"Fafweil is dead?"
"Well, I understand. Let's elect a new representative from Resettlement Zone to take his place."
The sea water rolled up the waves and surged up to the beach one after another, covering the claws and ankles of the dragon. Garos stopped here for a moment and ended Mind Link.
Beside him, Red-Silver Dragon Deborah turned his head and asked, "Is this the matter over there Aura?"
Red Iron Dragon nodded his huge head. "The news just came, Holden's former emperor, Fafweil, died in their Resettlement Zone."
Hearing this, Deborah tilted his head slightly.
The emperor of Holden was a very important person in the past.
This title once almost stood at the top of the entire Bernardo, overlooking the billions of creatures on the earth, and could decide the life, death and destiny of countless people with just a few gestures.
"If it were before, the whole Bernardo would be shaken by this."
Red-Silver Dragon said, with a bit of emotion in his voice.
If the empire of Holden is still high, if those Floating City are still floating in the sky, if the authority of the emperor still envelopes every city as it did in the past...
Then, the death of Fafweil will be another scene.
The entire Holden will lose all color overnight.
From Cloudskies Royal Capital to the most remote Floating City, black silk will flow through every window and every street lamp like a silent flood, covering every wall and every column.
The solemn and solemn death knell will ring at dawn.
One voice after another, it spread throughout every floating city above the sea of clouds.
Then, the emperor will be placed on a gilt marble altar, wearing a brocade robe and ten fingers covered with rings symbolizing glory.
The torch will be lit and will not be extinguished for seven days and seven nights, burning the night sky into dark red, reflecting countless figures bowing their heads in silence.
Finally, his coffin was pulled by thirty-two pure-colored war horses through the royal road strewn with iris petals.
Buried with him were not only gold vessels, precious stones and swords, but also many ministers and attendants who had been buried. After taking the secret medicine, they lay down quietly with peaceful faces.
This is an ancient tradition Holden.
They will continue to serve their king in the other world as loyally as they did in life.
Then, his bloodline, his chosen heir, will take over the heavy crown in the midst of thousands of people kneeling in worship. The sound of the new emperor's enthronement and the elegy of the old emperor's death will overlap, forming an endless echo of the empire.
It seems that all glory will continue like this and never dry up.
But there is no if in reality.
The death of Fafweil is now difficult to cause any waves in this land.
As for whether he chose someone to inherit his will, whether he left any instructions before his death, or arranged any back-ups——
Garos I don't know and I'm not interested.
Although today's Holden still retains some of the arrogance of the past, and there are many unruly people who talk about the good times in the past, but living on the earth, they will eventually lose their stubbornness in the past.
It's nothing more than the time of day.
"This emperor may have imagined his end countless times during his lifetime."
Deborah blinked and said, "The grand funeral, the cries of all the people, the writings of historians, and the remembrances of future generations - he probably prepared the most solemn farewell method for himself."
"But I'm afraid he never expected at that time that the reality would be like this,"
"To die is to die."
Red Iron Dragon's expression didn't change much as he said, "Whether it's solemn or lonely, it means nothing to a dead person."
"Maggots don't care about the identity of the corpse, and the soil won't become softer just because the deceased is an emperor."
After saying that, Garos looked at the vast ocean in front of him.
The silence lasted for a while.
"Garos, do you think this person will regret it?"
Deborah asked suddenly.
"Yes."
Garos raised his chin slightly and said, "He will probably have many regrets."
"I regret that I should not have placed all my bets on the counterattack Abyss, regret that I doubted and suppressed Darknight Star, and regretted those mistakes that could have been avoided----"
His voice paused, and then the conversation changed slightly.
"But at least these regrets were almost worn away in his last days.
39
"Before he died, he had probably accepted all the consequences."
Red Iron Dragon said in a low voice, "At least, he didn't die full of resentment and unwillingness. He was quite calm."
Deborah's eyes were full of thought.
After being quiet for a long while, she suddenly raised her head again.
"Tell me, after Fafweil dies, what will his people think of him?"
