Rachel bit her lip: "Alright, even if you come by sea, how will you handle the disparity in troop strength? The garrison of Gugu City has two thousand men, and there are three regiments of slave hunters stationed outside the city. Not to mention, Gugu City is only a short distance from Amar, the capital of Ulster. If the battle cannot be won quickly, the capital's garrison will rush to reinforce Gugu City. At that time, we may have to face tens of thousands of troops."
Todd dropped the branch and laughed even louder: "Although the ancient city of Gugu has the support of the city of Ammar, I have the army of an entire kingdom behind me."
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Dusk in the western city, in the kingdom's council chamber.
Prime Minister Emerson slammed his fist on the table and roared angrily, "I'll say it again, the Kingdom of Muxi has no reason, nor any need, to accept refugees from Holy Guard City!"
Terence removed his crystal glasses and retorted sharply, "More than five thousand refugees from Holy Guard City are already stranded on the border. If we ignore them, they will only slowly rot there!"
Emerson slammed his knuckles on the report in front of him: "Five thousand people! I ask you, how are we going to house so many people?! What if they start a rebellion?! And even if we take a step back, how are we going to provide them with all this food?!"
Perhaps realizing his tone was a bit too harsh, Emerson slowed his pace: "His Majesty's five-year agricultural development plan is not even half completed yet, and Wayne's bloodworm edible farming has encountered problems. Letting these five thousand people into the city will bring immeasurable disaster to Twilight City!"
Sitting next to Terence, Ulysses said with concern, "I'm sure everyone is well aware of the current situation in Holy Guard City, right? The Church's delegation entered the city almost at the same time as Dion. Both sides are now vying for the support of as many nobles as possible for their respective factions, and these five thousand people are the key to winning that support!"
At this point, Brother Joe offered his opinion: "Regarding the five thousand people in Holy Guard City, it's not that we don't want to help, but we simply don't have enough food! There are three places—Moxi City, the Northern Camp, and Holy Guard City's aid—that all require food. Furthermore, the food trade route from the south has been temporarily suspended due to the war between the Abbasid and Ayyubid Empires. Therefore, I also disagree with accepting these five thousand refugees!"
Elijah, Terence's prized student, also advised at this moment: "These five thousand refugees are related to the succession of the throne of Holy Guard City. If Holy Guard City is ultimately controlled by the Church faction, then Twilight City will be controlled by two major military forces at the same time. Therefore, I suggest accepting these five thousand refugees."
Emerson, seeing the cabinet completely divided into two factions, rubbed his forehead in exasperation: "You've completely missed the point. The idea of demanding that Muxi City accept refugees is most likely the Church's doing behind the scenes. Even if we accept it this time, what about next time? And the time after that?! The Church has unified jurisdiction over the secular kingdoms; this is a blatant form of political aggression, and we have no way to counter it. If we give in this time, the demands next time will only be more outrageous..."
Inside the vast hall, the inner cabinet of Twilight City was divided into two factions: Emerson, Brother Joe, and Wayne formed one faction, while Terence, Ulysses, and Elijah formed the other.
Just as the two factions were arguing, Huggins, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "His Majesty has sent a message that an emergency meeting will be held in the country in five minutes, and no one is allowed to be absent."
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