The Prime Minister, Tetyajev, fixed his gaze on Sailerpes. Seeing the Empress nod, he addressed the assembled princes and ministers, "Did you hear that? Our Majesty and Your Highness will be holding a grand wedding witnessed by the entire world. Let's assign personnel to make the arrangements!"
"Excellent!!!"
Xiao Xun arrived at the Kutelido dungeon. He had heard that the Beast King Gagae and a group of ministers had been summarily executed by Aaron, while Butu, under Xiao Xun's care, was escorted back by Pelisa.
He personally cooked roasted lamb and a pot of wine and headed to the dark and damp dungeon.
"Is it His Highness Svin? Only you would come to a place like this to find me at this hour."
Xiao Xun walked to the cell where Butu was imprisoned. Butu's fur was messy, one eye was blind, and he exuded a foul odor.
Xiao Xun frowned and said to the accompanying jailer, "Open the door."
"Your Highness, this is against the rules."
"What rules? My rules are the rules. Open it."
Butu waved his hand, "Don't make it difficult for him. This kind of cell door can't hold me. I've lost all hope and don't want to leave."
Xiao Xun placed the roasted lamb and wine inside. "You're still being stubborn at a time like this. These cells are specially made with fine iron and magic-sealing stones. Even a God of Magic imprisoned below couldn't escape, let alone you."
Butu grabbed the lamb and shoved it into his mouth. "I can tell you made this; it's incredibly delicious! After this meal, I'll have no regrets even if I'm beheaded."
"I owe you a life, but I can't repay it anymore. Nero will arrive soon, and everyone will be finished. Whether it's early death or late death, no one can escape."
Butu brought his bear face closer. "Death is the true beginning of life. What you call death is merely the soul separating from the body's control."
"Don't come up with that worthless undead nonsense. Living is what people should do. I've fought countless battles, big and small, with them. Are you willing to become one of those zombies and walking dead? Is being bound by those people's soul manipulation truly living?"
Butu drank the wine in one gulp. "Since living is so good, why do people have to die?"
Xiao Xun wiped his sweat. "I came to see you one last time, not to discuss philosophy with you."
As he spoke, Xiao Xun stood up. "I promise you, if I'm still alive, and you're also alive, I will let you out."
Butu waved his hand. "Do as you please, Svin. You owe me nothing..."
After leaving the Kutelido dungeon, Xiao Xun went to the West City Gate, where the crowd was largest.
Looking at the endless sea of people below, Xiao Xun cleared his throat. "Everyone, please be quiet."
When they saw Xiao Xun, the crowd immediately fell silent.
"I know you all want to live, but if I die, will you be able to live? Think about it, why are you all here? It's because of the natural disasters, the undead, and the devils who invaded your homes and massacred your people. What is their purpose in doing this? Is it because of me?
You can't even defend your own land, yet I led my army to fight valiantly, killed the King of Pride, defeated the King of Fear, and then beat the King of the Deep Sea. Throughout the entire planet, who has strength like mine?
And now you want to kill me. Do you think Nero won't come if I'm dead? Will the world be peaceful if I'm dead?"
Someone below shouted, "Then what should we do now?"
"What should we do? You're asking me? My advice is to go home quickly. It would be best to die on your homeland before Nero arrives. Why must you die in a foreign land?"
The crowd fell silent, then someone shouted, "I don't want to die."
"Yes, we don't want to die."
"If we weren't afraid of dying, we would have died in our own countries by now."
"..."
Xiao Xun shouted, "Everyone, please quiet down."
The crowd continued to chatter, and Xiao Xun roared, "Can you just be quiet and listen to me?"
The crowd immediately fell silent. Other onlookers who heard that Svin was here also gathered around.
Xiao Xun watched the sun slowly descend in the west. "You all want to live, and I don't want to die. So let's fight them."
"How can we fight them?"
Xiao Xun pointed to the direction of the voice. "People like you deserve to die the most. How do you know we can't win if we don't fight? Are you all willing to surrender meekly and wait to be killed?"
"We are not willing, we want to resist."
"Good. Now I will explain my plan. In terms of strength, on the entire planet, Sainti Roman is naturally the strongest. However, compared to Nero, the gap is quite significant, but it's not irrecoverable. Now, I will have my people open the city gates. You and your people, everyone gather together, and help me accomplish just three things."
The people below couldn't wait and shouted, "What are the three things?"
"The first is to build a planet cannon, the second is to build an underground world, and the third is to build a spaceship that can fly to outer space."
"But we can't accomplish any of these three."
Xiao Xun pointed at him. "That means you don't want to live. If we can't accomplish any of these three things, we will all die."
"But is it still too late?"
"It's better than waiting to die."
One person raised his fist and shouted, "Good! We're all going to die anyway, so it's worth it to take someone down with us. We'll listen to you. Whatever you tell us to do, we'll do it!"
Another shouted, "This brother is right. Even if we can't win, we shouldn't let them think that defeating us is an easy task."
Xiao Xun turned to the guards at the city gate and said, "Pass my order, open the gates."
Aaron looked troubled. "Your Highness, what if they are pretending to agree..."
"If they are pretending to agree, they are agreeing with me. If they open the gates and they want to capture someone, they will capture me, and it has nothing to do with you."
With that said, Aaron ordered his guards to open the city gates.
There was no surge as expected; everyone lined up and came to the plaza.
Xiao Xun set up a stage in the plaza, arranged the sound system, and held a microphone. "Thank you all for your trust and support. Now, let's utilize your ethnic characteristics, and we will definitely be able to accomplish this task."
"What are ethnic characteristics?"
Xiao Xun turned and glanced at Sailerpes not far away. "It's very simple. The Gnomes and Goblins have unique craftsmanship in weapons and equipment. The Winterborn's steel smelting technology is unmatched. The Elves are good at utilizing nature. The Centaurs are skilled in running and combat. These are the characteristics of each race. Remember, as long as everyone is united, no one is invincible."
The plaza erupted in warm applause. After the applause subsided, Xiao Xun continued, "Now, let's start building assembly lines centered around the capital of Sainti Roman. All existing armories in Sainti Roman will be dismantled and rebuilt. To speed things up, those who manufacture screws will only make screws, those who make nails will only make nails, and those responsible for installation should not do anything else."
Ten thousand people in the plaza shouted, "Yes!!!"
"Also, from now on, all beings are equal. I hope you will abandon your existing class differences. There will be no princes or ministers, no commoners, no slaves. Everyone will only have differences in positions, not in the inequality of life. Also, I hope you will temporarily forget the ancient grudges between races. Everyone is trying to survive, so our guns must point outwards."
As he spoke, Xiao Xun pointed at the eye in the sky, like a dark sun.