Chapter 383
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 383
Chapter Title: It Seems the Time Has Come
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"Hmm."
A leather skirt hugging her thighs tightly.
A tank top revealing her slender waist.
And a leather jacket draped only over her arms, exposing half her shoulders.
As if she had no part of herself to be ashamed of.
The blonde beauty wandered through the exhibition hall filled with all sorts of jewelry, her voluptuous figure on full display in that casual outfit.
Charlotte lazily parted her lips.
"You said is already preparing to enter the Zhonghua Federation and the Holy Alliance?"
"Yes, My Princess."
"Then we have to consider the food blockade a failure."
Ellis tipped her cowboy hat in lieu of a reply.
's food supply was at a miraculous level.
Given their momentum so far, the moment they entered those two nations, their food shortages would undoubtedly end.
That meant the Black Dragon Clan and White Dragon Clan could finally catch their breath.
And at the same time, it meant they could launch a counterattack.
"On top of that, taking advantage of the gap where we pulled back to try dominating the financial markets too. As expected of Li Chingwei."
"It was quite reckless."
"You think so?"
"There's no way they can replace our clan's financial system with something slapped together."
Ellis shrugged.
Pafnir's intricate financial system was something the Gold Dragon Clan had perfected over decades.
Even setting aside the technical aspects, the know-how to operate it wasn't something even the rest of the Seven Dragon Group could mimic easily.
Especially with that one fatal flaw.
They might fill Pafnir's vacancy for now, but in the long run, it would inevitably collapse.
"They probably never intended to replace it in the first place. Just mimicking it is enough to tide over the immediate crisis."
"So you see it as the Black Dragon Princess rushing to settle things?"
"Li Chingwei surely knows that the longer this drags on, the worse it gets for her."
Charlotte let out a smirk.
The White Dragon Clan, originally the weakest in the Seven Dragon Society, and the Black Dragon Clan, which had recently plummeted to the bottom.
Even if those two clans joined forces, their combined strength could barely surpass one other clan.
But to wage a prolonged war against the alliance of the strongest Gold Dragon Clan, the Silver Dragon Clan that had long dominated the Russian Khanate, and the Red Dragon Clan that had skyrocketed in the Iron Age?
The balance would tilt further as time passed.
In the end, only one option remained.
Win over the other clans.
Or seize control by force.
Secure a majority stake in the Seven Dragon Society before the scales tipped any further.
Knowing that, Ellis said lightly,
"Then squashing before it grows more would be the best move."
"Drop it. Being too overt with interference could backfire and make things messier."
Charlotte shook her head.
Withdrawing their own companies was one thing.
But direct or indirect attacks on the opponent's businesses could turn the neutral Rose into an enemy.
And even if Rose sided with them, it would devolve into a mudslinging fight, where Li Chingwei wouldn't hesitate to unleash her shadowy schemes.
Besides, Infinity Guild was tangled up with .
If things escalated from there and dragged in the other seven major guilds, their current advantage could flip.
She had no intention of losing, but she had no desire to create such a hassle either.
Above all, there was one key reason.
"Besides, I have no intention of dragging this out either."
Snap!
The moment Charlotte snapped her fingers.
Numerous pieces of jewelry floated up from the surrounding displays.
She spun various trinkets in the air a few times, then picked out the ones she liked least and gripped them tightly.
Slurrrp.
―A transformation began.
Expensive-looking jewelry of all kinds.
It suddenly melted as if tossed into a furnace, separating by material.
Precious metals like gold and silver swirled in liquid form.
Gemstones of various sizes and types were extracted and aligned.
Like satellites orbiting a planet, the materials circled around in their assorted shapes and sizes. Charlotte lightly touched them with her fingertip.
Shhh.
Gold unraveled like thread to form rings of leaves and stems, rubies shaped into petals.
The melted silver solidified into seven entwined dragons, while seven types of powdered gems coated the surface in their colors.
A thick diamond at the center, interwoven with various precious metals, intricate patterns engraved on the surface.
In that short time.
No raw materials remained there.
Only flower-shaped rings, seven-dragon bracelets, dazzling necklaces, and more—exquisitely crafted jewelry of unparalleled beauty proudly displayed themselves.
"What's important isn't how much time you spend, but what you achieve in that time, right?"
The materials used were the same.
Yet she had accomplished in an instant what even top artisans needed ages for.
Creating pieces far superior to the originals, Charlotte wore a bewitching smile.
Partnering with Infinity Guild to solve the food crisis wasn't enough—they even dipped into financial markets.
The Black Dragon Clan's desperate struggles to overcome their overwhelming disadvantage were certainly admirable.
The problem was one thing.
While Li Chingwei was busy with all that, Charlotte hadn't been idle.
"No matter how hard the Black Dragon Princess tries now, it's too late."
