Silent Crown

Late at night, on one of the islands surrounding Avalon, namely Island No. 6, it was totally silent, and not even the chirping of birds could be heard. After martial law was declared, no more signs of any activity could be found here once night had fallen. Only the power armors of the patrol unit hummed in a low tone. In the darkness, sentries silently looked around. Dozens of detection enchantments enveloped the island, thoroughly monitoring everything.

The island, which was the largest around Avalon, had been given to Ye Qingxuan as his fief. Although it was very close to the capital of the country, he was allowed to station military troops capable of subverting Avalon within a few hours here.

Not to mention the headquarters of the Fifth Division, the Net of Aether Development Authority of Stein Chamber No. 6 led and established by Newton himself, as well as the order of the Chainsaw Fraternity, were both located here. Ye Qingxuan even stationed the largest military power under him, the Religious Court of Inquiry, here.

All this while, God knew how many people secretly spoke ill of Ye Qingxuan. They accused him of having a wolfish nature and harboring wild ambitions and lamented that the country was in peril.

For such a heinous crime that would have obviously resulted in the offender being sentenced to death by hanging on the Gate of Traitors, to everyone’s surprise, Her Majesty the Empress only charged him a fine of six hundred pounds of black gold, and casually dropped the subject.

In light of Her Majesty delegating him more and more power as if she couldn’t care less, it was no wonder that many regarded Ye Qingxuan as the shadow emperor of Anglo.

In fact, just like how Avalon was the core of Anglo, the island was Ye Qingxuan’s most important asset. God knew how many checkpoints and look-out posts were there both within and outside the island, and how many covert underground buildings were dug in secret.

Even in the day, the island was shrouded in thick fog. No one knew what was going on or how many people were on the island. Even the transportation of resources such as construction materials and food into and out of the island was never seen, and no one could use the number of resources as a gauge.

The speculation about the island was even more diverse.

“It’s a black box, with the cat of His Royal Highness hiding within.” Once, a drunk Tristan gave an odd smile when others beat about the bush trying to get an answer out of him. “Before you see it, no one cares whether you live or die. But after you open the box, it would be determined by the cat of His Royal Highness.”

Since then, the term ‘the black box of His Royal Highness the Prince’ became popular among the upper society of Avalon and gained everyone’s approval.

Everyone except for Old Phil.

Meanwhile, at the moment, in the black box in the middle of the night, Ye Qingxuan stood on top of a hill, gazing at the dark clouds above him, which were gradually drifting here from afar.

The night wind was cold, but it brought a faint heat along. Ye Qingxuan took a deep breath and sneezed, mucus dripping out of his nose. Flustered, he quickly wiped it off and coughed twice. “A burning smell is coming from the south.”

The cloud from Asgard had drifted over, shrouding Avalon, just like a presage of war. In the short span of just one month, Asgard’s action of burning its bridges in preparation for war had made the entire West somewhat chaotic.

Anglo, bearing the brunt, included.

“What time is it?” Ye Qingxuan rubbed his hands together and breathed out a puff of cold air.

Behind Ye Qingxuan, Lola’s voice came from the empty space, “Two o’clock in the morning.”

Ye Qingxuan nodded. “Soon.” As he said so, a sound that resembled the rumble of an iron whale came from above him. As if some stars were ignited, the dark clouds were illuminated. Along with the rumbling whistle, horrible flares of light traveled through the clouds, moving downwards, stirring up a hurricane. The iron cloud of war was torn apart, revealing only a small part of the behemoth.

A metallic gleam was hanging high above the sky.

It was the Mountain of Nomadism.

Huge searchlights shone, illuminating Ye Qingxuan. As the hurricane swept, his hair fluttered, like flowing mercury. Under the instruction of the musicians and the lights on the ground, a huge gap opened up in the smooth ground, revealing the complex steel frame within and deep darkness.

