Chapter 328
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 328
Chapter Title: Just a Rumor, Though.
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“Nearby tribes are requesting to merge with us.”
“They want to voluntarily come under our tribe’s command? These are the same people who’ve resisted us fiercely, even waging war up until now?”
“Yes!”
“Why the sudden change?”
“Why? It’s because General has treated the merged tribes so well.”
The Lukuma tribe had monopolized dungeons for years, so dominating this region was only a matter of time anyway.
Still, the other tribes had resisted because surrender would just mean one-sided exploitation or a life no better than slavery.
But Rose’s intervention had changed everything.
Not only had she freed all the slaves from those tribes.
She’d even used her own travel funds on top of the Lukuma tribe’s wealth to implement welfare systems and various reforms in the already merged tribes.
Thanks to that, tribes that had been poor to begin with ended up living better than before the merger—compared to the relatively affluent Lukuma tribe.
And it wasn’t just one or two; every tribe conquered by the Lukuma had improved their lives overnight.
So it was only natural that the other anxious tribes would sneakily make the first move.
“Even so, they made that decision in just a few days?”
“Better to join our ranks first and get good treatment than drag it out and suffer the consequences.”
It was the natural order for the weak to submit.
The tribal chiefs had simply made a wise choice.
The Lukuma chieftain explained enthusiastically, beaming with satisfaction at Rose’s stunned expression.
“Thanks to you, our tribe can finally start acting like a proper warlord faction.”
“……A warlord faction?”
“Well, we still need some organization before declaring martial law, but that’s just a matter of money and time.”
“…….”
“When you started talking about welfare and all that, I thought, what a waste of money. But it was all part of your grand plan! I’m genuinely impressed!”
This must be what they mean by being at a loss for words.
She stood frozen like a statue for a long while.
She had plenty of questions, but Rose picked the most important one.
“By the way, why are you calling me ‘General’?”
“Obviously, because the new martial regime we’re unifying will be your domain.”
“…….”
“Ah, do you prefer ‘President’ or ‘Your Majesty’?”
Who else but her—the one who’d conquered their own tribe and even made the others surrender willingly—could lead the new regime?
Rose was speechless as she looked at the smiling Lukuma chieftain.
If it were just donating to a poor village and getting caught by Hasneti, she could still salvage it.
But establishing martial law right in the heart of Africa?
That was practically a declaration of war.
The Red Dragon Clan, feeling their territory invaded, would have every reason to strike.
Even if she dropped everything and retreated now, any trace left behind would spell big trouble later.
So then…….
The moment that thought crossed her mind,
Rose slowly turned her head.
As if she’d known it would come to this from the start.
She saw the blond, tanned boy smirking at her, arms crossed, holding her weakness in his grasp just by watching.
The princess, who had suddenly become the ruler of one of Africa’s mere 318 military regimes, could only wear an indescribable expression.
Storm Archduke Kanude.
He was one of Africa’s premier powerhouses.
A level 92 archduke-class player was already a superhuman with no equals among rulers.
Especially his combat-specialized skills, which dominated wars and led to countless victories.
Thanks to that, his regime had expanded into one of Africa’s top ten powerhouses among its many nations.
So Kanude was confident.
Whether it was Egypt’s tyrant
or Paradise’s king,
they might not lose easily if he went all out—at worst, he wouldn’t go down without a fight.
No, with enough backup forces, he could even win.
When Egypt suddenly launched its conquest war,
unlike other regimes panicking or floundering, he’d prepared for war with full confidence.
He didn’t need to win.
If he could just fight evenly…….
No, even dragging it out would do.
Then the surrounding regimes would cling to him, the only real opposition, to survive.
He could use that opening to subjugate them completely, topple the tyrant and king, and unify Africa.
Kanude never doubted it.
In fact, early in the war, he’d managed to hold off the Egyptian forces on a knife’s edge, just as planned.
“Gahk, kuhk.”
But at this moment,
his half-cooked lungs were telling him how delusional that fantasy had been.
Gasping in hellish pain with every breath, Kanude looked around desperately for help.
But no one was left to aid him.
Neither the high-level player suicide squad
nor the army of tens of thousands.
They were all reduced to ashes or trembling on the ground.
‘How…… how could this…….’
Kanude couldn’t believe it.
If this were the result of months of grueling battle,
or even a war with equal forces, he could’ve accepted it.
The problem was that a single person—replacing the suddenly withdrawn Egyptian army—had done this in mere dozens of minutes.
“Decide.”
The culprit behind this scene.
