Imperial Crown.

Chapter 599 My Courage Is Innate

"Master! Master!!"

Upon seeing Raven again, Lingling excitedly called out. Her excitement and agitation were like that of a puppy seeing its owner return home; her entire body trembled uncontrollably. Raven had also noticed that the little goblin seemed unusually dependent on him. Perhaps it was afraid of being abandoned again.

To be honest, in the entire Eagle City, apart from Lux, no one considered Lingling human. After all, she still possessed some goblin-like features. Although she looked largely like a human, her ears, which were about the same size as human ears, were pointed. In addition, Lingling's eyes were yellowish-brown, and her pupils resembled those of a snake. So, upon closer inspection, her appearance was somewhat frightening and strange.

However, those who truly know her understand that she is a little girl who has struggled to survive to this day and whose background and experiences are extremely pitiful.

Raven hadn't really treated her like a human being, but he got used to it over time. After all, no one at New Eagle Fortress welcomed her either. Back in Holloburg, Raven took the hot towel from Lingling, wiped his face, and then carefully cleaned the corners of his eyes. Having not slept for nearly ten days, Raven was utterly exhausted and just wanted to collapse and sleep.

"Master, Master," "I'll tell you a secret."

Suddenly, Lingling leaned closer, her voice deliberately lowered as she spoke to Raven. She glanced at the door as if afraid of being overheard. But inside the entire Holloburg, besides her and Raven, only Elaine was there.

"Um"

Raven, eager to sleep, put down the towel, gave a nonchalant reply, and turned to walk towards his bedroom.

"Master!" "Our castle is haunted!"

Seeing that Raven was ignoring her, Lingling got anxious and immediately said something shocking.

"Oh"

Raven remained unmoved and continued walking upstairs.

“Really!” “It’s true!” “A few days ago, I woke up and suddenly found blood on the floor!” “And there was a strong smell of blood in my room!” “I cleaned it for a long time before it was clean.” “And the bloodstains ran along my room all the way out of the castle.” Lingling chased after Raven, speaking very quickly, “I really didn’t do anything! I don’t know where the bloodstains came from!”

"Perhaps it's a vampire." "It sucked your blood and ran away."

Raven said calmly.

"Vampire??" This sentence terrified Lingling. Her round face turned deathly pale, and she seemed to believe Raven's words without a doubt. She stood there, forgetting to continue chasing Raven. After a while, she came to her senses and ran to Raven, her voice trembling, "But... But I didn't feel anything!" "I checked my body, there are no wounds."

"Don't you know?" "Vampires suck blood from a distance; they're scarier than mosquitoes!"

Raven flashed a wicked smile, revealing his red lips and white teeth. Then, his expression turned serious. "Alright, I'm exhausted and desperately need rest. Don't bother me with anything, understand?"

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" "Master!" "I understand!"

Lingling's body was suspended in mid-air again, as Raven's large hands gripped her face, lifting her directly from the ground. He forced her gaze to look directly at the gloomy-faced Raven. Lingling hurriedly cried out.

boom!
Raven closed and locked the door in one swift motion. Inside, Lingling had already prepared a hot water tub and food. That was the downside of the old castle; even using the toilet was a hassle, let alone taking a bath. After a relaxing hot bath, Raven slipped into bed. His consciousness gradually relaxed. Lux was right; meditation couldn't replace sleep. On the continent of Middels, even a seventh-tier powerhouse still needed to eat, drink, defecate, and sleep. At most, they were more resistant to hunger than ordinary people. Even becoming an eighth-tier powerhouse didn't guarantee "immortality." The Elf Empress was a prime example; she reached the eighth tier, nine stars, had lived for one or two thousand years, and was still pursuing the secrets of immortality. Although she had lived long enough, she couldn't leave the forbidden zone. What difference was there between her and a living graveyard?
boom! boom! boom!
However, Raven had just fallen asleep when there was a loud knocking at the door. Raven immediately flew into a rage, yelling, "Lingling!" "If you don't want to die, get the hell out of here right now!"

"My Lord Marquis!" "It's me!" "Eleanor!"

Elaine's voice suddenly rang out from outside the door, "A lot of strange people have suddenly appeared outside the castle! They demand that you, sir, personally go down to greet them!"

"A weirdo?!" "Do I have to personally greet him?!" "Who's so arrogant??"

Raven sat up in bed, his face contorted with morning grumpiness. Suddenly, Raven's heart skipped a beat. "Could it be Ferdinand??" If it really was him, Raven would definitely have to get up to greet him. "I know, I'll go right away." Raven didn't dare to be careless and hurriedly got dressed.

Raven then walked out the door, frantically rubbing his face as he went downstairs. That way he wouldn't have to wash his face. Reaching the lobby on the first floor, he froze when he saw the three people outside. It took him a while to recover, and he continued rubbing his eyes as he walked towards the door, afraid he'd misjudged.

