Chapter 56: Smile (Fourth Update, Bonus for Grandmaster 'Ss Little Bean')
After what had just happened, no one dared to block the young emperor this time.
The young emperor had almost realized he was being sidelined. If this incident led him to discover that his power had been hollowed out, none of the guards present would survive.
As Su Xiao brushed past the guard captain, he paused.
"If you don't want to die, wait outside. This is on the orders of those two. The situation in the capital is dire; the supreme imperial artifact must be prepared for activation at any moment."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the guard captain's pupils contracted. He recalled Su Xiao's earlier actions and his identity as a member of the Hunt Unit.
A storm raged in the guard captain's heart. He had nearly walked right into a death trap. For the young emperor and the Hunt Unit to come here late at night, there could only be one reason: the war was urgent, and the supreme imperial artifact needed to be activated.
The guard captain was in charge of watching over the shrine; of course, he knew what was inside.
"Thanks, brother. I almost lost my head just now."
"It's nothing. We're both subordinates of those two adults. As long as the young emperor doesn't bring up tonight's events, I'll pretend I didn't see anything."
The guard captain beamed and discreetly pulled out a gold ingot.
"Hard work, brother."
Su Xiao's expression turned sour.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Right, right. Look at my memory."
The guard captain quickly forced a smile. Everyone in the palace knew that Esdeath's subordinates didn't take bribes. If it hadn't been for the special circumstances last time in the pleasure district, where accepting hush money was necessary, Su Xiao wouldn't have taken that bag of gems.
"How about we go to the pleasure district tomorrow for a drink, and then..."
The guard captain flashed a knowing grin.
"Hmm. Wait outside. We'll be out soon."
"Got it, brother."
Su Xiao walked forward. The young emperor was already more than ten meters ahead, and the Realm Severing Thread had extended that far as well.
While reeling in the thread with the spool, Su Xiao closed in on the young emperor, following three meters behind—close enough to keep watch, far enough not to seem intrusive.
After Su Xiao left, the guard captain's face darkened.
"Damn it. That so-called Hunt Unit—just a bunch of murderous lunatics."
The more he thought about tonight's events, the angrier he got. He shot a vicious glare at the vice captain beside him.
Slap!
A sharp slap landed on the vice captain's face. The guard captain had considerable arm strength; the vice captain spun twice on the spot, stars flashing before his eyes. He bent over and spat blood, teeth visible in the mess.
"You blind dog! Is your head full of crap? Were you trying to get me killed back there?"
The guard captain kicked the vice captain in the face, sending him flying three meters away, rolling several times on the ground.
"I'll cut you up and feed you to the dogs today..."
The guard captain drew his waist sword, making as if to kill the vice captain.
"Cousin, I was wrong. Spare me."
One side of the vice captain's face had swollen into a pig's head.
The guard captain's hand trembled with rage as he gripped the sword. If this weren't his cousin, the vice captain position would be changing hands tomorrow.
"Go tend to your wounds. Get lost. Just looking at you pisses me off."
The guard captain fumed, while the other guards around him trembled in fear, not daring to breathe loudly.
...
Inside the shrine, Su Xiao sensed the commotion outside and let out a silent sigh of relief.
That had been quick thinking. He never imagined the young emperor's power had been stripped to such an extent. After all, activating the supreme imperial artifact required the young emperor himself.
Perhaps that was exactly why the young emperor was still alive today.
"You're called Bai Ye, right?"
The young emperor walking ahead looked dejected.
"Yes."
"Am I a very unimpressive emperor?"
It seemed the young emperor had indeed sensed something.
"No."
The young emperor's face lit up as he turned to look at Su Xiao.
"You're a tyrant."
"A tyrant..."
The young emperor gazed at the spirit tablets lining the walls—all his ancestors.
The empire's predecessor was a small tribe that relied on farming. The young emperor's ancestors had built their foundation from that tiny tribe. Agriculture provided a stable food supply, and the tribe gradually expanded.
Through exceptional wisdom and courage, the young emperor's ancestors formed a small nation.
This nation still relied on farming, but it grew steadily. Two hundred years later, it became a medium-sized country.
Four hundred years later, this medium-sized country seized the most resource-rich and environmentally superior location on the continent, establishing an empire there.
Five hundred years later, the empire entered its golden age. That generation of emperors was wise and ambitious, launching a nationwide campaign to hunt super-dangerous species.
