Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 380 - 13: Ruling You Relentlessly_2

The military force has its pros and cons. The downside is that they only follow orders from Tashina, the Black Iron King.

But Roman thought the positives outweighed the negatives, so he accepted this reinforcement.

After all, they were already here.

It was also a perfect opportunity to assess the combat strength of Oak’s elite troops, which would be beneficial for the River Valley Army.

The physical quality of some individuals with special bloodlines is generally higher than ordinary people, and Oak’s elite troops are such individuals.

Roman believed it was a genetic issue.

When he first arrived in Sige Town, he encountered a bandit leader Bo Ge, whose peak strength was around the fourth to fifth rank, which couldn’t be separated from excellent lineage.

Bo Ge had the bloodline of the North Ice people, whom the people of Black Iron Land had another name for—’North Ice Barbarians’.

Indeed, Barbarians are also a kind of foreign race.

But with the Yige close by and the Elves so distant, nine out of ten Ice Island Kingdom residents were Yige mixed-blood, and over time, no one considered the Yige people as foreigners anymore.

It was the same with Highland Barbarians and Forest Barbarians.

The future enemies of the River Valley Army are these, and familiarizing with them couldn’t hurt.

By evening,

Roman settled them and hosted a banquet to welcome their arrival as the host.

The food at Fertile Castle was quite decent, at least astounding the guests from Oak.

After a rather enjoyable banquet, when Roman had just left, he sensed the White Steel Princess following him.

Roman turned and said, "Your Highness the Princess, the room I’ve arranged for you isn’t here."

She said, "I came to speak with you alone."

Roman agreed, instructing Shasta and Margaret to guard the passage.

"If you have something to say, please go ahead."

The White Steel Princess straightforwardly said, "I asked Lord Ryan to send troops to reclaim Black Castle for me, but he refused, saying his mission isn’t there." She repeated that statement.

"It seems our Lord Oak only follows commands, not intentions," Roman said.

Whether they could reclaim it was secondary, but Duke Oak’s attitude was evident. He only wanted to stay in his corner, unwilling to involve himself in the wider situation—which might also relate to the isolation of Oak’s territory.

The White Steel Princess had no choice, Duke Oak’s independence was remarkable, and even if Iolion were alive, he couldn’t be swayed. That Oak Duke sending troops to the Capital was already commendable.

"So I want you to help me," she repeated.

"Impossible, Your Highness," Roman replied simply.

Iota Hina’s face showed perplexity; she found Roman extremely enigmatic. She could see through everyone’s nature, but with Roman wearing the amber, she could only see he wasn’t lying.

She never learned to probe and didn’t hesitate, asking directly, "Why? Let’s become in-laws, you stay here, I lead your army to battle, reclaim Black Iron Land, and you can have my throne."

If the plan succeeded, the Roman dynasty would rule Black Iron Land.

She thought no one could resist this temptation.

Roman chuckled lightly, "Then what do you want, Your Highness?"

"I only want the war! But other armies can’t satisfy my needs, only your army is the best..." She personally witnessed, that each soldier was almost as good as Iron Guards, and Iron Guards only loyal to Black Castle, with very few Black Iron Forbidden Army and White Knights.

Roman treated Tashina’s words as jokes; could military power be given away casually?

You want me as King, and yourself as the Regent, right? That’s impossible, the Regent must be me, ruthlessly governing your rule.

"Your Highness, why not seek Pirate King Alex? He would gladly obtain the legal qualifications of the Black Iron King, and, the pirate world is on the rise, you should know, that Cassandra led the Dragon Clan to help pirates, in the future, pirates will be the main force against the Gods World."

The White Steel Princess’s face turned cold immediately, "I’m of royal blood; do you want me to dance with those wild dragons?"

Clearly, this suggestion hadn’t pleased her at all.

She said coolly, "If you weren’t of the Split Armor lineage, how could I ever fancy you?"

She believed they were kindred, he himself had the inheritance rights of Duke Split Armor, was a nobleman, also the Conqueror’s Lord, of high status, genuinely a big figure, far beyond ordinary grassroots could compare, just having force wasn’t enough, like Cassandra, the Dragon Tamer, also criticized viciously by her, mocking that filthy witch was inferior to the Court Jester, as a lowly person dared dream of the Black Iron Throne.

Even if Pine Fury supported a Fake King, it was supporting her brother. Her elder brother Ioannos, broad and upright, was a more legitimate, capable heir than her, but when he died young, she was only thirteen, her younger siblings showed all sorts of unprofessionalism growing up. She was convinced the throne was hers, to restore the Conqueror’s glory, her father had no objection to this, he had long made a will—albeit now that things had deteriorated to a point where producing the will wouldn’t suffice.

Her idle brother became a puppet to be manipulated, a disgrace to the Conqueror Family. She wanted to angrily rebuke him for not resisting to death, succumbing to the Church Court and Fury, losing the family’s face, deserved a thousand deaths!

Roman had realized; the White Steel Princess valued bloodline and capability—of course, that wasn’t a fault.

On this land, Kings and Lords were of noble lineage, and she was exceptionally noble.

In the wars, she raided camps, charged, swept the battlefield with White Knights and Black Knights, personally at least having a fifth-tier knight’s level.

She was only twenty-five, already touching the High Order Knight threshold, this prowess wasn’t piled up by extraordinary resources.

Everyone thought it natural because the White Steel Princess’s veins flowed with the Conqueror’s blood. Her bloodline was purely extraordinary; according to Sanna, it felt like atavism.

Roman was similar, bearing the bloodline of Split Armor, excellent bodily development—even if some genes were poor, no matter how well-nourished in childhood, they remained short in stature.

Even if he gave points to Angel Envoy, those with poor base, bad genes remained stuck in low ranks.

This was an objective difference.

The Yige Barbarians were natural Berserkers, there was no reasoning in this.

The White Steel Princess said, "I fight at the frontlines, while you support from the back, I promise you, the lands conquered are all yours, you will be the future Black Iron King, you can claim that throne and me as well, don’t you think I’m beautiful?"

Roman glanced at her, Iota Hina in a white dress, nearly 1.8 meters tall, healthy and robust, arms and thighs strong, muscles indeed had a white steel feel.

More importantly, as she said, her features were exquisite.

Perhaps those who appreciated delicate and slender women wouldn’t see the beauty in this strength, but Roman didn’t mind a woman like a winter morning.

It was mid-winter now; the castle was cold, yet she felt no chill, attending the banquet in royal garb, her chest proud. During the war wrapped in white cloth, but now stood upright before Roman, slightly leaning forward, the chasm deep, immensely attractive, silently alluring.

"Don’t you want to touch it?"

Iota Hina grabbed Roman’s hand, guiding him to grab it, but Roman immediately waved to interrupt the motion.

Certainly, the White Steel Princess hadn’t learned beauty tactics, she said normally, "Before Black Castle fell, my father had already secretly transported the Black Iron Treasury’s wealth out, although not all, but boxes of gold coins, gemstones, knowledge, he said those treasures, craftsmen, Black and White Knights were all my dowry, invaluable, I took them to Oak, as long as you agree, I can bring them here for you."

But Roman said, "Your Highness, you might not know, I am the sole supreme ruler of this land, no one can surpass my will, nor can anyone stand with me, because I feel none of you are worthy..."

He continued, "Don’t look at me like that, you want to reclaim Black Iron Land, I can support you, assist you, but not by becoming in-laws—if you’re willing to kneel to me, kneel before me, I’ll help you, strike those traitors hard! What do you think?"