Chapter 845 - Defection

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Luo Lan Empire was unlocked the moment Li Yi stepped onto the Imperial Throne. Upon its release, players from all three continents were given the option to immigrate to the Luo Lan Empire. However, there were some necessary pre-requisites that the players needed to fulfill before they were able to immigrate.

Players had to either complete the Hall of Fame Quest or receive the recommendation of players who had already completed the Hall of Fame Quest in order to become a resident of the Luo Lan Empire.

Jiaojiao had enough of being King, and she no longer wanted to be cursed at. On the other hand, Li Yi had had enough of the vile attitude of the Eastern Continent’s players, and as such, he had chosen to immigrate, becoming Luo Lan Empire’s first resident.

In King of Pantheon’s lore, the Luo Lan Empire had long been wiped out. As such, the so-called Empire was actually just a barren wasteland. The moment players immigrated there, the country’s government system would be booted up, and those who wished to rebuild the empire would need to expend serious dedication and money.

Money was not a problem to Li Yi, and regarding the dedication, it was even less of a problem. Once Li Yi’s women moved to the North Pole Continent, they were immediately mesmerized by the freshness of the location. They were extremely passionate about rebuilding the nation, and they had already set off to take on the empire’s rebuilding quests without even needing Li Yi to tell them to.

There were 10,000 points worth of Empire Construction Quests, and for each quest completed, one Construction Point would be contributed to the nation’s rebuilding process. 10 points constituted a single lap, and the final quest in a lap would contribute six points. Each lap could be canceled at any point in time.

The Empire Construction Quests were issued by the big fat penguin, Alenod the Smart, and at present, he had taken the role of the Luo Lan Empire’s National Quartermaster.

Construction Quests could be split into three categories, the first being item hunts, the second being monster-slaying quests, and the third being delivery quests. All three types of quests would appear randomly, and for every quest completed, players would earn additional EXP points along with Luo Lan Empire Contribution Points.

“I want fishes! I want a lot, and I mean a lot of valuable fishes! Don’t you dare give me some smelly fish, dead fish, or even fish paste! My sense of smell is unparalleled in Pantheon!”

“Go and kill the wretched Snow Apes at the ice plains up in the north. They’ve stolen our construction materials, bring them back at once!”

“You there, go to look for Gaga Hoo in Tuhrland. Tell it to send some men to help us. Whether your attempt will be successful, however, depends on you!”

Li Yi loathed doing repetitive quests, but his women did not share the same sentiment. They were highly engrossed in the Construction Quests. Despite bustling about from morning to night, their passion had not dwindled in the slightest.

As the players continued to accumulate Construction Points, the Luo Lan Empire’s wasteland condition gradually improved. Although their journey to 10,000 points was still a long away ahead, as long as the players were willing to put in the same effort, the gap could be closed within a couple more days.

“Brother Dark Wing, don’t abandon us like this! Let us join Luo Lan too!”

“Brother Dark Wing, that dummy Defiantly Tyrannical is always attacking us. Without you, we’re nothing. How about you let us in Luo Lan as well?”

“Wow, the Luo Lan Empire. Boss, I want to enter it too...”

“Boss, add me in! I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

The moment Li Yi re-enabled his private chat, thousands upon thousands of chat notifications resounded in his ears, giving him no rest...

With Li Yi gone, the Iron Alliance members had lost their main pillar of support. Who would not panic if that were the case?

Now that Defiantly Tyrannical had ascended to the throne, would he have gone easy on the Iron Alliance that he had been enduring for the past couple of years? No way, as soon as he had taken the throne, he had immediately stripped all of the Iron Alliance’s Officials of their posts and returned them to being commoners. In return, he had put his own people in positions of power, and even his sister had become a Castellan of her own.

Li Yi placed Flower Underpants, Confused Fox, Unending Unmatched and the others into the same private chat channel. “I already told you to take the position of King from me, but no, you guys rejected. Look at the situation now, aren’t you guys being bullied by him?”

“Do you think that the country will be stable under our rule? Without you, Defiantly Tyrannical would still claim the throne sooner or later, and if we were to take the throne, the repercussions would likely be even greater.” Confused Fox heaved a weary sigh.

“Exactly. We have no problems taking the roles of government officials or becoming Castellans, but becoming King is a whole other matter. We don’t have the skills to handle it, man. What do you think we should do now? Defiantly Tyrannical is already targeting us.”

Flower Underpants added, “How about this? Why don’t you bring all of the Iron Alliance’s members into Luo Lan? Brother, just one word from you and there’ll be tens of millions of brothers who are willing to take up the offer...”

Li Yi declined, “No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

If Li Yi had truly wished to do so, he would not have left the Eastern Continent in the first place.

If Li Yi did not wish to relinquish the throne, or even better, if he had wanted to reclaim the throne, it would be an effortless task for him. However, the only reason he had chosen to rebuild the Luo Lan Empire in the first place was that he had no such desires.

Li Yi was bored with the powers that came with being King, and as such, he no longer wanted the role.

Tens of millions of players, that figure given by Flower Underpants was really cutting it short. If Li Yi had felt like it, he could just post; “Luo Lan Empire welcomes any player from the Three Continents to join us.”

How many players would take on the offer, then?

The main reason Li Yi had come to the North Pole Continent was so that he could enjoy some peace and quiet. Naturally, the other motivation for doing so was so that he could strive for his goal in becoming the Ruler of Gods.

“What should we do then, brother? Why don’t you come over and help us out?”

Li Yi chuckled, “You could try looking for Brother Nine.”

“Brother Nine?”

“What do you mean? Are you telling us to defect?”

The chat channel had gone silent. All hundred-odd of the Iron Alliance’s brains present in the channel did not utter a single word.

