The King took his place at the center seat.
In an instant, everyone stood up and saluted in unison.
"We greet the King, may the Fire be with His Majesty."
The King raised his right fist.
"The night will eventually fade, dawn is bound to arrive!"
"The night will eventually fade, dawn is bound to arrive!"
The unified voices echoed through the central hall, this sense of solidarity was what he liked most, and his only expectation for any meeting.
Sure enough, as soon as he sat down, contradictions and disputes erupted.
The Commander of the City Defense Legion, along with dozens of Elders and Governors, stood up together:
"With the Black Tide looming, we believe the Royal City should immediately stop expanding outwards, to reduce casualties among combatants and the pressure on defense."
"Our defense line is stretched too thin; logistical supplies and medical support can't keep up, our losses this month have already surpassed the last ten months!"
"I think we ought to give up Star City, it is simply too far, lying beyond our defensive perimeter. The defense it demands has already consumed one-third of our forces!"
"This is truly unwise!"
However, the Commander of the Conquest Legion, Lothar, along with another faction of Elders and Governors, raised objections.
"Star City is the most important ancient relic discovered in the past twenty years, within which we have found vast quantities of material resources and spirituality materials."
"Plus, there's a plethora of Third Epoch relics, the Mechanical Research Institute has discovered many useful tools there, and its excavation might bring us even more unforeseen treasures."
Cross, a corpulent giant, expanded like a balloon when infuriated:
"A pile of junk-like toys and materials of little use, you want our warriors to die for them?"
The Conquest Legion's Commander, Lothar, was a prototypical muscular brute, his face marred with scars, one eye blinded, leaving nothing but a dark hole.
He spoke coldly, "In terms of sacrifice, no one can lecture the Conquest Legion. Do you think that's just an ordinary ruin, a pile of historical dust?"
He turned around, voicing even louder.
"No! Inside Star City lie the highest quality Sun Stone mines, pristine Soul Crystal ore, and the finest vein of True Silver. Is that just cold material? No, that is the Holy Fire's Element, the life and strength of warriors, the warmth of light!"
Chief Supply Officer Harvey added, "The Sun Stone mines are currently critical for us, the Holy Fire's Element must use Sun Stone, and our stockpile is running low."
That statement proved decisive.
Cross's tone softened slightly, "Then let's contract the defense line, retreat to the positions held twelve years ago by giving up Mushroom City, Mountain City, and Beast City."
Most of the Governors and Elders agreed with this proposal.
But a portion of the Guardians and the governors of these three cities expressed their opposition.
"Mushroom City and Beast City produce one-third of our food, along with many materials and resources. Mountain City is our largest base of iron and copper mining; if we give it up, many people's lives will be thrown into hardship, and food will be far from sufficient!"
One of the three Chief Governors, Talinus, said impatiently, "What's there to argue about? Those lowlifes who couldn't become Fire Holders are worthless, let them die."
The atmosphere in the hall chilled a few degrees, many eyes turned to him with disgust.
But Talinus was undeterred, he declared aloud:
"I've always believed that we must survive by any means necessary. The Black Fog doesn't stop its erosion for our pity; the monsters won't show mercy for our kindness. We have to be harsher, more ruthless than them to truly conquer the world and secure a place for survival."
One of the four Great Judges, Iron Mask Manolo Bana, also stood up and said, "Let me speak the bitter truth, Lord Talinus's words may not be pleasant, but they make sense. Compassion and kindness can't defeat the enemy; a cruel world requires cruel rules of survival. The common folk are indeed pitiful but those without value should not waste resources; the protection we offer comes with a price."
"Nonsense!"
The golden-haired Mibor nearly leapt to his feet.
"No warrior would fight with such beliefs! If home is no longer home, why should they lay down their lives?"
Iron Mask Manolo Bana, wearing his iron mask, sneered: "So, cherish your compassion to your own peril!"
"If death is the end of this path, then I would rather die!"
"If you want to die, go ahead, but don't drag everyone down with you."
As before, the hall once again fell into endless quarreling.
Only the seven Fire Sons and four Knight Captains sat still, not joining the argument.
They were aloof in status, only obeying the King's orders, with no need to express their opinions.
The King stroked his chin, looking at the map of the Trolian Kingdom on the long table before him, lost in thought.
The Trolian Kingdom was, in fact, just a name that stuck out of historical inertia.
Its main component was the Trolian Royal City.
Ever since the human hero, Trolian, placed the Holy Fire in this city built by giants, the Fire King City of Trolian was born.
It was situated halfway up the Dead Ash Mountain Range, initially comprising only the Upper City; the Lower City District was expanded over countless years thereafter.
And as humanity grew more prosperous, Trolian began to lack food, lack materials; they had to leave the high walls and protection of Holy Fire, venturing out to establish new cities and strongholds.
This was the origin of the many towns of Trolian.
To ensure their safety, people had to build more castle fortresses, forming lines of defense, which ultimately resulted in today's defensive circle.
Over the long years, the range of human territories changed multiple times, shrinking due to disasters or expanding due to prosperity.
But no matter what, humans never ventured beyond the Red Soil Plain.
This was because the terrain of the Red Soil Plain was very favorable; with the Dead Ash Mountain Range blocking its north and east, only needing defenses on the west and south for a relatively safe environment.
Then they purified the land, cleared up water sources, scattered seeds of the Holy White Tree, and quickly there were yields.
Setting up defenses, establishing patrol teams, organizing Battle Groups and combat clusters, and killing off the monsters that slipped through the defense net essentially guaranteed the production and transport of supplies.
However, if one wished to expand further outward, because there was no mountain range to the east looking for shelter, shifting from defending on two sides to three sides made the defensive pressure surge sharply, the contact area with the Black Fog expanding rapidly, and the number of monsters needing cleansing skyrocketed.
Too large a disturbance might even alarm those beings sleeping deep within the Black Fog, with dangers multiplying geometrically.
But, if they did not expand, the existing resources were already insufficient to meet the people's needs.
Central to this issue, the Royal City was broadly divided into two factions: one for expansion and one for contraction.
There were also many subtle differences within these factions—there were those like Talinus and Manolo Bana from the Iron Faction who advocated for creating a harsh environment and reducing resource consumption by abandoning a part of the population, and there were more tolerant moderates like Mibor.
However, although there were many splits, as long as victory was achieved, they could all be mended.
The King stood up, intending to put an end to their quarreling.
"I remember when we were short of supplies as a child, there wasn't much to eat, especially the white and green sugar cubes that children love."
The hall fell silent, everyone quietly listening to the King's words.
The King showed a hint of a smile, as if reminiscing, yet seeming to like the absence of quarreling.
"But each child only got one cube; parents often liked to hide their hands behind their backs, asking us if we wanted the left one or the right one."
"I liked the soft chewiness of the green sugar cube, and the refreshing sweetness of the white sugar cube, but I could always only get one of them. At that time, what I most desired was to taste both flavors at the same time."
The white-robed Archbishop Horus exclaimed, "I've got it! The King means for us to make a choice, either to contract our defensive circle or to abandon Star City."
Cross shouted, "Contract the defensive circle!"
Lothar said, "Abandon Star City."
Manolo Bana said, "To be honest, let's abandon them both..."
"No."
The King revealed a smile.
"Children are the ones who make choices; I want them all."