Chapter 368: Royal Capital Split, Alchemical Gadgets

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: Royal Capital Split, Alchemical Gadgets

Half an hour ago, Lance had just managed to escape from the Elder Sword Saint with his life.

After the man confirmed multiple times that Lance had successfully mastered "Heartless·Extreme Intent," he didn’t give him any more trouble.

Lance had immediately greased the soles of his feet and made a run for it.

Not long after leaving the open-air platform, he happened to run right into a frantic Felix, who had been searching for him everywhere.

And upon seeing Lance, Felix expressed his shock.

Because back in the square, with hundreds of thousands of people gathered, Lance had vanished into thin air right under his nose.

Faced with Felix’s confusion, Lance casually made up an excuse, saying an elder from his family had shown up to discuss some private matters with him.

The speaker may have been careless, but the listener read between the lines.

This fabricated excuse, falling on the ears of someone like Felix who was prone to overthinking, was immediately interpreted in a completely different way.

’Isn’t this just laying all the cards on the table?’

’To be able to silently whisk away a living person under those circumstances, and even block the Perception of a Professional like me... to do that, they’d have to be at least a Level 15 Professional, right?’

’Taking it a step further, it might even have been a Legendary Powerhouse!’

Having drawn this conclusion, Felix was sensible enough not to press the matter further.

By this time, the funeral had completely ended, and the crowd of mourners was gradually dispersing.

Felix then brought Lance to the Silver Head, a high-end inn specifically for hosting distinguished guests.

Bazzer had been staying here this whole time.

When Felix pushed open the door, Bazzer happened to be looking down, organizing a manuscript.

The Minstrel looked up, and after getting a clear look at the newcomer’s face, he first froze for a moment.

The manuscript in his hand dropped directly onto the table.

He remained frozen for a few seconds, then his expression immediately twisted into one of sheer ecstasy.

But this emotion lasted less than a second. He seemed to remember something, and his face instantly went deathly pale.

It was the first time Lance had ever seen someone’s emotions change so continuously and so richly in such a short period.

After Bazzer recovered, his first words to Lance were an apology, informing him that his biography could no longer be published through the *Campfire Traveler* channel for the time being.

And that brought them to the scene from a moment ago.

"Because according to the records in White River Province, your official identity is now that of a dead man. In the short term, we can’t publish any biographical content under the name ’Lance’ in the public eye."

Just then, Felix, having just brewed himself a cup of coffee, walked in.

Hearing Bazzer’s words, he added an explanation:

"Bazzer’s right. The Holy Relics Compilation Institute and the White River Province Government Headquarters have already jointly and officially submitted your deeds to the *Star Feather Chronicles*. The two organizations have been wrangling over it, and from what I know, they’ve thrown quite a few resources at it. The Holy Relics Compilation Institute alone used some of its secret resources to fabricate a false Legend for you out of thin air in the Star Realm."

Felix took a sip of his coffee and explained the consequences if it turned out Lance wasn’t dead.

"If you use the original channel to publish your biography again and people find out you’re not dead, the public who just shed tears for you, as well as those two factions, will definitely unleash their fury upon you."

"This is all my fault..."

Bazzer reproached himself, but he also brought up a strange point he found puzzling.

"Logically speaking, for something like being posthumously declared a Heroic Spirit, the Holy Relics Compilation Institute should have conducted a rigorous investigation. Finding out whether someone is truly dead or not should be a piece of cake for them. Why would such a massive blunder happen?"

Hearing this, Felix scratched his cheek awkwardly.

He was actually also at fault in this matter. After learning from Nieve that Lance wasn’t dead, he forgot to tell Bazzer, which led to him publishing that biography.

Afterward, he had no choice but to go with the flow and find a way to hide Lance’s Dragon Form, lying that it was a Treasure of the Valentine Family. Otherwise, the uproar would have been even greater.

Lance fell silent as well.

’It all makes sense now. Everything makes sense.’

’I always had a question. According to the rules of Star Realm Legends, any deed must be verified by the Star Realm Law and disseminated through the abilities of a Minstrel before it can coalesce into a Legend.’

