The great hall of the imperial pavilion held its breath.

Alex sat on the emperor's throne, the weight of the dragon robes pressing against his shoulders like a living thing. Eighteen governors lined the chamber in ordered rows. Zhuge Liang stood at his right hand, motionless, eyes fixed on nothing and everything at once.

A month had passed since the crown had settled on Alex's head. The northern armies were broken, the provinces quiet, the old Murim Alliance reduced to ash and memory. Yet the silence in the room felt brittle, as if the peace they had bought with blood might crack at the first wrong word.

Alex leaned forward a fraction. The movement was small, but every governor straightened.

"I have an announcement."

Eighteen voices answered in near unison, low and careful. "We are listening, Your Majesty."

He let the pause stretch one heartbeat longer than comfort allowed. "For longer than any of us can remember, Xia has kept its doors closed to the world. That policy ends today. We will open our borders and stand with Estoria."

The name landed like a stone dropped in still water.

A governor near the front—an older man whose beard was shot with silver. "Estoria, Your Majesty?"

"Prussia has always been the rival at our doorstep. Estoria... the old records speak of it only as a lawless continent, a refuge for exiles and men who had nowhere else to run. Some of us were taught it was nothing more than poor villages and empty plains."

Another governor spoke. “Five hundred years ago the last reliable accounts described a backward place. Illiterate people. No armies worth the name. No industry. If the histories are even half correct, what could we possibly gain by tying ourselves to them now?"

Alex met their eyes without blinking. "We have been closed so long we stopped watching what happened beyond our walls. The world did not wait for us."

He turned his head slightly. "Gaia. Show them."

A soft mechanical hum rose from a concealed alcove. A single sleek drone descended on near-silent rotors and hovered at the center of the hall. Its projector activated with a low, resonant thrum that vibrated through the floor. Light bloomed in the air—sharp, clean, impossibly vivid.

Towering spires of glass and steel cut the sky. Streams of elegant vehicles moved between them on invisible lanes, their engines a distant, controlled roar. In wide plazas, crowds moved; laughter rose and fell like music. In open courtyards, men and women flowed through precise, powerful martial forms, every movement economical and lethal. Overhead, aircraft and coordinated drone swarms executed tight, graceful patterns against a brilliant blue sky.

The governors stared. One man's mouth parted slightly. Another leaned forward. The holographic light painted shifting colors across their faces-wonder and disbelief.

A younger governor spoke first, voice hoarse. "They are... more advanced than we are."

Alex's voice cut through the stunned quiet. “While we fought our own wars and closed our gates, Estoria moved. If we stay sealed, we will fall behind in every way that matters-knowledge, technology, strength. We open not only for trade and learning, but because Estoria will soon be at war with Prussia. When that day comes, Xia will stand with them."

For a long moment no one spoke. Then the murmurs began-urgent, overlapping, edged with fear. Another war. So soon. The northern front had barely cooled. Supply lines were still stretched thin. The people had only just begun to believe the killing was over.

Alex remained on the throne, one hand resting on the carved armrest. "I will tell you the truth,” he said. “Every aircraft and drone we have built over these years was never meant to fight any of you. They were created for one purpose only-to face Prussia."

The words settled like frost. The governors had spent years watching those machines patrol their skies and wondering when the blade would turn inward. Now they understood it had always pointed elsewhere.

Zhuge Liang bowed. "Your Majesty, if we go to war with Prussia, what are our real chances of victory?"

Alex met his eyes. "With our full support and Estoria at our side, one hundred percent."

A fresh wave of shock rippled through the chamber. One governor leaned back as if struck. Prussia had always been the northern colossus-vast armies, ancient wealth, technology that had outpaced Xia for generations.

Estoria, by every record they possessed, was little more than a forgotten backwater of exiles and poverty. The idea that these two nations together could guarantee victory over the strongest power on the continent felt like a fever dream.

A senior governor found his voice first, rough with caution. "And Estoria? Can we trust them? Their reputation is... uncertain at best."

Alex scratched the side of his head once, a small, human gesture that somehow made the next words land harder. "The truth is, Estoria's king is my blood brother. We have shared everything-life and death-since we were children. There is no daylight between us."

The silence that followed was absolute. Governors stared openly now, some with mouths parted, others exchanging quick, stunned glances. In one day they had absorbed more shocks than in an entire year of rule.

The man on the throne was no longer simply their emperor. He was something larger, something already moving pieces across a board they could barely see.

Alex continued, voice steady. "So there will be no war between Xia and Estoria. We are building something stronger-true collaboration, the kind brothers share. Each province will decide its own priorities. Look for trade, for technology exchanges, for partnerships that strengthen us all. Treat Estoria's people as you would treat your own."

One governor rose and bowed deeply, voice thick with resolve. "We will follow Your Majesty's command. Estoria will be received as brothers."

"Good," Alex said.

Zhuge Liang bowed again. "Your Majesty, when the time comes to face Prussia, will this be total war? Our aircraft and fighters joined with theirs in open battle across every front?"

Every governor echoed the sentiment at once, rising as one. "We stand ready, Your Majesty!"

Alex scratched his head a second time, slower this time. A faint, almost weary smile touched the corner of his mouth.

"No," he said quietly. "It will not be an all-out war. It will be a military demonstration."

The governors froze mid-bow. Zhuge Liang's head lifted, eyes narrowing in open confusion.

Alex shifted on the throne, choosing his next words with care. "It is like this. The King of Prussia has a daughter—Princess Sofina Augustus. Her husband is the richest man in all of Prussia. That man is my blood brother.”

The governors and Zhuge Liang stared at him. Eyes widened. Mouths parted. Many governors leaned back as if the throne itself had moved closer. They had barely absorbed the revelation that Estoria's king was Alex's brother. Now Prussia stood connected by the same blood. How many hidden brothers did their emperor have?

Alex continued. "We will give my blood brother the military support he needs to win

the succession in Prussia and place him on the throne of Prussia."

The silence stretched, thick and disbelieving. No one moved.

"To claim the Prussian throne, a candidate needs the backing of at least five out of the eight dukes. Right now one man blocks the

path-Duke Eisenwall. He commands one of the greates military forces inside Prussia. Remove him, and the rest falls into place. My blood brother will become the king of Prussia"

The hall turned to stone.

Zhuge Liang broke the quiet, the voice of a man who had spent a lifetime calculating odds. "Your Majesty, when you spoke of attacking Prussia, you meant only the removal of Duke Eisenwall? Destroying his dukedom and the entire kingdom comes under our control?"

Alex considered the question for a moment, fingers tapping once against the armrest. “Simply put, yes. But if we demonstrate enough overwhelming power, we

will not need a full war at all. We can bring the whole of Prussia under our influence without ever crossing their border in force."

A governor near the center spoke first. "If the only obstacle is one duke, then we destroy him."

Another nodded sharply. "This is already a guaranteed victory. We do not need to fight all of Prussia. We only need to fight one of its dukes. With two nations striking

together-"

"Damn right,” a third cut in. "We could even send our best cultivators. A targeted strike. Eliminate the duke cleanly and end it before it begins. Why bleed armies when a blade in the right place finishes the job?"

Alex's eyes sharpened, bright with sudden interest. The idea had landed exactly where he wanted it. "That," he said, "is an excellent suggestion."

At the same moment, far across the sea in Estoria, another conversation was already underway.

The conference room high above Estoria's capital hummed with the low thrum of hidden servers and the faint scent of polished steel and fresh coffee.

Logan sat at the head of the long obsidian table, flanked by Samuel Prescott and Keaton Knight. Across from them sat the five women who ran the nation's key provinces-Sophia Lancaster of Paris yra Thompson of Chicago,

Bella of Vermont, Kelly Knight of Los Angeles, Jasmine and the others. Their expressions ranged from wary to impatient.

Logan started, "The king has ordered us. Before we move against Prussia, we will first establish formal ties with Xia."

Bella leaned forward, fingers drumming once against the table. "Why? We have waited five years. What are we waiting for now? And why Xia?" Logan met her gaze without flinching. "The new emperor of Xia is the Estoria king's blood brother. They have agreed to assist us in the coming conflict with Prussia."

A ripple moved through the room. Logan continued before anyone could interrupt. "But first we open the doors between our nations-trade agreements, direct flights, tourism, cultural exchanges. Whatever it takes to bind the two countries together. Only then do we combine our military strength."

He let that settle, then added the part the king had insisted upon. "The king also recommends that each of you begin training in Xia's cultivation methods. The benefits are real. Cultivators maintain their strength and youth appearance for centuries. You could remain in your prime for a very long time."

The five women went quiet. Logan watched their faces. “Li Qingxue of the Wudang Sect will arrive to train and guide you personally. The king has already arranged it.” Lyra's eyes narrowed first. "Li Qingxue," she said, the name tasting sour. "Sounds

like an enemy operative to me."

Bella nodded once, sharp. "Agreed." Sophia's voice was cooler. "Does she have any connection to Alex?"

Logan hesitated half a second, then reached for the control embedded in the table. The massive wall screen flared to life behind him.

Two figures appeared in crisp, high-resolution detail—the Emperor of Xia in white imperial robes and the woman at his side in the formal attire of a future empress.

Logan answered, “I don't know if she has any connection to Alex. But one thing is

certain her future husband is Bai Xiaochun, Emperor of Xia. And yes... she is the future queen."

All five women turned toward the screen.

Kelly spoke first, "That emperor... Bai Xiaochun. The way his eyes catch the light—"

She stopped, frowning. "He reminds me of someone."

Bella tilted her head, studying the image. "The way he carries himself. Same posture as Alexander."

Lyra's chair creaked as she leaned closer. "That smile. It's him. That's Alexander.

Right?"

"That jerk is a spy," Sophia said, her voice sharp with suspicion. "He loves changing faces and pretending to be dead. Maybe that man is him."

The room went still except for the soft hum of the screen. Logan kept his expression

neutral, but his hand tightened under the table.

Only he, Keaton, and Samuel knew the full truth-that the man now called Bai

Xiaochun, Emperor of Xia, was Alexander Leonhart. And the questions were only beginning.

He glanced toward the door, already calculating how fast he could reach it before the next one landed.