Chapter 241: Chapter 156: Middle Tier Crystal Stone; Royal Family Intelligence (2)
"Looks like there are so smart ones here after all." Cheng Zongyang scanned them, then said, "Don’t be nervous. This is my territory. I’m sure you all understand your current situation, as well as the condition of your bodies."
"So, Li Lu only pretended to defect to us. His real goal was to harm us. Which family are you from?"
"What do you want?"
"What will it take for you to let us go?"
He listened to them ask one question after another, noting they had stopped with the empty threats. He gave a slight nod. They were all sensible enough.
"You don’t need to worry about which family I’m from. The only reason you’re not dead is because you’re still useful.
If you still hope to leave this place, you’ll answer my questions. Otherwise, I have no problem leaving you here and taking the food and water with ."
When he finished, they fell silent, no longer causing a commotion. He knew his words had sunk in.
Cheng Zongyang couldn’t be bothered to ask for their nas. "Since there are no objections, let’s begin," he said. "I’ll just call you One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six. Any problems?"
The six n knew that in their current state, they couldn’t resist. Forget working together to overpower him—even walking or putting the slightest pressure on their wrists sent a jolt of pain through them. Their injuries were far from healed. They could only express their compliance with silence.
"Good. Since there are no objections, we’ll begin. Line up, one person facing forward, the next facing backward, facing ..."
Cheng Zongyang arranged them into position. The six n could only swallow their anger and slowly shuffle into place, leaving about half a ter between each other. They ford a line where one person faced Cheng Zongyang and the next faced away. Then he assigned them their numbers.
Cheng Zongyang didn’t speak right away. Instead, a heavy silence fell. He placed the torch on the ground, and the light instantly dimd by eighty percent, plunging the cave into near-total darkness. The effect was psychologically crushing.
This confused the six n, but slowly, that confusion turned to worry, and then to dread.
’Everything was fine just a mont ago. Why the sudden silence?’ Since they were under Cheng Zongyang’s control, all they could do was wait anxiously.
"First question!" Cheng Zongyang’s voice suddenly broke the silence. "What is the battle situation for the Thirteen Royal Families at the front line? Number Three, answer."
This thod of calling on them at random, combined with their staggered positioning, made it impossible for them to signal each other with so much as a glance.
The second man in line facing Cheng Zongyang was Number Three. He seed to have been caught off guard and stamred out an answer in his nervousness:
"I... uh... the front line... From what I know, the Royal Families are gathering forces to attack and capture Beiding and Luoyang! Other than that... other than that, I don’t know much! I’m just in charge of logistics."
After he finished, the cave fell silent once more.
Roughly thirty seconds later, Cheng Zongyang continued:
"Besides attacking Beiding and Luoyang, what are the Thirteen Royal Families’ next steps? Number Five, answer!"
But the man remained silent. Cheng Zongyang walked over, grabbed his left wrist, and squeezed. With a sickening CRUNCH, he shattered the man’s bones. As the prisoner scread in agony, Cheng Zongyang’s voice turned chillingly cold:
"If you have a death wish, just say so. It’ll save you the pain of my... persuasion. It hurts so much more this way, doesn’t it? Now, Number Five. Tell !"
Called out by Cheng Zongyang again, the man had no choice but to speak through the searing pain, his voice trembling:
"I... I don’t... I don’t know much! We’re all in logistics! Our superiors only... only told us to co to the rear to gather grain!"
Cheng Zongyang didn’t care whether the man was telling the truth or not. He simply moved on to the next question:
"After the Thirteen Royal Families conquer County Mansions and County Towns, how are they governed? Number Two, answer!"
"Uh... the families are autonomous. A mber of the Royal Family will be sent to preside over each city, but that’s it. As long as the families pay sufficient tribute each year, the Thirteen Royal Families won’t interfere in the affairs or developnt of their vassals."
This piqued Cheng Zongyang’s interest. He continued, "Aren’t the Thirteen Royal Families worried that their vassals might annex other families and grow too powerful?"
"They aren’t! Because no matter how strong a vassal becos, they can never surpass a Royal Family! Besides, if anyone dares to challenge a Royal Family, they will dispatch their own clan soldiers to wipe out the offender’s entire family at once. There will be no second chances, and no survivors left behind!"
Cheng Zongyang frowned. "So these families have no hope of ever rising up? They’re destined to remain subordinate to the Royal Families forever?"
"I-I’m not really sure about that. I’ve only heard that the only way to fend off an attack from one Royal Family is to get help from another, but the cost is astronomical. In any case, developing to the level of Royal Influence is practically impossible."
"Why?"
"Resources! A constant, massive flow of them. You need enough to cultivate no fewer than ten Innate Perfection experts and at least twenty regular Innate Experts. Then you need hundreds of Upper Three Grades Martial Artists, thousands from the Middle Third Grades, and tens of thousands from the Lower Three Grades! And that’s not even counting the tens of thousands of personnel in training, preparing to reach Entry Grade.
If the need arises, those tens of thousands of trainees can reach Entry Grade within a month or two! They’ve all undergone extensive training. Even before they reach Entry Grade, they’re strong enough to lift three or four hundred pounds!
Tell , what family besides the Dynasty itself could possibly amass that kind of wealth? Even the great Gate Valves would struggle. That is the foundation of a Royal Family’s power, the source of their confidence! An ordinary family hoping to surpass a Royal Family? It’s nothing but a daydream!"
At this, Cheng Zongyang fell silent.
’The resources required to cultivate so many experts would be astronomical!’
’So, the Royal Families can only afford to cultivate these experts by relying on the tribute from their nurous vassals. An ordinary family could never even dream of it.’
’Now he understood why the Da Liang Dynasty couldn’t hold back the combined might of the Thirteen Royal Families!’
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