Chapter 62 Evolutionary Power

"Open the treasure chest!"

As Alexander silently recited, a golden light flashed, and the golden chest slowly opened.

[Congratulations Lord Alexander for obtaining — Evolutionary Power]

[Evolutionary Power: Can effectively increase attribute values through exercise and other means]

Suddenly, Alexander felt a surge of heat throughout his body. He sensed that the activity of all his muscles had been activated, and every cell seemed to come alive. This sensation made him moan comfortably.

When he realized it, he noticed Victor and Herzog looking at him strangely.

Alexander coughed awkwardly and said, "Let's hit the road and return to the territory."

As Pig Lady left Roland City, Alexander coincidentally encountered King Hadser. Naturally, the old king had heard of Alexander's heroic deeds and insisted on giving him a portion of the spoils of war.

Alexander couldn't refuse and had to agree to the king's enthusiasm.

It was evident that the old man was in a good mood. He let Alexander pick whatever he wanted from his spoils.

Unexpectedly, Alexander didn't pick anything. Instead, he directly asked King Hadser for money, yes, he blatantly asked for money while pretending to be poor.

In Alexander's description, his territory, Calyus Village, was like a dead land: nine out of ten households were empty, the fields were barren, not a blade of grass grew, the imperial army invaded repeatedly, and banditry was rampant. It was simply impoverished to the core.

Moreover, he bravely fought against the enemy country, guarded the border, and countless brothers under his command died tragically. They died miserably!

Under Alexander's tearful description, even the scoundrel King Hadser felt very sympathetic. He didn't have much dinars with him, so Hadser and his men together raised 10,000 dinars to give to Alexander as construction funds for his territory.

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty, may the Holy Light continue to shine upon you. I believe that under your wise leadership, Saint Martin will be great again!"

Alexander received the dinars and immediately offered flattery without asking for money.

Mainly because King Hadser accepted everything without a word. In his view, he had made significant contributions to this battle, especially the final assault, which caught the enemy off guard.

I am truly the eternal saint of Saint Martin.

Alexander nodded in agreement beside him, "Yes, Your Majesty, you're absolutely right."

Just as the Kingdom of Saint Martin and the Kingdom of Veed declared a truce and Alexander set foot on his way back to Calyus Village, the situation in the Empire had also undergone drastic changes.

At this point, the Civil War of the Empire had entered its 3.0 mode. However, this time, the battle formation had changed: the Southern Empire and the Western Empire versus the Northern Empire, the Holy See of Light, and the Truth Church.

The cause of the conflict was Queen Laya and Duke Andrew leading the charge on the front lines, only for Laya's dear brother, Prince Charles, to betray her, attempting to eliminate his sister and become the sole legitimate heir to the empire. 

At a critical moment, Duke Andrew intervened, preventing Laya from potentially being eliminated. He cynically observed the sibling conflict, feeling it was a clear sign that the empire's days were numbered.

Damn it, you imperial waste, you actually want to take advantage of both families.

Duke Andrew and Queen Laya reached a consensus on the spot, stepping into a honeymoon phase. The two jointly issued a statement:

"Duke Andrew is the most esteemed vassal of Queen Laya. His loyalty, competence, and dedication to the empire throughout his life warrant a slightly larger fiefdom."

"Queen Laya is the most respected monarch to me. She is beautiful, kind, charismatic, and resolute. I am willing to fight for her and eliminate anyone who dares to covet her throne."

Just as they were preparing to march north and crush the Northern Empire, things took another turn. The Truth Church, supposed to be stranded in the Sanara Desert, unexpectedly resurfaced and circumvented to the rear of the Western Empire, attacking the castle on Duke Andrew's territory. 

Meanwhile, the Holy See of Light went even further, publicly declaring to all its followers: "Divine instructions have descended, proclaiming Queen Laya as a wicked heretic who must be eliminated by all. She is the source of debauchery, seduction, war, and famine."

They refused to recognize Queen Laya's divine status as the imperial monarch, instead labeling her as a usurper, claiming the true king should be Prince Charles, the son of the Dragon clan.

Why did these two suddenly change their stance? The reason was simple: Prince Charles promised them the opportunity to establish their own nations and offered financial assistance, albeit contingent upon them acquiring territories themselves. 

No religion could refuse the chance to establish a theocracy. Thus, the religious leaders collectively turned traitor.

The entire empire found itself plunged into a new round of civil war amidst this chaos.

In this great conflict, there was also an insignificant figure—the leader of the Black Spear Knights, Kemal.

Kemal had just finished bandaging his wounds and was leading his half-crippled troops to the border. Under siege by seven squads of the Holy See of Light's knights, escaping was already considered fortunate.

He feared for his own fate. By this time, he had already disassociated himself from the Truth Church, feeling like a wanderer without a destination. At one point, he even entertained the idea of becoming a mountain bandit, living off plunder.

But his inner resolve ultimately stopped him from doing so. He glanced at the map, choosing to head towards the Barloshan Kingdom, the closest to the three major empires, to await the changing tides.

He also worried about the fate of the empire. How long would this chaos and disorder persist? When would the war end? What did this endless war ultimately bring?

Kemal couldn't comprehend. Perhaps... it wasn't his own path that was wrong, but rather the country in need of redemption.

Alexander couldn't help but curse loudly, "Who the hell did this? Damn it!"

The reason for his anger was that when he rushed back to Calyus Village, he found it engulfed in flames once again, with his soldiers under heavy casualties, being treated for their wounds.

Geoffrey hobbled over, leaning on his sword, and said with suppressed fury, "My lord, we've been attacked!"

"Damn it, someone dared to attack our village? It must be the Barloshan Forest Rangers. Those bastards dared to attack us after the ceasefire, despicable!" Alexander gritted his teeth.

"Um, my lord, it's not the Barloshans. I saw their banners clearly. It should be the Forest Rangers of the Barloshan Kingdom," Geoffrey replied.

[Trigger Mission — Defeat the Forest Rangers]

[Mission Reward: Experience +10,000, System Coins +10,000, Golden Treasure Chest +1]

[Current Redemption Knight Order Ranking: 422, Forest Rangers Ranking: 372]

Once again, the system's voice rang out. Since the system had verified it, there was no doubt: the Forest Rangers were the ones who attacked Alexander and his group.