CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 83: THE GREAT EMPEROR’S MESSAGE

Reception room.

Lin Ke first gave Count Akel a grateful look.

If Count Akel hadn’t diminished some of the white-haired old woman’s momentum, maybe he would have suffered more later.

Now, this was an easy matter to handle.

Lin Ke looked at the old woman and said, "You, earlier I was detained by Puxin... by the baron of our own family, so my teacher came to rescue me. This is an internal affair of the Azanen Clan, right?"

"Moreover, even if it isn’t, I’m the only disciple of my teacher—a great Starlight-level mentor. If I died, and my teacher, in extreme anger, accidentally destroyed a city... Should we blame my teacher? Or blame that baron who inexplicably wanted to imprison me?"

"Besides, the result now is that my teacher hasn’t killed anyone, merely caused a certain degree of panic, and Parrot City has already been restored under my caretaker’s governance, so..."

Lin Ke finished in one breath, boldly gulping down a cup of Gula Milk, and said, "So, my teacher is innocent; please, leave."

The white-haired old woman’s face turned uglier upon hearing this, wanting to say something.

But after glancing at Ove behind Lin Ke, and then at Count Akel, she ultimately stood up without a word, walking straight to the door.

However, as she reached the door, she turned half of her wrinkled cheek, looking at Lin Ke and Count Akel, rasping, "I will report everything that happened here to the Eternal Freeze Court and relay the information to the Holy Life Alliance. You..."

"Hmph!" Ove interrupted her with a cold snort, heavily tapping the Thunder Staff in his hand.

"Boom!!!"

He interrupted the old woman, saying, "If you don’t leave now, I’ll kill you!"

Lin Ke and the others felt nothing, but the old woman staggered back a few steps in fear, falling to the ground.

The thick book in her hands flipped open with a "rattle," with some pages shredded by an unknown force into confetti, floating down.

A streak of blood flowed from the old woman’s mouth.

"Get out!" Ove shouted domineeringly.

The old woman immediately panicked, disregarding her dignity, and awkwardly hurried out of the castle, followed anxiously by her servants rushing out of the reception room.

Witnessing this scene, others silently labeled Ove.

Skilled with lightning, easily angered... Hmm, perhaps also showy, liking to steal the limelight... Seems like we’ll need to prepare grand setups in the future...

Seeing Ove’s domineering demeanor, Akel contemplated internally.

The green-eyed girl was wide-eyed, thinking: Such a cool old man! Hmm, just a bit short of my father, just a bit... But it seems they both love the limelight.

In the eyes of these guests, Ove’s actions were just a love for the limelight, a strong desire to show off.

This old white-haired woman, once she becomes strong, we’ll need to find an opportunity to get rid of her... Lin Ke, watching the old woman leave, took note of her.

Once the white-haired old woman left, Lin Ke turned his gaze to the two peculiar beings over there.

One claimed to be an envoy of the Mountain Duke, a Cat-man.

This Cat-man, like Knicks, resembled a large, bipedal, humanoid cat, not the kind with animal ears and a tail like a cat-girl.

A bit disappointing.

The other was a giant frog from the Lava Swamp, and their intentions were unknown.

Lin Ke’s first encounter with such non-human creatures naturally piqued his curiosity.

The Cat-man and the purple giant frog exchanged glances as Lin Ke looked over.

Then the Cat-man spoke first, "I bring a message from the Mountain Duke, please wait a moment."

Saying that, the Cat-man touched a furry earring in the shape of a ring on her raised left ear.

Space Ring!

She then retrieved a black stone, the size of a glass bead, from it.

This was a Memory Stone.

The Cat-man activated the Memory Stone, and a projection appeared before them.

It showed a large bearded face, eyes wide open, looking at the Memory Stone.

Not far behind this bearded face stood a tall, imposing figure, seemingly speaking to the bearded man.

"... Is it ready, brother?"

"Has it started? Remember to focus on my back, oh, how’s my husky voice now? And, have that Angry Wind Wing-Displaying fellow blow stronger, a legendary being, why is the breeze so weak, also..."

