Chapter 1就在帝国猎人出发追踪之时

Just as the Imperial Hunters set out to track them down, Bill and the others were already far away from the royal capital, speeding along in a carriage.

After escaping last night, he followed Anzar and the others to the outskirts, where Roman had already arranged for people to wait, preparing a carriage for their escape. This was to accommodate Bill, who was an "ordinary person" and too slow on foot.

Worried about being caught by the royal pursuers, the group traveled all night, the carriage running from evening until the afternoon of the next day, with almost no stops in between.

Fortunately, the journey was quite smooth, without any obstruction... so smooth that it hardly felt like an escape, making Zhou Jing almost think he was on a picnic.

If it were a more developed civilization, there would definitely be interceptions everywhere along the way. Unfortunately, the Terra Empire was primitive in its development, and often legs ran faster than news. Perhaps the towns they passed along the way wouldn't have even received the rumors by the time they arrived.

Realizing this, Zhou Jing stopped being so tense.

The only thing to worry about was the superhuman tracking abilities of the Imperial Hunters, but with Jason there, anyone who tried to chase them would be taken care of.

"I wonder how the royal family is doing. Becky must be furious, but Shuni is quite innocent. Still, we had to run..."

Zhou Jing sat in the carriage, bouncing up and down, munching on jerky, and speculating about the chain reaction after his escape.

Speaking of which, Roman was still in the royal capital. Would he be exposed?

Although this guy was very good at hiding his strength, he probably wouldn't fare well in the enemy's base. If he was exposed, he might have all the fat beaten out of him.

Zhou Jing didn't care if Roman kicked the bucket or not, mainly because he was still waiting for him to fulfill his promise.

"Speaking of which, I've already met the standards for clearing the game, so I'm not afraid of sacrificing myself."

He opened the panel and took a look. Since running out of the royal capital, he had triggered a series of new achievements.

[Achievement Triggered: Defect to the Light]

[You have gained 1000 Star Realm Points and 10 points of Information State Particles!]

[Achievement Triggered: Defector]

[You have gained 500 Star Realm Points and 5 points of Information State Particles!]

[You have obtained a Career Feat – The Defecting Imperial Chief]

[Rating: National Level]

[Current Legend Degree Bonus: +3]

"Defect to the light, more like defecting to the dark."

Zhou Jing glanced at the details. The trigger mechanism for this achievement was joining an opposing camp and having a certain status, so that the defection could have an impact.

As the Imperial Chief Alchemist, his defection from the Empire was of a serious nature. Like the creation of the new Exotic Blood Potion before, it created a new "Career Feat", which in a sense was like Bill's "life node."

However, he was not a native of the Terra Empire, did not subscribe to feudalism, and would not be bound by national concepts, so he felt no psychological burden in leaving.

With the new Exotic Blood Potion put into use, Bill gained more Information State Particles with each daily settlement. Combined with the rewards from these two achievements, he had reached the 120 points required to clear the game. Once Bill kicked the bucket, he could start the clear settlement and transform into an Eternal Apostle.

Of course, he still wanted to keep Bill alive as long as possible, as he had planned before.

After Jason's example, Zhou Jing already had experience. The longer he lived, the more possibilities there were, and the higher the evaluation, the greater the benefits of clearing the game.

However, mentally, he was more relaxed. This was equivalent to insurance.

After all, cooperating with Roman was like seeking skins from a tiger. Bill escaped with the help of Roman's forces, but now that he was in someone else's hands, Roman might not fulfill his promise once he felt he could knead him at will.

If Roman didn't keep his promise, Zhou Jing wouldn't mind exploding on the spot, letting Roman defect in vain and get nothing. With the insurance of completing the game, he had more confidence.

...

More than half a month later, Zhou Jing followed Anzar and the others to one of Roman's strongholds.

This stronghold was hidden in the remote mountains and forests, stockpiling a lot of supplies. Most of the living facilities were complete, and there were hundreds of people waiting here, all of whom were well-trained, including many Exotic Blood Warriors.

Zhou Jing was temporarily placed here, guarded by hundreds of people, waiting for Roman to arrive.

He stayed in the stronghold for two months, during which many things happened outside, with great changes taking place.

The news of Bill's defection spread from the royal capital to the outside world, and more and more cities learned about it, causing an uproar.

Various rumors spread like wildfire. Some said that the royal family was too much, forcing Master Bill away. Others said that Master Bill was not satisfied with the marriage and eloped with his sweetheart.

The Empire dispatched Imperial Hunters and royal guards to form special search teams, searching for Bill's whereabouts city by city, and issued a reward, as if Bill was a fugitive.

And at this juncture, several tribes controlling cities announced their independence one after another, breaking away from the Empire's control and claiming that Tarn was not the legitimate heir to the Empire.

It was as if Bill's defection was the fuse, detonating the tribes' plans.

This major event shocked the entire Empire. The Empire's people were originally excitedly eating Bill's melons, but they didn't expect that they would suddenly become melons themselves, and they were stunned.

The royal family was caught off guard, and the products and resources of several cities were directly confiscated by the tribes in charge of the cities.

A few days after the tribes announced their independence, King Becky Tarn responded, roughly saying that this was a premeditated rebellion, that he did not recognize the tribes' independence, and that he severely criticized it as a historical retrogression, which would cause the country to miss the opportunity to run into feudalism, etc.

The Empire couldn't spend too much manpower searching for Bill anymore, so it quickly withdrew its forces, conscripted troops, and prepared for the suppression of the rebellion.

However, some tribes took the lead and directly armed and surrounded the surrounding cities directly under the Empire. Because of the multiple points of attack, the Empire couldn't take care of them at all, and the area that the royal power could control shrank rapidly.

At the same time, the tribes announced the establishment of an unbreakable alliance, so that if the Empire sent troops to attack any one tribe, all the tribes in the world would attack it together.

For a time, the Empire's territory was divided, and the royal family and the tribes confronted each other, clearly demarcated, as if they had regressed to the tribal era, even less united than at that time.

Many residents of the cities under the rule of the tribes were at a loss. They woke up and changed their nationality, and they all felt puzzled... The Empire was clearly thriving, and good days were coming. Why did it suddenly become like this?

The turmoil in the Terra Empire caused many industries to stop directly. For example, the Imperial Workshops in various places directly stopped their business, and the craftsmen could only serve the local tribes.

Due to the independence of various places, the royal family and the tribes had no time to focus their attention on dealing with the threat of Exotic Beasts. There were more and more rumors of Exotic Beasts ravaging villages and towns. Almost no lords gathered hunters to crusade against Exotic Beasts anymore, and they could only rely on the spontaneous actions of the hunters.

But the hunter groups could not stay out of the storm.

The confrontation brought about the need to expand armaments. The tribes began to vigorously win over the free hunters and Imperial Hunters in the cities under their rule, inviting them to join the tribes, wanting to turn the hunters, whose duty it was to deal with Exotic Beasts, into knives to deal with other forces.

Many hunters were unwilling to turn their blades towards people, but not everyone valued the hunter's code. The tribes were willing to pay the price and gave too much, which still moved many hunters.

Groups of hunters switched jobs and joined the army, and the strength of the confronting parties became more and more powerful, while the hunter groups gradually shrank in this process.

The Terra Empire fell into division, precarious.

In the midst of this chaos, Roman, the mastermind behind the scenes, finally arrived late and joined Zhou Jing.