First Prince and Old Galen

(On the first day of November, let's start with two long chapters to calm our nerves~)

Cheng Shi led his group to the place where Da Yi had found the historian, and the timing was perfect. The thin old man lay stiffly on the ground, almost frozen to death.

Old Galen desperately needed treatment, but there wasn't a single Priest present. Yet, under the watchful eye of Emissary Excellency, everyone could become a "Priest."

Especially for Chameleon Qu Yan, he couldn't possibly trouble Lord Foolish Play with such a trivial matter. So, the moment he saw Galen's Vitality fading, he took out a bottle of healing potion from his personal space and poured it into Galen's mouth.

The medicine was very effective, and Old Galen woke up in no time. He looked at the unfamiliar people in front of him and was about to reprimand them when he discovered that the First Prince, who had long been expelled from the royal court, was standing behind the crowd.

The First Prince, who had vowed to gather all the soldiers in the city to fight to the death against the World Destroyers, was now bound like a dumpling, looking at Old Galen with a miserable expression.

Galen looked at the prince, then at the person in front of him, and felt as if his world had collapsed.

He then mistook Cheng Shi and his group for those World Destroyers.

However, Cheng Shi. With absolute control over the situation, identity was no longer important. If Galen believed they were the World Destroyers, then it wouldn't hurt for World Destroyers for once.

In fact, anyone with a normal mind could see that the First Prince had been kidnapped. And these three "World Destroyers" who found their way here must have already learned everything from the First Prince. In Galen's opinion, they must have been there to hunt down the Rosna Royal Family and those nobles. He just didn't know what role the usually tough First Prince played in this "hunt."

He couldn't believe that someone like the First Prince would yield to an enemy, yet everything before him filled him with fear. So Galen's lips trembled as he asked:

"Your Highness... how could you...?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shi chuckled and looked at the First Prince and his family.

The First Prince's expression changed, and he turned his head away in fear. His expression was very complicated. In addition to the embarrassment of his heroic image being exposed in front of him, he felt more guilty towards the historian in front of him.

Cheng Shi couldn't directly perceive emotions, but he saw the trickery in these complex emotions. After connecting them with the information he had previously gathered, a bold guess suddenly popped into his mind.

Could it be that the First Prince deliberately dropped his Daggers?

Cheng Shi suddenly chuckled, looking at the two of them with amusement, and said with a smile:

"What's wrong? You two are such familiar people who see each other all the time, how come you've become so distant?"

What's so hard about recognizing each other?

A prince who would rather sever ties with the entire Royal Family for his own safety, and a historian who belatedly realized he was being used by the Royal Family —I went to great lengths to bring you together, not so you could put on a silent show for me.

Tell me, where did that Daggers go?

The First Prince trembled and dared not speak. Old Galen looked confused and mumbled, "Daggers? What Daggers?"

Cheng Shi chuckled and replied:

"It seems I need to give you a hint. Your child accidentally stumbled into a secret room while playing with the First Prince's child and discovered the Daggers that the First Prince once used. Yes, that's the Daggers. Do you remember?"

Old Galen remembered, but he immediately shook his head violently and said:

"It's been taken away. That Daggers must have been taken away. When His Highness was expelled from the Imperial Court, he wasn't allowed to take a single piece of property with him. When His Majesty fled, the Imperial Court's guards took away all the wealth of the entire Imperial Court. So if that Daggers was still in His Highness's residence, it would have been taken away long ago..."

"Oh? Is that so?"

It seems that even now, the image of this First Prince in your heart is still so upright and righteous.

However, I'd like to ask, how did the two children, while playing around, manage to stumble into a secret chamber containing a 'relic of Faith's that the First Prince feared and avoided?

Well, you probably don't know the details, Old Galen, so I'll have the First Prince answer that.

"Your First Prince, may I ask why you would keep such a divinely bestowed Daggers, which you consider 'Decay,' in such an unsafe 'secret chamber'?"

Cheng Shi laughed, and he even emphasized the words "secret room".

"..."

"..."

The First Prince fell silent, and as he remained silent, Old Galen seemed to have guessed something, his eyes widening even further.

The two players observed the NPC in front of them with great interest, admiring the Emissary's omniscience while speculating about the story unfolding before them.

Old Galen's expression turned incredulous. Whether he was terrified by the phrase "[Decay] God-given," or if he had pieced together some details, he pointed tremblingly at the First Prince, no longer addressing him as "Your Highness," and rebuked him with grief and indignation:

"You... you... what did you do to Ailian?"

Cheng Shi chuckled and turned to look at the First Prince: "Answer me, the historian is asking you a question."

