Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 192 - 29: Family Motto Is——

Chapter 192: Chapter 29: Family Motto Is——

Alster was utterly disheartened.

"Are you planning a coup? A coup by one Black Iron Duke against another Black Iron Duke?" he asked.

Pine did not want to resort to this unless absolutely necessary.

This is Dragon Castle.

The master of Dragon Castle is Alster.

The Riptide Grand Duke still has a formidable army, a superhuman legion that rivals the Surging Wave Knight.

Once blood is shed at Dragon Castle, if Gael is deemed a traitor, the army belonging exclusively to Riptide will not recognize Gael.

He hoped to resolve this matter peacefully, without necessarily shedding blood at Dragon Castle.

Moreover, he held him in high regard. He used to look up with admiration at the tall and upright man, considering him a hero second only to the Conqueror.

But heroes will grow old.

But power must transition.

Now he is at a standstill, simply occupying a position without fulfilling it.

There is no longer a place for him at the top.

Although he could live another twenty years, extraordinary resources can nourish his body, help him prolong his life until he dies of old age.

But this is not the result everyone wants to see.

He can survive, but not as the Riptide Grand Duke.

"Alster, we shouldn’t have come to this point. The young you would have supported me, back then you were my hero. But later, you became depressed! Invisible things bound your hands and feet, you fell to this, and it didn’t have to be this way. Didn’t you feel any resentment? I don’t believe you have no regrets, what you can’t do, let me do it, okay?"

All lies.

Alster thought.

How could he be a dishonorable Oathbreaker?

Pine said this all to persuade him to help him.

He had to admit that his words were very seductive.

Every generation faces different problems, and their choices are also different.

When conflicts arise between two generations, ordinary people can still coexist.

But this is not the case for those in power.

They are engaged in a struggle concerning the future.

However, from the moment the Guardian Family disappeared, the political struggle between Riptide and Fury ended.

It ended the instant the Guardian Family’s flag fell last autumn.

At that time, he was only concerned with drinking and having fun, knowing nothing, doing nothing.

The fact is, Pine had accurately driven a sharp knife into the Riptide Family’s artery.

And he was too slow to react until Riptide Family’s most robust military force disintegrated.

As the one in power, he knew he shouldn’t have entrusted those affairs to others; he knew he was susceptible to being blinded and deceived.

He shouldn’t have been so sluggish.

Not to mention in his younger days, even twenty years ago, he wouldn’t have fallen to such a point.

But foolish things happened just like that.

"If the Black Iron King knew what you had done, do you know what would happen? We are ultimately the Conqueror’s vassals, you can’t hide this, Pine."

"Then let the Black Iron Land be torn apart!" he said. "Alster, the problems the Conqueror faced and the ones we face are different, we cannot follow in his footsteps, that goal has long lost its purity. Times change, we need a new path."

Alster did not doubt whether his power was sufficient to achieve this.

But he felt sorrow for Pine’s determination.

The first thing to shatter would definitely be the Conqueror’s order.

And without order, he could do whatever he wanted.

Nobody could stop him, the will of the Fury Grand Duke would flood this land.

The Riptide Grand Duke said, "What do you seek from me?"

The Fury Grand Duke looked him in the eye, "I want the Riptide Family’s legacy."

In his intense gaze, the face of the Riptide Grand Duke showed no expression, the folds formed by the piled-up fat did not tremble.

"I want to speak with Gael..." he said, closing his eyes.

The Fury Grand Duke was thoughtful, showing no anger or joy, but now he breathed a little easier.

He stood up, drawing the attention of everyone present.

Pine proclaimed loudly, "The Riptide Lord has agreed to fully cooperate with our war, and Lord Gael will fight alongside us!"

He was the victor, what he said was what it was.

The Riptide Grand Duke said nothing.

"A toast to our Riptide Lord!" The devoted supporter of the Fury Family, Earl El stood up and said loudly.

More than a dozen family representatives present and hundreds of peripheral Conquest Knights all got up in unison.

The nobles had some decorum, but the knights appeared somewhat coarse and brutal, leaving a mess of bones and debris after eating. They were warriors from all corners of the land.

The Fury Grand Duke downed the glass of wine, and then poured another.

"This toast, to the Black Iron King of the Conqueror Family, for the Conqueror Order!" Pine, with his seaweed-like messy hair, had a rough face that remained calm, with hidden currents flowing in the depths of his eyes.

Saying this, he poured the glass of wine on the ground.

Some nobles were puzzled, but at this moment, they could only follow suit, as there were no formal etiquette rules in this era, and the behavior itself was beyond reproach, coming from the heart was enough.

"For the Conqueror Order!" they all responded in unison.

The Riptide Grand Duke watched all this calmly, with both sorrow and helplessness.

...

After the banquet ended, he was carried back to the bedroom by the servants.

After Gael came in, he dismissed the servants.

Alster was not angry, he merely said, "Do you want my position?"

"Yes, Father," by now, Gael no longer pretended.

"I can give it to you. But you are not ready, and neither am I, Gael, had you spoken earlier, years earlier, told me earlier... Alas, what have you been waiting for all these years?"

Gael’s heart trembled, firmly holding onto the position of power, now being asked what he was waiting for?

"Since Pine left, and I had my fief, I never dared to make a mistake, worked diligently, did everything to perfection, yet you never gave me a glance, you never cared about my desires."

Gael felt distressed, after waiting for years, he received such a response, anyone would feel unwilling.

Alster’s eyes were filled with sorrow. "You lack courage, you are always waiting, but not striving for, how could I pass the position to you?"

Gael’s face turned cold to the point of being terrifying.

If he did say that, if he did do that, what would await him?

Everyone knew about his greed for power, who would give up a Duke’s rights while still alive?

"Gael, you are too similar, you and I are too similar, we are alike..." The Riptide Grand Duke spoke slowly.

"You are this land’s only Duke, whatever you say goes," Gael smiled bitterly.

"Not the same, do you think I’m suppressing you? Yes, I am suppressing you, but do you know what is pressing down on me? It’s the whole era...

"When I was young, I looked down on everything, because back then I was highly ranked, there was nowhere on this land to find someone more illustrious, younger, and more powerful than me.

"I once thought I was omnipotent, having everything, I was the darling of the times, but in the end?

"I lived an ordinary life without glory or achievement, now I’ve become an outcast of the age.

"Gael, a true Riptide would have no hesitation or doubt, he can abandon a prosperous life, a bright future, everything old...

"The so-called Bramble and Thorn means paving a road in a barren wilderness from scratch, opening up by oneself, not inheriting—

"The First Generation Riptide Grand Duke was that kind of person, he followed the Conqueror and created the Riptide Family.

"And someone who only waits, who only relies on others, how can he become someone who can truly pave the Bramble and Thorn path, a Riptide successor? I am unqualified, you are unqualified, we are, after all, outcasts of the age..."