Garos turned his head and turned his vertical pupils to Red-Silver Dragon beside him.
He did not answer immediately. He thought about the question seriously and his eyes wandered on the sea.
After more than ten seconds, he spoke.
"The future is uncertain. When the dust settles, maybe someone will remember his kindness, remember how he used his last dignity to give them a way to survive, and remember his struggle and compromise in a desperate situation."
"But what now?"
"Now, I'll probably be clapping my hands and cheering."
Deborah's eyes widened slightly for a moment, and a trace of confusion flashed in his vertical pupils.
"Clap your hands and cheer?"
"Why is this happening? Didn't this emperor find a way to survive at all costs for his people? Otherwise, those people on Floating City are still waiting to die in the clouds."
"He has done these things, but his people will applaud him?"
"The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit."
Red Iron Dragon shook his head slowly and spit out these four words.
"No matter what he paid, what his final thoughts were, what kind of inner suffering he went through when he made those decisions, how many sleepless nights he had - people will only remember one thing."
"He failed."
"Holden fell from the clouds into the deep valley in his hands. The once proud empire no longer existed in his hands. The glory, prominence, and dignity that were once so high were all reduced to nothing."
The giant dragon blew out a wisp of hot air from its nostrils and said, "No one cares about whether he worked hard, struggled, or got the best outcome for everyone in a desperate situation."
"Besides, it's easier to hate him than to forgive him."
"The former also allows the Holden people to retain the last illusion of their old glory,"
"But forgive him? To admit that he was a good monarch is to admit that the failure and destruction of the empire were his own fault. They would rather believe that it was the emperor's incompetence that led to the empire's collapse."
Deborah Silently.
At the feet of the two dragons, the waves surged up and receded tirelessly, leaving different lines on the beach each time, and then erasing them the next time they came, as if they had never existed.
All honors, disgrace, sorrows and joys will eventually come to an end.
Immediately, Deborah raised his head.
"Time will tell."
"Perhaps in a few decades or hundreds of years, future generations of Holden people will re-examine history."
she said.
Garos nodded, agreeing with Red-Silver Dragon's statement, but didn't say much.
Immediately, Red-Silver Dragon changed the topic. "Holden, how are you going to deal with it?"
"Their knowledge level is not low, and they are at the forefront of the entire Bernardo. Even if they fall to the bottom now, given time, they may not have a chance to rise again. The foundation is still there."
"And after all, they were once subjects of an empire. They are arrogant in their bones and will not be willing to live under someone else's roof forever."
"Are you planning to slowly absorb them into Sacred Aura, or do you have any other arrangements?"
Garos walked slowly and leisurely.
"It's not necessary."
He said, "After receiving some necessary Aura-style education, how far Resettlement Zone can develop in the future depends entirely on themselves."
"If they can rebuild their kingdom and get back on their feet, I wouldn't mind adding another vassal state.
"Atlant is big enough to accommodate them."
"But if someone tries to rebel in the future----"
The corners of Red Iron Dragon's mouth raised slightly, revealing his thick fangs. "If that happens one day, the dragons and warriors of Aura will be happy to see it."
"They would never mind using Holden to grind their teeth."
In the past, the empire of Holden was like a sharp sword hanging over Garos's head, which could fall at any time.
He was deeply afraid of this.
But now, he really doesn't care what happens to Holden in the future.
Not to mention those Holden people in Resettlement Zone who completely need to rely on Aura's winks.
Even for those Holden elites who brought fire to Ark, those who carried the seeds of the empire's last hope, he didn't care whether they had the possibility of rising again or becoming enemies of Aura.
What he wants to know more is whether New Holden can really get rid of the shackles and realize the real rule by the people that Dark Star dreamed of.
Maybe.
In the distant future, when Sacred Aura is doing Great Expedition, he will encounter a country named Holden" again in a certain world. He will regain his interest and go there to take a look in person.
As for now, Garos has left them behind.
