Chapter 485

Chapter 485: Firm Attitude

At the edge of the Great Flame Empire stronghold, the four armies stood ready for battle.

The four leaders and many high-ranking military officers gathered together to discuss their strategy.

They had received news from the Intelligence Organization about the strong fighters and tribe members from the Jin Jun tribe coming to demand explanations and evidence of rebellion.

The outcome aligned closely with what they had predicted.

What surprised them was that, according to the information provided by the Intelligence Organization, Chief Nika and the nine leaders had not tried to stop this.

“These high-ranking members of the Black Tiger Tribe are utterly foolish,” Tai Shi couldn’t help but exclaim.

According to their analysis, Chief Nika and the nine leaders might not have been able to foresee the actions of the remaining strong fighters from Jin Jun tribe in advance, but after learning of those actions, they should have found a way to prevent these Jin Jun tribe members from gathering at the Great Flame Empire stronghold.

Only by doing so could they avoid escalating conflicts and unrest among the entire Black Tiger Tribe.

After all, the strong fighters and tribe members of the Jin Jun tribe actually represented a line of defense against the rebellion of the whole Black Tiger Tribe.

If the Jin Jun tribe’s fighters and members did not rebel or cause a ruckus, most of the other tribes would likely choose to watch from the sidelines.

However, Chief Nika and the nine leaders, for the sake of their own reputation, knowingly allowed the Jin Jun tribe’s strong fighters and members to gather, fully aware that rebellion would lead to their destruction, and yet they did nothing to restrain them.

They hoped to gauge the attitude of the high-ranking leaders of the Great Flame Kingdom through this encounter, so they could apply pressure based on that attitude.

Their plan was clever.

It did not lead to an outright rebellion, while also giving the Black Tiger Tribe members some accountability.

But such a perfect outcome was simply unattainable.

“That’s why I have always been reluctant to deal with those high-ranking members of the Black Tiger Tribe. On the other hand, the swamp crocodile, whenever asked for help, has never turned me down, and I should reach out to him to maintain our relationship,” Zong Shan remarked with a smile.

“Of course! That big crocodile is the fierce beast that His Majesty first allowed to live; he was promoted to a fierce beast army leader long ago and is a figure of the Demon Race’s Demon Emperor,” Rog added with a snort. “Those high-ranking members of the Black Tiger Tribe are unworthy to be compared to the swamp crocodile.”

The four leaders nodded in agreement.

The Great Flame Empire’s direct announcement made its strong attitude clear.

If the high-ranking members of the Black Tiger Tribe had sufficient strength for rebellion, they could have allowed the strong fighters and soldiers of the Jin Jun tribe to do as they pleased.

But to act this way solely to salvage some prestige was utterly foolish.

A powerful Great Flame Empire would never show any compromise or concession.

If they were really going to make a compromise, they wouldn’t have issued a public announcement without first discussing it with the high-ranking members of the Black Tiger Tribe.

The swamp crocodile, the Demon Emperor, was undoubtedly the smartest among them.

His decision, made at once, even left the high-ranking leaders of the Political Council and the Military amazed.

He showed such incredible courage.

The swamp crocodile truly lived up to the title of Demon Emperor, chosen by His Majesty long ago.

As a ruler of his tribe, the most important thing is to make the wisest decisions at critical moments.

The swamp crocodile did just that.

He quickly gave up his reputation among the Demon Race, proving to Yi Chen and the Great Flame Empire how loyal he could be.

Members of the Demon Race would surely be very displeased with the swamp crocodile for disregarding the safety of his tribe to curry favor.

Thus, the swamp crocodile’s prestige among the Demon Race inevitably fell to its lowest point.

However, the Great Flame Empire could not abandon the swamp crocodile.

Yi Chen’s stance served as the guiding principle and core will for all decisions in the Great Flame Empire.

As for the swamp crocodile, who was loyal and had made significant contributions, even following Yi Chen since his time on the exile planet, Yi Chen’s attitude was easy to predict.

As long as the swamp crocodile remained loyal, Yi Chen would never abandon him and he would always benefit from it.

There was no way he could allow the swamp crocodile to become despised by the entire Demon Race.

If the Political Council or the swamp crocodile himself couldn’t change this situation, they suspected that Yi Chen might order the complete destruction of the entire Demon Race and allocate resources to help the swamp crocodile establish a new Demon Race.

Chief Nika and the nine leaders lacked the courage and intelligence for such actions.

They completely missed the main point.

They foolishly played games with the Great Flame Empire, indirectly challenging Yi Chen.

By allowing the strong fighters and tribe members of the Jin Jun tribe to test the Great Flame Empire’s stance, the high-ranking leaders of the Empire could nearly assure that once the Black Tiger Tribe’s influence dropped to a certain level, Yi Chen would absolutely no longer continue to include the Black Tiger Tribe in his plans.

At most, based on the contributions of the Black Tiger Tribe, he would offer some benefits and preferential treatment, left them completely aside.

Soon, the four leaders reached a consensus.

They decided to open a large defensive formation, allowing the Demon strong fighters to enter the stronghold while the Demon army retreated to their base.

This way, they could ensure that if the conflict truly escalated to the extent of an entire rebellion among the Black Tiger Tribe, the Great Flame Empire could swiftly suppress it.

Furthermore, it would also lessen some of the dissatisfaction from the Demon Race towards the swamp crocodile.

After receiving a message from Guli, the swamp crocodile quickly issued the corresponding orders.

The Demon army began returning to their stronghold.

The strong fighters of the Demon Race joined their human leaders after the large defensive formation was opened.

A few hours later, the strong fighters and tribe members of the Jin Jun tribe stormed angrily to the Great Flame Empire’s stronghold, only to be blocked outside the large defensive formation.

The Jin Jun tribe had only three level 100 strong fighters remaining to guard their territory.

After discussing among themselves, one of them stepped forward as a representative to demand access to the Political Council and senior military officials of the Great Flame Empire.

The Great Flame Empire’s military did not allow this strong fighter to enter the defensive formation but sent a squad leader to convey the orders.

The order was very simple.

The Jin Jun tribe had violated multiple regulations established after the Great Flame Empire unified the blood-colored planet.

For instance, while only at the Leader-level, they had privately mobilized over ten thousand troops without any orders.

Furthermore, they had gathered over a hundred thousand tribe members, which was not permitted unless it was for a celebration or event.

They had a half-hour deadline to immediately withdraw to their stronghold and await further punishment, or they would be treated as rebels.

The tribe members from the Jin Jun tribe, who had come demanding explanations and evidence, were furious.

The three strong fighters felt unease creeping in.

Their intention was rather simple: to take the initiative and find a way to secure their own interests.

After Chief Jin Jun and his strong subordinates were suppressed due to the rebellion, these three guardians worried about being implicated.

Additionally, they aimed to seize control and share in the wealth and power of the Jin Jun tribe.

Thus, they orchestrated this large-scale action to put pressure on the Great Flame Empire, hoping for a clear decision on punishment and evidence of rebellion.

As long as the punishment did not implicate them and the evidence of rebellion was somewhat reasonable, they would accept and support it, promising to pacify all the tribe members of the Jin Jun tribe.

In this way, they could gain the support of the high-ranking leaders of the Great Flame Empire, take control of the wealth and power of the Jin Jun tribe, and no longer worry about being aggressively divided by other leaders.

However, the attitude of the Great Flame Empire was completely unexpected for them.