"Let's wait and see!" Alston was aware that the current situation was not favorable for him. With two
major armies of the Holy Dragon Empire at his beck and call, not to mention the Timber Deity Empire's
influence, Rocky currently had the upper hand. However, Alston was still the Holy Dragon Empire's
acting emperor, so as long as he sat on the throne, his brother would never dare to hurt him.
Otherwise, he would be an enemy of the whole royal family. With nothing more that he could do, Alston
shot Rocky a cold stare and waved his hand, instructing the remnants of his men to leave with him
dejectedly.
Honestly, Rocky had no intention of letting his brother leave that easily, as he believed that if he set the
"tiger" free, it would bring endless troubles for him. However, Rocky then noticed Marcia shook her
head at him discreetly, so he could not help but sigh in frustration. He understood that they could not
kill Alston right there and right then. Besides, Alston was still the acting emperor of the Holy Dragon
Empire. If they killed him, they would be accused of treason.
Despite his unwillingness, Rocky stood still as Alston left with his men.
In this way, a dramatic and thrilling farce ended with Alston leaving, but at the same time, it detonated a
bomb inside Alston's head when he saw that Basil was still alive, not to mention the power and support
he had managed to collect. That day was a landslide victory for Basil.
Alston was not the only one who was shocked. Everyone who witnessed the developments of the
whole farce was shaken to the core, though they tried not to show it on their faces.
"Your Royal Highness and General Marcia, can I have a private talk with both of you?" Bryant asked
the moment Alston and his men left. The general was anxious to learn the truth about what was
happening. And he hated that he had been kept in the dark for so long.
Rocky and Marcia exchanged looks before nodding as one.
Then, Bryant and Shirley left first with Rocky and Marcia.
On the other hand, a young man hurriedly came out of the crowd and approached Sabina and her
father.
"Father! Sabina!" he called, and his head was almost buzzing with excitement.
"Oh, my goodness! My dear son!"
"Flint!"
As soon as they heard his voice, both Elvis and Sabina hurried to his side.
"Flint, is everything okay? Are you hurt?" Elvis asked worriedly, looking at his son from head to toe as if
he was checking for any injuries.
"I'm fine. I'm fine. Please don't worry about me, Father. But was that man really Prince Basil? He was
the man who received training with me back then!" Flint could not even believe it, and stared at Rocky's
retreating back in astonishment.
Meanwhile, Rocky and Marcia followed Bryant and Shirley to the conference hall, where they all sat
down. Bryant asked Rocky to narrate what happened from the beginning. Soon, Rocky recounted the
crucial parts in short.
During all that time, Bryant felt like he was dreaming, as all the things that Rocky told them were
beyond his imagination. But it was too outrageous to be made up, so he believed that Rocky was telling
the truth.
"You mean it was Alston who set you up and tried to kill you?" Bryant couldn't believe that Alston could
be so cruel. He knew that the prince could be aggressive and ambitious, but he had thought that he
would have had some limits to his ruthlessness. It turned out that he was wrong—Alston's cruelty
seemed limitless.
"I didn't expect him to be so despicable." Shirley could not help but frown after listening to Rocky's
story, and her eyes lingered on Rocky secretly. Truthfully, she was still confused about some things,
like how Rocky and Prince Basil were the same person. Besides, it was hard to believe that he had
undergone such a drastic change in just two years, and now he was a peerless master at the Divine
Stage.
"What he did is more than that. According to our investigation, he is also the one behind the emperor's
disappearance," Marcia said bluntly.
"That is a very serious accusation. Do you have any evidence?" Bryant's thick, white eyebrows raised
abruptly.
"Not yet," Marcia answered, shaking her head. "But we will," she continued as her eyes burned with
determination.
"Such a verbal statement will be useless, as Alston will undoubtedly find excuses to deny it. You need
substantial evidence to back up your claim. So, what's your following plan?" Bryant asked
straightforwardly.
"Basil's identity has already been revealed, and he has received the support of a lot of forces. I think it's
time to propose an objection to the Emergency Chamber. We will ask them to remove Alston from the
position of acting emperor. After that, we will recommend Basil to the throne," Marcia replied.
"In ordinary circumstances, that will be the right way to go. But I believe that Alston won't wait for you to
throw him off his seat. He will do anything to resist your efforts." Bryant stroked his beard thoughtfully.
Basil was the biggest threat to Alston right now, so as long as the latter was still the acting emperor, he
would surely try his best to kill Basil.
"No matter what he is going to do, we're well prepared to hit back. To be honest with you, I'm going to
get in touch with the royal elders soon, and I'm confident that we can win them over. All the problems
will be solved as soon as Basil sits on the throne, and only then can the Holy Dragon Empire be drawn
back on the right tracks," Marcia said firmly.
"I see. Knowing that General Marcia has a well-thought-out plan in mind puts my heart to rest. I shall
wait for your good news then," Bryant finally said.
"Chief Bryant, it would be better if we can get the support of your clan," Rocky added.
"I'm sorry, but at this time, the Ximen Clan will not support either side. I am afraid that I cannot believe
Alston or you before the truth of the whole matter is found out." Bryant was indeed a cunning old fox.
He would not risk putting the Ximen Clan into an unknown situation, especially when it was enough to
decide the future of the Holy Dragon Empire. He would consider first, and take sides only when
everything was clear to him.
"You make a good point, Chief Bryant. We came here with no other purpose but to expose Alston's true
face. We understand if the Ximen Clan doesn't want to get involved, and we won't force you to do
anything," Rocky said sensibly with a nod.
"But Miss Shirley just said she was going to marry me, and quite a lot of people have heard that. Chief
Bryant, what are you going to do with that?" Rocky said shrewdly.
Shirley blushed and piped in, "It was just an excuse! It didn't count. We thought that you were dead!"
"And Miss Shirley, you've accepted my gifts. Are you going to break your words?" Rocky asked again.
"I'll return all of them to you. Stop kidding!" Shirley complained, pouting cutely.
"No, you don't have to. I was just kidding. You can keep those gifts and consider them as the
compensation for I breaking off our engagement back then." Rocky had never intended to take back
the things he had sent away anyway.
"Chief Bryant, if there is nothing else, we won't disturb you anymore. We have to say goodbye now, as
we still have a lot of things to deal with."
After these words, Marcia and Rocky stood up and bowed at Bryant before walking out of the hall.
Shirley watched until they were out of her eyesight. "Grandpa, Prince Basil is much more reliable than
before. Don't you really plan to support him?"
"Didn't you hate him before? Why are you suddenly speaking for him?" Bryant curiously asked as he
narrowed his gaze at Shirley.
"That was in the past. I don't hate him now." Shirley was blushing again.
"Alston has the support of the whole royal family behind him. And even though two large army groups
are backing Basil, unless the royal family recognizes him, Alston still has a considerable advantage
over him. I believe there will be a fierce battle that is waiting ahead for Prince Basil, and maybe the
entire royal family will stand against him," Bryant conjectured, looking away at the distance.
"If he gets our support, will he get a better chance to win? I'm just curious," Shirley asked after thinking
for a while.
"That's exactly why I didn't give my promise to help him in the first place. I want to see if he really has
the ability to inherit the throne," Bryant said meaningfully.
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