"Is this... the Sun King's Crown?"
Wilson's pupils contracted. He had clearly recognized the crown too.
"Yes. Do you... believe that ancient legend? That whoever possesses the Sun Crown will gain an tireless, absolutely loyal army to help him conquer the continent?"
Fang Yuan looked at Wilson.
"If you'd asked me before, I definitely wouldn't have believed it!" Wilson said. "But after following you, boss, and witnessing so many legends, I had no choice but to believe..."
"In this world, power that surpasses the limits isn't allowed to exist..."
Fang Yuan gazed at the crown, his voice sounding somewhat distant. "Even if the legend of the Sun King was true, I'd originally thought this crown merely came with some kind of powerful mass enslavement spell... But I never expected what's inside it to be so interesting!"
"Interesting?" Wilson shuddered. Clearly, he didn't think hearing that from Fang Yuan was a good sign.
"Exactly. Interesting! You'd think it was purely a supernatural creation, but you wouldn't expect its rules... to lean more toward the real world."
Fang Yuan turned the crown. In the light, the golden patterns on it were clearly visible, along with the ruby at its center, as large as a quail's egg. "How do I explain it... This crown has a bacterium sealed inside it—or perhaps a virus... It can replicate and reproduce at incredible speed... And the only controller is the crown itself... A perfect design, combining the rules of reality and the supernatural..."
Fang Yuan explained briefly, and, unsurprisingly, saw Wilson and Butcher staring at him in utter confusion.
"Fine. Looks like I'll have to test it."
He pressed hard on the gemstone.
As the light shifted, its vivid red color immediately turned a murky green.
Crack!
A soft click came from the crown. The green