In the Name of Empress-Chapter 585 - 348: We Join Forces!

Is Roland really here to negotiate?

He could be.

Only by not assuming a position can one seize the greatest benefit.

If dismantling these three war machines yields the greatest profit, Roland naturally wouldn’t mind taking action; if reconciliation offers more benefit, he’d quickly welcome three mechanical brothers of different origin.

Lisa and Sif, who understand Roland’s character deeply, will not stop him.

They won’t oppose Roland’s decision to reconcile, as long as it is profitable.

Perhaps they have been influenced by him, or they are growing in their understanding of politics.

Sif no longer makes decisions based solely on personal likes and dislikes in most situations, and Lisa no longer acts naively.

Facing the sudden appearance of Roland, the three machines were stunned.

Several seconds later, the tallest war machine emitted a cold voice.

"Identity recognition in progress..."

Watching the lights flashing on the war machine, Roland naturally didn’t dare give it time to react.

In a low voice, he retorted: "How dare you, which unit do you belong to? National Defense Army or Storm Assault Team?"

This war machine was speaking the Alamanni language and with a very standard accent.

The Alamanni language is a dead language, known to almost no one in this world except linguists studying it.

Roland chose the path of knowledge and after the Battle of White Mountain, his main profession as a Scholar advanced to Tier Five [Secret Scripture Master], gaining a vast amount of secret scriptures and knowledge since the Fourth Era, thereby updating the encyclopedia within his sea of consciousness.

It is not surprising that he understands the Alamanni language.

He not only comprehends the enemy’s language, but is also very familiar with the organization of the Alamanni Empire’s military.

At that time in the Empire, there was the government-responsible National Defense Army, the Emperor’s directly-controlled Imperial Guard, and the Supreme Council’s secret ace Storm Assault Team.

But outside of these regular troops, there was also a notorious internal unit.

The internal unit was accountable to the Emperor, differing from the Imperial Guard who protected the Emperor’s safety, they handled unspeakable matters for the Emperor.

For instance, making a tribe, ethnic group, or sect vanish into thin air.

War machines were usually managed by the National Defense Army and the Storm Assault Team, but the internal unit also possessed a few elite machines.

Roland, speaking with a standard Imperial Capital accent, talked about the Alamanni history with familiarity, hoping to deceive these war machines with seemingly faulty CPUs.

Indeed, the leading war machine fell into doubt.

Its last instruction was to destroy the fortress of the rebel forces at Fran Fortress, yet after awakening, it contacted the superior command many times, but received no response.

It could only start a search and lock target on the fortress’s location.

Though finding the fortress strangely altered, it still led the combat squad to initiate an attack.

However, it underestimated the "rebels’" will to resist, failing to complete the mission.

But that’s not the key issue; the key issue is Roland’s sudden appearance. This guy standing with the rebels at the fortress, speaking fluent Imperial Capital dialect, certainly seemed like one of them.

The war machine’s CPU overheated from confusion.

Seeing it remain silent, Roland knew this was a crucial moment, so he raised his voice and said:

"The Empire has been extinct for many years, and what you’re attacking isn’t a rebel camp but a human city twenty thousand years into the future."

"The Empire... is gone?" The specially-made scanner on top of the war machine fixed on Roland, trying hard to discern the truth of Roland’s words.

Roland raised his head calmly, staring back at it without care.

Every word he said was a fact, and he even hoped the war machine had the ability to distinguish truth from lies.

A few seconds later, the war machine looked at Roland, somewhat puzzled, and its voice was a bit low.

"No abnormal fluctuations in heartbeat or blood flow, you haven’t lied just now. But..."

"I am not an Alamanni Empire person now; the Empire has been gone for twenty thousand years, you should know humans can hardly live that long."

Roland shrugged, smiling as he said, "But I still retain quite a bit of the Empire’s memories."

This is the charm of journalism.

Every word he said was factual, but when pieced together, it misled and suggested that he was once part of the Empire and retained partial memories through reincarnation.

Without a single lie, deception could be accomplished; this is journalism.

Indeed, the war machine’s intelligence couldn’t handle such complexity; it stared at Roland and, after confirming no lies were spoken, its tone softened considerably.

But the war machine wasn’t foolish; it still remained vigilant.

"May I know your name?"

"Roland." Of course, there was no need to lie about such a thing, Roland’s gaze was frank.

"I am very sorry, I am willing to believe your words, but even if you are a descendant of the Empire, there is no subordinate relationship between us, and I cannot follow your orders." The war machine, despite judging Roland’s truthfulness, still felt Roland wasn’t like an honest Imperial soldier, somewhat resistant.

Roland wasn’t expecting these hunks of iron to heed his words.

Even if the other party dared to obey, he wasn’t willing to accept them now.

These three war machines slaughtered at least ten thousand people last night, indiscriminately between the young, old, women, and children.

Anyone who accepted these machines would be making an enemy of the Prudon Kingdom’s people and could even become the enemy of all humanity.

After all, it’s a new era; best to leave city massacres from the Barbarian Race’s past as historical memories.

As per usual, the awakening and strength of powerful beings from ancient times often run inversely.

These three war machines may seem fierce, easily overcoming cities and slaughtering, but even a few Transcendent beings couldn’t handle them, and halfway through the battle, they needed to find a place to recharge. Future awakened war machines will only be stronger.