Chapter 7: Arrival and Easy Conquest (Part 3)

Alex O'Connell was worried about the condition of his family and Lin. He had found himself buried neck deep in the ground after he woke up and his head was covered in a box with holes to let the air in. The last thing he remembered that he was knocked out after that Wang fellow brought them before the old mummy. In midst of the severe headache he was experiencing, he remembered that it was the mummy who ordered Wang to knock them out. That mummy was very clever but he did not understand why he was kept alive as according to legends the dragon emperor was a cruel and ruthless person. Alex did not want to guess what was going through the rotten brain of that mummy. Alex was more worried where his family was. He tried to move but he could not budge an inch. Alex cursed the bastards who had tied him up and imprisoned him in such a manner. Alex decided to shout so that at least someone would come to check on him or hopefully someone from his family would reply. Alex shouted but only heard his muffled voice and then he noticed that his mouth was tied too. Alex once again cursed the bastards. Suddenly the box was lifted up and before he could see where his captors were, he felt searing pain in his head and the last thought in his mind was to teach the ass who had hit him a very painful lesson.

Alex woke up to the feeling of water being thrown at him. As he opened his eyes, he saw a group of soldiers surrounding him, one held a bucket and two were digging him out while the last one was pointing his gun at him. Alex was dragged and thrown in front of the tent. After sometime he heard familiar thumps of being thrown on the ground, Alex turned to his right and found his father, uncle and the old bastard lying on the ground, they were all tied up in similar manner. Alex then heard his mother's shout and turned to his left and saw his mother and Lin standing there covered in mud. Alex realised that they were also imprisoned in the same manner as him. Alex was incensed but Lin's anguished cry of mother attracted his attention and he saw a woman covered in blood and mud. The woman apparently Lin's mother was in much worse condition than them.

Alex's attention was attracted to that bastard Wang who said, " Well, all our esteemed guests are here. His majesty wants to meet you."

Alexander, after the departure of General Wang studied the connection between him and the terracotta army and the apparent immortality granted by the pool of life. The terracotta army was connected to him and till he remained alive, the terracotta army would remain immortal, even if they were vapourisd, they will reform. Alexander himself would remain alive till any single cell of him remains in existence. Thus, in theory he could survive nuclear explosion but Alexander did not want to test this theory any time soon. Also any soul attack can also kill him. Alexander remembered that Imhotep was offed in a similar manner. Alexander ordered 10 terracotta soldiers to stand guard inside the tent as he was going to meet the protagonists of this world. As General Wang brought them in front of him, Alexander said, " Can they understand me General Wang?" But Zi Yuan replied, " Yes, we can understand you. Don't you remember me, murderer?"

Alexander smiled and said, " Yes, I remember you, Zi Yuan. You were the one who cursed me." General Wang immediately pointed his gun at her. Alexander gestured the General to stop. While they were talking, Alexander ordered 500 soldiers and archers to surround the tent. Alexander knew that it was somewhat excessive but he was not going to take any chances.

Alexander then decided to kill the old traitor and threw a dagger at his head which he had in his robes. And from where did he get a dagger, in ancient times kings were buried with their weapons and moreover, when Zi Yuan cursed the dragon emperor he was in full battle armor. The reason Alexander killed the old man was because he was a traitor and to make himself mentally prepared to take similar actions in future. Even if he freezes up, he would be in no danger as all his enemies were tied up. This idea came to him suddenly and he immediately executed it before he got cold feet. Alexander nearly threw up at the sight of blood and brain matter flowing out but held it in, Alexander quickly sobered up and realised that as a conquerer of worlds he will kill or order the death of countless people.

Alexander turned to see that the protagnists were shocked and horrified at the ease and manner he killed the old man but Zi Yuan was calm.

She said to others in english, " See, he is cruel and ruthless and now that he is immortal he will stop at nothing."

Eve asked, " How can we stop him?"

Zi Yuan, " We will have search through ancient texts as I am sure there will be some way written there but first we have to escape."

Alex, " Escape but how? These bastards have tied us up tighter than a gift wrap."

O'Connell, " Son, we have our ways."

Alexander was glad that he did not reveal that he could understand them but now it was time to wrap this up. Alexander gestured the terracotta soldiers hiding in the dark corners of the tent to surround them. As the protagnists heard the heavy sound of soldiers moving, they paled when they saw the terracotta soldiers.

Jonathan exclaimed, " Where did they came from? and they look really tough, not like the rotting corpses I am used to see."

Eve, " I think that they were already here just standing at the back. Miss Zi, are these terracotta soldiers intelligent?"

Zi Yuan," No, they are not intelligent. They just follow the emperor's orders."

Alex, " This mummy is very intelligent. Dad, it seems that it is time to employ your ways."

O'Connell, " I am trying but these bastards have tied us very securely."

Any further discussions were stopped as the dragon emperor stepped forward.

Alexander was no more interested in listening to their plans of escaping and said in chinese, " Submit or die."

Zi Yuan hissed, " I would rather die than submitting, you rotten bastard."

Alexander, " No, you will not die that easily. I will have this little decendent of yours ripped apart like General Ming and then, you will die."

Alexander then further said, " No, I will not kill her. Last time, when I had General Ming killed, you cursed me. This girl will be my shield against you." Alexander then turned to the General who was standing at the back of the tent contacting his superiors as per his orders. Alexander had discovered a new thing, he could talk to his subjects telepathically and can also read their minds. Alexander found the reason of Wang's loyalty, Wang's ancestors were generals in the dragon emperor's army and that was the only noteworthy thing that his entire family line had done so he wanted to bring back the emperor to bring glory to his family. As the protagnists were talking among themselves, Alexander had relayed his orders to the General to contact his superior army officers. The good general was not a real general in the army, he always had seen himself as a general due to his family background so he had gained a group of followers in the army who called him General Wang.

