National destiny survival: I am weak and rely on luck to fly

Before long, two waiters brought out freshly roasted deer spine and two jars of ale to the table.

Commander Kulu poured himself a full glass of ale, tilted his head back and gulped down half of it, not even bothering to wipe the white foam off his beard.

A familiar-looking dwarf squeezed over with an empty wine glass, sat down next to Kulu, and said mysteriously, "Have you heard? The bastard child of the Romand family, who was driven out of the capital three years ago, has actually returned alive. He even went to the palace to pay homage to His Majesty the day before yesterday, saying that he wanted to reclaim his mother's dowry."

A tall mercenary at the opposite table also came over with a wine glass, plopped down, and retorted, "What bastard? He's the legitimate eldest son! The one who came in later is the bastard."

"These old grievances, over twenty years old, have accumulated to a depth of three feet. Does he still expect His Majesty to overturn his case?"

The dwarf tapped the table twice, drawing the attention of several pairs of ears around him: "Whether or not the case is overturned is another matter; you first need to figure out just how big that 'dowry' is."

Several young mercenaries were clearly unaware of the matter and asked what was going on.

The dwarf deliberately lowered his voice, "Back then, when Romand had just inherited the earldom, in order to gain a foothold in the capital, he married Leah, the only daughter of the same title from the Tran family. What kind of wealth did the Tran family have? Three salt mines in the south, more than thirty merchant ships, plus half of the granary street in the south of the city, half of which were given to Romand Manor as dowry."

"But the good times didn't last long. Count Tran was struck on the shoulder by an orc in the North, and after being carried back, he died a few days later. It's said that before he died, the old count specifically instructed Romand not to tell Leah, but to wait until she had a safe delivery. And then—"

The dwarf drawled, spitting all over his wine glass, "I don't know how it happened, but the news leaked out that very night. When Miss Leah heard the terrible news, she suffered a hemorrhage on the spot, taking her unborn child with her. Only little Sit, who had just turned six, was left behind."

"At the funeral, Romand held little Sit and cried more sincerely than anyone else, but before his tears had even dried, the Tran family's ship deeds, salt mines, and granaries were successively transferred to the Romand family. The following year, he married his second wife, who was still an unknown noble widow."

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

"What's even more dramatic is that the new lady brought back a son... who looks exactly like Romand, and the worst part is that this kid is more than a year older than little Sit!"

Several young mercenaries stared wide-eyed, one of them exclaiming excitedly, "So, before Miss Leah got pregnant, Romand already..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down, you're asking for trouble!" The bearded man nudged him with his elbow to warn him, then looked at the dwarf. "So, Young Master Sit has come back this time to seek justice for his mother? But the main branch of the Trant family is dead, and the collateral branches have long been suppressed and forced to leave the capital. What can he possibly fight with?"

Kuru downed the drink in his glass in one gulp, slamming the glass on the table with a loud crash: "Give me the bloodline!"

"The ancestors of the Tran family fought alongside the old king. No matter how glorious Romand was, he only rose to power because of his father-in-law. Now, the Tran family only has Sit left. Even if His Majesty is concerned about his reputation, he cannot let him die in vain. The chase three years ago caused a huge uproar, but he still managed to escape the capital—do you really think he was lucky? Bullshit! Without His Majesty secretly making an exception, do you think he could have escaped?"

Sparrow the flea, with a bone in his mouth, mumbled, "So, we'll just wait and watch the show? I bet five gold coins that within a month, the Earl of Romande will be bleeding."

The dwarf Barry grinned, his goal achieved, and the sound of pouring wine was like the beating of war drums: "Come, come, I'll be the dealer..."

……

Shen Nan, who had been craning his neck to listen to more of the gossip, had no choice but to put down the two silver coins and get up to leave as the topic veered off course.

Just as his fingertips left the silver coin, a cold system announcement suddenly rang in his mind—

[Urgent Announcement: Survivor "Cyril Corri" from the Bald Eagle Kingdom has activated the "Duel Order," forcibly connecting to the Golden Coconut Kingdom and initiating an arena duel!]

[Urgent Announcement: Michael, a survivor from the Bald Eagle Kingdom, has activated the "Gambling Order," forcibly connecting to the White Robe City-State and initiating a resource gambling order.]

[Urgent Announcement: Jamie, a survivor from the Bald Eagle Kingdom, has activated the "Gambling Order," forcibly connecting to the Sand Star Kingdom and initiating a resource gambling order.]

These three consecutive emergency announcements all represent challenges launched by the bald eagle against other countries.

"What's going on?" Shen Nan stood there, stunned.

Of the more than 100 countries in the world, he could only name about 30 or 40, and these three sounded unfamiliar.

"The White-Robed City-State... Oh, isn't that the super-rich country that hosted the World Cup a few years ago and was the first to be eliminated, but is still incredibly wealthy?"

He realized what was going on, "Isn't the bald eagle supposed to be a partner of our country, like we're in cahoots? Why is it turning around and stabbing us in the back now?"

More importantly, the Bald Eagle has already lost two matches in a row, and its three-dimensional attributes have dropped to the bottom. How dare it still challenge three at once?

"Could it be..." Shen Nan suddenly thought of something.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Even if it loses two matches in a row, it's still a piece of cake for these small countries that are already small in number and can barely survive.

"Is the Bald Eagle planning to 'recover' by targeting easy opponents, winning a few matches, and then coming after us once your attributes have improved?"

"How despicable!" Shen Nan slapped his thigh in anger.

Strengthening oneself by oppressing other countries and sacrificing other people's lives—what's the difference between that and cannibalism?!

Meanwhile, the world channel was already in an uproar.

Survivors from the three countries that were named flooded the screen with questions, crying out, "Why were you challenged?"

Those smaller countries that weren't named are also trembling with fear, afraid they'll be next.

The terror of the bald eagle was ingrained in their bones, and even after losing two games in a row, no one believed that their country could beat the bald eagle.

Once defeated, their attributes are reduced and their resources are halved, which is basically a death sentence for them who are already struggling to survive.

Unlike the bustling atmosphere on the World Channel, the Oval Office in the White House of the United States on the planet Blue Planet was eerily quiet.

The top leaders of the three countries being challenged held the freshly signed contract, the ink still wet, and gave a smile to the white-haired old man sitting there.