A few hours later.
In an underground complex somewhere, in a large secret room, Joseph appeared here.
In addition to Joseph, there is another person in the secret room, and that is Canon, the steward whom Joseph wants to meet.
Canon at this time has not changed much from when he ambush the undead wizard Xander. He is tall and thin, with a stiff face and no emotion in his eyes. Wearing gray clothes, with his back to Joseph, he squinted at a map hanging on the wall of the secret room - a map of the main continent.
As you can see, the map of the main continent is roughly divided into four parts.
Located in the south is a loose political body called the Southern Free Confederacy.
The Southern Free Federation occupies about one-sixth of the main continent and is composed of hundreds of small kingdoms, principalities, city-states, noble fiefdoms, and autonomous cities, including Jialan City and Dadelan Town. Because there are no strong forces, there are no politicians who are too ambitious. Most members (cities) get along with each other in a friendly manner, with very few frictions or conflicts.
In the north is the Soma Alliance, the largest political body in the main continent.
The Soma Alliance occupies nearly half of the main continent. There are also many kingdoms, principalities, and autonomous cities within the territory, but they are all nominally subject to the rule of the Soma Alliance.
Logically speaking, it is simply unreasonable for a political body as powerful as the Soma Alliance not to take action against the Southern Free Federation. In fact, the Soma Alliance has never done anything to the Southern Free Federation for decades.
This is mainly because the Soma Alliance was established less than thirty years ago. Before her, there were originally four kingdoms of similar size standing side by side. Until one of the kingdoms, a rare ruler appeared in a century, and used amazing means to join forces and defeat and annex the other three kingdoms one by one. Eventually, it became the Soma Alliance, which was almost unprecedented in the history of the mainland. A huge country.
The consequences of this are obvious. The most important thing that cannot be ignored is that the newly established Soma Alliance is experiencing constant civil strife. Due to the lack of sufficient time for integration, there were serious conflicts between the three conquered kingdoms and the peoples of the conqueror kingdom.
For this reason, the rulers of the Soma Alliance spent most of their energy on maintaining internal rule to prevent the alliance from falling apart overnight, and they had no intention of bothering with the Southern Free Federation.
The Southern Free Federation also knows this very well and knows how bad the internal situation of the Soma Union is.
On the surface, the Soma Alliance was the winner in the battle to conquer the four kingdoms, successfully annexing three kingdoms of similar size. However, the remaining die-hard elements of the three annexed kingdoms have not given up hope of restoration.
After the fall of the kingdom, they each occupied an area within the Soma Alliance with harsh environment and easy to defend and difficult to attack. They were the ice and snow fields in the far north, the chaotic mountains bordering the Free Federation in the far south, and the Black Mountains in the east. water swamp. In these three places, they are constantly developing, trying to one day regain what they have lost.
Naturally, the Soma Alliance cannot tolerate this situation. At the beginning, the Soma Alliance wanted to use the strong military power at the beginning of the founding of the country to wipe out these three lawless places with absolute force.
However, the enemies in these three lawless places were extremely cunning and tenacious. With the help of the geographical location, they gave the Soma Alliance a harsh lesson - hundreds of thousands of troops were severely damaged, and nearly a thousand powerful magic-equipped knights were killed. Killed, the founding emperor was seriously injured and died in a sneak attack by assassins.
After the founding emperor passed away, the new alliance emperor decisively stopped the policy of forcible attacks in order to avoid greater losses. Instead, they turned to siege, preparing to let the three lawless places gradually die from blood loss under layer upon layer of blockade.
In order to ensure that this method can achieve the greatest effect, the new emperor established a capital near the Ice Sea Snowfield, Chaotic Mountains, and Blackwater Swamp, which were called the Northern Capital, the Southern Capital, and the Eastern Capital respectively.
Including the original Central Capital, the Soma Alliance has a total of four capitals. The alliance emperor will take turns to live in the four capitals every year and handle state affairs to ensure the normal progress of the siege and prevent counterattacks from the three lawless places. It continues like this. for nearly thirty years.
Having said that, in addition to the northern capital, southern capital, eastern capital, and central capital, the Soma Alliance actually has a fifth capital—although it is not a capital in name, many Soma people regard it as the western capital.
That is the gray stone fortress built on the southwest border to resist the invasion of the Sika Kingdom.
This is the Great Steel Wall of the Soma Alliance, where the Soma Alliance's most elite army and the most powerful magic armor knights are stationed.
It is precisely because of the existence of Greystone Castle that the Soma Alliance, the emerging first political body in the main continent, is isolated from the former first political body in the main continent and the current second political body, the Kingdom of Sika.
To the southwest of the main continent is the Kingdom of Sika.
The Kingdom of Sika occupies about one-fifth of the entire main continent. It has a long history. Before the establishment of the Soma Alliance, it has always been the most powerful country on the main continent. It is awe-inspiring and outward-looking.
The Kingdom of Sika has always been the center of civilization on the entire continent. It has the best wizard academy on the main continent, the most exquisite arts and crafts, the most popular poetry, and the most beautiful clothing.
Compared with the Kingdom of Sika, the four kingdoms that once stood side by side were not too bad, but they were still slightly inferior.
But after the Soma Alliance was established, everything changed.
Overnight, the Soma Alliance became the new center of the main continent. More and more free wizards gathered in the Soma Alliance, and businessmen were more willing to do business in the Soma Alliance. They gradually abandoned the Sika Kingdom, as if the Sika Kingdom The Ka Kingdom has unknowingly become a second-rate country.
Therefore, the Sika Kingdom regards the Soma Alliance as a thorn in its side, and has had many frictions with the Soma Alliance on the border. If it weren't for the existence of the Gray Stone Fortress and both sides maintaining a certain degree of restraint, the southwestern border of the Soma Alliance would have been a sea of fire.
However, many people know that the current restraint is only temporary. The Sika Kingdom and the Soma Alliance are destined to have a war. No matter who wins or loses, it will affect the entire pattern of the main continent.
In contrast to these complex situations, the last part of the continent, the area in the northwest corner, is somewhat inconspicuous.
It is called the Northern Wasteland, with barren land, mountains, and harsh environment. It occupies less than one-tenth of the main continent's area, and its population is less than one percent.
Except for some rare ores occasionally produced there that make people aware of the existence of this place, most people subconsciously ignore it.
There, in addition to the original residents, the only outsiders were some escapists, ascetic wizards, or extremely vicious prisoners - they were driven there and worked in the mines in shackles until they died.
This is the main continent, and this is the map of the main continent.
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