chapter 989: decisive submission

resist or submit?
when vaan asked the celestials this question, they struggled internally between their pride and survival, deciding whether their honor or life was more important.
living in the southern sea, they have experienced their fair share of life and death at the southern border. thus, although they were afraid of vaan's power, they didn't fear death; they only feared a meaningless death.
"wait... this aura...!" the garrison captain's eyes widened in shock, sensing the conqueror's aura on vaan's body.
he immediately recalled the radio silence from the ocean master and the entire southern border after the last powerful earthquake. in that instant, he couldn't help but shiver
uncontrollably.
"you... your excellency... may i ask what happened to our ocean master?" the garrison captain asked nervously.
"dead, flattened by death by something beyond his understanding," vaan casually answered.
"you're lying!" a frenzied celestial suddenly jumped out to deny vaan's claim, saying, "the ocean master can't be dead! he is the strongest-"
poof!noÌv(el)b\\jnn
alas, vaan wasn't interested in listening to him finish. he gave a strong flick with his middle finger, and a violent eruption of spatial power exploded the person's body into a patch of blood against the glass screens.
the remaining celestials in the room trembled and didn't dare to speak recklessly like that last guy.
"lying? do i need to lie?" vaan nonchalantly uttered, taking out the trident that had lost its authoritative shine.
everyone's eyes were immediately glued on the silver trident, and their hearts pounded like a thousand hammers, shaking their souls to the core.
they could refuse to believe vaan's words, but the silver trident was undeniable proof. even if it had lost its shine, they still recognized it as the ocean master's symbol of authority.
more importantly, the conqueror's aura seemed to have become a part of vaan's body. that was the most shocking realization they had made.
the ocean master was the god of the celestial kingdom's military and the protector of the seas. without his divine protection, the celestial kingdom's twelve cities would become vulnerable to the sea monsters' attacks.
the celestial soldiers immediately lowered themselves in submission and offered their allegiance to vaan, acknowledging him as the new ocean master.
once they did this, they also felt a huge weight off their shoulders.
they may be slow, but they weren't stupid. at the very least, they could still put two and two together after listening to their garrison captain.
if they submit, they may be forced to kill their comrades to keep the new ocean master happy. on the other hand, if their defiance angered him instead... the entire celestial kingdom might
cease to exist.
"we swear allegiance to the new and perfected ocean master!"
"good!"
after receiving the celestial soldiers' verbal submission in the border surveillance room, he immediately put their newfound loyalty to the test.
"i want to know everything about the celestial kingdom, inside and out. does this place have access to such information?" vaan asked, scanning the celestials' expressions with crafty
eyes. "every piece of information or knowledge ever obtained by the celestial kingdom is recorded in the celestial database. you can access them from any computer terminal connected to the celestial network as long as you have sufficient clearance. with my rank, i can only give you access to three-star captain-level information, ocean master."
the garrison captain hurriedly explained the database and network to vaan without holding
anything back.
however, he suddenly recalled something before his face paled.
"ocean master, there's something you need to know! before we surrendered to you, we had
already alerted the city of your arrival and requested reinforcement."
after the celestial soldiers recalled that, their faces also paled, and they almost pissed
themselves with fright as their legs trembled.
"this... we are not trying to defy you, ocean master!"
"i know."