Chapter 427

"My lord, please let me explain."

Shi Lei's expression remained calm, revealing no emotion whatsoever.

No, let him say it himself.

Whether Heredrey warned the Sarkaz City Defense Army or not didn't significantly affect the overall plan. Everyone was mentally prepared to be pursued even before they officially set off.

Shi Lei seemed indifferent to the situation, but it was clear that W and Ines were very protective of him.

Several years ago, when they airdropped supplies to Ursus Schuratzburg City, the three of them were inseparable. It's perfectly understandable that they're now trying to help their friend get out of trouble.

"My lord, this is what I'm thinking..."

After hearing Heredrey's explanation, Shi Lei's expression remained unchanged.

This person values relationships and is somewhat clever. But cleverness isn't necessarily a good quality.

Besides, he wasn't his subordinate, so it was better to do W and Ines a favor.

"Want to go to Liyue City? No problem. I don't care what you were like before, as long as you love peace and don't cause trouble in the future, you can join. If you can stay peaceful for the rest of your life, even if you're just pretending, I won't kick you out."

Furthermore, given your behavior, it might be difficult for you to become a manager in the future. You'll be under W's supervision for now. Any promotions will depend on your performance, understand?

Heredrey learned from Ines that the City Lord disliked sycophants. He immediately clasped his hands in thanks to Shi Lei for accepting him, without saying any polite words.

Back to Vigna, they had reached the end of the black passageway. There stood a heavy door, reserved only for King Victoria.

A massive doorway stretched across the Underground Space, and apart from the breathing of the people present, there was not a sound.

Only then did Vigna realize that Shi Lei hadn't followed, and she turned around to ask:

"Dagda, where is Doctor Zhongli?"

"Um, they're still outside, right? He has people in that Sarkaz squad; they're probably waiting for them to regroup before coming in. Vigna, should I go out and look for them?"

"No need, we're here."

Shi Lei and Ines emerged from the shadows.

Now that Heredrey has joined Liyue City, he's considered one of their own. He didn't hide anything and summoned Rock platform out of thin air, much to the other's astonishment.

W volunteered to look after Heredrey, and together they ascended to the sky atop the Rock platform to await orders in the high-altitude Rock House.

When Vigna saw that the remaining two Sarkaz were missing, she did not ask Shi Lei to confirm their whereabouts.

She took out the key provided by Rhodes Island, inserted it into the lock in the center of the door, and began to turn it.

"Klala..."

With the clatter of gears turning, the heavy, old door opened a crack for passage.

Vigna took the lead, with Alda close behind.

The lighting inside was even dimmer; even with a cell phone's light, one couldn't see far.

It was very quiet here, so quiet that the only sounds were the footsteps and breathing of each person.

Vigna suddenly stepped on something and stood there motionless. Seeing her stop, Alda asked:

"Your His Highness, what's wrong?"

Following Vigna's gaze, everyone saw a lot of dried blood that had hardened into a crust on the ground.

The trail of blood crawled all the way to the deepest part of the shadows, with no end in sight.

As the group continued deeper into the area, they encountered broken arrowheads, rusty swords, and deep craters left by magical attacks.

There were no corpses or skeletons at the scene. Only various signs of fighting, showing later visitors how intense the battle was.

Ines crouched down, picked up a dusty Mechanical Crossbow, examined it for a moment, and then reported to Shi Lei:

"My lord, these are Sarkaz weapons. They're crudely manufactured products from the armory in Kazdel. You see, there's not even a safety pin here."

Upon hearing this, Vigna bit her lip and remained silent.

Based on the information observed at the scene, it is not difficult to deduce that a fierce battle had taken place here.

But now even the corpses are gone, which means that the Breath of the Kings deepest within has likely been taken away.

Alda also realized what had happened, her expression turning unusually serious as she thought to herself that her years of waiting had come to this.

"Your His Highness, something is not right."

"I know, let's keep going. Even if the Breath of the Kings has disappeared, we still need to confirm it ourselves."

Vigna, not wanting to waste time, gave the order:

"Morgan, Indra, you two retreat outside the passage and stand guard to ensure the safety of the evacuation route."

"Yes, Your His Highness. If we are surrounded by the Sarkaz City Defense Army later, we will inform you immediately."

"Everyone else, follow me."

Vigna was unwilling to leave empty-handed and wanted to venture deeper into the Place Where the Kings Sleep. If the Breath of the Kings could stop this war, she would do everything in her power to obtain it.

The group continued walking until they reached a half-open door. Passing through the crack in the door, they entered a corridor lined with large statues of Victoria monarchs on both sides.

This corridor is like a microcosm of history, with each departed person silently gazing down at those who come to visit.

"Alexandrina"

Vigna felt as if someone was calling her.

Her gaze wandered over the statues of the Aslan King, soon settling on her grandfather Frederick III, who had participated in the Four Nations War and, during his reign, allied with other nations to destroy Gaul.

Beside the statue is Vigna's father, the Lion King, who was hanged in the garden twenty-six years ago.

However, the Stone Statues is not yet completed, with large areas remaining uncarved. Although traces of carving tools are visible, the work is haphazard and poorly done. The head of the sculpture is a blur, with only the outline of the eyebrows and eyes vaguely discernible. Only the crown on its head proclaims the identity of this Stone Statues.

The Lion King's death was actually foreshadowed.

The debts from years of war were suffocating Victoria. And the already weakened Dolak was unwilling to accept Aslan's rule.