Defecting was commonly seen as a humiliating action. Li Yi’s actions could be considered as defecting or immigrating. However, as he had voluntarily relinquished the throne and went his own way, claiming that Li Yi had defected was a bit of a stretch.

The problem, however...

Was that if Flower Underpants and the others left the Eastern Continent to join the Ninth Continent, they would undoubtedly be seen as defectors.

They were considered prominent figures within the game, and if they were to announce a mass defection, it would undoubtedly cause a huge commotion and invite dissent...

“That doesn’t sound like a good plan...”

“You guys don’t want the throne, you don’t want to submit to Defiantly Tyrannical, and you don’t want to defect. What else do you guys want then? What are you guys afraid of? Afraid of being made fun of? What a joke, the fun you get from gaming is for your own sake, isn’t it? Why are you afraid of what others think of you? I play for my own sake, it’s my own business, why should I care about what other people think?”

Confused Fox sighed. “Argh... it just feels wrong.”

‘There were still plenty of the Iron Alliance’s enemies in the Ninth Continent. Would the Iron Alliance’s presence there not cause unrest?’ That was the main worry of Confused Fox.

“I don’t want to make the Luo Lan Empire a major force, nor do I wish to participate in any wars with any continents. So, my only suggestion is for you guys to defect to Brother Nine’s side. Otherwise, I have nothing else to say.”

“Can’t you go on...”

“Let us think this through.”

“This matter requires more deliberation.”

“I’ll return and discuss it with my brothers.”

Upon the end of the dialogue, Confused Fox, Flower Underpants, and the rest of the brains of the Iron Alliance sat together to discuss the matter even further. In the end, the conclusion they had reached was to put off the defection for now and observe in silence.

Defection was a good suggestion, but it came with heavy repercussions. Unless the situation absolutely demanded it, they decided not to take the path.

Although the brains of the Iron Alliance did not defect, a portion of the Eastern Continent’s players had already done so.

With the Number One Archer God now gone, many felt as if the Eastern Continent no longer had a future. As such, the players had either went to the Ninth Continent or Assembled Gods Continent.

Within a short span of three days, the number of players that had abandoned the Eastern Continent had surpassed 5 million.

This number was even greater than all of the Eastern Continent’s previous defectors combined.

Just like when Queen Jiao was on the throne, the Three Major Guild Alliance had invited every player to join them in order to boost their numbers.

Once the Three Major Guild Alliance had gotten enough members, Defiantly Tyrannical officially launched his plan against the Iron Alliance.

He locked them out of the Teleportation Doors, increased their taxes, and commanded the National Guards to massacre the Iron Alliance players.

It was totally legal for the National Guards to kill players. However, when players resisted and killed the National Guards, they would instantly be branded with red names and receive severe punishment.

In the following two days, every single member in the Iron Alliance besides Confused Fox and Flower Underpants had died several times in the hands of the National Guards.

On the third day that Defiantly Tyrannical mobilized the National Guards, the Iron Alliance could no longer take it.

Confused Fox and Flower Underpants initiated a dialogue and announced the decision to defect to the Ninth Continent. They invited everyone to defect, but the decision was still up to the individual players in the end.

Defiantly Tyrannical’s constant oppression had made defecting an absolute necessity.

The Iron Alliance was in an uproar.

Li Yi’s departure had caused a commotion of its own, and their current plan was just downright unacceptable to many.

“I was born in the Eastern Continent, and I’ll die here as well! I’ll never defect!”

“I won’t defect as well. It doesn’t matter which nation I’m in!”

“You guys can defect on your own, I won’t be joining you guys...”

“Brother Nine’s a good man. I’m willing to follow him. Yes, I’ll be defecting with you guys!”

“Brother Nine’s a good person, and so is Sister Nine. I agree with joining them!”

It was pure anarchy in the Iron Alliance’s chat channel, and all sorts of words had been spoken.

“Everyone! Everyone! What the f*ck is everyone talking about? Defect? Why do we need to defect?” A shrill voice pierced the channel. Scumbag Wang had spoken.

“Didn’t we, Huashan beat back the demons and averted the crisis? Why are you guys thinking of defecting now that Dark Wing has defected? F*ck this, what the f*ck is wrong with you guys?”

“Leader Scum, come and defect with us. We no longer have a future in the Eastern Continent.”

“What do you mean there’s no future here? You have me, THE Scumbag Wang here. Who do you think would dare to threaten you...?”

Before Scumbag Wang had completed his sentence, he had abruptly cut it off. A moment later, he shouted, “Huashan is being camped by the National Guards! Motherf*cker! I don’t believe I’m unable to kill these dumb*sses!”

Someone shouted in the Iron Alliance chat channel, “Leader Scum, don’t bother. They’re doing it on purpose so that you’ll become red named. Don’t believe me? Just check their stats, they’re not wearing a single piece of equipment.”

“They want to make me red named? Hah, I, Scumbag Wang have always been red named. Not once was my name white. What do I have to fear? Brothers, keep on killing them! Don’t even think of stopping unless they call us their grandpa!”

Outside the Celestial Capital, all eight hundred members of the Huashan Sect was going against twenty or so National Guards. The moment the National Guards resurrected, the Huashan Sect would pounce on them, immediately killing them.

“Who wants to defect? Flower Underpants? Old Fox? Answer me! Does the Eastern Continent hold no future? F*ck it, with me here, what do you have to fear?”

Scumbag Wang’s words had immediately dampened Flower Underpants and Confused Fox’s spirits. They did not know how to respond.

At that moment, someone in the Alliance Channel spoke softly, “Leader Scum, Hua Feihua has defected. She’s now a citizen of the Southern Continent’s I Love Your Wife Nation.”

Hearing that, Scumbag Wang instantly went silent...

...