The red-haired beauty in military uniform, tall enough to rival most men, shoved her hands in her pockets.
She lit a cigarette with a flick of her fingers,
then asked in a husky voice,
“Surrender, or die.”
Whether he chose either,
she seemed utterly indifferent.
Kanude’s lips trembled as he faced Hasneti’s cold expression, a stark contrast to the rippling heat haze around them.
Then he staggered to his feet,
dropped to his knees before her, slammed his forehead to the ground, and squeezed out the words.
“I sur…… render.”
Whether from his scorched lungs
or the sheer horror,
his surrender came out cracked and deflating like a punctured tire—but Hasneti didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.
She just gave him a bored look before slowly turning away.
Leaving the nation she’d crushed behind,
the girl in loose military fatigues who greeted her at the distant Humvee said,
“Good work……”
“How many left?”
“……273.”
Nadia, opening the Humvee door for her, averted her eyes from Hasneti’s chilling gaze.
Hasneti stared at her with blood-red eyes for a moment
before climbing in.
Then she said quietly,
“Head to the next country.”
“Princess? You’ve already taken down two today. Going for another round?”
“……”
“I know our conquest pace is too slow, so you’re stepping in out of frustration.”
“……”
“We’re working hard too, you know? Not ten a day, but we’re steadily claiming two or three……”
“……”
“……Yes, let’s go.”
Sulky Nadia started the Humvee.
Inside the speeding vehicle across the savanna, Hasneti smoked in silence before suddenly speaking.
“Report?”
“The north and west are mostly done. Left are the central, east, and south regions.”
“Just the anomalies.”
“……Even so, there’s nothing worth calling anomalous.”
“……”
“Ah, but there are some rumors.”
Feeling the pressure of Hasneti’s gaze, Nadia hurriedly added,
Since they’d started the war,
Africa—already a mess—had devolved into total chaos.
Even the Black Dragon Clan struggled to get solid intel, but they could pick up a few rumors.
“Word is, the remaining regimes are secretly preparing some plan to stop us.”
“Verified?”
“Not yet, but it’s plausible. The rumor originated from the central region.”
Hasneti’s eyebrow twitched.
If it came from elsewhere, she’d ignore it.
No matter how many regimes conspired, she could crush them with force.
But even she couldn’t dismiss one nation.
“That fly.”
“Probably……”
Nadia gauged her mood.
With conquest already behind schedule and Hasneti irritated,
if the ‘Paradise King’ got serious, the whole war could hit a snag.
But Hasneti didn’t snap.
She just issued a husky order.
“Gather as much intel as possible.”
“Uh, most of the clan’s at the front lines. No spare agents for intel ops.”
“And?”
“……I’ll squeeze the Egyptian General Intelligence Service (EGS) for all they’ve got.”
Nadia prayed for their souls.
In this era where a simple trip could mean a bullet to the head, espionage in the central region was suicide.
But what could she do? In this Africa—especially Egypt—Hasneti’s word was absolute.
As she pondered sending spies without families to save on compensation, Hasneti asked quietly,
“And?”
“Pardon?”
“Any other rumors?”
“Ah, a few more, but they’re all too outlandish.”
As if to say spill everything,
under Hasneti’s steady gaze, Nadia recounted the rumors she’d picked up.
Some mysterious wanderer wiped out a plundering regime in the south and vanished without a word.
A nation that had framed the Liberation Brigade got smashed in retaliation.
Villages where residents vanished overnight.
Selecting a new Horus candidate, etc.
By the end, it was less a report and more idle chatter.
Then Nadia suddenly said,
“Oh, and there’s this fun rumor about a new military regime in the east lately.”
“How so?”
“They conquered three regimes in a week—without a single casualty.”
“……”
“Probably not zero deaths, but minimal losses seem real.”
“High-level player?”
“Mm, their leader’s a pretty strong woman. But she’s ruthless and authoritarian, issuing all sorts of unreasonable orders.”
“……Ruthless, yet no deaths?”
“Ah, apparently her boy toy reins her in.”
“Boy toy?”
“Yeah, a super kind, smart boy who stops her from going too far. Rumor has it he handles all their internal affairs.”
Even as she said it, Nadia thought,
No matter how rumor-riddled things were, this one was absurd.
A female ruler doting on a handsome, kind-hearted boy genius who managed state affairs?
If such a boy existed, she’d kidnap and raise him herself.
Probably why
the rumors about the consort outshone the leader herself.
“They call those two the ‘Eastern Outlaw’ and the ‘Heavenly Beauty’s Genius Strategist.’”