Seeing that there was no way to hide, the First Prince clenched his fists, took a half-step forward to block his wife and children, raised his head, and said with both grief and sorrow:

"I didn't want to do this, but I had to protect my wife and my children. I was forced into it; I had no other choice!"

That Daggers kept threatening me, demanding that I offer it a great deal of flesh and blood. I am not the emperor, I am just a prince. I do not have that much flesh and blood to offer it. My family was already extremely weak by the time they had to give it everything it wanted.

Furthermore, the divine punishments it described were too terrifying; I could not bear the wrath of the gods, and I only wanted to get rid of it!

But its sound kept echoing in my ears, keeping me awake all night, so I had to find a way to get rid of it!

Galen, I don't want to hurt Ailian. I've tried many times, but only she, only she, is interested in that antique Daggers. Under your influence, Ailian enjoys studying these old things.

Galen, you have to believe me. I'm not targeting her. I just can't hand that Daggers to an adult. Only a child, only a child's innocence, no one will believe it. Even if someone sees or hears it, they'll just say it's Ailian's nonsense.

Gallon, I don't...

"Gallen, what are you doing! Gallen, how dare you... Ah! My lord, save me!! My lord, I've sparked a flame, my lord, save me!"

"Ah!!"

A shrill scream suddenly erupted from the deathly silent imperial court. The distorted sound even drowned out the howling of the wind and snow, sending chills down the spines of those who heard it.

Accompanying the screams were rhythmic, regular tapping sounds—the sound of stone bricks striking bone.

Galen went mad. He picked up a stone brick from the ground, his eyes bloodshot, and pounced on the First Prince, beating him repeatedly until his flesh and bones merged with the snow beneath him, forming a murky, crimson stream. Only then did Old Galen stop, panting heavily, his body convulsing as he slumped to one side, seemingly having exhausted all his strength.

He was confused and at a loss.

The historian from Rosna didn't understand what the Daggers was for at all; he only understood that the First Prince had schemed against his own child to escape disaster, and that's when he went mad.

Meanwhile, the First Prince's family members, who were watching the First Prince being crushed to death, appeared even calmer than Galen.

The First Prince's wife, pale-faced, shielded her child and pleaded with the adults, suppressing her fear. She kept saying, "Innocent, unaware," but never once looked at Galen.

Perhaps she knew that whether she and her child survived had nothing to do with the historian who had killed her husband, but only with these three adults standing there.

Cheng Shi watched all this silently without saying a word. He only glanced at Qu Yan beside him, and Qu Yan understood. He took out another bottle of medicine and saved the dying Galen.

Galen snapped out of his madness, fell to his knees, and cried out to Cheng Shi, "Sir, save my child! Sir, save my child!"

It was at this moment that Cheng Shi suddenly realized that Galen was not simply chosen as a lucky one because he was familiar with the teleportation array passed down from history. More likely, it was because his child was controlled by the emperor of Rosna.

But who could have imagined that this emperor would use this method to once again draw the very trouble his princes were trying to avoid into his own hands...

So, after going around in circles, it turned out to be related to the teleportation array through which the Rosna Royal Family escaped.

In other words, even if players don't figure out the absurd truth, as long as they blindly follow the teleportation array, they will eventually find some clues.

Ah, Destiny... it's truly amazing.

Cheng Shi smiled slightly and lifted up Old Galen.

"The one who can save your child is not me, but yourself."

The extent of the damage to that teleportation array you destroyed, and whether it can be repaired, is not up to me to decide.

Old Galen was stunned, but soon he nodded firmly.

"I have a way to restore it, sir. I'm sure I can restore it!"

Cheng Shi outwardly said "I believe you," but then turned around and "called" the First Prince up, repeating the same question to the green-glowing corpse. After receiving the same answer, the smile on his face became even brighter.

"Let's go, let's speed up."

Then, he smiled at the widow of the First Prince behind him:

"Be grateful for the mercy of Destiny, even though it was time that saved you."

Ta-da! It's Cheng Xiaoshi's time to campaign.

"Hello friends, the Tomato Annual Peak Rankings event has begun, Cheng Shi is shamelessly asking for your vote."

Regardless of which "He" you are following, I hope you can search for "Tomato Annual Peak Rankings" to enter the event page and vote for me, helping me to squeeze into the top ten and attend the Audience Assembly the God of Merriment!

Otherwise I wouldn't be able to meet Su Yida, and the plot would be incomplete! (Scratch this part)

Thank you all for your support. If I advance, I will put on a big show at the Audience Assembly!

[Deception] We mean what we say!

(Bow!)

Ahem, author's note:

Bonus chapters for the first ten chapters at the end of the month!

Bow again!