Chapter 842
Chapter 842
“My dear niece, should I call you Paky, or Lord Protector of the South?”
Count Austin asked with a smile. Duke Diphas came forward, greeting her uncle with a press of their cheeks.
“You can call me Paky. Dear uncle, you're thirty-nine, so why haven't you introduced me to an aunt yet? You are destined to become a duke of the Empire; it wouldn't do to be without an heir.”
“What can I do? There are no women in this world worthy of me. I was quite fond of Queen Eda of the Amazons, but she must have no intention of marrying, as she failed to appear at two courtship ceremonies. So I set my heart on another queen, but…”
Hearing this, Duke Diphas’s smile remained, but her eyes narrowed. Emperor Solon had already laid his claim on Queen Medusa, so she could not be mentioned. Count Austin laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Of course, Paky is also one of the most outstanding women, but unfortunately, you are my niece. It seems there are only two women left who are worthy of me now.”
“If you don't mind my asking, who might they be? I shall go and arrange a marriage for you, uncle.”
“One is Princess Dora of the Amazon Queendom, and the other is Princess Helene.”
Diphas shrugged and said.
“That is most unfortunate. Princess Dora will never marry outside the Amazon Queendom. And Princess Helene has been missing for far too long. Besides, she carries the bloodline of the Traitor Empress, and our family has no wish to invite disaster.”
“The Amazon tribe’s courtship ceremony will be held soon. I can only hope Princess Dora will appear this time. Even if we cannot marry, it would be wonderful to share a few nights of pleasure with her.”
Duke Diphas and Count Austin mounted their horses and rode side by side into the city. Along the way, countless people knelt in unison, bowing their heads. Whether they were of the Beda tribe or slaves, all prostrated themselves on the ground, remaining perfectly still as they welcomed their noble masters. As they entered the castle fortress on the mountaintop, a middle-aged eunuch named Taren emerged with a thousand people and said respectfully.
“We humbly welcome the Lord Protector’s return. We humbly welcome the future Governor-General’s return.”
Everyone now sensed that Diphas’s status had changed, and the Russo family with it. They had become nobler, more powerful.
* * *
In the study.
The middle-aged eunuch, Taren, spoke.
“Lord Protector, the Rear Admiral of the Empire’s Southern Fleet, the Bloody Baron, requests an audience.”
A rear admiral? He was clearly nothing more than a pirate chief. A moment later, the pirate chief known as the Bloody Baron entered and knelt on both knees.
“Shaw Monroe pays his respects to the Lord Protector of the South.”
Duke Diphas inquired.
“The Monroe family? If I’m not mistaken, you are a descendant of Count Monroe of Williams Province. That family was stripped of its title and nearly wiped out during the Second Empire because of the Traitor Empress, correct?”
“That is correct. The Traitor Empress established her power base in the south and compromised with the Beda family, the most populous, giving them key positions in every sector. Our Monroe family became the scapegoat.”
He was indeed a descendant of nobility. Even as a pirate chief, he observed the etiquette of a nobleman flawlessly.
“Baron Monroe, will you pledge your loyalty to me and become a vassal of our Russo family?”
“It would be my honor, my lady.”
Duke Diphas extended her hand, and the Bloody Baron approached to kiss her ring. From this day forward, the Bloody Baron’s fleet belonged to Duke Diphas. The Western world was no different; when one person rose to power, those around them benefited as well.
The Third Seiren Empire was soon to be established, and Emperor Solon’s strength was comparable to that of Emperor Seiren himself. Thus, the Third Seiren Empire would be far more powerful than the Second, perhaps even restoring the glory of the First Empire. Duke Diphas was poised to be the greatest beneficiary of this imperial revival, so countless heroes and ambitious men flocked to pledge their allegiance to her.
Duke Diphas said with a smile.
“My loyal Taren, I hope you haven’t been slacking off in training those lowly eunuchs since I’ve been away.”
“My mistress, you wound your most loyal slave with such unjust accusations. Have you not noticed that the stress of my duties has caused me to lose a full three-tenths of a pound?”
“Then, do you have anything to report to me about that insignificant enemy of ours?”
“His name is Shen Lang, and he currently possesses a small village. Good heavens. I simply cannot put into words how crude and shabby that village is. I don't know how the gods can look upon it and do nothing. Such a squalid castle and village should never have existed in the first place. He also has eleven thousand slaves and two thousand combat-ready warriors, but beyond that, he has nothing.”
“Is the city he built truly that squalid?”
“Anyone who sees it would rather gouge out their own eyes. And he even named it Empress City. To name such an ugly castle after his wife… I cannot even begin to imagine how much Shen Lang must hate her. Of course, perhaps his wife is as unsightly as the city itself.”
Duke Diphas asked quizzically.
“Empress City?”
“I almost forgot to mention. That Easterner, Shen Lang, calls himself a future emperor. When I heard that, my ears went deaf for three days. O, God of Fire, I suspect he might be the one and only king of some tiny village in the Eastern world. It’s impressive enough that he has a village, but to call himself an emperor? Can you imagine, my mistress, the dishonor it brings to the entire world? A clown wearing a crown, calling himself emperor in the crudest little village on earth. Hahahaha.
