Dissolving Subordination

Three months later, Chen Cheng had been led by Samlet through various forests. Samlet showed no intention of returning to Hematite Mountain.

Eventually, they arrived at an unnamed forest. Samlet, no longer wanting to run, decided to chop wood, build a house, and live like a wild man in this forest.

Chen Cheng, now six months old, could speak. In fact, a week ago, he had discovered his vocal cords were capable of producing various syllables, and he had uttered his first meaningful word.

Although it hadn't felt smooth at first, he was very happy to be able to speak a familiar, authentic Chinese phrase in this strange land. At least he spoke the same language as Samlet, which proved this was either China or a world with the same language.

Although he later asked Samlet about China and other related questions, Samlet claimed to know nothing. However, the probability of them belonging to the same language group was almost as low as the chance of humans appearing on Earth. Meeting Samlet was his good fortune.

At least he didn't have to learn a foreign language. His most troublesome experience was the CET-4 and CET-6 exams when he was sixteen. That was why his later thesis on controlled nuclear fusion was entirely in Chinese, and Old Ke had to translate the English version for his Nobel Prize application.

It was also upon his suggestion that Samlet brought him to settle in this unknown wilderness.

Through a week of conversation, Chen Cheng learned that they were likely safe here.

Samlet, regarding Chen Cheng's innate knowledge, was only surprised at first. Afterward, he naturally accepted Chen Cheng's situation.

Initially, Chen Cheng thought he possessed some passive buff that forced others to lower their intelligence. It wasn't until Samlet told him that he was the new emperor of a fallen empire that Chen Cheng understood.

He learned that children born with royal blood in his family possessed mechanisms for precocious intelligence and exceptional wisdom. This was why Samlet wasn't surprised by his early brilliance.

Chen Cheng inwardly scoffed at his body's ancestors, who had mythologized imperial power to the point of claiming their newborn descendants were geniuses. It simply didn't make logical sense.

He had been reborn with memories; otherwise, they would truly believe everyone was born with innate knowledge.

After some investigation, Chen Cheng learned that the continent they were on was called the Karmak Continent. The continent was divided into the Central Continent and the four outer continents. Only the most powerful, strongest, and most prosperous races on the continent could occupy the Central Continent.

Two thousand years ago, his ancestor, Thornflower Hops, had unified the continent and established the Thornflower Kingdom on the Central Continent, becoming the supreme Emperor.

This was a world of swords and magic, and naturally, there were many legendary tales of magic passed down through the ages. For instance, in a certain part of the continent lay a forbidden codex left by an ancient deity. Legend had it that whoever obtained this codex would bring destruction to the entire world.

His own Thornflower Kingdom, two hundred years ago, had its great-grandfather send people to find that Doomsday Codex, which symbolized death and destruction. Under the guise of protecting the world, they brought it back to the royal palace.

The exposure of this matter ultimately led to the collapse of the entire empire. Various nobles and heroes raised armies and marched into the capital, eventually destroying the Thornflower Kingdom, which had existed for a thousand years.

However, although the Emperor committed suicide and the kingdom was destroyed, the Doomsday Codex, symbolizing death and destruction, was never found. This was why his grandfather, father, and he were relentlessly pursued.

When Chen Cheng learned that his country had been destroyed for such an absurd reason, he found it both laughable and exasperating.

His great-grandfather's excuse was clever, but he shouldn't have publicized such matters. As a competent monarch, such taboo matters should have been known by as few people as possible.

It wouldn't have been unreasonable to take extreme measures against those involved afterward.

However, thinking about it, Chen Cheng felt he was overthinking. He was just a baby now, and in his second life, he hadn't seen any grand imperial palaces, only a pair of haggard parents and a bearded man, followed by constant pursuit. Who knew if Samlet was telling the truth?

Because it was too absurd, a powerful dynasty that had ruled the world for nearly a thousand years was destroyed overnight for such a ridiculous reason. It was worse than any third-rate story.

Seeing Chen Cheng's disbelief, Samlet became a little anxious. In the following days, Samlet would often explain the horrors of the Doomsday Codex to him.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten years passed. In the South Wood Forest, a youth nearly 1.8 meters tall, wearing animal skins, moved through the forest. In his hand, he held a short, dark, hollow iron rod. Behind him, a pack of adult third-level Blood Wolves, mouths agape, were chasing him.