After suffering over three hundred thousand military casualties, the empire obtained body materials from super-dangerous species.
The empire spent an astronomical amount of resources gathering various precious materials and forcibly conscripted all craftsmen within its borders for screening.
From thirty thousand craftsmen, the empire ultimately selected one hundred and twenty. These included top-tier master smiths, contemporary alchemy masters, and pioneers of mechanical engineering.
Thus, with the empire's full national effort, forty-eight imperial artifacts were created. Some were suited for army-scale combat, some for solo operations, some focused on defense, and others provided long-range firepower.
If someone were to gather all forty-eight imperial artifacts and find their users, they would discover that these artifact bearers could form a perfect assault formation—offense and defense balanced, capable of large-scale enemy elimination, and even including artifacts designed to assassinate enemy commanders.
These forty-eight imperial artifacts became the cornerstone of the entire empire. The forty-eight artifact bearers were called the "Royal Guard," while enemy nations referred to them as the Rabid Dog Unit.
No city could withstand the Royal Guard's assault. Wherever the Rabid Dogs passed, devastation followed.
For two hundred years, neighboring large nations lived in constant fear, terrified that they might wake up one day to find the Rabid Dogs at their capital.
But the good times didn't last. Uninterrupted victories and fertile lands bred arrogance in the imperial royal family, making them look down on everything.
Five hundred years after the empire's founding, seven of the forty-eight imperial artifacts were lost.
A thousand years later, only fourteen of the forty-eight imperial artifacts remained. The empire was surrounded by powerful enemies and plagued by internal strife.
During the young emperor's reign, over ten artifacts were lost. This trend only reversed with the appearance of Esdeath.
Esdeath's emergence essentially helped the empire buy time.
"The predecessors plant trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade." But the young emperor wasn't just enjoying the shade—he was eating the tree itself.
"I'm a tyrant..."
The young emperor walked ahead, utterly dejected. Soon, the two reached the deepest part of the altar.
On a finely carved stone platform, a golden key floated in midair. This was the activation key for the supreme imperial artifact—the key to Su Xiao completing his main mission.
Su Xiao walked toward the key, but after two steps, he stopped, his expression turning grim.
"What... is this?"
Su Xiao grabbed the young emperor, who looked utterly bewildered.
"The key is right in front of you. Are you going to break your promise?"
Observing the young emperor's expression, Su Xiao judged there was at least an eighty percent chance he wasn't lying. That meant the deviation wasn't in his plan.
Heavy footsteps echoed from all around. Su Xiao was surrounded. Behind him was a wall of unknown thickness—no escape route.
At least several hundred people were approaching, possibly more, but they couldn't all fit into the shrine. Leading them was none other than Esdeath, with Will following behind her.
"Bai Ye, why are you and His Majesty here?"
Esdeath's voice was cold, her expression unpleasant. Will behind her stared intently at Su Xiao.
Su Xiao could now confirm that something had gone wrong in his plan at some point. He quickly retraced his steps mentally.
After thoroughly reviewing the entire operation, he found no flaws.
"I'm protecting His Highness."
"Yes... yes."
The young emperor quickly confirmed, feeling something tightening around his neck.
"Bai Ye, tell me your true purpose."
Esdeath pointed her rapier at Su Xiao.
This time, Su Xiao was certain he had been exposed, but he couldn't figure out how.
"How did you find out?"
Su Xiao looked at Esdeath and Will.
"When we came out of the forest earlier, General Esdeath asked you, 'Did you see Kuroko?' You said no.
But... why do you have the unique scent of Kuroko on your hands?"
Will clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. "Did you kill Kuroko?"
Su Xiao sighed inwardly. So that was it. He had overlooked one thing: Will had a very keen sense of smell. This was information he hadn't known before—neither from the anime nor from real interactions.
Esdeath had likely placed numerous informants throughout the palace. She hadn't alerted them earlier because she knew that, unless in a special terrain, Su Xiao could escape even if he couldn't win.
"General Esdeath... let me tell you a secret. I'm not actually from the Dark Division."
Su Xiao smiled at Esdeath. Esdeath froze, her pupils slightly contracting. She had never seen Su Xiao smile before. She had always thought he didn't have such an expression.
Seeing Su Xiao's smile, Will felt a chill run down his spine.
A smiling Su Xiao was far more dangerous than his usual stoic self.
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