Chapter 3043: Returning To Card World
Chapter 3043: Returning To Card World
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Five Regions, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City
"Welcome, Your Highness," Cindy greeted me as soon as I stepped out of the Sky Blossom City Teleportation Hub.
"Like clockwork, there you are." I chuckled. "Are you working hard or hardly doing any work?"
Every time I used the teleportation hub, she somehow managed to be there waiting for me. I had no idea how she always timed it so perfectly. Though I had a pretty good idea why.
Regardless of her motives, I couldn’t deny that Cindy was one of the hardest-working employees in the New Empire. Her dedication was one of the biggest reasons the Teleportation Hub Project had become such a resounding success.
"Your Highness, with you taking care of all the difficult problems, there’s hardly any work left for the rest of us," Cindy replied with a playful smile, disguising her praise as a humble complaint.
"Talk to Diana," I said, shaking my head with a faint laugh. "The three of us should have dinner together sometime. Let me know when you’re both free."
"Yes, Your Highness," Cindy answered without hesitation. Her eyes sparkled like a star-filled night sky as she caught the meaning hidden beneath my casual invitation.
I hadn’t even left the Teleportation Hub before I found myself surrounded by the Field Marshal, Tess, Henricks, and several other senior officials. Judging by the professional expressions on their faces, none of them had come to welcome me.
"What happened?" I asked, though Hive Spirit actively updated me on the New Empire’s current affairs. After all, nearly a week had passed on the card world while I was rescuing the Froslings and the Half-bloods along with the other victims.
With Karl, the Emissary of Light, Sansa, Gedion having failed horribly in their mission to eliminate me. The Masters along with the Western and Southern Royalty had begun making aggressive moves against the New Empire.
Following our original plan, Tess, the Field Marshal, and the Freedom Fighters had successfully occupied the designated military bases along the western front and deep beyond the frontier.
As expected, however, the Southern Royalty had launched a fierce counteroffensive, backed by the Western Royalty and the central government under the orders of the Masters.
The situation had escalated far faster than anyone had anticipated. They had repeatedly tried to contact me, but every attempt had failed. While I had been in the Dark Realm and later the Void, I had been completely cut off from the Card World.
Unable to reach me, they had come to Sky Blossom City instead, hoping Anna, Susan, or Jaya would know when I was due to return. The moment word spread that I had arrived through the Teleportation Hub, they immediately rushed over, unwilling to waste even a single moment before delivering their report in person.
"Save it. I already know what’s happening. Do what you must," I said before walking past them.
There was no need for a report. The Hive Spirit had already kept me updated on everything. The external powers were simply testing us.
The New Empire was a newly born sovereign state, and they wanted to probe our strength, resolve, and the competence of our leadership.
From everything the Hive Spirit had shown me, our people were handling the situation remarkably well. The only real issue was that they were being far too hard on themselves.
Each of them wanted to exceed my expectations. On top of that, a healthy sense of rivalry had begun to develop among the leadership. That rivalry was precisely why they had rushed here in person instead of sending one of their proxies to brief me.
Since I already knew the situation was under control, I had little interest in entertaining their competition. There were far more important matters demanding my attention.
Of course, calling it a petty rivalry would be unfair. It was, in reality, a competition for influence. The greater the responsibilities someone carried within the New Empire, the greater their authority became. And the only person who could entrust them with more authority was me.
To earn that trust, they competed to produce the best results with the responsibilities they had already been given, hoping their accomplishments would convince me to place even more of the New Empire under their command.
I could understand Henricks and Tess. Both of them had always been ambitious. But Field Marshal Lorn?
That genuinely surprised me. I had expected her to stabilize the situation and focus on refining her Active Soul Control rather than joining everyone else in vying for greater authority.
"Phew..." Henricks let out a long sigh of relief as he watched the departing figure of their young ruler.
Tess and Field Marshal Lorn exchanged puzzled glances before turning to him. They had rushed all the way here expecting to report their accomplishments and, perhaps, earn a few words of praise. Instead, they had been completely ignored. What was there to be relieved about that?
"What’s with you?" Tess asked. Henricks looked at the two women in confusion before replying, "You’d be reacting the same way if you were in our shoes."
The Freedom Fighters had earned an infamous reputation throughout the New Empire of being lazy. It wasn’t that they sat around doing nothing. Far from it. Compared to the enormous resources, privileges, and authority His Highness had entrusted to them, however, the results they had produced simply weren’t enough.
At least, that was how they judged themselves. No one wanted to be the first group their young ruler considered expendable.
"I wonder what it is this time," Tess muttered, stealing a glance at Field Marshal Lorn, hoping the older woman knew what their young ruler was dealing with. She couldn’t imagine what could possibly be more important than the New Empire or his campaign of world domination.
Lorn slowly shook her head quietly saying, "Whatever it is, I am sure it’s something important and only His Highness can handle."
There was no disappointment in her voice. Only certainty. If he had dismissed them without so much as hearing their report, then it could only mean one thing. He trusted them enough to handle the affairs of the New Empire on their own while he dealt with matters that no one else could shoulder.