"Is it you? Are you..."
It's not surprising that Bookerang recognized Li Yi as soon as he saw him.
It’s Li Yi’s outfit that makes people want to forget it.
"Lord City Lord."
Li Yi bowed slightly to signal, his tone neither humble nor arrogant.
"I came here this time to discuss some matters with the city lord."
"oh?"
Bookron was a little surprised, but he didn't feel any big surprise. In his opinion, the reason why this person deliberately behaved in front of him must have a purpose. If this person didn't come, he would instead Feeling a little uneasy.
Now that people are here, he feels a lot more at ease.
No matter what his purpose is, at least he can still control it for now.
But if he couldn't control the situation even with his level 4 peak strength, then the situation would probably be irreversible.
Bucklang smiled self-deprecatingly and looked at the mysterious man hidden in the black robe.
"Tell me what you need, if I have the ability, I wouldn't mind helping you."
"Why did the city lord say that?"
Li Yi was a little surprised, but he didn't care.
"Actually, I'm not here this time just for myself."
Li Yi smiled and told his purpose.
Iron Stone City is one of the three largest city-states in the southern part of the empire.
The system of the empire is that except for the imperial capital and surrounding areas, the remaining four regions are local autonomous.
It doesn't sound like the Empire has much autonomy.
But in fact, all local city lords are appointed by the imperial capital, and in addition to representing the will of the empire, this airborne person will also be the most powerful person in the local city-state.
Some people may want to say, if the dispatched person becomes more powerful and disobeys orders, what can the empire do?
In fact, this kind of situation has not happened before in the long history of the empire.
The two major crises the empire encountered were rebellions caused by the disloyal intentions of powerful local officials.
Although it was eventually suppressed, it also severely damaged the empire's original strength.
The empire that once dominated the world began to decline.
Logically speaking, since this system will cause irreversible effects, the best way is to abolish it, and then slowly work on it to find a way to return local power to the imperial capital.
The new emperor did think of some ways to try to change the current situation.
It's a pity that it didn't work very well in the end.
The empire, a huge and decaying ship, is already riddled with holes. Even if you try to maintain it by tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall, you can't change the final result of its gradual decline.
Today's empire has actually been carved up by three major forces. It is these three major forces that are trying to maintain the current seemingly shaky situation.
These three major forces are the relatives' clan, the civil servants' group and the meritorious aristocrats' group.
The so-called relatives, to put it bluntly, are the families of past queens. The natal families of these queens took the opportunity to obtain a large amount of wealth and power during the period when the queen was favored. Although most of these powers are not hereditary, with the existence of wealth, these The relatives' family gradually formed a unique group independent of the other two major forces, and formed an opposition to them.
The civil servant group, these imperial officials who do not seem to have much strength, are actually a group that cannot be ignored. These people often form large and small civil servant families, and through intermarriage, people who belong to the same camp are Gradually gathering together, although the civilian group may be the weakest in terms of military strength, it does not mean that they are easy to bully.
In fact, among the three major forces, the civil service group is the one that is least easy to mess with. Once there is a head-on conflict with it, these usually gentle and gentle officials will bite like mad dogs, and then they will do all kinds of things one after another. Misguided moves occur frequently, and since these people often hold power at the center of the empire, once they gather together, outsiders really have no good way to deal with them.
After all, not everything can be solved through military strength.
Among the three major forces, the meritorious nobles are the strongest in overall strength and the most low-key.
Merit means that these people's ancestors were once meritorious ministers of the empire, and nobility is the title given to those who immediately conquered the world and enjoyed wealth and honor.
One of the biggest reasons why the aristocratic group has been able to gradually form a powerful force is the hereditary system. Although from another perspective, hereditary has indeed caused many nobles to gradually wither. After all, no one can guarantee that their descendants will be able to survive. Hong Hong is as awesome as he was back then.
But in most cases, these nobles have learned to prepare for rainy days, cultivate their descendants well, and know well that a big tree attracts wind. In many cases, no matter how precarious the empire is, these nobles hide themselves well and I won't use this to cause trouble, and I'm very low-key.
Of course, there is another most important reason why the aristocratic group is the strongest force.
That is the most powerful army in the empire, the Royal Forbidden Army, which is controlled by the two most powerful families among the nobility.
If you want a single round of paper strength, you only need this Royal Forbidden Army, which is enough to sweep away most of the military forces on this land.
In fact, it was this royal imperial army that suppressed local rebellions twice.
And today's seemingly unstable situation relies on this royal imperial army to barely maintain the surface peace.
After talking about the general situation, we have to talk about the current Iron Stone City.
Even though Tieshi City is indeed one of the three largest city-states in the south, the city lord Liu Shenglong is indeed one of the few masters on the ceiling of his personal combat power.
But if you look at it on a larger level, he is still a nobody worth mentioning.
After all, no matter how strong one's personal strength is, it cannot be compared with the army. This is not a world where personal power is superior to that of the country.
The reason why the Liu family and his son are so arrogant is because they belong to one of the three major forces.
"noble?"
Li Yi looked at Bukelang, who looked thoughtful, and asked.
The other party gave a bitter smile.
"Yes, the ancestors of the Liu family were hereditary nobles. During this period, they declined for a while, but the title is still there. Although they are not considered to be great nobles, they can still have enough food and clothing until Liu Shenglong is born."
Li Yi was silent.
Indeed, the biggest reason why the nobility can continue to this day is the hereditary system. With the existence of this system, it doesn't matter even if there are some prodigal sons. As long as there is a figure like Liu Shenglong among the descendants, they will immediately You can turn around and join the ranks of first-class nobles again.
The reason why Liu Shenglong was able to become the city lord of Iron Stone City and hold great power was not only due to his own strength, but also because of the support of the noble group.
That is a step that is absolutely impossible to achieve based on personal strength alone.
Li Yi didn't know why the old city lord didn't listen to what he had to say, but instead told him a lot of irrelevant things.
He doesn't care.
What he cares about is whether he can attract more players. Only players can upgrade the mecha.
Only after the mecha is upgraded can he decipher the truth of the world.
Only by cracking the truth can he go back.
What he wants to know is why the mastermind brought him to this world, and where the mastermind is.
Nothing else matters.
The premise of all this is that he can get the support of more players, not anything else.
Therefore, although he could tell, the old man who was the city lord in front of him spoke very emotionally and vividly, as if he was slowly displaying a huge picture in front of him.
But he didn't react much.
What does it have to do with me?
Booker Lang seemed to have noticed Li Yi's thoughts. Although his face was completely hidden in the black robe, as a level 4 genetic warrior, one of the few top combat powers in the world, how could Booker Lang not notice it? What about a person’s thoughts?
After finishing speaking, Bukelang stood up slowly and faced Li Yi with an unusually solemn expression.
Just when Li Yi didn't know what the other party was going to do, the city lord of Gray Mist City, the ruler of hundreds of thousands of city citizens, and the most powerful combat force in the empire, suddenly fell into Li Yi's shocked eyes. , knelt down on one knee.
Then, at the moment when Li Yi was stunned, he said something.
"Please save my citizens."
Li Yi:? ? ?