’That "Boy Who Survived the Great Calamity" was clearly a story someone just made up. It wasn’t my personal experience at all, yet it actually formed a Legend entry.’

’Back then, I even thought it was way too easy for people in this world to create Legends, didn’t I?’

’It seems now that the Holy Relics Compilation Institute used some kind of resource to complete it for me.’

They downplayed the deed of Lance defeating the Bronze Dragon, then used other resources to compensate him with another Legend.

’This organization seems pretty fair.’

As for why his death couldn’t be verified?

It was because he really *had* died back then!

He had taken a full stroll before the Gate of the Land of Death. It was a complete series of flukes and mishaps that ultimately led to the current blunder.

’But for now, it doesn’t seem to have any downsides for me.’

’I’ve got a mountain of troubles, so it’s really not convenient to be in the spotlight.’

"It’s fine. It’s not your fault."

Lance smiled and reassured Bazzer, "Besides, don’t we still have another publishing channel? From now on, we can just publish my stories through *Midnight Rose*."

At this, Lance thought of the Legend that was still coalescing.

Having already obtained two Legends, he could naturally sense that the quality of this new one was actually very high.

"I can tell the quality of the Legend from the Royal Capital channel is also very high. Its potential is definitely no less than the ’Gathering Stars into Fire’ Legend. It’s just that the spread is a bit slow. It’ll still need some time to ferment."

"The quality is very high?" Bazzer was rather surprised to hear this assessment.

No wonder his second creative entry about Lance was about to coalesce.

The coalescing of a creative entry didn’t depend on the breadth of its circulation, but on whether it could stir the readers’ emotions during its spread.

Thinking of this, Bazzer remembered the cut of the profits that had been wired over from the Royal Capital.

He quickly ran back to his inner bedroom and, a moment later, came out with a heavy-looking gray cloth sack, which he placed in front of Lance.

"This is our payment from *Midnight Rose* in the Royal Capital for this period."

Bazzer’s expression was a little awkward. "I really thought you had perished in the Underground City, so yesterday I made a special trip to the Balance Vault and withdrew your entire share of the money. I was planning to find Miss Nieve after the funeral and give this inheritance to her."

The Balance Vault was an organization founded by Mercurial, the God of Prosperity. It played a role similar to a bank in the Material Realm and had an impeccable reputation.

Currently, the organization’s actual management was in the hands of the Finn Clan, the "Marquis of Gold," in the Royal Capital.

"Oh?" Lance took the sack curiously.

’It’s so heavy!’

He undid the rope at the mouth of the sack, glanced inside, and was immediately blinded by the glittering gold.

"Holy shit, this is all my share? How is it so much?"

With a single glance, Lance could tell there were nearly 50 Iris Gold Coins inside, minted from pure gold.

’It’s only been about a month since we officially started submitting the manuscript, right?’

’This rate of earning money is insane.’

’To hell with that shitty *Campfire Traveler*!’

’From now on, I’m sticking with *Midnight Rose* ’til the end!’

Seeing Lance’s joyous expression, Bazzer’s guilt eased slightly.

’Even though we lost the *Campfire Traveler* channel, *Midnight Rose* pays a lot more.’

However, he also remembered something.

*Midnight Rose* had contacted him yesterday, so this was a good chance to ask for Lance’s opinion.

Bazzer asked a bit sheepishly, "It seems like everyone in the Royal Capital really loves your stories. Some merchant guilds have taken notice of their value and contacted me through *Midnight Rose*. They said they want to borrow your name to promote some related small products."

"I’m that popular in the Royal Capital?"

Lance was even happier to hear this news.

’Compared to being propped up like a dead man in White River City, the Royal Capital is my real paradise.’

’Isn’t this just like the celebrity endorsements I saw in my past life?’

So, Lance asked enthusiastically, "What kind of products, exactly?"

Bazzer glanced at Felix, who was standing beside them holding his coffee cup and watching, a trace of embarrassment on his face.

There were some things he really couldn’t say directly in front of an outsider, but he believed that with Lance’s intelligence, he would surely understand the implication.

"Just some... little Alchemy toys."