In the depths of the darkness were specks of light, and one could vaguely see musicians running about near the huge landing platform. It was the actual reason why Mary fined him 600 pounds of black gold.

Anywhere within a thousand miles from Avalon was within the radiation range of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, it was impossible for Mary to not know what happened on the island. But she did not expect that right after she gave Ye Qingxuan the island, the *sshole hollowed the whole island out. If she did not fine him some money as a warning, the fella’s reckless actions would sooner or later blow the whole island up into the sky.

The huge Mountain of Nomadism slowly sunk into the open ground. But at the exact moment, it touched the tracks on the ground, the armored knight on the deck leaped over the railing, soared across the distance of several meters, and landed in front of Ye Qingxuan.

The knight’s armor still had bloodstains that hadn’t been washed off completely on it and looked murderous and fierce. But as the heavy helmet was removed, the bald head and half of a metal skull beneath were revealed.

The clergy, who was so old that it made one wonder how had he not breathed his last, smiled at Ye Qingxuan. Presenting himself before the Grand Inquisitor, the old man went down on one knee.

“Welcome back, Shi Dong.” Ye Qingxuan reached out and helped the old man up from the ground, shaking his head, and sighed. “You have become a lot older yet again.”

Shi Dong walked out of the opened suit of power armor and sat down on the wheelchair that had been pushed over quite some time ago. He heard Ye Qingxuan’s voice and gave a laugh that sounded like broken bellows.

“One won’t feel itchier when one already has plenty of lice. I’m already so old, why would I care about becoming even older?”

“Do you still have enough energy left in you after spending a whole day and night rushing back?” Ye Qingxuan asked. “I am afraid you won’t get much rest tonight.”

“This is just a small case, I can still swing my sword for ten more days and nights.” Shi Dong shook his head as if he couldn’t care less. Wheeling himself, he followed Ye Qingxuan and entered the elevator.

The iron gates closed, and the huge lift slowly descended in the sound of mechanical parts operating. Shi Dong tilted his head to one side, looking at Ye Qingxuan sneezing and blowing his nose, and gloated. “It must have been a bad two days, no?”

“I shouldn’t have been fronting.” Ye Qingxuan shook his head and sighed. “It’s too cold up there, I should have known better and worn cotton-padded clothes.”

Shi Dong laughed. “Which aspect are you talking about?”

“All aspects.” Ye Qingxuan shrugged. “The troubles I’m having here are still manageable, and you coming back can help relieve a lot of my pressure. What about the matters you have been dealing with? You have been gone for three months, how are the results?”

“It has been going smoothly, as Your Honor has expected.” Shi Dong cracked a grin. He resembled a monster that had filled its stomach when he grinned, full of satisfaction, and a faint bloody smell even lingered in the elevator.

“Do tell me in detail.” Ye Qingxuan nodded. “There’s too much interference when communicating in the World of Dark, and reports can barely be done. I would like to hear your experience and feelings.”

Shi Dong replied, “I originally expected the situation in the World of Dark to be too complicated, and since we have been shelved for so many years with no intelligence gathered, it would take about half a year to properly conduct an exploration.

“But with the maps and materials provided by the retired Dragon Riders, it took only two months for us to find the site of the White Rock Stronghold. According to your instructions, we set up follow-up supply points along the way, made the marine chart, and plotted the specific route traveled. And,” he paused for a moment, and a trace of delight flashed across his bloodshot eyes, “we reopened the White Rock Stronghold!”

Actually, the crusade he promised the Religious Court of Inquiry began as soon as the threat of Leviathan was over. Although he had various other matters to attend to, Ye Qingxuan had never thought of delaying it.

He could continue on for a few decades and wait slowly, but Shi Dong they all couldn’t. Since they had chosen to follow him, even though Ye Qingxuan did not have the energy to completely begin opening up new land eastward, he still wanted to let them see the results of the first phase. As a result, preliminary development and exploration were put on agenda, and after half a month of preparation, Shi Dong led a team heading for the World of Dark.

