On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

"Should we still send out the press release we've written? The one praising Lady Reina's wisdom and intelligence, how she easily resolved the conflict between the Dragon Kingdom and the Holy Kingdom, preventing the world from being dragged into chaos?"

As Caroline expected, Lady Lena, who had just been rolling around on the bed, suddenly perked up with renewed energy.

"hair!"

"Of course we have to publish this! Publish it like crazy! I want to see this news on the front page of Shanghai tonight! Let the people of Dragon Country and Holy Country know who saved them!"

"Ok."

[Shocking! A calamity crisis erupts in the sealed city? Suspected super-A-level pollution engulfs the entire city? And the savior who averted the disaster is none other than her!?]

[Shocking! The Dragon Kingdom terminates its declaration of war? The world returns to peace? All of this is thanks to her?]

[Shocking! A goddess from the Holy Kingdom descends across borders? The Empress of the Dragon Kingdom mysteriously disappears? A certain city lord of the Demon Capital claims responsibility!]

【shock.】

Shanghai, as the center and largest city of the entire continent, is an independent city with the banner of "permanent neutrality".

This place is not only the center where intelligence from all over the world gathers, but it can also transmit intelligence to all parts of the world. Every Shanghainese regards this city as a beacon of the continent.

With this hastily produced news tonight, many councilors who had been worried about the world descending into chaos due to the Dragon Kingdom's abrupt declaration of war can finally sleep soundly. Meanwhile, the people of Shanghai are also filled with joy, expressing their praise for their city lord.

"To be able to manipulate two supreme beings so easily, she truly lives up to her reputation as Lady Reina!"

"Although we can't see the process, it must have been a nerve-wracking experience, with every step a dance on the edge of a knife. Such a feat, only the city lord in this world could accomplish, right?"

"It doesn't matter, the city lord will take care of it!"

"Damn it! I just bought bonds from the Mechanical Alliance's Ryan Technologies and Medical Squad! Now they've plummeted beyond recognition!"

"Hmph, serves him right! I told you long ago, with the city lord here, the world won't be dragged into war!"

Tonight is destined to be a sleepless night.

Whether it's Shanghai or the Holy Land.

The border of the Holy Land, the Wall of Michel.

Normally, the Holy Kingdom doesn't pay much attention to foreign affairs, but tonight is clearly different. Many of the Holy Crusaders and Knights stationed here are cursing and swearing.

Just moments ago, their captain, Klaus, showed them footage from the "Magic City Times." One of the videos showed their goddess, rising high above the Sealed City, her sacred and majestic form casting holy light upon the city filled with turbidity and chaos, calming the corrupted crowds, and quelling the rioters. The eerie and frenzied red mist dissipated into nothingness under the power of Lady Styutia.

Many Crusaders wept with joy, a surge of immense pride rising in their hearts. The Dragon Kingdom had declared war on them, yet the Goddess herself had descended to help the Dragon Kingdom overcome its internal calamities.

What do you mean by "the difference in quality is immediately apparent"?! What the hell do you mean by "the difference in quality is immediately apparent"?!

Of course, in their excitement, these church members, upon seeing the follow-up reports on the video, realized that these damned Shanghainese actually took all the credit for it! They attributed it to the city lord's behind-the-scenes manipulation. How could they not curse? On the Wall of Michelle in the dark, there was a wave of friendly greetings to the city lord of Shanghai.

As for Klaus, who knew all the inside stories and even personally participated in the "Insider Plan," and his catgirl Ashu beside him, Ashu tugged at the hem of the crusader captain's clothes, wondering if they should stop everyone from cursing the city lord.

Klaus smiled indifferently.

"It's alright, the city lord won't mind. Otherwise, she wouldn't have deliberately put up the video of how Lady Sthiuthia purified the city. This is actually just to promote the goddess and let everyone know that the two supreme beings have reconciled and war is no longer possible. It makes us in the Holy Kingdom proud and the people of the Dragon Kingdom feel guilty. With these two emotions combined, the seeds of hatred sown between the two countries because of the declaration of war by their superiors have been completely eradicated."

"So, this is what the city lord intended?" After listening to Klaus's explanation, Ah Xu seemed to understand, and her eyes sparkled with admiration for the city lord.

