Chapter 1699: Undercurrent in the Empire
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The ancient empire, immortal Dragon Soul Emperor, the baby girl brought out of the lava pit—everything was shrouded in a mysterious veil. Even though L’Haronne itself was already a mystery, it still aroused Hao Ren’s interest when these things came together.
The long-established empire had many secrets.
Curiosity killed the cat, and Hao Ren did not go as far as wanting to unravel every secret. His mission was to find the traces of the Mad Lord’s contamination during its last reincarnation and how the world survived. In other words, Hao Ren was looking for a Mad Lord “vaccine”, and the secrets of a mortal kingdom’s royalty seemed less vital unless it had something to do with the “vaccine”. Otherwise, it was not worth spending time on it.
It was just a casual chat to obtain a bit of information, but Hao Ren did not mind the discussion. “It seems that Princess Constance has the emperor’s trust. Not every Tom, Dick, and Harry can lead the Knights of the Broken Blade.”
“No wonder some people have suspected Princess Constance to be His Majesty Emperor Berentine’s love child. The fact that the Dragon Soul Emperor is willing to let his adopted daughter lead the empire’s most fearsome combative force speaks volumes,” Charlemagne said. “Of course, the princess is indeed outstanding. Perhaps she has the dragon soul too. It is said that she surpassed all the imperial court teachers during her childhood. The Knights of the Broken Blade have become even stronger under her command.”
“Well, I know, but I think we seem to have digressed.” Hao Ren scratched his chin and suddenly realized that they were not supposed to discuss the imperial love child. “Were we not talking about the Knights of the Ebon Blade in the first place? Are the knights the reason for your visit here?”
Charlemagne was silent for a moment. “We suspect that the knights are coming for us.”
Hao Ren’s brows twitched. “Eh?”
“The Knights of the Ebon Blade are stationed throughout the kingdom, but they do not roam around like the patrols. The knights usually stay in barracks of major cities or important military forts. But this town… It is only a tier higher than the ordinary villages in the empire. Under normal circumstances, the Knights of the Ebon Blade would not even come to this place, let alone in a five-person squad.”
“Even a visit from an attendant of the Knights of the Ebon Blade is already a great honor to the local officials,” Awenna said.
“So, there must be something significant that has warranted the personal attention of the knights. And both of you happen to be here.” Hao Ren began to put two and two together.
Awenna nodded. She looked worried.
“Then we should be extra careful.” Hao Ren pulled his eyebrows together. “If these knights are coming for you, doesn’t it prove that someone on the upper echelons of the Dragon Empire—the emperor himself—is involved in the pirate attack? After all, you just said that the Knights of the Ebon Blade are under the direct command of the emperor.”
“We are very reluctant to think so.” Awenna gritted her teeth. “Although the White City Federation and the Dragon Empire have occasional border conflicts, the two sides have never had any deep grudge. Even the Ancient Kingdom of Izzo and the Dragon Empire has a long-standing diplomatic relationship. Our secret visit… His Majesty Emperor Berentine has even hugged me and my brother before.”
Awenna stopped short of revealing the purpose of their visit.
“Do not let personal feelings cloud your judgment.” Charlemagne frowned. “Awenna, I do not want to think so, but the fact that the knights’ arrival in this town coincides with ours is not a good sign.”
Just as Hao Ren tried to say something, he heard Vivian’s voice outside the door. “But the two of you aren’t so sure, are you?”
Charlemagne and Awenna were shocked to hear someone outside the door. They only breathed a sigh of relief when they realized that it was Vivian. “People on the outside can hear our conversation?” Awenna asked with butterflies in her stomach.
“Not really. I just have a unique hearing ability and can perceive sounds that normal people can’t hear.” Vivian shut the door behind her and waved her hand. “The girl next door can probably hear too because her hearing’s sharper than mine. She’ll already drool all over her feet when she hears someone eating a biscuit three blocks away.”
As soon as Vivian’s voice trailed off, Lily began to yell from next door. “Don’t think that I can’t hear you, Battie!”
Charlemagne and Awenna were flabbergasted. They began to suspect that these people from the Basilica of the World Tree were all mutants.