Only one of the two royal families can survive.

While Dolak's incitement of a noble rebellion was unexpected, it was also quite logical.

Seeing that Vigna remained silent, Alda glanced discreetly into the depths before quickly withdrawing her gaze.

"The Lion King is a great emperor. Regardless of outsiders' criticisms, my father and I believe he is no less than any of the other kings here."

"Perhaps, Alda. I haven't seen my father in so many years that I've long forgotten what he looks like. I'd rather be a gang leader fighting in a tavern than a high and mighty Royal Family descendant."

Ines, uninterested in their conversation, walked ahead of Alda and suddenly spoke:

"I've found Sarkaz's body!"

Upon hearing this, Vigna and the others were shocked and abandoned their remembrance of history in front of the statue, quickly running towards the source of the sound.

The ground was littered with corpses, at least a hundred or more, judging by appearances. Most of them were already decomposed, leaving only bare bones and dusty standard weapons.

Ines had extensive mercenary experience and was more familiar with the equipment than anyone else present.

"Judging from their equipment and uniforms, this group consists of the elite of the Sarkaz Royal Court Army. The men in black on the right are guards from the Confessors organization. This armed force, if deployed outside, would be enough to attack a small, Mobile Cities. But the fact that they were all dealt with here indicates that there is something far more dangerous inside."

"..."

The professional explanation made Vigna and the others breathe even more heavily; they had already vaguely guessed the answer.

The only one capable of defeating this Sarkaz Elite force is Victoria's strongest individual soldier— the Steam Knight, a relic of a bygone era, now extinct!

Alda swallowed hard, feeling her whole body tremble uncontrollably. As she moved forward, her gaze followed. One after another, the armor of Steam Knight came into view, like dead memories attacking her relentlessly.

Slashing, stabbing, burning...

Every Steam Knight's armor was riddled with wounds, not a single patch of it was clean.

The Spike-like Projectile, over five meters long, nearly pierced through the Steam Knight's armor. Yet they maintained their formation, refusing to retreat another step.

At that moment, Alda burst into tears.

She finally understood why Victoria hadn't seen a Steam Knight since four years ago.

Because they are all in the Place Where the Kings Sleep.

Vigna gazed at the scene before her, feeling a strange mix of admiration and heartache. She turned her head and noticed Alda's unusual expression, then asked with concern:

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, thankfully. It's probably just the poor air quality here; I feel a little dizzy."

Upon hearing this, Vigna turned her gaze back to the area ahead. She was suddenly struck by the sight of even more Sarkaz Elite corpses behind the Steam Knight.

"This, this is..."

Shi Lei walked up to the group, keeping his eyes fixed on the creature deepest inside, secretly observing it using his Night Vision:

"It's obvious they've been betrayed."

This is Ambushed from Pincer Attack.

The Steam Knight, who were originally supposed to be on the defensive, have instead become the attackers who need to break through the encirclement. This indicates that they have fallen into a trap set by the Sarkaz.

"How is that possible?"

Dagda couldn't understand it and kept shaking his head:

"This is the Place Where the Kings Sleep. How did the Sarkaz's elite troops get in?"

The entrance gate was extremely sturdy and could not be opened without a key. The only way to enter was with the keys of the Dolak Royal Family and Aslan Royal Family.

The answer is obvious, given that the key to the Dolak Royal Family fell into Vigna's hands after passing through Rhodes Island.

"Who on earth did this? Was it that traitor Duke Cavendish or the Duke Stafford?"

"Not a single Steam Knight has appeared in Victoria since four years ago. In other words, all the Steam Knight are here. The Grand Duke you just mentioned doesn't have the authority to mobilize them."

At this point, Vigna's eyes reddened. Although she didn't want to admit it, it was the truth. Tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably, and her voice choked with emotion.

"It was Victoria who betrayed them..."

Everyone was utterly shocked, except for Shi Lei, who remained calm.

Throughout history, there have been countless instances of loyal and righteous individuals being betrayed.

Humans do not learn from history; they only repeat themselves over and over again.

His gaze went into the depths, to the longsword that was left unguarded and unprotected, and to the Steam Knight still showed Vital Signs.

It's time to start the Next Plan.

"Ines, guard this place. Vigna and I need to talk to each other and don't want to be disturbed."

"Yes, sir."

Seeing Shi Lei extend the invitation in a gentlemanly manner, Vigna followed after a moment of silence:

"Dagda, hold this place."

"Yes, Your His Highness."

The two of them standing there prevented Alda from following. She was extremely annoyed that she wasn't there to witness such an important moment.

"Your His Highness, what do you mean by stopping me?"

"Don't worry, we'll be out soon."

Vigna and Shi Lei passed through the Sarkaz corpses and arrived at the room at the end. A long sword was stuck straight in the center, as ordinary as a classical ornament.

Vigna stared at the Breath of the Kings, then looked away and said:

"Doctor Zhongli, what would you like to talk to me about?"

"I want to set you up."

After saying this, Shi Lei walked straight to the front of the stage and grasped the Breath of the Kings.

"What are you doing?!"

If Vigna hadn't known how powerful this man was, she would have rushed up with her hammer and snatched it immediately.

Shi Lei reached out and touched Victoria's National Sword, but he couldn't sense the presence of any host spirit within it.

Like Surtr's Reine des Neiges, you can feel something inside just by holding the blade in your hand.

This means that the Breath of the Kings was just an ordinary longsword with commemorative significance.

"I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush."