Chapter 379: Knowing One's Place

"..." Upon hearing the ancient golden dragon's question, the King of Winds did not respond. Instead, it turned its eagle head, surveying its territory—these cloud islands had been slowly gathered over an immeasurably long span of time.

Boredom often spurred it to find something to do, as otherwise it would do nothing but sleep. The world was vast, and it had seen all of it, yet the outer void was even more expansive. Still, it could not leave this world to roam freely.

"Do you feel anything unusual right now?" Seeing that the ancient golden dragon's question was ignored, Muria picked it up and tried asking.

"I want to go in that direction." The King of Winds lifted a wing, pointing towards the direction of the Rockman Kingdom.

"That's my temporary territory!" Muria felt a bit uncomfortable touching his chin as the eagle responded to him, clearly treating him differently than it did the ancient dragon. Was it because of his Dragon King lineage or his Titan lineage?

"Your territory?"

"Yes, the temporary territory under my control," Muria nodded, "entrusted to me by a human monarch."

"I would like to stay in your territory for a while. Would you host me?"

"I would be delighted." Muria immediately agreed. With the current unsettling situation in the Rockman Kingdom, having such a powerful being willing to stay was even more reassuring.

"Screech!" With Muria's consent, the King of Winds let out a long cry to the heavens. Visible winds formed beneath each of the 152 cloud islands, propelling the group towards the Rockman Kingdom at a speed much faster than before, leaving trails in the sky.

"Such might!" Feeling the wind on his face from the moving islands, Muria looked down and saw the sea rushing between the islands. His mind wandered to the floating city and its power issues:

"With the King of Winds able to effortlessly move hundreds of cloud islands, if we used it as a perpetual motion machine... Hiss, forget it, that idea is too dangerous. Let's think of something else that's achievable."

Muria considered some rather dark thoughts, "The King of Winds is a special existence, we shouldn't exploit it, but what about other legends? With their power, extracting it to move a single cloud island shouldn't be a problem.

And, given a legend's regenerative abilities, as long as the power extraction is balanced with their recovery rate, it could act like a living power core. If there were enough of them, they could serve as a power source for a floating city."

High above the cloud islands, inspired by the King of Winds' tremendous power, Muria entertained some troubling thoughts, "If I later possess enough strength, could I build a sky city like the Mech Emperor, capturing a few gods or mythic evil deities, and using them as power sources? That would truly be a perpetual motion machine."

...As the towering stack of cloud islands neared the continent and cast large shadows on the land below.

Although Muria had used a spell to notify the cities that the islands would pass through, it still caused considerable turmoil—a sight even an ancient dragon would marvel at.

Due to the vast area of the Rockman Kingdom, the islands took nearly half a month to move under the power of the King of Winds. The cities they passed were bustling with people eager to see this natural wonder.

During the mere two days the islands landed, human adventurers of golden rank tried to explore them, seeing the islands as untapped treasures.

However, these curious or rather greedy adventurers were all stopped by a legion of cloud giants summoned by Muria.

Moreover, Muria's refusal to let any humans explore the islands marked them as his property in the eyes of many.

Eventually, the multitude of cloud islands flew to the outskirts of Scallet, the capital of Rockman Kingdom, and hovered in the sky, casting vast shadows like perpetual night.

Finally, amid the curious, astonished, and admiring gazes of nearly all the residents, Muria, reverted to his dragon form, emerged from the central cloud island and descended into the royal palace.

Muria's distinctive golden dragon form, nearly unique in Erathia, immediately stirred significant discussion within the capital.

Clearly, to the capital's residents, these cloud islands were inseparably linked to their new ruling Grand Duke, believed to be his abode before arriving in the Rockman Kingdom.

The sheer number of cloud giants and storm giants, creatures known to dwell on cloud islands, were proof enough that only such a formidable collection of islands could sustain so many giants.

Unbothered by the external stir and discussions, Muria was more concerned with how his new tax law and policies were being implemented. Upon returning to the palace, he immediately summoned the head of the secret intelligence service:

"Have the nobles adhered to my decrees? How is the progress of the new tax law?"

"Grand Duke Muria, most nob

les have complied with your decrees and have started taxing according to the new tax law you issued. Only a small number of nobles have refused to comply, ignoring your commands."

"Most have complied?" Muria's face showed a hint of interested surprise. To be honest, he had been prepared for major opposition from the nobles, but was pleasantly surprised to find them so compliant, "What caused this?"

"After you issued these decrees, all seven legendary dukes publicly declared their adherence and vigorously promoted the new tax law throughout their territories, which influenced many nobles to follow suit."

"The leading sheep are sensible! That saves me a lot of trouble." Muria smiled, satisfied.

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