As the youth rounded a thousand-year-old tree, he turned and aimed the iron rod in his hand at the closest Blood Wolf behind him. A bang echoed, and the closest Blood Wolf froze, flying backward. Its body was instantly riddled with numerous bleeding wounds.

After killing the Blood Wolf, the youth didn't stop but continued to run forward. At the same time, he took a small box of dark powder from his animal skin pouch and poured it into the hollow part of the iron rod, compacting it. Then, he took out a handful of small iron balls and stuffed them into the iron rod.

Seeing their kin die, the Blood Wolves' eyes turned even redder. Several blood-red blades slashed towards his back. He used the terrain of the tall trees in the forest to evade them, then seized an opportunity to turn and fire again.

After several evasions and turns, the Blood Wolves grew fearful and abandoned their pursuit of Chen Cheng.

Seeing the Blood Wolves retreat, Chen Cheng quickly climbed a large tree and sat on a branch to rest.

"Old Sam, you saw that, didn't you?"

"Heh heh, Your Majesty has learned your movements well."

Samlet, also dressed in animal skins, leaped out from the forest.

"I told you not to call me Your Majesty. And what do you think of my weapon? Isn't it much more powerful than bows and arrows?"

Chen Cheng held up his homemade shotgun, speaking to Samlet with some pride.

However, Samlet curled his lips:

"Your Majesty, although this little thing seems powerful and easy to operate, it's nothing compared to the regular army's specially made arrows. Not only is it slow, but its lethality is also inferior. So, Your Majesty, you should honestly learn martial arts from me."

Chen Cheng, however, was unconcerned:

"Don't talk about specially made arrows. Can ordinary people like us get them? Ordinary bows and arrows are useless against these third-level Blood Wolves. But my ordinary shotgun, which doesn't need a mage's blessing, can take them down one by one."

The two had been arguing about his martial arts versus Chen Cheng's technology for who knows how long. So, Samlet didn't say anything more this time and went down to skin and process the Blood Wolves to take back as food.

That night, in a cave in the South Wood Forest, Chen Cheng and Samlet roasted the Blood Wolf meat Chen Cheng had hunted that day around a campfire.

Over the past ten years, the two had moved through several mountain ranges and forests, thousands of miles away from their initial encampment. To avoid pursuit, Chen Cheng had never truly ventured out of the mountains to see what the outside world was like.

In these years in the mountains, they had eaten the flesh of fierce beasts. This had given Chen Cheng, who had a weaker physique in his previous life, a body stronger than the average person in this life. Furthermore, although he was still underage, he already possessed the height of an adult man. If his age weren't mentioned, anyone would mistake him for a young-looking adult.

Although he didn't understand Samlet's talk about cultivating martial arts through qi and luck, his physique, nourished by the flesh of fierce beasts, was comparable to that of an ordinary Bronze-level warrior.

The two quietly roasted their food. At this moment, Samlet spoke:

"Your Majesty, for the great cause of restoring the kingdom, I want to take you to the City of Chaos."

However, Chen Cheng remained silent because Samlet had made this suggestion years ago, but he had never agreed.

After understanding the world's power structure, Chen Cheng realized that if Samlet wasn't lying about his ancestors' downfall and loss of the kingdom due to the so-called codex, he couldn't fathom how he could possibly restore the kingdom.

Moreover, as an engineering student in his previous life, he had no desire to undertake such a world-shattering endeavor. His past life's research was already enough to bother him, and now in this life, he had to bear the responsibility of restoring a kingdom. He truly wanted to escape it all.

Because he remembered a villain from one of Mr. Jin Yong's novels, he didn't want to end up like that character, driven mad.

Furthermore, if there were truly deities in this world, then his rebirth was a sign that the gods wanted him to escape the fatigue of his previous life and live a more relaxed life in this one.

Chen Cheng rose and walked to the wooden rack inside the cave. On this rack rested the divine sword, the symbol of royal power from the Thornflower Kingdom. He took down the sword and then approached Samlet.

Upon seeing Chen Cheng approach him with the sword, Samlet knelt on both knees and bowed reverently towards Chen Cheng.

Chen Cheng drew the divine sword, resting its blade on Samlet's shoulder, and said:

"In the name of His Majesty Brown Hopps, the sixteenth Emperor of the Thornflower Kingdom, I command that Samlet be released from his subordinate relationship with Brown Hopps, and that Samlet be granted all the rights of a free person."

After speaking, Chen Cheng sheathed the sword. Samlet, however, remained kneeling there foolishly, followed by a world-shattering cry.