King's Rule: Creating the Strongest Kingdom With My Broken Talent-Chapter 48: Method B, Encounter In The Ocean

"I have a feeling we may have to use non-peaceful methods for this kingdom, father," Prince Hugo muttered as he looked at the state of the city.

The guards leading them heard it, but didn’t care. Their eyes were lifeless, with little to no hope. They were just following orders numbly.

"There are people dead here in every street." The blue-haired assassin prince, named Baki Aurora, frowned as he detected not one, not two, but five dead bodies so far.

"They died because of no food and the harsh winter," one of the guards spoke. "Nobles and the royal family hoard the food and only give it out periodically. Many farmers have already left, and those who are here are held forcefully."

"Forcefully? How?" Synthia asked.

"Their families... are held inside the palace dungeon as slaves. If they don’t work... their family will be killed. If they work, they can live in the dungeon in a small house every day after working."

The group paused. They stopped walking.

"You think it’s worth having a meeting with these assholes?" Hugo coldly snorted. "Father, let’s send the message to start preparing for Method B."

"Do it," Vinz nodded.

Baki Aurora nodded as he infused mana into the Ananta ID wristband and contacted Rising Light City’s Governing Tower.

"We need Method B for this Yoffan Kingdom."

Method B.

A very simple way to abolish an existing kingdom without triggering disqualification.

There were many Root-rank powerhouses in Aurora Kingdom, so they became the proxy for Method B.

Once Method B was called for, the proxy began moving.

Proxy of what?

Proxy of Ananta Kingdom.

Step 1: Five people established a kingdom independently by occupying an empty territory and randomly naming it.

Step 2: They asked for unconditional aid from Ananta Kingdom, and Ananta Kingdom agreed, providing them with weapons.

Step 3: With the weapons and combat suits made by Vesh, the proxy powerhouses could launch a war on a kingdom.

The one to be disqualified would be this new kingdom, and not Ananta Kingdom.

This was the loophole.

"Let’s gather the assholes up for when the proxy powerhouses arrive here," Vinz said as he continued walking. "They can kill the kings and others altogether to free this kingdom from their rotten hands."

...

On the other hand, Vesh had arrived at the large southwest river that led to the southern ocean.

The location of Mugen Beast Kingdom.

"So many monsters," Vesh muttered as he saw beasts scattered everywhere in proper space and formations in this region.

But he couldn’t invade or launch an attack of any kind. Moreover, the enemy had promised to destroy Ananta Kingdom, so Vesh wasn’t interested in offering a hand of peace.

So he continued toward the ocean and soon dived down.

’World Map, activate.’

This was an SS-rank talent he had awakened, World Map.

It showed a 1000-kilometer radius in three-dimensional visual, meaning he could also see 1000 kilometers in depth and in the sky.

World Map had a free-will filter, meaning it could filter out whatever Vesh wanted to see.

’Show me Bloom-rank monsters and people on the map.’

Vesh saw many dots disappearing, leaving only a few on the map.

Two pulsing red dots that had the tag of [Bloom-rank] and fifty-four dots grouped up a hundred kilometers away.

Among those fifty-four dots, twelve were at Stem-rank, and the rest were at Root-rank.

’That’s quite a force,’ Vesh wondered and flew toward it.

Shortly, he arrived above the group of dots, several kilometers high up in the sky.

Below him, a big magic-powered ship was moving. No flag.

Vesh was curious.

Who were these people?

’What if the King of Mugen Beast Kingdom is on that boat?’ Vesh’s eyes glinted.

But he didn’t know the face of that king.

Only the voice.

An idea popped up, and Vesh moved.

...

Below on the boat, Harven was standing on the ship’s frontal deck, observing the ocean with magic flickering deep within his eyes.

His S-rank Beast Tamer had evolved to SS-rank Beast Dominator, which was why he could combine monsters.

But that was not all. He could also see trails of monsters on a specialized beast map and acquire all of their details and status by looking at them.

"There are Bloom-rank monsters that passed by this area. They are not far. I just hope they are not moving too fast and have taken a rest somewhere," Harven muttered.

His mutter was heard by people assigned to protect and guard him by King Talzon.

"That’s fine, but are you sure you can handle Bloom-rank monsters? Because we can’t. Nobody can."

Harven turned around and looked at the masked fellows. "No worries. Our ship is surrounded by 574 Root-rank monsters and 46 Stem-rank monsters. The last two days of hard work will help us suppress at least one Bloom-rank until I can dominate it with my talent. Since Stem-rank takes a full minute to dominate, Bloom-rank might take a full ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" one of the Stem-rank exclaimed. "Are you joking? Bloom-rank is a major step in power. Our force won’t be enough."

Harven narrowed his eyes. "But you lot must have something that can help me. Your King wants me to capture a Bloom-rank, and sent you with me. Surely, you didn’t come empty-handed."

"You are overestimating the capabilities of artifacts we have," a senior voice rang out from a red demonic masked person. "What we have can save our lives. It won’t help in suppressing a Bloom-rank monster."

"You lot are Stem-rank, and peak at that!" Harven snorted. "Surely, with my army and all of you, ten minutes is not too much. If we want to win against Ananta Kingdom, I need to combine a Bloom-rank monster with multiple aerial Stem-rank monsters."

Suddenly, Harven snapped his head forward. "Huh? Someone’s dying there."

Shortly, aquatic dolphins with blazing blue patterns surfaced on the left side of the ship, carrying a man with a cut-off leg and scarred face, barely breathing.

This person was naturally none other than Vesh.

"Huh, what is a Sprout-rank doing here?" Harven frowned.

’That voice. It’s him!’ Vesh stirred internally, but his body didn’t move an inch.

He had injured himself. Pain was annoying, but he had suffered worse under the intense training of King’s Rule.

He disfigured his face because he guessed that Harven might know his face.

Since Harven could share his senses, then he must have seen Vesh’s face when he sent the wolves to attack him.

The only reason Harven didn’t know that Ananta Kingdom belonged to none other than the person he had initially attacked was that Vesh and all others were covered in combat suits.

And now that he knew the person on this boat was Harven, Vesh opened his eyes.

"H-help."

Harven pulled him inside the ship.

"It’s a measly Sprout-rank. Just feed him to your monsters," one of the shadow guards casually said.

"I want to know his talents first," Harven approached Vesh and summoned a mystical golden bird out of nowhere that sat on Vesh’s head and dropped tears.

Vesh was not surprised, but startled.

’That’s a frigging Bloom-rank monster right there,’ Vesh internally frowned as he inspected the bird.

His World Map also blinked a red dot on the spot when the bird appeared.

"Oi, oi, that’s a Bloom-rank monster?"

The shadow guards were also surprised.

"Yes," Harven nodded. "I summoned it. But it doesn’t have combat capabilities. However, it can revive the dead if the dead person is at Bloom-rank and below, and less than 24 hours have passed since death."

The shadow guards were dumbfounded, and so was Vesh.

’This bastard has such a beast?’ Vesh’s eyes glinted.

"That’s crazy useful. In that case, we have a chance to capture a Bloom-rank monster," one of the shadow guards said in a sharp tone. "I have a talent that reduces my vitality by 99.99% in exchange for a 1000% potency boost to apply to anything. I dare not use it because it’s a 99.99% reduction, meaning I can die from minor things in that state."

"But I can use it to apply a potency boost to Senior Rofen’s Sealing Technique. It should be able to bind the Bloom-rank monster with a 1000% boost."

Harven’s eyes lit up.

"Perfect!"

Vesh, now fully healed, stood up.

"Perfect indeed." He nodded.

And suited up.

’Hey, mysterious voice. Answer me this question, please. I cannot invade other kingdoms, but I can kill people of other kingdoms if they are not in their territory, right?’

[Yes.]

Pin-drop silence descended on the ship as everyone saw a very familiar figure in a combat suit they could never forget, as it involuntarily invoked intense dread within them.

"Are you ready to die?" Magic surged around Vesh as his exotic Slime Sword appeared.

But the moment he finished speaking, Vesh saw the scenery disappearing, replaced by utter darkness.

"Initiate formation D1E! Destroy the target!"

All twelve Stem-rank burst into action.

Danger bells rang in Vesh’s head.

In an instant, Vesh felt death and his adrenaline shot up, his brain running thousand time faster.

’One attack. If this lands, my suit’s battery will hit zero instantly. I’ll be exposed to death.’

Problem was identified.

And so was the solution.