The goal of the expedition was to reach the stronghold by sea and to find a new sea route that bypassed the turbulent flows of aether and the chaotic regions, a route leading to the core of the great pioneering era back then, where the past glory of the Religious Court of Inquiry lay—the White Rock Fortress.

With the Mountain of Nomadism as the flagship of the fleet, half of the Witch Hammer set off, together with 200 purification musicians plus 90 Royal Musicians, and eight strange ships from the Royal Institute of Research. Every one of them ecstatically set off on the potentially lethal road where the future was uncertain.

Truth be told, Ye Qingxuan did not expect that the biggest source of help on the trip would actually be the retired Dragon Riders. Since Gaius’ rebellion, the team of rangers, who were once active in the World of Dark, was detained by Anglo. At the moment, with a rebellious Ye Qingxuan at the core of power, Anglo could no longer be bothered about the Sacred City.

The thought of his teacher being imprisoned for so many years just because some papers from the Sacred City made Ye Qingxuan’s heart burn with hatred, and naturally he wouldn’t limit their freedom any further.

Although business was quite bad and few customers had visited the clock shop, Setton the butcher had decided to swear off such involvements and did not accept the offer when Ye Qingxuan attempted to recruit him once again. However, it did not hinder him from recommending other colleagues to take up the job.

After so many years, everyone had grown old, but thanks to the non-human transformations back then, although they had more or less wasted their years away, they were still in the same combat-fit state they had been in back then, instead of awaiting death like ordinary old men.

As Abraham’s disciple, Ye Qingxuan won their unanimous approval and respect. Many of them rejected Ye Qingxuan’s suggestion for them to live an easy life in old age and volunteered to join the expedition team after knowing that Ye Qingxuan intended to open up the World of Dark.

Ye Qingxuan once again realized the allure of the World of Dark. Even though the death rate was incredibly high, the future was uncertain, and every exploration was a gamble of one’s life that would lead explorers deep into demonic lands occupied by non-humans, the eyes of the Dragon Riders that had wasted their years away would still shine when they hear the phrase.

Thanks to the information they provided and the supply points that the Dragon Riders set up in the World of Dark back then, the voyage this time around was so smooth.

Shi Dong did not say much about the storms and battles along the way, but Ye Qingxuan could imagine it. An entire fleet had set sail mightily, but only three ships, including the Mountain of Nomadism which had come back in advance, returned.

More than 16 ships of the fleet had been damaged for various reasons, and Shi Dong left all the rest in the temporary strongpoints opened up in the World of Dark. It was a backup plan that he made for the Religious Court of Inquiry after hearing about the decision of the Sacred City.

Even if Anglo was to be completely defeated in the future, Ye Qingxuan could withdraw his troops to the World of Dark with ease and use the White Rock Stronghold as the foundation to make a comeback.

Although the White Rock Stronghold had fallen for centuries, dozens of secret chambers underground were still perfectly sealed, and a large number of war reserves could be activated with just a few codes. It was a backup that they set up back when the various countries spared neither labor nor money in providing the Court with resources.

“It’s been a tough journey.” After listening to the short report, Ye Qingxuan couldn’t help but sigh softly, and he patted Shi Dong’s shoulder.

Easterners always liked to say that having an elderly at home was like having a treasure. Although old men sometimes had a stale attitude, they were generally reliable in their work and would never cause one any worry.

In particular, after Shi Dong was badly set up by the Church and shelved for centuries, he had gotten into the habit of considering the possibility of defeat before considering that of victory. In the countless war simulations over the years, he had come up with innumerable plans to make a comeback. At the moment, he just had to implement them.

Ye Qingxuan tilted his head to one side and ignited a cigarette, then asked seriously, “So, what about the second goal?”

“It was as you wish.” Shi Dong grinned, his sharp iron teeth scraping against each other, producing a sharp noise that would make one cringe. “The testing of the usage of the Water Tank in actual combat has been successfully completed.”