Astral Apostle

Chapter 224 – Independence (1)

Just as the Imperial Hunters set off to track them, Bill and the others had already left the capital and were speeding along in the carriage.

After escaping last night, he followed Anzar and the others to the suburbs. There were already people arranged by Roman to wait there and prepare the carriage carrier for the escape. This was to take care of Bill since he was an “ordinary person”. The journey would be too slow if they traveled based on his speed.

Because they were worried that they would be caught up by the royal family’s pursuers, the group traveled through the night. The carriage ran from night to the next afternoon without stopping.

Fortunately, the journey was quite smooth without any obstruction… It was so smooth that it did not seem like he was escaping, making Zhou Jing mistakenly think that he was on an outing.

If they were in a more developed civilization, there would definitely be interceptions everywhere. Unfortunately, the Terra Empire had developed primitively, and many times, their legs could run faster than news. Perhaps the towns they passed by later had not received the rumors when they arrived.

Realizing this, Zhou Jing was no longer tense.

The only thing to worry about was the pursuit of the Imperial Hunters, whose physical fitness was different from ordinary people. However, with Jason there, even if someone really wanted to chase after them, they would be dealt with.

“I wonder how the royal family is doing. Becky should be very angry, right? Unfortunately, Shuni is quite innocent, but I still have no choice but to run away…”

Zhou Jing sat in the carriage, bouncing up and down along with the movements of the vehicle. He chewed on the dried meat and speculated about the chain reaction that took place after he ran away.

Speaking of which, Roman was still in the capital. Would he end up with any problems?

Although this person was hiding his strength very well, he would probably not be able to gain anything in the other party’s base camp. If he was exposed, his fats might even be knocked out from him.

Zhou Jing did not care if Roman died or not. The main thing was that he was still waiting for him to fulfill his promise of learning sorcery.

“Speaking of which, I’ve already gathered enough to achieve Permanence. I’m no longer afraid of sacrificing myself.”

He opened the interface and took a look. Ever since he ran out of the capital, he had triggered a series of new achievements.

(Triggered achievement: Abandoning the Darkness, Surrendering to the Light]

(You have obtained 1000 Astral Points, 10 Information State Particles.]

(Triggered achievement: Defector)

(You have received 500 Astral Points, 5 Information State Particles.]

(You have received a new Life Episode – (Defected Empire’s Chief Pharmacist]

[Rating: National Tier]

[ +3 Current Legendary Point Count]

“What a good naming sense, abandon the dark and surrender to the light. I’m afraid it’s the opposite.”

Zhou Jing took a look at the details. The trigger for this achievement was to join the opposite faction while having a certain level of status in the opposing one.

As the Chief Pharmacist of the Empire, he actually betrayed the Empire. The nature of his betrayal was terrible. Just like when he created the new blood potion, it produced a new “life episode”. In a sense, it was akin to a life milestone for Bill.

However, he was not born and raised in the Terra Empire. He did not fall for feudalism, nor would he be bound by the concept of the country. Therefore, he did not feel any psychological burden when attempting to get better benefits for himself while sacrificing the country.

As the new blood potion was put into use, Bill would receive an additional Information State Particle every time he obtained his daily settlement. Coupled with the rewards from these two achievements, he had already reached the requirement of 120 points to achieve Permanence. As soon as Bill died, he could start the clearance settlement and transform into an Eternal Apostle.

Of course, it was still the same as he had imagined. He wanted Bill to live as long as possible.

After Jason’s example, Zhou Jing already had experience. The longer he lived, the more possibilities there were. The higher his evaluation, the higher the benefits he would obtain.

Mentally, however, he relaxed even more. This was equivalent to having insurance.

After all, working with Roman was also similar to asking a tiger for its skin. Bill had escaped with Roman’s help, and now that he was in the hands of others, once Roman felt that he could knead him at will, he might not fulfill his promise.