"Actually, the longer I follow the city lord, the more I realize that Lady Lena is always like this. She clearly does a good deed, but she always insists on making it look like a bad deed at the end. Sigh."

Klaus sighed. Right now, everyone in the Holy Kingdom is cursing the City Lord of the Demon Capital for being shameless, and the Dragon Kingdom is probably cursing him too. There's nothing he can do; this report is just too sarcastic, as if the supreme rulers of both countries are being played by Lady Lena all by herself.

Oh wait, I guess we should also add the Mechanical Alliance. As the largest weapons supplier, they'll definitely complain even if the war is over, except for the closed-off Forest Alliance, which is oblivious to the realities of the world.

Today is another day when the whole world is "focused" on the City Lord.

In any case

"Ah Xu, now you believe me, right? The City Lord always keeps his word, so the day when your Dragon Kingdom truly succeeds in its revolution and overthrows that tyrannical empress's rule is just around the corner."

"I have a feeling it's very close!"

Shanghai, the city lord's bedroom.

Lena returned to the chessboard beside her bed.

She first removed the "Queen" piece from among the many "Pawn" pieces and then placed it next to the only black piece on the board.

Then, Lena flipped her wrist and took out a new "damaged" piece, placing it among the many inferior pieces on the board that were protected by the elf pieces, making it one of them.

As for the end

Lena's gaze fell upon the two mechanical chess pieces, one large and one small.

Just then, the knocking sounded again, and Caroline, Lena's assistant, appeared before her once more. However, this time...

"Lady Lena, the impact rate of this incident is estimated at 1.65, with a relatively large peak. It is expected that sixty-five 'observation subjects' from the Mechanical Alliance will awaken from their 'dream state.' We have already detected forty-one 'awakened' observation subjects. We are afraid our manpower is insufficient."

"."

"I understand. Leave the coordinates there, and I'll handle the rest with 'destruction'."

Chapter 102 Jiu You finally... found you

Southern border of the Dragon Kingdom.

Unlike the bustling and advanced human cities in the north, this is the incredibly backward southern region, still in the "primitive era," and also the homeland of the vast majority of subhumans.

The Southern Territory is divided into three regions: the Tribal Forest, the Orc Plains, and the Wild Swamp.

Now, with the power of Hearthstone's Tear activated, Liao Ji and the revolutionary army from the Sealed City are in a corner of the Southern Forest of Tribes.

Having escaped the human city, I returned to this familiar homeland. Looking around at the jungle under the night sky, I smelled the damp earth and the echoing sounds of unknown insects and birds.

All of this gave the demi-humans of the Revolutionary Army a great sense of familiarity, allowing them to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Of course.

Many of the demi-humans who were ordered to set up camp on the spot still secretly glanced at the group of leaders gathered around the largest campfire in their camp, especially at one of the young human nobles and another black-eared catgirl who was still confused.

The reason is also very simple.

It wasn't because Liao Ji had thwarted Loba's series of schemes and tricks; most of the demi-humans couldn't process things too much, and they preferred things to be more straightforward.

Just like

The young man actually took out a "relic" and handed it to Xue. Under the young man's power, Xue, who was a demi-human, actually managed to activate the power of the "relic"!

This was incredibly shocking for the demi-humans of the Revolutionary Army.

After all, it has been hundreds of years since the last demi-human relic user was able to use "relics".

So

Ah Xue became the first "Relic User" of their demi-human race hundreds of years later!?

Tiger Nine, who is closest to the catgirl, is now excitedly grabbing Ah Xue and groping the catgirl all over, as if he wants to study her carefully.

It was only after being glared at by Xi Yun that Hu Jiu reluctantly quieted down and let the blushing kitten girl go.

The people gathered around the campfire now are Liao Ji and his two companions, along with five members of the Revolutionary Army—or rather, four high-ranking members left after Leng She's death.

Taking a deep breath, hope Yun, who was leading the group, was facing Liao Ji, the noble young man who had always been behind A Xue, for the first time. She first expressed her gratitude:

“Mr. Liao Ji, we will never forget your kindness to our revolutionary army.”

