Chapter : 685

The 2nd Princess, Hera Belmontia, looked unbothered. She wore a flawless white silk dress. She sipped a glass of water. She probably already had a plan to use this disaster to her advantage.

The panic in the hall reached an peak. The shouts echoed loudly off the high ceiling. The Senators demanded answers. They demanded swift justice. They demanded security.

Suddenly, a massive, booming horn sounded through the hall.

HOOOONK.

The sound vibrated through the floorboards. The marble walls shook slightly. The loud blast instantly cut through the arguments. The politicians stopped yelling. The guards snapped to attention. The Royal candidates stood perfectly straight.

A large set of golden doors opened at the front of the room.

The Emperor walked into the grand assembly hall.

He wore his majestic golden robes. He wore the Imperial Crown. His face was carved from stone. He projected an aura of immense, crushing authority. He did not look angry. He looked absolute.

The entire room went silent. Nobody dared to speak. Nobody dared to breathe too loudly.

Ken stopped chewing his popcorn. He sagged his shoulders. He watched the Emperor walk toward the elevated throne at the front of the room.

"The final boss is here," Ken mumbled very quietly to himself. "The cutscene is starting. I should probably stop eating loud food. Crunching is disrespectful during a cutscene."

The Emperor reached his throne. He turned around. He sat down slowly. He looked across the vast room. He looked at the terrified politicians. He looked at the Top 10 Imperial Units.

He prepared to make an announcement. The announcement would change the course of the Succession War. The theft was just the beginning. The real nightmare was about to officially start.

---

The grand assembly hall remained silent. The Emperor sat on his golden throne. His cold, piercing eyes scanned the room. He looked at the Top 10 Imperial Units standing in their designated spots. He looked at Princess Iris. He looked at the 13th Unit.

Ken Eliot sat in his wooden chair. He put his popcorn bucket down on the floor. He slid his hands deep into his pockets. He slouched his posture. He waited for the Emperor to speak.

"The Upper Council is acting like frightened children," the Emperor stated coldly. His deep voice echoed effortlessly across the massive room. "You yell. You point fingers. You panic. Panic is a sign of weakness."

Senator Vance swallowed hard. He bowed his head. He did not dare to argue.

"The Imperial Vault was breached," the Emperor confirmed firmly. "The Ode to a Black Phoenix was stolen. It is a severe security failure. The assailant bypassed our best magical defenses. They took an artifact of immense, catastrophic power. We will find the traitor later. Right now, we must retrieve the artifact."

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The Emperor leaned forward. He rested his hands on the arms of his golden throne.

"Our intelligence network tracked the assailant's escape route," the Emperor announced clearly. "The thief did not flee to a foreign country. The thief did not hide in the lower districts. The thief traveled to the most dangerous location on this entire continent."

The room held its breath. The politicians leaned forward.

"The assailant has taken the artifact to the 5 Wastelands," the Emperor declared.

A collective gasp echoed through the assembly hall. The politicians looked horrified. Some of the Royal candidates frowned deeply. The name of that location struck fear into their hearts.

Ken blinked his sleepy dark eyes. He tilted his head. He looked at Sayma.

"What is the 5 Wastelands?" Ken asked lazily. He let out a loud, dramatic yawn. "Is it a desert? I hate deserts. Sand gets in my cheap shoes. It makes my socks very uncomfortable."

Sayma pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Her dark eyes looked serious. She opened her notebook. She did not click her pen. She spoke in a very quiet, very grim voice.

"It is not a normal desert, Ken," Sayma explained softly. "The 5 Wastelands is the original site of the Solurius mining disaster. It happened decades ago. The empire tried to mine raw, unstable Solurius crystals. The main reactor exploded. The blast destroyed five massive regions."

Zinia cracked her knuckles. The strong earth mage looked deeply uncomfortable.

"The land is dead," Zinia added grimly. "Nothing grows there. The ground is cracked and poisoned. The air is filled with thick, toxic yellow-gray mist. The radiation is lethal. Normal humans melt if they breathe the air for too long. It is a giant, cursed graveyard."

Ken absorbed the information. He ran it through his flawless video game logic.

"Okay, I understand perfectly," Ken analyzed casually in his mind. He slumped his shoulders. "It is the poison swamp level. Every single adventure game has a poison swamp level. The developers love them. You walk into a giant purple puddle. Your character takes constant damage over time. You walk slow. The enemies hide in the toxic mud. I despise poison swamp levels. They require way too many healing items. This is a massive inconvenience."

The Emperor continued his speech. His voice commanded attention.

"The 5 Wastelands is a highly toxic, restricted zone," the Emperor stated. "But we cannot ignore it. The artifact is there. We must retrieve it before the assailant unlocks its full power. Therefore, I am issuing a direct, mandatory command."

The Emperor pointed a finger at the gathered Royal candidates.

"The Top 10 Imperial Units will deploy immediately," the Emperor ordered ruthlessly. "This is a mandatory expedition. You will travel to the 5 Wastelands. You will enter the toxic zone. You will find the assailant. You will secure the Ode to a Black Phoenix. You will bring it back to this city."

The 1st Prince, Zeus Belmontia, stepped forward. He offered a crisp, perfect military salute. "It will be done, Your Majesty. My unit will retrieve the artifact. We will eliminate the thief."

The Emperor held up his hand. "Do not interrupt me, Zeus. Securing the artifact is only your primary objective. There is a secondary objective. It is far more disturbing."

Zeus lowered his hand. He stepped back into his line. He looked slightly annoyed.

The Emperor looked at the frightened Senators. He looked back at the Royal units.

"We believed the Solurius mining facilities were destroyed during the disaster," the Emperor revealed slowly. "We believed the research laboratories were buried under the toxic rubble. But our recent intelligence suggests otherwise."

The Emperor's eyes narrowed into cold, sharp slits.

"We have grave concerns," the Emperor continued. "We believe someone inside the heart of this empire has been secretly rebuilding those facilities. We suspect classified research and raw, mutated data from the Wastelands are actively leaking to the assailant. Someone is funding a secret operation in the middle of the toxic zone."

The politicians gasped again. A secret laboratory inside the most dangerous place on the continent. It was a massive conspiracy.