I Would Never Betray the Kingdom!

After the brief interruption, Haotian asked, "What has Aubrey sent you to do?"

"Reporting to the lord..." The ratman envoy dared not correct Haotian's disrespectful way of referring to their king, quickly adding, "Aubrey hopes to form an alliance with you."

"You are aware that the desert we inhabit is currently plagued by undead."

"Everywhere, there are evil undead."

"In the Shalin region, the number of undead has surpassed a hundred thousand, and there is an incredibly powerful undead knight army ravaging the area."

"These undead are severely damaging the ecosystem of Shalin."

"Countless magical beasts and animals have been slaughtered."

"Even large swaths of fruit trees are being corrupted by necrotic energy."

"If we could gain your support, with your formidable Golden Gryphon Knight Army stationed in Shalin, combined with our ratman forces, we could certainly cleanse the undead completely!"

In the past few days, the number of undead in the wild had surged again.

The extraordinary-level Royal Holy Judgement Knight clearly miscalculated initially.

Despite hunting relentlessly, the Royal Gryphon Knight Army had already killed tens of thousands of undead creatures but still couldn't clear all the undead near the Golden Oasis.

It felt like an endless battle.

Moreover, the ratman envoy had set out from the Ratman Kingdom early the previous morning. The reason it only arrived at the Golden Oasis today wasn't because of its short legs but because of the undead everywhere.

Every time it encountered an undead group, it had to take a detour.

This undead outbreak was far worse than anyone anticipated.

Haotian said, "As a peace-loving lord, I also wish to form an alliance with your Ratman Kingdom. But unfortunately, my territory is not as powerful as your kingdom."

"My Golden Gryphon Knight Army can only clean up the undead around the oasis for now."

"There's no extra strength to send to Shalin to fight alongside your forces."

The ratman envoy hurriedly said, "Respected lord, your Golden Gryphon Knights are the rulers of the sky. It won't take them long to fly to Shalin."

"How about this..." Haotian said calmly, "Once my army has cleared the undead around the oasis and resolved the crisis here, I will consider sending them to Shalin."

The ratman envoy fell silent. It could tell this was Haotian's excuse.

The undead buried beneath the desert were waking up in endless numbers.

When would they be completely eradicated?

It was evident that this human lord occupying the Golden Oasis did not want to ally with the Ratman Kingdom. He might even hope to see the kingdom suffer heavy losses in this undead crisis.

The ratman envoy said, "I understand. I will convey your words to our king."

"In that case, I shall take my leave."

"No need to rush." Haotian smiled lightly.

As he spoke, the gnoll Aguz dragged the ratman envoy, who was about to leave, back.

The ratman envoy trembled with fear.

What now? Since the alliance failed, was he going to kill the rat?

He knew he shouldn't have come.

The ratman envoy, shaking, asked, "Respected human lord, what else do you require?"

Haotian suddenly changed his approach, smiling, "Do you wish to live or die?"

The ratman envoy was terrified, "Lord, I am an envoy from the Ratman Kingdom. You can't kill me!"

Haotian replied, "The ratmen who intruded on my territory without permission have already been executed." With that, he nodded at the gnoll Aguz.

The lackey ran out of the hall and quickly returned, indicating the task was done.

"Spare my life, lord!" The ratman envoy turned pale with fear.

Haotian smiled, "Don't be afraid. I'm giving you a chance to live."

The ratman envoy quickly said, "Respected lord, as long as you spare me, I will do anything you ask!"

"Excellent!" Haotian's face lit up with a smile. "Now, you need to kneel before me, swear allegiance to the Golden Oasis, and become my subject. Then you may leave."

"Become your subject?"

"What, you're unwilling?"

"No, no, no..." The ratman envoy shook his head hastily. It thought, even if it swore allegiance to the Golden Oasis, its heart would remain with the Ratman Kingdom.

An oath could not bind a mere ratman.

Did this human lord not realize that?

"Lord, is it really just swearing allegiance?"

"Of course!" Haotian nodded.

Seeing this, the ratman envoy knelt on the hall floor without hesitation and pledged to become Haotian's subject.

"Very well, you may rise!" Haotian beamed.

The ratman envoy reflexively stood up.

Then Haotian asked, "What is the situation with the dragon, Charles?"

The ratman envoy replied, "Reporting to the lord, Charles has been healing in our kingdom's forbidden area. Only King Aubrey and those delivering food can see it."

"What is the dragon's level?"

"I don't know, but there are rumors it has reached the holy rank..." The ratman envoy confessed everything.

It didn't understand why it was being so compliant.

Haotian pondered and said, "When you return to the Ratman Kingdom, your task is to gather information about the dragon, Charles. I need to know everything about that dragon."

"Yes, my lord..." The ratman envoy's expression froze.

What was happening?

It should have refused!

It didn't want to be a spy, especially regarding the dragon, Charles, which was a taboo in their kingdom.

Haotian waved, "You may go."

Then he told the gnoll Aguz, "Send a squad of desert coyotes to escort it to the Shalin region."

"Yes, master!" The gnoll Aguz quickly dragged the ratman envoy, who was now questioning its existence, out of the town hall.

...

"From now on, you are one of us!" The gnoll Aguz patted the ratman envoy's shoulder at the city gate. "Remember the lord's orders when you return to the Ratman Kingdom."

"Yes, it is an honor to serve the lord!" The ratman envoy nodded repeatedly.

It then mounted a leader-class desert coyote and sped away.

"What a joke!"

"I would never betray the kingdom. I am part of the kingdom's upper echelon!"

"..."

"But if it's just gathering a bit of information, it shouldn't be considered betrayal, right?"

"Yeah, definitely not!"

"By the way, there are many treasures in King Aubrey's vault. If I get the chance, I could bring some back for the great lord..."

"Damn, what am I thinking?!"

"I would never do such a thing..."