"Brother, I’m not getting it! Can you check?" a honest voice sounded, and the picture shook, going dark.

Then voices continued to flow from it.

"... Oh, Andrew’s Leg! Joseph, I’m going to throw you to those Mountain Giants in the Abyss as man bait!!"

"Wait a moment, I’m learning fast!" The picture wobbled again, then stabilized, turning into darkness.

Lin Ke: (ㅍ_ㅍ)

Ove: (ㅍ_ㅍ)

Antova: (ㅍ_ㅍ)

Fulon: (º﹃º)

...

The man with a face full of beard was Joseph, the person she served, the Mountain Duke... The Cat-man bowed slightly, her face unchanged, seemingly not embarrassed at all.

—if you ignored the fluffed-up coat and the flushed cheek under the fur.

"Brother, it’s working!"

At this moment, the bearded man named Joseph shouted, and the projection from the Memory Stone immediately changed.

It paused for two seconds, then a scene emerged.

The expanse of endless wilderness and vast, boundless skies appeared before Lin Ke and the others.

And amidst it all stood a figure on the cliff, upright, like a sturdy green pine, planted firmly between heaven and earth.

With the gusts of wind, medium-length golden hair danced freely.

The grandeur of the sky and the majesty of the earth were both forcibly severed by this figure, and an aura naturally exuded.

Vast, grandiose, proud, and magnificent.

Seeing the tall figure presented in the Memory Stone, all earlier embarrassment vanished.

Lin Ke only felt deeply awed and subdued by this man’s charisma.

"Father?!"

"His Majesty Insomnia?!"

At that moment, the green-eyed girl and Count Akel spoke simultaneously.

This is His Majesty Insomnia?

And also...

Father???

Lin Ke looked at the green-eyed girl, his pupils quivering greatly again.

This is a... Princess?

Whoa.

Just then, a deep voice came from the Memory Stone.

The voice of His Majesty Insomnia was very magnetic: "Little fellow from the Garoce house, before that little Garoce comes back, your Azanen Territory needs to hold strong for the beast tide that comes every six years."

Mentioning Garoce, the tone of Insomnia Emperor seemed confident Garoce could come back, filling Fulon and Antova with joy.

"When I saw the little girl Fulon with you inside her belly, I thought about your fate, how to say... Young fellow, grasp it well." Saying this, His Majesty Insomnia’s figure slowly faded away.

The projection on the Memory Stone ended, only a few words were spoken in short.

The Cat-man stepped forward to recover the now white Memory Stone, her hair still puffed up, but her voice was steady:

"Sorry, it was a single-use Memory Stone given by the Duke, I didn’t know it contained a message from His Majesty."

Lin Ke paid no mind to this, instead asking, "Is His Majesty Insomnia currently in the Endless Mountain Range?"

The Mountain Duke, a top noble of the Black and White Kingdom, His Majesty Insomnia’s half-brother, reportedly very close.

"Yes, Mr. Lin Ke." The Cat-man’s voice was soft and sticky.

Lin Ke nodded, then looked again at the green-eyed girl: "Your Highness the Princess, what brings you here?"

A princess wouldn’t come to the countryside just to spend leisure time...

"I’m here to have fun." The green-eyed girl said casually, stuffing the last piece of sour fruit cake into her mouth, speaking in muffled tones: "Father told me... come... here... this... cough... cough..."

She seemed choked, coughed twice, and swallowed the remnants in her throat.

Then she continued: "Father told me to come here, to the Lava Swamp, saying there’s some disturbance here, to let me kill some Magical Beasts for fun,... oh sorry, not you guys of course."

The latter part of the sentence was directed at the purple giant frog.

Afterward, the girl said to the silent Lin Ke: "You can call me Rica, and I’ll call you Lin Ke!"

The girl smiled, dimples and small canine teeth appearing together, sweet and cute: "I still want more! I want more cake!"

"In return, I’ll keep you from now on!"