Isabelle and Armstrong also left the throne room after a few more discussions. Only John and Thaergood remained with Jack. Jack sat on his throne and activated the monarch system. Today was coincidentally the day when he received ruling powers from his sovereign level.
He received 90 ruling powers from his level 9 sovereign. Combined with his stock and the ruling powers he received from Boundless Cache, he had 172 ruling powers.
pαndα`noνɐ1~сoМ He was amazed by the number, he could do quite a lot with this.
He again spent them on the same matters. Call to Arms, Mass Drill, and Summon Population. Those three consumed 90 ruling powers.
Jack noticed a new sovereign power appeared.
*
Imposed Blockade
Block guild members of a guild whose base or headquarters is outside of Themisphere from coming into Themisphere territory.
Cost: 20 ruling power
Cooldown: 1 month
*
"Oh? Cool. I can use this to block any World Maker members from entering this country!" Jack exclaimed after seeing this new sovereign power.
He then stopped and thought. He turned to Thaergood, "Can I just give a command to outlaw all World Maker members in this country without using this sovereign power?"
"You can, but...," Thaergood seemed hesitant.
"But you will lower public opinion," it was Peniel who completed Thaergood's words. She continued, "Unlike Death Associates who had betrayed the country, World Maker never openly offended Themisphere. Outlawing them without sufficient reasons will make the public see you as a tyrant sovereign. This will cause the settlements' stats to decrease. Officers' loyalties will also decrease. Using this sovereign power saves you from all those negative effects."
"That's why Wicked Witched can continue to operate inside Aurebor," John remarked. "They and their allies didn't join the current Aurebor's invasion. They also continued to create trouble for World Ruler members. But they didn't violate the country's rules, so Mistress doesn't use her status as the queen to bully them."
"She didn't?" Jack made a surprised expression. "My understanding is although their group knows a lot of secrets of this world, they are not familiar with the monarch system. I'm surprised they are aware of this rule."
"Actually, they learned it from World Maker who learned it the hard way. I have intel that after Master became Liguritudum's ruler, he forced the kingdom's army to attack a guild that refused to obey his will. He ended up getting a bunch of penalties. Not just a reduction in settlements' stats and officers' loyalties, but also a reduction in gold and mana income for three months."
"Yes, a blockade is one thing, but using the country forces against outworlders or natives without any valid reason carries heavier punishment," Peniel added. "Repeated abuse of powers will increase the penalties and add new ones. Soldiers might desert, reducing their troops count, and the people might revolt. Continuing to ignore these penalties and repeating the abuse will result in the ultimate punishment."
"Which is?"
"Divine interference. God or Goddess will interfere, stripping the sovereign from its position and electing a new one to rule the country."
"Wow," Jack uttered. He then turned to John and asked, "Can you cook up a ploy to incite Master or Mistress into doing these repeated offenses?"
"If they have the intelligence of a pig, I might," John returned.
Jack chuckled. He then proceeded to use the new sovereign power, imposing a blockade on World Maker and World Ruler's members.
The action used 40 ruling powers. The number of ruling powers that he was so impressed with at the start was now reduced to 42 points.
"Just so you know, the blockade doesn't mean a barrier appears and blocks the two guilds' members from entering this kingdom," Peniel informed. "It simply outlaws their presence. Any kingdom soldiers who happen to catch them in sight will turn hostile at them. They will also appear in the kingdom's bounty list. So, any outworlders who killed those guilds' members within the kingdom territory can receive rewards."
Jack nodded his understanding.
"You will also get more powers to deal with outworlders' guilds at later sovereign levels," Peniel added. "Level 11 gives you the ability to punish a guild, limiting their access and taking a small portion of their resources. Level 15 gives you the ability to banish a guild. Sort of like what was done to Death Associates but without the need to wait for them to commit an offense against the kingdom."
"I don't really have anything against the guilds in this kingdom," Jack said. "Even the one remaining leader of the coalition, Corporate United, has been playing nicely with us. So, I don't truly need those powers. But still, those powers will be handy to have."
One week had passed since Jack activated the enchantment from the Arcane Forge. So, Jack used more of his ruling powers to hasten the research of adamantine and magicite forging. He also spent some ruling powers to hasten the construction of more population-related buildings, spending another 12 ruling powers.
He then fed 300 magicite ores, which were produced by Thereath's mines, into the arcane forge. The enchantment, Arcane Armor and Weapon, increased to its second level. The effect now changed to +10% on all units' damage and defense.
Jack spent the remainder of the day having a meeting with Thaergood and his magistrates. He couldn't postpone his planned travel to Hydrurond so he asked Thaergood to make the meeting short. In the evening, he met the guests who had been waiting for his presence by arranging a feast. He couldn't afford them a formal meet.
The next morning, he made a short trip to Ellie's restaurant and Amy's Bakery to pick up his share of the profits, which was 175 gold coins. The profit from the restaurant had significantly decreased, almost by half. Ellie explained Darmos' consumption of food was out of this world. That draconian could be said to be staying inside the VIP room all day, having three meals there daily.
Jack didn't mind. He was not in urgent need of coins.
He then used the city's zone portal and teleported to a city closest to the border. He summoned Pandora and flew in the direction of Hydrurond.
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