the outcome. On the other hand, the Ursus Third Army was a well-equipped, modern army with a complete combat order and a mixed force structure, even possessing behemoths like war fortresses.

Given this situation, and still losing, Islam could only think of one possibility:

"Could it be that word leaked out beforehand, and Kazimir mobilized all its forces?"

There is only one possibility: the Third Army was fighting against an entire nation with only one army, and was defeated due to an absolute disparity in troop strength.

Fyodor awkwardly looked away, shaking his head with a subtle expression.

"No, the enemy's army is not large, and it cannot be said that they have been completely defeated. What I have received so far is news of the vanguard's defeat."

Islam Witt breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his brow, and asked:

How many enemies are there?

Fyodor did not answer, but instead held up two fingers.