Alexander, " General Wang, take this girl and two of my terracotta soldiers away. The immortal army is connected to me, if anything happens to me, changes will occur in my terracotta soldiers. If you see any changes happening to them then immediately kill this girl."

General Wang bowed in acceptance and took Lin and two of the terracotta soldiers away. The rest of prisoners tried to stop them but it was futile. Alexander could sense General Wang's shock when he saw 1,000 soldiers surrounding the tent and could imagine the expression of despair on Lin's face. Alexander then turned to Zi Yuan, " Will you submit or not?"

Zi Yuan hissed, " I submit to you, bastard."

As soon as she said this, Alexander felt a wave of power slam into him. Alexander marvelled, " The effect of a protagnists submitting is so big. I have gained about 20 percent of king's might from her. May be if all of them submitted then I can form the bridge already. " Alexander ignored her disrespect and turned towards the O'Connells and said, " You all are brave people and in front of me the brave ones always died first. But I will not kill you."

Eve, " Can you tell us the reason for this kindness?"

Alexander smiled and said, " General Wang told me that you are very knowldgeble about the ancient history of the world and fought with a revived person like me in a land called Egypt. You defeated that person by using a book. I want that book."

O'Connell, " That bastard Wang. What the hell!! why this rotten corpse want that book?"

Eve, " I think that he thinks that we can use the golden book to kill him and wants to acquire that book."

Jonathan, " But that book got lost in Hamunaptra. "

Eve glared at Jonathan and hissed, " That book was lost by you, Jonathan."

Alexander interrupted them and said, " I can see that you know something about the whereabouts of that book. But first, acknowledge me as your king."

Alex, " Why does he want us to do this acknowledging thing? He few moments ago forced Miss Zi to submit to him. Does this mummy has some kind of fetish."

Eve, " From where did you learn such disgusting words, boy. Once we get out of this we will have a long talk about your conduct."

Alexander yelled, " Answer me!!!"

Eve replied, " Okay!! we submit to you."

Alexander did not receive any king's might from the declaration. Alexander was perplexed at this but then thought since unranked kings have to personally recruit followers, it is possible that individual verbal declaration of submission is required. Alexander said, " I want to hear their submission from their own mouths, woman."

Eve," Just do as he says."

Then, the rest of them expressed there submission towards him. Alexander felt waves of power hit him and momentarily lost his bearings. When he regained his bearings, he saw the protagnists staring him strangely. Alexander realised that he was just standing there like an idiot but the power rush was too great. Alexander thought, " Now, I have sufficient power to form the bridge but I need to claim a part of the world as after claiming a part can I form the bridge. How can I do this?" As soon as he thought this, a new information seeped into his brain. Alexander realised that any land captured by his subordinates and retained for one week, will become a part of his kingdom and the people living on it will become his subjects. As his rank advances, the need of followers and time of retention would reduce but the amount of land needed to be captured would increase. The amount of area to be subjugated depends upon the rank of the king and the foreign world. A low rank king would need to conquer less on a higher ranked world. Another method was to fill the area of the land to be conquered with king's might and then, a challenge would be send towards all the beings living on that piece of land that are powerful enough to fight the king. If the king loses then the land would not be conquered and if the king wins then all the beings would become part of his kingdom. This method was not without it's risks as the king will suffer from severe backslash if he loses and will be weakened for a long period of time and another one was that one cannot know how many powerful people were living in that area so the king will lose if there are too many opponents as he has to fight continuously.

Alexander decided to use the second method as all the people that could challenge him in this world had submitted to him except Lin but Alexander had ordered General Wang to send her back. Soon Lin was brought in the tent by the terracotta soldiers. Lin ran towards her mother and others and said, " Mother!! We cannot escape from here."

Zi Yuan thinking that Lin had lost her courage said, " Don't be afraid, my little girl. We will definitely escape."

Lin, " Mother, you don't understand. The terracotta army is surrounding this tent from all sides."

Zi Yuan and others paled in shock. Zi Yuan, " The emperor is much more careful than before."

O'Connell said, " May be being cursed by you made him more careful."

Zi Yuan, " No, the emperor was an extremely arrogant fellow and after mastering the elements he wanted to defeat death. Such an individual would never fear ordinary people like us. The emperor is behaving differently then what I know. He who had people and their entire families killed because of tiniest slights, now, had offered us a chance to live. We who have many times to kill him and especially me who had cursed him. Something is not right."

Alex, " The emperor said you cursed him and you yourself admitted it but he was alive 2000 years ago. How is this possible?"

Zi Yuan, " I and my daughter are immortals."

Alex and the rest were shocked to know this, especially Alex when he realised that Lin was much older than him.

Alex, " So how old are you, Lin?"

Zi Yuan, " Lin is mine and General Ming's daughter."

Meanwhile Alexander was enjoying the live drama happening in front of him. Alexander then said, " Little girl, all your companions have submitted to me and now I thing you should also do so."

Lin turned to look at others and they all nodded. Zi Yuan said, " For now, just do as he says."

O'Connell, " This fellow is awfully fixated on this submitting thing."

Lin, " I submit, you rotten corpse."

Alexander laughed as he felt another wave of power enter into him. Now, he had sufficient power to simultaneously claim the part and establish the bridge.

Alexander thought that it was time to tell these people the truth and to proceed with his invasion plan.

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