"Excuse my frankness, Mr. Liao Ji, the power of you and those around you is absolutely beyond our reach. We are not only grateful for your help, but also very apprehensive. So, could you please tell me what your purpose is in helping us?"

As the one with the clearest mind here, hope Yun had to figure this out, even though she already had a vague guess in her heart, a guess that she dared not imagine.

However, as the young man spoke in the light of the campfire, this guess became a reality.

"I want to join the revolution, it's that simple."

Seeing Liao Ji's straightforward answer and his sincere gesture of spreading his hands, Xi Yun found it difficult to utter the many prepared remarks she had prepared. This woman, who should be in her thirties and the oldest fox clan woman at present, ultimately chose to condense her thousands of words into one sentence, which was also the only option for the revolutionary army.

Is that so?

"I understand, Mr. Liao Ji. From now on, you will be the new leader of our revolutionary army."

"hope Yun is willing to follow you."

The fox spirit stood up and, in the flickering light of the campfire, bowed and pounded her chest to Liao Jixing—a gesture of obedience and respect among their subhuman race for the birth of a new leader.

Following closely behind the fox girl was Da Shan, who was usually quiet. This bear-man, as his name suggests, had a huge body like a "mountain." He also stood up and respectfully bowed to Liao Ji, the new leader of their revolutionary army.

It's worth mentioning that Da Shan's arm, which was half-crippled by the ambush, explosion, and lightning strike, is now completely healed, thanks to Liao Jisheng's healing techniques. So it's quite normal that Da Shan was the second to get up without hesitation.

Seeing that hope Yun and Da Shan had both expressed their opinions, Hu Jiu, who was the last one left, glanced at the cat girl A Xue who was winking at him. She was very disappointed in her. Before anything had even happened, he had already turned against them!

Seeing that he seemed to have no other options, Hu Jiu also stood up decisively and bowed his head to offer his loyalty to Liao Ji.

As for Ah Xue

The catgirl clapped her hands in celebration, completely disregarding the fact that she, as a member of the Revolutionary Army, should also bow. This left the remaining three high-ranking demi-humans speechless. It seemed that in the catgirl's heart, she had already pledged her loyalty to this young man before all of them.

"That's enough for tonight. You've been through so much tonight, so let's all get some rest. I'll talk to you about the specifics tomorrow morning."

"However, I can tell you first, let's call this our general direction and goal for the future. We won't shout any big slogans, let's be a little more pragmatic and start with a small goal, like one month, no, let's say three months. In three months we will unify the Southern Territory and try to integrate all the subhuman races in the Southern Territory."

hope Yun, Da Shan, Hu Jiu: "."

Ah Xue: "Clap clap clap!"

After that, everyone dispersed and returned to their respective tents in the camp. hope Yun and Da Shan were still reeling from Liao Ji's "small goal" and would probably have a sleepless night.

As for Ah Xue, the cat girl was still hesitating about which tent to go to, but unfortunately, Hu Jiu didn't say a word and forcibly made the choice for Ah Xue, pulling the cat girl into his tent, preparing for a long-awaited heart-to-heart talk.

Irene yawned as she prepared to return to their tent with 86. Looking at the expressionless, seemingly tireless mechanical maid, Irene couldn't help but mutter:

"86, don't you androids ever sleep?"

"As long as the power supply is sufficient, we can work day and night without rest," said Number 86, who scored another point for the machines in the debate between machines and flesh.

"Tch, then you're missing out on a lot of fun, aren't you?"

"I wonder. Is sleeping also a form of pleasure?"

"Of course, don't you know what 'dreams' are? In dreams, we can do whatever we want and fulfill all the things we regret or don't have in reality. For example, I've been having those dreams with my old man a lot lately... cough cough, never mind! You wouldn't understand even if I told you. Since you robots can't sleep, you certainly can't enjoy the pleasure of dreaming. Sigh, how pitiful."

"Joy. Miss Irene has become like this because she's always having silly dreams, hasn't she? Number 86 said, once again scoring a point for the machine."

"I'm not sleeping tonight, I'm going to tear you apart!"

The long night seemed to be finally coming to an end with the silence it deserved.