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The Way of The Silver Sea
Chapter 50 - What the hell does Renos want?! (Was zur Hölle Renos wollen?!)

Chapter 50 - What the hell does Renos want?! (Was zur Hölle Renos wollen?!)

The damaged F-150 revved its engine as the warp opened, flashing illuminating light from within. A brief gust dispersed from the warp, cleaning any debris or particles as bits of dirt spit out of the warp back into the realm. Everyone waited until the gust ceased, and Julius pulled down the gear stick to drive, moving the pickup truck. Empress Cai, Solomon, and Celeste were inside the truck. They succumbed to the seat’s comfort, with most of their bodies appearing to fall asleep.

“Here we go,” Julius muttered, pressing on the gas pedal after Mr. Kang gave a thumbs up.

“Back home,” Empress Cai whispered in a tired voice.

The truck sped through the bright light, overwhelming the windshield. In a blink, they arrived back on the plains with the palace in sight. Finally, it’s done. Julius thought and breathed. He felt accomplished as everyone had made it through the first level of the Merit Universe. Giving a little space, he then pushed the brake as the front wheel turned right. “Why are we stopping?” Solomon asked.

“Waiting…waiting…for them,” Julius replied in a mumbling tone while staring at the Merit Universe’s Grand Dual Gate entrance. He actually waited until everyone had made it out of the realm, returning to Longyue. Sniff. What the heck is that smell? His nose started to get ticklish after a pungent scent sprinted right into his nostrils. He went off, grabbing the water bottle from the center console’s cup holder. The trashed and half-cut bottle held in the last gulp of clear water; he poured it all over his face while leaving some into his mouth to quench the dryness of his throat as the symptoms spread downward from the nasal cavity. Awkwardly, he felt an internal punch up, causing him to pull the gear to park and thrust his door open.

An expulsion of air left his mouth and nose that expelled a bang of an echo. The unintended spot of grass got shunned off from the ground, exposing empty brown dirt. The high decibels from the echo rang in everyone’s ears. Possibly a region of Longyue simultaneously heard it. “Excuse me,” Julius said and wiped his nose of blue blood.

“Please tell me that’s not how you sneeze,” Solomon commented, cringing from the sting in his ears.

“No, this is a first. I guess there was some blood residue needed to depart. That smokey smell was all it needed.” Julius stared at his wrist where the spots of dark blue blood lay. He wiped it away, and the grand dual gate closed. Everybody made it out of the realm and safely stood, breathing the fresh air of Raal’s atmosphere. Mr. Kang, who was clenching his teeth from the bang sneeze, went right up to the truck.

“I’m leaving first with Feng, Yin, and the rest of the house. There’s another message I had to risk waiting until after, so I will send an update if anything urgent,” Mr. Kang said quickly before giving a hand wave. He paced out with a hand gesture to his house of cultivators. Thus, they departed from the hill pretty fast, leaving the rest watching them descend.

“What kind of message does the House of Kang have? And why are they having it first?” Empress Cai wondered.

“That’s because Feng being in the Secretary of Defense position, it would make sense for the House of Kang to be involved in numerous international and information management policies. So, I put them with Mr. Kang in charge of interpretation and interception of any incoming deliveries into our territory.”

“Anything else you should be telling me?”

Julius shook his head. “No. But you’re welcome to all my meetings unless I say otherwise... This whole dynasty is so broken. Therefore, everything is progressively developing and takes a discovery route to understand the situation…Going back to that message, the House of Kang left to go review, I hope it’s not another bad news.”

The F-150 went back into drive while the source of the smokey smell revealed itself from the hood, blocking all the view provided by the windshield. Julius hopped out while jerking his head away from getting another whiff. He placed his forearms under the truck’s chassis, lifting it into the air, and nudged his body under. His shoulders braced like stones before two tons landed on his newly massive wide hands that he gained after his height increased following his duel against Qiang.

Julius ascended into the air and ordered everyone to head back. The grand dual gates dissipated from the scenery, reverting back to the clusters of fog lingering on the greenery hill. He flew away with the truck on his shoulders as the crowd departed.

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“Holy hell. I had a gist of what budget mismanagement could be for some time. But this? This is a travesty for how much it went off. In fact, how the dynasty survived for this past century is baffling and unbelievable!” Julius ranted, before looking at Empress Cai. “Additionally, now that I think about it, your time as reign was only ceremonial by name. Multiple sects and families, along with the old men officials by your side that we killed, controlled Longyue. In reality, you never had experienced true power until they were incinerated.”

Empress Cai, who sat to Julius' left, was stunned despite she should have been aware of that before long for his arrival. Bizarrely, her obvious body language with her head down and sighs sent the message to him. That got him riled. He rotated his chair to the wide bulletin board, where a scarred map hung on display. What drew on the surface were impressively massive and diverse landforms scattered across one continent. The land and bodies of water took up nearly a hundred percent of the map. Anybody who can't read characters would assume multiple countries shared the continent.

He turned back to the table with his finger pointed directly at the map. “This is what I can't stand. So many fragments and disunity because all these individual families have the freedom of their own land. They don't even have to listen to their lead. This isn't a dynasty. This isn't a country or an empire. It's only groups who can give less crap about anybody else other than themselves who unfortunately share the same history with us. There might be exceptions like my discovered paternal family. But we have to hell force them one day at our demands,” he added and lifted his upper body back up after slumping on his chair.

Among the present ones at the meeting, at least twenty attended; a room where it was before used rarely, now has a new purpose, because the residence seemed too small and unwise to hold such a meeting. Dark colors overtook this room without fault. Whoever designed the interior must have loved the gothic or separated themselves from the rest of society and appeared to be illuminated by color. Julius asked Empress Cai about the origins of this room at the beginning of the meeting, and she responded with her naivety about it. At least an opinion, but she was quiet. Solomon, of course, very vocal himself, thought of the place to be homey; likely connected with his blacksmith's history, and tended to confide in and embrace the darkness. Others added their opinions, one word at the minimum after Solomon finished his. In turn, that was embarrassing for Empress Cai.

The realization she never really connected with things in a tiny detail or with many people that Julius himself felt her pity. He had acknowledged and appreciated her battle wits and personal advice to individuality. Her first impressions when he arrived at Longyue for the first time were impressive as he got shunned down by her aura of display. It was disappointing to find out that wasn’t the case with other expertise like academics, history, and social constructs which Julius had more performance. His few years of tenure experience as the Chief of Operations in Colemond kicked in the moment he gained any authority in the West Cai Dynasty, and only grew since he became the authority figure.

The table was lengthy, as long as a couple of planks of wood tied together at the butt end. The space provided wasn’t quite expansive enough to where it kept all the attendees spaced apart from each other. It had an occupancy of fifteen, which were all taken. Beyond the fifteenth had to figure out their ability to last the whole meeting, already gone past an hour. Julius wanted to give them seating, but a couple of them denied his offer. Many remained stood, leaving a few who had prominent knowledge in qi that they summoned seats for themselves. The theory of manipulating and forming items like furniture by using qi remained in his thoughts.

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Everybody, excluding Julius, was in heavy distress, as the constant reactions from Julius in the meeting, until now, were negative and critical. This was the first time they heard him with such words and actions verbalized through an open space. He was right to be this infuriated. The budget mismanagement wasn’t the only issue. It was the letter that Mr. Kang, Feng, and Yin received that enraged him the most. When they rapidly departed, Julius hoped for nothing serious bad news, only to be confronted minutes later. Feng came with a torn envelope with the paper hung by the grip of her angsty fingers. She had no emotion in her appearance, making it odd for someone to be at a level of extrovert. Feng wanted to confirm the written intentions. He took the envelope from her and began reading it. Having it straight to the point was probably a big mistake because the intentions were clear. Funny enough, since it was from Renos, the primary language was Kriegyu. He then read from top to bottom:

Unter der Herrschaft von Königin Gertrud, wir drangen Südcaifischerdorf ein. Wir wollten Südcaifischerdorf nicht aufgeben, weil wir Fische aus Golf von Kaltstrudel (冷漩涡) liebten. Das Dorf ist unser Kontrollieren. Nein Wettbewerb! Einen schönen Tag noch!

Königin Gertrud

Königreich Renos

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

[Under the orders of Queen Gertrud, we invaded South Cai Fishing Village. We didn’t want to give up South Cai Fishing Village because we loved the fishes from the Gulf of Cold-Vortex (冷漩涡). The village is our control. No contest! Have a nice day!