"Naturally. If they're just preparing to start the race, we're already at the finish line."
Like a phoenix beholding a turtle that had barely reached the starting line when it should have been crawling desperately.
With an utterly lofty smile, Charlotte casually asked,
"In that sense, Ellis, are preparations complete?"
"Of course."
Seeing Ellis pull two tickets from her bosom as if she'd been waiting, Charlotte smirked.
She donned the jewelry she'd crafted herself and spoke in a delighted tone.
"This trip should be quite interesting."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Yawn."
Yekateriche let out a light yawn.
She scratched her silver hair, which shimmered like it was forged from moonlight, then spoke up abruptly.
"Hey, can't we just talk this out? You know, winning without fighting is supposed to be the best strategy."
"……."
"Well, honestly, that might just be nonsense the Black Dragon Clan made up. They always win with words anyway. Oh, irrelevant now?"
"……."
"Anyway, in that vein, let's chat. Yeah? I'm begging you like this."
As if she'd throw in some aegyo if he really wanted.
Yekateriche clasped her hands together, gazing at him with sparkling eyes and an adorable expression.
But her opponent didn't twitch an eyebrow, maintaining silence.
Stubborn now that her best aegyo had failed, as she cupped her cheeks to amp up the cuteness.
A cold voice cut in.
"Princess, no matter how much aegyo you do, the chances of it working are 100% zero."
"Why not? I'm doing aegyo with the cutest face in the world!"
The silver-haired maid with a silver-iron prosthetic on her left arm.
Kana coolly explained to the indignant Yekateriche, as if she'd heard an outrageous claim.
"Because he's already dead."
"Oh? Really?"
Her eyes widened for a moment.
Then Yekateriche kicked the corpse—chained and seated on the ice—without hesitation.
Kwajik!
"Ugh, what a waste of effort."
It had at least resembled a human until moments ago.
Now the body shattered into ice chunks. Yekateriche flicked off the fragments, grumbling about her wasted aegyo.
She wiped her bloody hands on her coat, then turned to Kana as if struck by a thought.
"By the way, Kana, wasn't this guy the last one we captured?"
"Yes."
"So no more to torture now?"
"As you say."
"……Isn't that a problem?"
"I figured you wouldn't realize since you killed off the prisoners we went to the trouble of capturing alive, but it's good you know at least 10% of it."
As if asking why she'd done it knowing it would be trouble.
Under Kana's icy gaze, Yekateriche averted her eyes.
"Man, kids these days have no grit. Back when I was little, the ones I tortured held out longer."
"They died faster. It's just that 80% spilled what you wanted before dying."
"……You have a great memory, Kana. I barely remember stuff from that long ago."
Pointing out that two out of ten died without confessing, Yekateriche now turned her head away entirely, pretending not to hear.
To her, Kana asked coldly,
"What do you plan to do now?"
"Since it's come to this, just kill them all…… Nah, that won't work?"
"It's your call, Princess, but killing them without solid evidence or testimony will cause issues."
"Hmm, tricky. I didn't expect prying open a Liberation Brigade executive's mouth to be this hard."
"If catching them was easy, the Sword Duke wouldn't have put a bounty on them—he'd have handled it 100% personally."
"True."
She scratched her head with still-bloody hands for a bit.
Then, as if hit by inspiration, Yekateriche clapped her palms together and spoke brightly.
"Alright, since it's come to this, let's just move the plan forward a bit."
"……Are you serious?"
"Of course I'm serious."
"Weren't you interrogating prisoners because preparations weren't ready yet?"
"Sure, but now there's no time."
"If you're wary of the Black Dragon Clan resolving their food shortage, there's still leeway."
"I'm not talking about Li Chingwei. It means Charlotte's about to make her move."
"……."
"Of course, Charlotte's our ally, and I've said we're cooperating for now……."
Yekateriche trailed off.
Then she grinned.
"Handing over the eighth dragon psyonic—even our ancestors couldn't find it intact—to Charlotte would be such a waste, right?"
"……."
"Especially if it's not even the real eighth dragon psyonic."
A mischievous, impish smile.
A playful tone like a joke.
But her cold eyes, devoid of any mirth, revealed the truth.
That Yekateriche had planned this from the moment she allied with Charlotte.
Well, it was only natural.
They were princesses of the Seven Dragon Society.
Heirs to dragons who obsessively clung to their treasures and territories.
In that sense, alliances between princesses were doomed to shatter—thin ice from the start.
That moment had just come a little sooner.
Knowing this as her close aide, Kana calmly bowed her head.
"Understood. I'll prepare the letters then."
"Yeah. Oh, leave one for me to write."
"To that person?"
"Yep."
With a wicked yet genuinely delighted smile, unlike before.
Yekateriche said in a cheerful voice,
"My little sister should be about ready to pick a side again by now."