Deborah nodded slightly and said, "That's right. When Holden was at its peak, it devoted all the efforts of the whole country. There were two Immortal Ones in charge. They had ultimate weapons like Platinum Star, but they didn't do anything to Aura. In the end, they collapsed first."
"Today, the gap between them and Aura will only get wider and wider."
"They are nothing to worry about."
Garos narrowed his self-light slightly and looked at the line where the sea and the sky meet, his eyes became far-reaching.
"Actually, I didn't pay much attention to Holden after I Destiny Rank."
"Abyss is the real danger, I can distinguish the priorities."
Overcast clouds piled up in the sky, and there were faint flashes of thunder on the horizon, as if a storm of alarming scale was brewing. The sea wind also became stronger, whining across the beach, rolling up fine grains of sand and hitting the dragon's scales.
Deborah looked up at the sky, and the rain began to fall sporadically.
"When will Abyss invade again?"
She said, "It has been several years since the collapse of Holden, but there has been no movement from Abyss. Everything is calm and there is no sign at all - but this calm before the storm makes me feel even more depressed."
Garos shook his head slowly.
"No, Abyss is already invading."
Red-Silver Dragon was slightly startled, and then waited for the next sentence.
Garos's eyes narrowed slightly, and his pupils shrank into a narrow vertical slit.
"The original intention of capturing Floating City was to successfully destroy them and destroy Abyss's anchor point at Material Plane, thereby delaying or weakening their invasion, and at least buying us more time to prepare."
"But, it backfired."
The sound paused slightly, then sounded again.
"After taking over Floating City, the warlocks and research scholars of Aura obtained the core information of Floating City, and conducted a detailed handover with the scholars of Holden. Both parties spent a lot of time and finally came to a conclusion."
"What conclusion?"
"After the defeat of Holden, the degree of erosion of Abyss skyrocketed, breaking through the original boundary almost overnight."
"Even if all Floating City are turned into dust in the sky in advance, Abyssal Rift will still appear as usual."
"Its corruption has been tightly anchored to the point in space through the engine, making it unbreakable."
Garos turned slightly sideways and faced Deborah: "In other words, no matter whether Floating City is destroyed or not, it will not affect Abyss's invasion."
In the past, Abyssal Rift needed to rely on surface carriers to be born normally.
So whether Holden or Aura, they are trying to prevent Floating City from falling.
But today is different from the past.
Now, Abyssal Roots has been completely lost and has fallen into the hands of Demon. They can develop a more stable Abyssal Rift at a lower cost and no longer need to rely on the earth.
The situation is even worse.
"Destroying Floating City in advance will not only not prevent the invasion of Abyss, but will also advance the time of invasion, which is equivalent to cutting off more than half of the originally ample buffer period."
"It's like----opening the door for Demon with your own hands."
Deborah murmured in a low voice, "This means that Abyss's invasion is completely unavoidable?"
Garos nodded. "Yes, it is inevitable."
"The only difference is whether it's earlier or later."
As he spoke, he looked thoughtful and said, "I don't know why Hellfire Lord hasn't started to invade until now. What is it waiting for or what concerns does it have."
"But I feel that I need more time and there is no need to force them to come now."
"Since they want to be later, then let's do it later. The enemy is not in a hurry, and I am even less anxious."
Before Garos, there are two choices.
The first is to destroy Floating City now, fight with Hellfire Lord in a short period of time, and put everything on the table; the second is to let nature take its course, no matter what Hellfire Lord's plan is, so that he can become stronger in a longer period of time.
Garos Choose the second option.
The reason is also very simple.
He has been exercising on the White Dwarf all year round. His body is constantly being stimulated and adapted under the influence of the overweight environment. Now it has undergone certain changes, and these changes are still continuing, accumulating every day.
Hellfire Lord may be waiting for some opportunity, or planning something.
However, for Garos, the longer the better.
He was not in a hurry.
The waves came up again, this time higher than before, and the white foam covered the dragon's claws and ankles and rushed into the gaps between the scales on its legs.
The storm is coming.
