King of Titans and Dragons
Chapter 1085 - 1085 1072 The Grand Invasion

Chapter 1085: Chapter 1072: The Grand Invasion Chapter 1085: Chapter 1072: The Grand Invasion A vast caravan loaded with goods traveled along the road, stirring up clouds of dust and forming a grand dragon of smoke. This migration team, bustling with noise and comprising nearly ten thousand people, had passengers dressed in luxurious clothing sitting in carriages, all displaying faces of reluctance and anxiety.

Leaving one’s homeland, a place where generations had lived for nearly a thousand years, was hard for anyone, creating feelings of loss and uncertainty about the future.

However, regardless of their feelings, the decision had been made by the clan’s upper echelons: they could only choose to comply, especially now that the domestic situation had become untenable for their continued existence.

Fighting on a battlefield to maintain their wealth—what a joke! Everything they possessed had been earned through the blood and sweat of their ancestors; why should the king be able to strip it away with just a word?

Even if it took only a tenth of the military merit that their forebears had earned to inherit their titles, it was still unacceptable. Their ancestors had gambled with their lives on the battlefields; why should they also have to risk their lives there?

The vast procession moved slowly forward with great momentum, and right in their path lay a regimented army with a giant sitting cross-legged at the very front. His skin was an iron gray, as if cast from metal, and his face bore an expression of boredom.

Upon seeing the giant and the army behind him, the caravan gradually came to a halt. After a tense moment, realizing neither the giant nor the army intended to harm them, they slowly calmed down.

Soon, the leader of the caravan, a great noble preparing to lead his clan abroad, rode out on an exotic beast with a dozen followers, heading straight for the giant.

“Are you sent by my king to intercept us?” the great noble asked, looking up at the giant while seated on the exotic beast, his eyes revealing an unmistakable wariness.

“You’re overthinking it. Indeed, I am here to intercept you, but not for your sake,” the giant responded with a sneer.

“Then what are you here for?” The noble’s brows furrowed upon hearing the giant. He had assumed that the young king, seeing his departure, had sent someone to stop him.

“My king said you nobles are free to leave, but you must leave behind everything that doesn’t belong to you,” explained the giant.

“What do you mean by ‘everything’?” The noble’s frown deepened. To these nobles, their most crucial assets were their accumulated connections and the lands they controlled.

But with the new king’s reforms, their two most vital foundations had been shaken. One by one, ministers and nobles who opposed him were killed, and now, there was even a ludicrous policy allowing peasants to own the very lands that had always been controlled by nobility.

Because of these reasons, they had no choice but to decide on leaving the Gai Nation and seeking survival in other countries. The great noble felt he had nothing left, yet the king seemed to think he was taking something that was not his.

“What do you think?” the giant said, pointing at the servants surrounding the caravan. “You all can leave, but these people must stay.”

“These are the servants of my clan,” the great noble said angrily. He wanted to relocate overseas and reestablish himself, and people were essential for that, but his family alone was far from sufficient.

“They are citizens of the Gai Nation first, and your family’s servants second. Now that you are leaving the Gai Nation, these people naturally must stay,” the giant declared.

“And what if I insist on taking them with me?” the great noble asked furiously.

“You can try your luck and see if you have the strength?” the giant slowly rose to his feet, stretching his limbs, then looked down from his great height at the noble.

“You…” Seeing the giant standing tall, already over twenty meters in height, the exotic beast bearing the noble slowly retreated, growling in its throat in warning, but the sound was unmistakably fearful.

“You and your clan can leave, but everything you acquired in the Gai Nation must remain,” said the giant.

The giant then unleashed his aura, the iron-gray light shining brilliantly from his body. The pressurizing force from a higher life form began to spread and the sounds of horses neighing and roaring rose up, throwing the massive migration team into turmoil.

Watching the giant begin to emit his oppressive aura to intimidate his family members, the noble couldn’t help but clench his fist, his eyes gleaming with a cyan light. Though the presence was a formidable Sixth Awakening, his clan’s heritage had ways to deal with it.

“Why play these games? Finish up fast and let’s head back,” from high in the sky, amidst floating clouds which suddenly began shifting shape, a massive female Mist Giant formed.

“I want to see if these guys dare to lay a hand on me, after all, they’re from ‘great’ families that have been passed down through generations,” the giant said, chuckling in response to the impatient voice of the Yunnu.

Upon hearing the giant’s laughter, the noble’s eyes dimmed, and he gave up all thoughts of resistance. With a snort, he began to order his clan members to release their servants.

Not long after, a significantly reduced caravan, now only a tenth of its original size, made its way through the path cleared by the army and left in a disorganized retreat…

Similar scenes unfolded in the following days throughout Gai Nation.

Unable to accept the policies after Muria’s reforms, yet powerless to resist, the nobles chose to leave Gai Nation one after another. Muria did not hinder these nobles from leaving but did not allow them to take with them the various rare resources they had gathered domestically, as well as their talent.

Want to leave? You may, but you must leave empty-handed, taking nothing that belongs to Gai Nation with you.

…

“Three months, finally all done, there’s no more voice in the country opposing my reforms,”

“But with all you’ve done, the national power of our Gai Nation has declined sharply. In these chaotic times, this will surely attract the surrounding countries’ attention,”

Ferdinand looked at Muria’s calm face, even detecting a hint of joy, and couldn’t help but speak out to remind him. Seeing the turmoil Gai Nation underwent after Muria took over, as the former king, it pained him tremendously.

“Father, you only see the nobles who took their clans and left our country. Haven’t you seen those strong individuals who were drawn by my Recruitment Order and joined the army?”

Muria, looking at Ferdinand covered in a shroud of Black Mist, smiled and said, “If any neighboring country thinks Gai Nation is now easy to bully and decides to invade in full force, I would indeed be very pleased. At this moment, I exactly need a war to implement the military honors I’ve just decreed, to fully establish the Royal Court’s credibility.”

“But you have to win that war. If you lose, what will you use for bestowing honors? Moreover, a mere title will only please the ignorant briefly. Only tangible benefits can make them serve you wholeheartedly. Don’t think those commoner warriors are fools,”

“Lose?” Upon hearing his father’s words, Muria laughed, “With me here, we can’t possibly lose this war, and I’ve never underestimated those commoner warriors.

I’ve gone to great lengths to expel the old forces from our country, specifically making room for them and preparing vast lands as their reward. I also plan to use them as the foundation to establish Gai Nation’s path to becoming a strong nation,”

“Arnold, the honors for military achievements you implemented after the reforms can indeed unleash great combat power in the army, but all this requires a very stable rear. If you continuously wage wars, even with the lure of titles and lands, the nation’s economy could collapse rapidly,”

“I know, so right now I only need one war to secure the Royal Court’s credibility, not to kick start an expansionist path. The time isn’t right yet,” Muria explained.

“That’s for the best. Still, when do you think it would be the right time to expand outward?”

“When I have completed the infrastructure,” smiled Muria.

“Infrastructure? What infrastructure?”

“Canals, roads…” Muria briefly described them to Ferdinand.

“How much manpower and resources would that consume?” When Ferdinand heard Muria’s plans, his face showed a moved expression, as these would need to be constructed throughout Gai Nation.

“No matter how much it consumes, it’s worth it!”

“As you like, you’re the king now. Your word is final,”

…

After Muria eradicated all discordant voices within Gai Nation, the nation’s power appeared to have significantly declined, although not by much in reality. However, that’s how it seemed to the neighboring countries of Gai Nation.

At this time, because many nobles had left Gai Nation, it appeared to the neighboring countries as a huge, appetizing piece of fat meat.

Consequently, three different countries launched attacks on Gai Nation, initiated wars without declaration, deploying all their main forces, invading on a large scale, aspiring to tear off a piece of flesh from the weakened “Gai Nation.”

Four other countries were also itching to move but remained in a wait-and-see state, not making any rash moves. They found the changes in Gai Nation extremely abnormal, even eerie, seeing as it’s rare for a country to expel its nobles.

However, though they were observing, once they saw the three attacking countries gaining huge profits in Gai Nation, they would definitely become impatient.

When Yas Country, the strongest country on the Ymir Plain, was in a state of chaos, each country knew that now was the best time to strengthen themselves.