Chapter 773 (2/2)

In another meeting of the aristocrats, Marquis Gordon brought up a proposal.

“Let’s get our people to select their surnames too,” he said. He seemed a little haggard, apparently because he had not been resting well and was mentally exhausted. “Rather than having to bow down again because we are unable to withstand the pressure, we should take the chance to do something ourselves when we can still control the situation.”

The earls looked at one another and finally, all of them cast their gazes over to Marquis Yug.

No matter what, these two marquises were still the leaders of the aristocratic party. Even the earls of the nine local regions, who had always been at odds with them, chose to back off at such a moment. They left the decision to the two marquises.

Marquis Yug had long reached a conclusion. When he heard of this matter, he sighed and said, “Seems like, things have come to the point where we are left with no other choice!”

“Yes, it can’t be helped!”

“Though it feels a little humiliating, humans can’t just survive on dignity after all.”

“In fact, we should convince ourselves that this is not a big deal. Even if everyone on Earth has a surname, our status alone is enough to make our surnames all the more glorious.”

Marquis Yug’s stand on this matter was very clear from what he just said. Seeing how the two leaders were also in agreement, the five earls of the central party all started talking at once, eagerly chiming in their support for the decision. The earls from the local party also voiced no objection. All of them indicated their agreement.

After all, the fact that around a dozen Legendary Masters had joined efforts to destroy Golden Tower City definitely placed a lot of pressure on them. Seeing how the hardline Marquis Yug also had to bow down to pressure, how could they still cling obstinately to their own opinions?

If they did not bow down now, would it mean that they were really going to wait for the masters to come knocking on their doors?

That was truly going to be a great humiliation!

“Since everyone is in agreement, this matter shall be settled for now,” said Marquis Gordon, somewhat wearily. “But… we have to be relatively stringent with the granting of surnames to the people. The number of surnames we can grant must be relatively few.”

“We can also learn from the Republic of Northwest and try to add on additional requirements on top of the existing ones,” Marquis Yug said with a smile. “For instance, one surname can only be used by 200 households, or something like that. This is a good idea.”

“Won’t that increase the workload quite substantially?” asked an earl.

“Of course,” said Master Yug as he laughed in a very sly manner. “But isn’t that the effect we want? When the workload is increased, we can’t make haste. Unquestionably, the delay will be much longer…”

“That’s indeed a good idea!” said another earl who could not help laughing heartily. “The way we work is definitely not as efficient as that of the Republic of Northwest. So it’s perfectly normal for one round of registration to take a year or two. It won’t be surprising if we take another six months to a year when it’s time for the final count. Then three to four rounds of registration would mean a period of eight to 10 years. It will be possible to drag on for another 20 years or so if we are to add on a few more rounds of registration.”

“Yes, 20 years later, who knows what will happen. By then, I believe the general trend of the world will be clearer. And we can head in whatever direction we want to with more certainty.”

At this point, those shrewd but sly old ones could not help looking at each other amidst their laughter.