The Lord’s Empire

There were six countries to the east of China: North Korea, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Even though there were many of them, none of them were especially powerful, and they did not have much strength to resist.

The closest country to Great Qin was Indonesia. It had 250 regions and roughly 50 million people. Next was Malaysia with 200 regions and roughly 40 million people, then the Philippines with 350 regions and roughly 80 million people. Further away was Japan with 300 regions and roughly 100 million people, then South Korea with 200 regions and around 40 million people, and then finally North Korea with 150 regions and roughly 30 million people.

In total, the six countries had 1,450 regions and around 340 million people. There were also four Nation Armaments from four of the countries:

Indonesia: As the primitive society developed and trade and transportation across the South China Sea became more common, the Indonesian people visited more and more islands, bringing their culture with them. It was roughly around 200BC that the country ‘Yavadvipa’ appeared.

Yavadvipa was outside the boundary of the Han dynasty province in Vietnam, which was where modern Indonesia was. During 131AD, it sent ambassadors to China to establish friendly relations.

Malaysia: Brunei Darussalam was the most prosperous Empire in Malaysia’s history. In the 13th Century, it governed 14 provinces with tens of thousands of people living in the capital. It was a slave-owning society with clear classes, and its economy was primarily focused on agriculture. The residents obtained their salt from boiling seawater and fermented their own wine from millet, living simple lives.

In the 14th Century, the central government set up a unified administration for the treasury and tax collection. At the end of the 14th Century, it submitted to the Majapahit Empire, and at the start of the 15th Century, it submitted to the Malacca Sultanate. Soon, it regained independence and became a Sultanate.

At the start of the 16th Century, the fifth Sultan, Bolkiah, caused the sultanate to become more powerful. Apart from most of Kalimantan Island, most islands south of the Philippines belonged to Brunei, and this was called their ‘golden era.’

At the end of the 16th Century, because of internal strife, the sultanate went into decline, and western colonizers began to invade. In 1888, it became a British protectorate.

Philippines: The Barangay alliance was the second wave of Malay people to come to the Philippines through boats, and the area where set up was called Barangay. Barangay was the foundational society of the early Philippines.

Each Barangay was made up of 30 to 100 families and differed in numbers, and they were headed by barangay chiefs. The barangay societies were made up of nobles, free citizens, and slaves, and due to the requirements of development and war, various barangays formed alliances, forming a nation with slavery.

Japan: There had only ever been one nation in the history of Japan, and it had always been a monarchy. Even though its regime had been overthrown many times, Emperors always existed and had never been abolished.

Since the first generation of Emperors was established in 660BC, the line continued until now, which can be said to be quite miraculous.

Japan’s Nation Armament was quite special, as it was not only like a Nation Armament but also like a Clan Armament; it was something in between. Moreover, it was made up of many components, which included the sword Kusanagi, the jewel Yasanaki no Magatama, and the mirror Yata no Kagami.

Those four countries all each had a Nation Armament. As for South Korea and North Korea, they used to be one country but only recently split into two countries. Because their territory was quite small and did not have much Fate, due to the split, they were unable to form Nation Armaments.

There were 1,450 regions and 340 million players in total, but those figures were nothing to Zhao Fu. In the face of true death, all would submit to Great Qin; that was how it had been with the previous four countries. After all, it was better to live a bad life than have a good death.

As such, their main obstacle was the system factions. In the 1,450 regions, there were 4,500 City Lords and a force of 450 million Stage 1 soldiers. However, they were not all gathered together, as most City Lords still maintained their neutrality.

Zhao Fu wanted to quickly take down the six countries and then attack the rest of China from behind, taking down 2,000 Chinese regions in the east in one fell swoop.

The eastern faction had 2,000 regions and 6,000 or so City Lords, as well as 600 million Stage 1 soldiers. However, they were scattered in different places, and some would help players defend against Great Qin, while others would not; they were not unified at all.

If Great Qin took down the eastern side, Great Qin would be able to unify the northern side and eastern side of the Midland Continent. That would only leave the western side and southern side, and there would be nothing more to worry about.

In total, the eastern side of the Midland Continent had 3,450 regions. Wanting to devour so many regions required a massive appetite.

Zhao Fu first gathered his various subordinates to discuss this matter. If they succeeded, Great Qin would take a big step in unifying the Midland Continent. After unifying the Midland Continent, Great Qin would make a move against the other Continents.

Seeing their four lines of defenses, the eastern factions were able to relax. The sky, the ground, and underground and all been sealed, so no matter how powerful Great Qin was, it would be impossible to break through all of these defenses quickly. As such, they felt quite confident.

After all, Great Qin had suffered defeat twice because of similar tactics, though the second time they had ended up succeeding because of the tunnels they dug. Now that they had prepared defenses for the sky and underground, there would be no way for Great Qin to make it through.

Now, they needed to send some people to patrol those areas. After all, they did not need everyone to wait there; when Great Qin attacked, those on patrol would let the rest know, and they would have enough time to arrive.

Moreover, everyone knew that Great Qin was currently clearing out regions and building a Great Wall. They had not even stabilized the northern side yet, so it was unlikely they would suddenly attack.

It was now the end of summer, and a bright moon hung in the sky, illuminating the dark blue night sky, with a few stars around it.

“Bro, do you reckon we can stop Great Qin? Great Qin is rising so quickly, and now that the real world’s going to be destroyed, if we die, we’ll stay dead. What should we do in the future?”

A few people stood on the Great Wall, and one of them felt quite worried and could not help but voice these worries, feeling quite helpless.

A bearded man laughed as he replied, “Of course we’ll be able to stop them. Do you really think we’ll be destroyed by Great Qin? There are six countries allied together; last time, Great Qin was lucky and took them by surprise by digging tunnels. This time, we’ve made complete preparations for our defenses.”