Imperial Family Turmoil, Destruction's Involvement

When Bai Sheng opened his eyes again, he saw the familiar ceiling and the old man in a white coat beside him.

"Your Highness, your body has suffered no harm. There is no need to worry."

Clutching his head, Bai Sheng hurriedly asked, "That's not important. What about the unit I led? How did Scorched Earth Battle No. 3 go?"

"When you returned, there was only one soldier carrying your unconscious body. And after bringing you back, that soldier also..."

At that, the doctor fell silent.

Bai Sheng knew that the soldiers under his command had once again died on the battlefield.

"Your Highness, you needn't take it so hard. Your achievements are outstanding. Your feat of eliminating a large broodmother is more than enough for His Majesty to form another powerful unit for you. You don't need to grieve..."

"Enough. I understand, Grandpa Miles. You don't need to comfort me. It was my fault. If I'd been more cautious... Save your energy for dealing with those people in the palace."

This doctor was Miles, chief imperial physician of the Kasantiya royal family. As one of the Eternals, he possessed a long life and superb medical skills. He was a Path of Imaginary Emissary of the Path of Abundance.

Miles stroked his grizzled beard and kept shaking his head.

"Your Highness, your talent is the Spirit Puppet, something Kasantiyans see only once in ten thousand years. With a little effort, your future will surely be boundless. There is no need to mourn those soldiers of yours. Go plead with His Majesty. He will forgive you."

Bai Sheng was the third son of the Emperor of Kasantiya. Though he had awakened the most powerful talent in Kasantiya's history, he was still unloved and had been sent by the emperor to fight in the scorched lands occupied by the Insectoid of the Path of Propagation.

By now, exactly five years had passed.

"Alright, Grandpa Miles. After all these years, don't you know my temperament? I only want to build them a cenotaph. Don't worry, I'm not that fragile. I'll go to the palace. I'll be leaving first."

With that, Bai Sheng pulled the needle from his hand and gave it a shake. The puncture wound healed almost the very next second.

"Your Highness... Sigh..."

Yes, Miles had practically watched Bai Sheng grow up. He had watched helplessly as a cheerful, optimistic boy had been forced into the killing machine he was today. Perhaps no one could truly enter Bai Sheng's heart.

"What a sin... what a sin... His Majesty, why must you be so muddleheaded..."

The old man sighed softly, shaking his head without stop.

Kasantiya Martyrs' Cemetery...

Carrying a jar of wine, Bai Sheng walked to a nameless gravestone and sat beside it. From his robes, he took out seventy strips of cloth in different colors.

They had been cut from his soldiers' clothes. Before this battle, they had given them to Bai Sheng so that, should they die in battle, their prince could erect a cenotaph for them.

"Leithen, I told your squad not to charge so far ahead. Well, look what happened. Stuka, weren't you usually the one most afraid of dying? Lasselt, my adjutant, who told you to knock me out?!..."

As he berated his comrades, he tied their strips of cloth through the hollowed-out center of the gravestone.

From afternoon until nightfall, moonlight blanketed the earth. Bai Sheng poured the wine he had brought over the gravestone. It trickled down the strips of cloth like teardrops.

"Every last one of you disobeyed military orders. Your crimes are unforgivable! Come back obediently and take your punishment from me! Come back!..."

Bai Sheng viciously smashed the wine jar against the gravestone. Shards scattered across his hand, but the wounds vanished in an instant, without spilling a single drop of blood.

Worn out from cursing, Bai Sheng lay on the cold ground, exhaustion in his eyes.

"I might as well just die..."

Bai Sheng muttered.

Unexpectedly, the pitch-black scythe that had been stored in his spatial storage suddenly flew out on its own. Its handle struck Bai Sheng on the head, and a mature woman's voice came from within.

(PS: In this book's setting, every Emissary has a spatial storage for keeping weapons.)

"You brat, what kind of discouraging nonsense are you saying?!"

"Sister Pandora, you're awake?"

Bai Sheng said.

This scythe was named Pandora, and within it had been born the legendary Artifact Spirit. It was a top-grade Divine Artifact from the royal collection, said to have received the blessing of an Aeon. The first Emperor of Kasantiya had hacked out the entire kingdom with it, stroke by stroke.

"Obviously! If I hadn't woken up, my stubborn master would've gone and killed himself!"

After saying that, Pandora once again struck Bai Sheng's head with her handle.

"Alright, Sister Pandora. I was just venting. You could grow attached to a dog after raising it for three months, let alone those slaves we snatched from the company."

Bai Sheng said. As for the company, it was an enterprise called the Interastral Peace Corporation.

This "snatching" was not quite the kind of snatching people thought it was.

After all, what did the slaves snatched by White Ghost, a Stellaron Hunter, have to do with me, Bai Sheng, a down-and-out prince?

Of course, his identity as a Stellaron Hunter was fake as well. He did not know any of the Stellaron Hunters' members, though he had seen plenty of their photos on the company's wanted posters.

After snatching the slaves, all he had to do was alter their appearances slightly. The company would not venture deep into an insect-plagued frontline over a few dispensable slaves. There was no profit in it.

Pandora waved her enormous Scythe Blade, seeming somewhat angry as she said, "Do whatever you want. Just don't die. Damn it, after all these years, your talent is the only one that's barely passable. Otherwise, I'd have to sleep through several more Amber Eras."

Bai Sheng said nothing more. He merely nodded, then closed his eyes.

From this day onward, you are no longer soldiers under Bai Sheng's command. Go. May the merciful god open the gates of heaven and welcome every glorious warrior home...

Kasantiya Imperial Palace.

Atop the magnificent, gilded hall stood a dragon throne forged from pure gold. The Emperor sat upon it with his eyes closed, resting as he calmly asked the person below the throne:

"Where is Pandora?"

"Reporting, it is still in Bai Sheng's hands and has not been damaged. But Bai Sheng, Your Highness—"

"He's awake. Since the Divine Artifact is unharmed, that is enough. Withdraw. Continue monitoring him. The Divine Artifact must be protected. Whether he lives or dies is unimportant."

The Emperor cut off the spy, his voice so calm that not a trace of emotion could be heard.

Somewhere.

"Can the Aeon of Destruction truly help me ascend the throne?"

A middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties spoke.

Across the round table, a Voidranger smiled.

"Of course. Lord Nanook is invincible. If a Lord of Annihilation arrives in person, even the First Emperor of Kasantiya would be no match! Have you made up your mind, Prince?"

"I have! Why should I only be a Prince? That throne should have been mine!"

Tempted by the Voidranger, the Prince made a pact.

"Very well, Prince. A pleasant cooperation."

"A pleasant... cooperation..."