Queen Gertrud

Kingdom of Renos]

After Julius read the letter, he placed it on the table, followed by a nod to Feng, who went and called all who held formidable power to attend. All the prominent senators that were voted into position weeks ago; The House of Kang members, academics, polymaths, a couple journalists, and opponents of Empress Cai’s father who was still alive today and escaped prison during the Raid of Longyue. In reality, the room could probably be almost as much as the senate session in the Main Palace given by the area. When she left, Julius turned the torn envelope, revealing “Kaiserin Cai” written in ink on the front space; indicating the letter was supposed to be sent long ago, at least before the raid. That could have been any time. The suspicion and his rant began after placing down the envelope.

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The disunity between all regions within the West Cai Dynasty had proven to bring an intended consequence that led to reigniting conflicts. If it was intended to be a dynasty by definition, the southern and southwest areas should have been able to deter them back. So, it was a geopolitical failure. Another awkward embarrassment piled up in the pile of unfortunate mistakes.

“How do you anticipate a successful campaign to get back the South Cai Fishing Village? Many of the fish in our food come from the Gulf of Cold-Vortex. Since we lost it and under Reno’s rule, chances are all the way where the supply will be low, and prices will spike off the roof. Can you share your potential plans that might be in your cup of tea?” The male journalist asked with an empty page in one hand while the other gripping the pen.

Julius sighed, leaning right on the chair. He revolved halfway repetitively and glared at the map multiple times before he stopped, facing back at the journalist. “I’m aware, and my diet is pretty heavy. At least two dishes per meal. The average nutrients in Longyue at least are still less than mine. The issue is that won’t be for long as the enlistments and number of cultivators will increase. Consequently, more knowledge of qi means higher necessity intake. The other issue is I don’t think the supply will recover quickly. South Cai Fishing Village is far down in the Southwest. We have to figure out the backup plan to keep the efficient number at equilibrium as possible.”

“Have you considered the chicken as a substitute?” The journalist asked the next question.

“Which kind of chicken?” Julius asked, leaning his head on his hand.

The one senator at one of the fifteen seats raised his hand. “I think he meant the brown striped. The giant ones.”

“That’s an odd request, Senator Cheng.”

“I know because the Tang family’s region lived far out in the West Cai Dynasty, we depended a lot on that kind of diet. It’s nutritious, quickly filling, and economically efficient.”

“No, I know. But it’s an odd request because I heard these are from those prideful farmers who are insanely hard-headed and not that open. Maybe with you guys ain’t a problem, but as an entire nation. That’s gonna be some trouble based on how I interpret this…Can we invade it?”

Senator Tang Cheng’s lips closed, followed by a deep breath. He wanted to say something, but it was almost like he had to restrain himself. Julius pulled an empty sheet of paper out. “Is my family that dependent? How about the neighboring regions? Do they have a dependence on the Brown-Striped Chickens?”

A moment before he nodded, letting out a breath out of his mouth. “I’m making a sacrifice.”

“I see. Well, we will figure out to keep the supply maintained between you and the neighboring regions before pushing to that planned objective,” Julius said, writing something down on the paper in hard ink from his pen. “When you have to go back, take this note and give it to my aunt. I hope she understands. If you can bring a response back as quickly as possible, I would appreciate that.” He folded the paper and handed it to him. “Also, welcome to the senate.”

“Thanks.” He took the note, putting it in his inner pockets.

“You’re allowed to leave at any time.”

Senator Tang Cheng stood from his seat. “I’ll go now.” He departed from the room along with Tang Li Mei, who was present too. She wasn’t as interested in politics as her brother Tang.

“Are we going to wait for him?” Solomon asked.

“Mhm. I don’t want careless mistakes that put us into shambles…Returning to the village problem, anybody here got further intel beyond this letter and the territory the Kingdom of Renos stole?”

The journalist and Mr. Kang raised their hands. Julius prompted Mr. Kang to share first. Since the village has barely two thousand residents, the enemy overwhelmed them by an advantageous four thousand, doubling the amount. Additionally, a rarity for any town or city, there are no cultivators or minimal defense setup. The Journalist has nothing to say since he got the same intel.

Qiang leaned on her chair, moving to the topic of training measures. “After this meeting, you should start restrained strength training as soon as possible. As we don’t want any unintentional damages because you got an overflow.”

Julius rubbed his chin while thinking about what to do next. Should I call it? He wondered while Qiang stated her point on the topic. Environmental scenarios… He thought about it until Qiang finished after the period. “South Cai Fishing Village is dependent on water, which is blankly obvious. I was thinking…maybe I can’t go down there in secret yet,” he said while glaring around the scene if that one specific person was present. “…Yeah…You Victoria. I think you should go. Not alone, but you are fit for this mission.”