“I still want to reiterate that the two of you are unsure.” Vivian approached the siblings and looked into their eyes. “Otherwise, you would have fled by now. Why waste your time here?”
“Indeed, we have not been exposed. In fact, we were aerially dropped into the vicinity. Those knights are not trained trackers, they could not have tracked us.” Charlemagne choked a little, but he quickly regained his composure. “Maybe they are not just searching the town but launching a large area search. Any reckless actions on our part will possibly expose us.”
“Understood. We will be more careful,” Hao Ren said. “We need to stay away from the knights, right?”
“The farther, the better.” Awenna got to her feet and bowed. “My brother and I have come here mainly for this matter.”
After the royal siblings left, Hao Ren sighed and pinched his glabella. “Never underestimate what the smallest places can offer. No one would’ve thought that the Dragon Empire on a little planet like L’Haronne had so many secrets.”
“Didn’t you say that inspectors have the world under their scrutiny, yet you don’t make a distinction between big and small civilizations?” Vivian smiled and went to give Hao Ren a massage on his shoulders. “It would be nice to stay here a little longer if we didn’t have a mission to accomplish.”
“You’re starting to think like me. Are you becoming an inspector?” Hao Ren smiled and looked up at Vivian. “There’s nothing wrong in knowing more about this kingdom. After all, no one knows what the Mad Lord has left behind. Who knows, maybe we’ll find clues from the secrets of the imperial court?”
“It’s hard not to be influenced when I’m spending most of my time with you.” Vivian smiled helplessly. “Has Nolan found anything inside the planet?”
Traveling together with Charlemagne and Awenna did not mean that Hao Ren and his team were slacking. He had been conducting an in-depth study and search on the planet through his mental connection. Hundreds of precision probes had entered the World Scar and begun to draw a map of the planet’s interior.
Since the planet had cracked into half, exposing the planet’s core to the atmosphere, scanning it became a lot easier. Soon, Hao Ren received a vast amount of information. Unfortunately, there was nothing significant.
“Nothing has been found.” Hao Ren shook his head. “The geological composition of this planet is plain to see. Its current condition may defy the laws of physics, but we haven’t found any clues related to the Mad Lord. Everything—the geological composition, humans, their history, even the single-cell lifeforms, and the atmosphere—is reconstructed from Rheia’s dream. I am doubtful if we can find any clues here. Speaking of Rheia, what is your mom doing now?”
“What do you mean ‘my mom’?” Vivian shot Hao Ren a look. “Rheia’s in the room, focusing most of her energy on doing her homework. She said she still can’t master her material projections well, and it is difficult to use her mind in two places simultaneously for a long time.”
Since Rheia had a material projection in the Umbral Realm in the Plane of Dreams instead of the Surface World, there was no six-hour limitation to the activation of the bangle. However, material projection was exhausting. Rheia was only a beginner, and she had heavy learning tasks. That was why she would redirect her energy to her body when her presence was not needed on Hao Ren’s side.
What Rheia’s avatar could do on this side was limited to eating and drinking, essentially just slightly better than a mentally-disabled kid. But the question was, why did an avatar still need to eat? Hao Ren wondered.
He shook his head and put the matter to the back of his mind. He relaxed his shoulders to enjoy the massage.
The movement of Vivian’s fingers with just the right amount of weak current stimulation was heavenly.
…
Meanwhile, Charlemagne and Awenna spent the rest of the day in a state of high alert.
They did not think that they had been exposed, so they were not entirely sure that the Knights of the Ebon Blade were coming for them. That was why it bothered them. They remained in a heightened state of vigilance, which could also be attributed to their year-long education and training.
Charlemagne and Awenna needed to take precautions in case the knights were after them. If the emperor was the mastermind behind the pirate attack, then the knights would be deadly killers to the siblings.
However, it seemed to be a false alarm.
After checking the situation in the town, the bodyguards confirmed that the town was not the target of the knights. They went straight to the town hall but did not linger long. The knights left through the main gate of the town at nightfall.
The knights’ movements appeared to be similar to that of heralds.
The night went by peacefully, but Hao Ren and his team quickly began to sense changes in the town’s atmosphere.