In this world, only Emperor Solon is a truly great emperor. Shen Lang is, at best, a handsome clown. Compared to Emperor Solon, he is but a sparrow painted with fancy feathers, an earthworm transformed into a two-headed snake. But Emperor Solon is like an eagle soaring through the sky, a great dragon circling to the heavens’ end. A sparrow trying to wear a crown! I must have a portrait painted of that scene. It's too ridiculous.”
Taren clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he couldn't stand up straight. Duke Diphas frowned and said.
“But that man’s squalid city is built on my land. Therefore, every one of his blasphemous acts is an insult to the Russo family.”
Count Austin continued where Duke Diphas left off.
“Then we shall wash away this dishonor with their blood.”
“I will mobilize a hundred thousand troops to slaughter every person within Shen Lang's wretched city. Not a single person, not a single blade of grass will be left. I will burn that city to ashes, as if it never existed.”
Count Austin said.
“But I heard that Shen Lang escaped the pyre.”
A priest of the God of Fire, who was standing nearby, said.
“That was merely an Easterner’s trick. He wore clothes made of fire-resistant cloth and used the cover of the great fire to escape into the sea. It was not a miracle, but a cunning trick, no different from a lowly magic show performed on the streets.”
Duke Diphas said.
“Then this time, we will wash his body ourselves, strip off his clothes, douse him in fish oil again, and then burn him.”
Clap, clap, clap.
Eunuch Taren clapped his hands and said.
“That would be absolutely perfect. I am already so excited for that scene.”
“The Jadebird Peninsula is our family's domain. No matter how abandoned it is, it is still our territory. Now that Easterners have built a city there, it is like a filth-covered fly resting on my plate. I will not tolerate it for another day. In three days, I will dispatch a hundred thousand men to raze that city to the ground and kill them all.”
“As you command!”
* * *
The Amazon Queendom.
The piercing sound stopped abruptly, and as the countdown ended, the light from the giant metal sphere before them completely vanished. The sphere returned to its former cold, metallic appearance. Shen Lang, utterly exhausted, collapsed to the floor. He felt as if he was about to pass out from sheer depletion.
“Carry me up.”
Queen Eda asked in a trembling voice.
“Did you succeed?”
“Yes. I succeeded. It won't explode now. The great pyramid is safe. Now, stop standing there dazed and carry me up. I feel like I'm going to suffocate if I stay here any longer.”
Queen Eda immediately lifted Shen Lang and ran frantically toward the outside.
* * *
A few minutes later, Queen Eda carried Shen Lang to the top of the pyramid.
“There won't be any more danger?”
“I’ve changed both passwords. I also modified the nightmare stone. So, this great pyramid is completely safe now. It will no longer explode or self-destruct.”
Queen Eda gazed at the land to the north. The great pyramid had been saved, but the five smaller pyramids to the north had all exploded. Countless pastures, wheat fields, mountain ranges, and forests had been destroyed. A quarter of the entire Amazon Queendom’s land was ruined, and a third of its pastures and wheat fields were gone. It was a disaster, a catastrophe. Fortunately, on the news of Shen Lang’s execution today, the vast majority of the people had come here to see him off; otherwise, the casualties would have numbered over ten thousand. That was a blessing amid the misfortune. As long as the great pyramid and the strong warrior women existed, the Amazon nation would endure.
Queen Eda asked.
“This wasn't a natural disaster, but a conspiracy, wasn't it?”
“That's right. This was a conspiracy, planned a very, very long time ago. A plot to annihilate the Amazon nation. Your Majesty might be wondering why, if I knew a fatal disaster was coming to the Amazons, I didn't save you beforehand and instead stood by while a quarter of your country was destroyed before I acted.”
“It’s alright. First, you owe us nothing. Second, at the last moment, you risked your life to save the great pyramid and our country.”
“But if we don't clear this up, you will always carry a doubt in your hearts. The truth is, it was a chain reaction. The volcano on Nightmare Mountain to the north erupted, triggering a massive undersea earthquake, and the powerful seismic waves reached the Amazon island. The core energy of the northernmost small pyramid initiated its self-destruct sequence first, followed by the second, then the third, and finally, it was the great pyramid's turn.
The problem is, unless the volcano on Nightmare Mountain erupts, the underground core chambers of all the pyramids remain sealed. We couldn't have entered those places in advance. That's why it was impossible to save the Amazon nation before the event occurred. Your Majesty knows that these pyramids are incredibly sturdy; no one can open them by force. Only when a pyramid detects the tremors of a massive earthquake does it activate its preventive mechanisms, which is the only time the underground passage to the core energy opens. And once the pyramids began to explode, the smaller ones couldn't be saved in time, leaving only the great pyramid to be protected.
About forty years ago, a strong earthquake occurred in this vicinity. The seismic waves must have reached the Amazon nation back then, and the pyramids would have activated their defense mechanisms, opening the passages to their underground core energy. And that's when someone infiltrated the pyramids and altered the self-destruct process of the core energy.”