Chapter 74: The Forceful Merger of the Forest of Elves!
Only a few months remained until the end of the newbie protection period, and chaos was imminent. He needed to prepare in advance.
Integrating the Forest of Elves under his command was just the first step, his ultimate goal was to completely occupy and digest the Serene Forest.
Charles aimed to boost the Zerg army\'s strength to its maximum before the end of the newbie period.
MVLeMpYr-original-content
After all, once the protection period ended, there would be few opportunities for peaceful development.
Eve, in a slightly annoyed tone, said, "Don\'t worry, I\'ve already sent someone to gather all the top leaders within the territory."
Given her relationship with Charles, the merger of their two territories was inevitable.
Eve was more concerned about who would be in charge.
According to their mutual understanding, the stronger one would naturally take the lead.
As for who was stronger at the moment, there was no need to guess.
With Charles\'s current strength, he could single-handedly overthrow the entire Forest of Elves. Even though Eve felt deeply unwilling, she knew that she had lost this game completely.
Originally, Eve had wanted to put up a bit of a fight, to see if she could maintain some dignity.
But then...
Thinking of this, Eve couldn\'t help but glare at Amy.
This traitor!
Amy remained calm, showing no signs of remorse for betraying her Queen Majesty.
Since the queen was too proud to admit defeat, Amy, as her most loyal minion, naturally had to help her.
…
With Charles having already set an example by making an example out of someone, Eve\'s authority as the Elven Queen had risen significantly.
So, when she issued the summons, it took only a few minutes for the top leaders of the Forest of Elves to rush to the palace hall.
The blood on the duel platform hadn\'t even been cleaned yet, and no one dared to challenge Eve\'s authority at this moment.
However, Ethan didn\'t show up.
It was said that he was sick and resting in his treehouse.
When some of the top leaders arrived, they discreetly glanced toward Ethan\'s treehouse and noticed two of the Queen\'s guards standing in front of his residence.
Sick?
No one believed it!
In the hall, the senior leaders frequently glanced towards the entrance.
Those close to Ethan were mentally rehearsing how to explain their past dinners with him to Her Majesty.
The members of Ethan\'s faction were even more anxious, fearing that Eve would settle scores with them later.
They didn\'t have to wait long. Charles, along with Eve and Amy, arrived outside the palace. Immediately, they bowed deeply and respectfully greeted, "Greetings, Queen Majesty, and Mr.Charles!"
Charles and Eve didn\'t respond and walked straight into the hall, while Amy shot them a cold glance.
The group shuddered, unsure whether they should straighten up.
At the head of the hall were two thrones, specially prepared for Charles and Eve.
To everyone\'s astonishment, Charles took the highest seat.
Even more shocking was that the Queen Majesty and Captain Amy didn\'t seem to mind at all!
This lord was indeed extraordinary!
Eve slowly sat down beside Charles, her brows slightly furrowed, feeling a lingering discomfort. However, she didn\'t dare show it in front of her subordinates.
Feigning calm, she said, "Everyone, please take your seats."
As she spoke, Eve\'s delicate and noble face radiated authority. With the crown and her elegant elven dress, she exuded an air of nobility and grace.
The senior Elves sat down cautiously, like primary school students in class, their backs straight and fully attentive, as if they were afraid of missing a single word.
In the past, these people were all notoriously difficult to please, but now, under Charles\'s intimidation, they were as obedient as could be.
Eve scoffed internally and instinctively puffed out her chest.
Watching Eve flaunt her borrowed authority, Charles simply smiled, curious to see how she would perform.
Eve surveyed the crowd with a calm demeanor and said in an even tone, "You all understand what the end of the newbie protection period signifies. I won\'t elaborate further."
"The issue at hand is that with our current strength and development, the Forest of Elves is unlikely to survive this impending catastrophe."
"I can\'t stand by and watch the Forest of Elves fall into peril. Therefore, after discussing with my consort, I have decided to merge the Forest of Elves into his domain for mutual growth and strength."
"I\'ve summoned you all here today to announce this decision."
Pausing for a moment, Eve added, "You heard me right, it\'s an announcement, not a discussion!"
After being stifled for so long, Eve found it exhilarating to speak with such confidence.
Perhaps being on the subordinate side wasn\'t so unbearable after all...
The room erupted in uproar upon hearing Eve\'s words.
Merge the Forest of Elves into the Zerg territory?!
The senior Elves were filled with disbelief and even anger.
The idea of their Elven Queen marrying an outsider was hard enough to swallow, but now she wanted to make the Forest of Elves a vassal to another Overlord, and a filthy, lowly Zerg at that!
As members of the noble and pure Elven race, this was something they could never agree to!
An Elven elder immediately stood up, his face filled with agitation. "Queen Majesty, please reconsider. As noble Elves..."