If Roman did not fulfill his promise, Zhou Jing did not mind exploding into fireworks on the spot and letting Roman rebel for nothing. With his insurance of continuous respawns, he would be even more confident.

…

Half a month later, Zhou Jing followed Anzar and the others to one of Roman’s strongholds.

This stronghold was hidden in the sparsely populated forest, and there were many supplies stored there. Most of the living facilities were complete, and there were more than a hundred people on standby. They were all well-trained people, and there was no lack of Mutant Blood Warriors.

Zhou Jing was temporarily placed here, protected by hundreds of people, waiting for Roman to arrive.

He had stayed in the stronghold for two months. During this period, many things had happened in the outside world, blowing up into a great storm. The news of Bill’s defection spread out with the capital as the center. More and more cities learned of this matter, causing an uproar.

All kinds of rumors spread. Some said that the royal family had gone too far and forced Master Bill away. Some said that Master Bill was not satisfied with the marriage and eloped with his sweetheart.

The Empire mobilized the Imperial Hunters and royal guards to form special search teams to search for Bill’s whereabouts in every city. They also issued a bounty as if Bill was a fugitive.

At this juncture, many tribes that controlled the cities announced their independence one after another, breaking away from the Empire’s control and claiming that they did not recognize Tarn as the legitimate Empire any more.

It was as if Bill’s defection was the fuse that ignited the plans of the various tribes.

This matter shocked the entire Empire. The citizens of the Empire were originally eating up the drama wrought by Bill’s disappearance excitedly, but they did not expect themselves to suddenly become the focus of the drama now.

The royal family was caught off guard. The products and resources of many cities were directly confiscated by the tribes in charge of each city and town.

A few days after the various tribes announced their independence, King Becky Tarn responded. The general meaning was that this was a premeditated rebellion that did not recognize the independence of the tribes. He severely criticized this as regressing backwards in history and causing the country to miss the opportunity to move into feudalism.

The Empire could not be bothered to spend too many people to search for Bill at this point. They quickly retracted their combat strength and mobilized their troops to prepare for the rebellion.

However, some tribes took the initiative to attack and directly armed themselves to surround the cities directly under the Empire. As more flowers of rebellion bloomed, the Empire could not adapt quick enough to the situation. The area that the royal family controlled quickly shrank.

At the same time, the various tribes announced the establishment of an unbreakable alliance. As long as the Empire sent troops to attack any tribe, the various tribes in the world would attack together.

For a time, the empire’s territory was divided. The royal family and the various tribes were in a stalemate, as if they had returned to the era of the tribes. They were even less united than back then.

Many residents of the cities under the rule of the tribes were at a loss. When they woke up and realized that their nationality had changed, they were all puzzled… It was clearly a prosperous empire, and better days were about to come. Why did it suddenly become like this?

The turmoil in the Terra Empire caused many industries to stop. For example, the Empire workshops everywhere stopped their operations, and the craftsmen could only work for the local tribes.

As the various regions announced their independence, the royal family and the various tribes did not have the time to focus on dealing with the threat of the mutant beasts. There were more and more rumors of the mutant beasts wreaking havoc in the village. Almost no more lords gathered hunters to suppress the mutant beasts, and they could only rely on the spontaneous actions of the hunters.

However, even the hunters could not stay out of the storm.

The confrontation brought about the need to expand their military forces. The various tribes began to rope in the freelance hunters as well as those Imperial Hunters in their cities, inviting them to join their tribes. They wanted to turn the hunters who were responsible for dealing with the mutant beasts into knives to deal with the other factions.

Many hunters were unwilling to point their blades at the people, but not everyone valued the rules of the hunters. The various tribes were willing to spend money and could give too much, which still moved many hunters.

Batch after batch of hunters jumped ship to join the armed forces. The strength of the two opposing factions became stronger and stronger, and the hunter group gradually shrank in the process.

The Terra Empire was divided and in turmoil.

In this chaos, Roman, who was the mastermind, finally arrived late and met up with Zhou Jing.