Victoria broke off her emotionless expression, startled by her sudden assignment. “Woah. Why me? I don’t think I’m ready.”

“I’d rather have at least a small group to head down. The reason I chose you is that you are a water-based cultivator. The issue is that the amount who had experienced water is relatively low.”

“What is your plan?”

“Take the chance. The goal is to gather intel about the situation, so you have to sneak in. Anybody willing to volunteer, you may do so; for the sake of your country and food you love.”

A couple of cultivators stepped forward, offering to join. They’re not the ones wearing black robes with custom plates, so they are not from the House of Kang and are very independent of any house. As Julius accepted their considerations, an idea came to his head. Another realization of how bad it sounded was that there was no national military. Things started to make sense. Too much independence within the capital which logically caused this raid to progress. Many individuals seemed to not agree or cooperate was one theory he could think of. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a conclusive answer, as most of the written records or evidence of their livelihoods were charred and burned with the raid. For now, only opinions, reactions, and theories could potentially lead somewhere. So, he wrote some more on a separate sheet of paper, now handing it to Feng. “Create the national armed forces,” he said to her. “You have that authority to call it under my will.”

“We don’t have enough men,” she said upon grabbing the paper. She saw his signature of approval with a couple of short sentences written above. “…I understand. A progressive method.”

Julius nodded. “The more territories we unite. We will force it somewhat…Drain them of the ones that wanted to break away from their superiors and join us because this whole autonomy of cultivators is absolutely ridiculous.”

Feng agreed, and Julius asked for the numbers. The former doesn’t have the exact meaning except for Longyue. The ones that came to train at Level One of the Merit Universe added to more than fifty percent of the total forces, while the rest were ordinary citizens. Hence, the surviving population added up to around sixty thousand. It estimated that before the raid, there were around four hundred thousand, an eighty-five percent drop. The journalist noted that many survivors are still in their youth, as he interviewed a couple and brought it to the headlines in the latest release of the bi-weekly newspaper series. Julius pulled it out from the stack of papers on the table. Two interviews and a story could only fit on the given spot on the page. Darn. I can’t imagine the pain. He reflected back on his youth alone, starting from the ground up after his parents were gone. “I can relate to these two unfortunate teenagers. I have lived solely since I was thirteen. It was a struggle, but I’m not going to take any of it away because it showed me the reality of unpredictable outcomes…Where are these two now?”

The journalist flipped a couple pages of his notebook, looking down between the lines. “I interviewed them two days ago. They were in their homes, doing their chores.”

“Alone?”

“The girl was reading, and the boy was cooking. The two had a job to make amends. Both recalled it ain’t that much, but it was enough to get through five meals.”

Almost two days? Julus thought, rubbing his forehead. “Arrange a time for them to meet me. Schedule a time for the two to arrive at…” he turned to Empress Cai. “Where do you want me to train?”

“At Longyue Central Park, it’s open all and every day of the week.”

“Then have them meet me there. “You’re free to go as you wish,” Julius said, then turning to Solomon for any last information. “Anything else before this session concludes?”

“When are we drafting the bill?”

“As soon as possible. I want each of you to write the stuff deemed necessary and hand it to me when it’s finished. At my residence, at best. Anything else?” Julius asked, standing up from his seat.

The partner journalist, who was quiet until now, had one and raised her hand. “When are you planning to expand beyond the fifty cultivators?”

“Once I receive all drafts for the bill and review, I’ll have the senate convene and as long as it passes the fifty percent mark of approval, the process will proceed. That’s all I have. Thanks for attending, and all of you may leave.”

The room’s dual black doors opened, barging the daylight into the confined darkness’s space. Julius cleaned up part of his seating space, hauling all the junk to one side of the table and sliding it off into the trash can below. Empress Cai, Qiang, and Solomon stayed behind at their spots, while Victoria stood by Julius’s side with the two volunteer cultivators next to her. He questioned what she needed to ask. In response, she demanded to join him at the park. Confused, he looked at her and the rest of the room. Her tone made it appear as if he didn’t allow her to go. Subsequently, he quickly deterred her thoughts away, inviting her and others to follow to the central park as he didn’t recall anything preventing them from going.