But before he could finish, Charles, sitting at the head, slightly lifted his gaze.
"Boom!"
In an instant, an immensely terrifying aura emanated from him!
The overwhelming pressure from the Zerg Overlord made everyone in the hall momentarily lose their breath.
The hall fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Charles looked down at the elder who had just spoken, his gaze calm and his voice unhurried. "I\'m sorry, I didn\'t quite catch what you just said. Could you repeat that for me?"
The atmosphere in the hall immediately grew tense.
The words of the Elven elder stuck in his throat, but he couldn\'t bring himself to speak.
Under Charles\'s gaze, he felt as if he were being watched by a terrifying dark creature, an oppressive force like a tsunami crashing down on him, leaving him breathless.
Cold sweat appeared on the elder\'s forehead, visible to everyone.
He suddenly remembered that the one now ruling the Forest of Elves was no longer the kind and beautiful young Queen.
But a Zerg Overlord known for his decisive and terrifying power!
The other elders, who had been about to speak, swallowed hard and chose to keep their mouths shut.
The entire dynamic in the hall shifted instantly because of Charles\'s single sentence.
Eve\'s beautiful eyes sparkled, her heart pounding, and her gaze almost dripping with admiration. My consort is so domineering, I love it!
Amy was also surprised.
My consort is clearly just a low-tier Overlord, yet his aura surpasses that of many high-tier Overlords.
Could this be the so-called kingly presence?
In the hall, the Elven elder frantically thought of a way to salvage the situation.
Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he quickly changed his tone. "Your Majesty, as a member of the Forest of Elves, I fully support Your Majesty\'s wise decision! It is an immense honor for me to serve under such a magnificent ruler!"
Saying this, the Elven elder directly knelt down, bowing his head to the ground.
Sweat poured from his forehead like a stream, quickly forming a small puddle on the floor.
"Heh," Charles chuckled. He had been prepared to kill a few people to make a point, but he hadn\'t expected this elder to be so astute.
Noticing that Charles had shifted his gaze away, the elder kneeling on the ground let out a long sigh of relief, realizing he had narrowly escaped disaster.
He then noticed that his back was drenched in cold sweat.
Charles\'s aura was simply too terrifying.
The kind of pressure that came from the depths of one\'s blood and soul, leaving no room for resistance.
In the hall, as others saw Charles\'s eyes upon them, they collectively shuddered.
No longer caring about anything else, they followed the elder\'s lead, kneeling and choosing to submit.
In an instant, the hall was filled with the sight of Elven leaders collapsing like seaweed, until no one remained standing.
Together, they loudly proclaimed, "Long live the wise Majesty, the mighty King!"
Their voices echoed thunderously throughout the grand hall.
Seeing this, both Eve and Amy were a bit stunned.
Although they knew things wouldn\'t go terribly wrong, they hadn\'t expected the process to go this smoothly.
Looking at the Elven leaders kneeling below, Eve couldn\'t help but sneer, "A bunch of opportunists. These elders used to lecture me about honor and righteousness, but now that Charles has shown his strength, they all kneel and bow. Truly a bunch of hypocrites."
Amy nodded in agreement.
She remained the most loyal.
Charles, however, wasn\'t surprised.
In his past life, he had struggled for years in the Realm of Chaos and knew very well what the Continent of Overlord was like.
On this continent, there was no such thing as racial honor or ethical principles, only the rule of the strong and the pursuit of interests.
As for those who loudly proclaimed their righteousness, most were merely trying to protect their own interests under the guise of justice.
The high-ranking members of the Forest of Elves had joined because Eve had granted them certain privileges within the territory when recruiting strong individuals.
Now that Charles wanted to merge the Forest of Elves into his Zerg domain, the first thing he planned to do was reclaim their powers without offering any benefits in return.
Wasn\'t this essentially taking advantage of them for nothing?
Naturally, these high-ranking members were extremely unwilling.
Trusting their words would likely lead to an unknown and unfortunate demise.
With the issue of the high-ranking members resolved, the next step was to sign the vassal contract. Eve had already prepared this long ago.
Charles glanced at it and saw that it was a binding contract that disallowed betrayal. He nodded slightly.
If the territory were compared to an enterprise, Charles\'s Zerg territory would be a personal enterprise, while the Forest of Elves would be a collective one.
Once the members of the Forest of Elves signed this vassal contract, the Forest of Elves would become a subsidiary under Charles\'s personal control.
At that point, the high-ranking members of the Forest of Elves would be rendered useless, and they could stay or leave as they pleased.
Charles signed his name on the Overlord\'s side of the contract.
Despite their reluctance, the other elders, fearing for their lives, grudgingly signed the contract as well.
No matter how important power was, it wasn\'t worth more than their lives!
In the end, only the second elder, Ethan, remained.