A deep-sea storm carried by the monsoon is taking shape on the sea level, lightning branches are growing wildly in the clouds, and thunder is rolling.
Red Iron Dragon stood in the wind and waves, unmoved.
"The storm is coming."
"What I have to do now is to make myself stronger than yesterday before it really comes, and then split the storm and tear the dark clouds apart."
Thunder sounded.
The heavy rain poured down, covering the sky and the earth in a vast white rain curtain. Countless fine water splashes were smashed on the sea surface, and everything in the field of vision was blurred into chaos.
Half an hour later.
In deep space, on White Dwarf.
This long-dead Star is suspended in space, silent and silent, without any stars around it.
Red Iron Dragon As soon as his four feet landed on the ground, they made dents of varying depths.
Every inch of ground in White Dwarf is extremely hard and the density is unimaginably high.
However, Garos is no longer just here.
His weight exceeds the limit that the surface of the star can bear. If he is not restrained deliberately, every step he takes will leave traces on the surface.
But these traces won't last long.
As time goes by, given the extreme overweight environment here, these cracks will slowly heal, leaving the entire planet in the same state, as if nothing had happened.
Red Iron Dragon walked forward.
His steps were neither hasty nor slow, each step created new cracks and left a series of deep footprints behind him. After hundreds of steps, he stopped.
There is a big hole in front of you.
Bottomless.
It was as if something had squeezed in from here, stretching, crushing, and grinding the dense material structure into powder. The diameter of the hole was large enough to allow Red Iron Dragon's body to pass through.
This is not naturally occurring.
This was what Garos had done over countless days and nights, hitting it again and again with his body and digging out inch by inch with his sharp claws. It took a long time and countless physical strength.
He stood on the edge, staring down.
The material in White Dwarf is incredibly dense, and the density becomes higher and higher as you go down, growing by leaps and bounds. Every time you go down a certain distance, the pressure will rise crazily.
After reaching the extreme depth of Garos's excavation, it is not safe even for him.
If you are not careful, you will have your scales cracked and your tendons broken.
But that's what he needs most right now.
As long as he cannot be killed immediately, the more extreme the environment, the better.
Red Iron Dragon lowered his head and looked at his body.
The size is much smaller.
The majestic body has now shrunk to the size of the Crown Rank period. If you only look at the outline, you would even think that the power of this giant dragon has declined and is slipping from its peak.
But this is just an illusion.
At the same time as the body size became smaller, Red Iron Dragon's weight and tonnage soared again, and the body density reached a new level. Every inch of flesh and blood was several times heavier than before.
The muscle fibers are compressed to the limit and arranged tightly.
The bone structure has experienced countless micro-fractures and remodeling in the overweight environment, becoming denser than the hardest alloy.
Each inch of scale armor carries many times more material than before, stacked together like a thousand layers of steel.
This increase in density is more terrifying than simple growth in body size.
At the same time, Garos raised one of its front paws, turned it over, and examined the scales on it.
The dragon scales become smooth and shiny.
Any giant dragon that has withstood wind and rain will have a rough surface with many marks on its scales. The same is true for Garos, which is covered with Battleworn Mark.
Now, his scales showed a sheen that was close to a mirror surface, and the gaps between the scales became increasingly fine.
At first glance from a distance, it almost looks like a seamless metal coating.
This texture is a bit like that of a newborn Dragonling, which has not experienced any battle polishing. The scales are covered with a layer of enamel as smooth as porcelain.
Fresh, complete and flawless.
However, if anyone thinks that this means a decrease in defense, they are totally wrong.
Red Iron Dragon withdrew his gaze and looked at the cave entrance again.
Bottomless darkness awaited him.
"Asalia."
"I don't know what you're waiting for, but if I were you I would attack immediately."
"Time... is not on your side."
Red Iron Dragon thought silently in his heart.
Immediately afterwards, he tightened the wings behind his back, pressed the broad wing membranes close to both sides of his body, jumped down, and fell deeper into the White Dwarf. His figure was quickly swallowed up by the endless darkness.