"Bai?" "Bai Yue?" "What brings the three of you here?"

Standing outside the door were none other than Bai Yue, Chuchu Linga, and Igni, all travel-worn and weary, their faces etched with the marks of hardship and exhaustion! Bai Yue stood in the center. To her left stood the shortest, Chuchu Linga, and to her right stood the tallest, Igni. Orcs—those with beast heads and human bodies—were, so Igni, of the eagle-human tribe, possessed a female body, including her full, rounded breasts, almost indistinguishable from a human's. Yet, she also had an eagle's head and wings. Of the three, she exuded the strongest aura, currently standing with her arms crossed, coldly staring at Raven. As for Chuchu Linga, this familiar goblin needed no introduction. The one least like an orc was Bai Yue, the werewolf standing in the middle. Like Lingling, she was a hybrid of human and werewolf. Aside from two white ears like a Scottish Fold, two small, sharp fangs resembling wolf teeth, and a white tail resembling a fox... She didn't show many orcish features. Her smooth, pale shoulders added to her sex appeal, making her more alluring than the average human woman. However, at this moment, she was covered in dirt from head to toe.

"Ok?"

Raven was somewhat surprised. Bai Yue hadn't answered his question, nor had she uttered a word. She had merely extended her right hand. This scene was strikingly similar to when Nancy had insisted on staying at his old castle years ago! Back then, Nancy had been as haughty as a peacock, insisting that Raven greet her with the utmost courtesy and gentlemanly manners before welcoming her into the castle.

“Alright,” Raven sighed inwardly, but could only quickly step forward, grasp Bai Yue’s hand, and lightly kiss it. “Raven Vanya Griffiths.” “Welcome, Chief Bai Yue.” “And Chief Chuchulinga and Chief Igni.”

"Why can't I come?" Bai Yue then stepped across the threshold and entered the castle, saying in a resounding tone, "Raven, your courage comes from your armor, while my courage is innate."

Raven: ...

Raven was speechless. But he couldn't afford to argue at the moment, so he went forward, bent down, hugged Chirpy Linga's green head, and, despite feeling disgusted, gave it a hard kiss. The sharp horn that he had broken off was still there, but it was broken off and dangling on his head. He looked like a 7-8 year old child's chick.

"Oh, oh," Linga chirped, enjoying Raven's kisses. He kept making lewd noises—no, more like barking like a dog—and then said rather smugly, "Marquis Raven," "I think that agreement should be renegotiated." "55 points seems good to me." With that, he stepped into the castle, acting as if he were at home, and sat on the sofa with his legs crossed.

Raven: ...

Finally, it was Igni's turn. Being a woman, it was naturally inappropriate for her to kiss him again. And she didn't extend her hand for Raven to kiss. Raven had no choice but to open his arms, intending to give her a big, warm hug. "Raven!" "You dare hug me?!" Igni didn't mince words; before Raven could approach, she coldly retorted and walked into the castle. It seemed the grudge of the "Broken Wings" hadn't been resolved in her heart.

Raven: ...

Even if Raven were a bit dim-witted, he could tell that these three had traveled all the way from the Orc Empire to support him. It would be a lie to say he wasn't moved. He never expected that when he was in such dire straits, his most reliable companions would be the orcs he had once fought against! "This…" Raven was completely taken aback. A sense of "things have changed" washed over him. After all, the blood and stench on the three were undeniable. It seemed they had endured many fierce battles on their journey. It had been a very difficult journey.

“No problem, no problem at all.” Raven gestured for the three to sit down while hurriedly calling out to Lingling, “Go, tell Koru to prepare hot pot and fine wine.” “Just say we have distinguished guests, and bring all the best things.”

"Raven," said one of the men, "I brought a full 100,000 goblins this time." "White Moon brought 50,000 werewolves." "Igni also brought 10,000 eaglemen." "Isn't that generous enough?" Chuchulinga took off her shoes, stood on the sofa, hands on her hips, and shouted in a shrill voice, "And the three of us even brought you a little gift." "But this stuff is filthy..." The castle's originally spacious hall suddenly became incredibly smelly after being smoldering from Chuchulinga's boots. It felt like if you lit a fire, Chuchulinga's boots would easily explode on the spot! It wouldn't just be a simple matter of burning and catching fire.

Igni and Baiyue both covered their noses, unable to bear the stench and intense itching, despite their own foul odor. But they were girls, after all, and unlike Qiuqiulinga, they weren't so lacking in manners. "Put your shoes on!" Igni rolled her eyes and shouted angrily.

“I’ll take care of it.” “I’ll leave it all to me.” Raven said with an awkward laugh. He was even a little embarrassed to cover his nose at that moment. After all, the three of them were now in this predicament because they had rushed to Raven’s aid.

“That’s more like it.” Raven’s straightforwardness delighted the usually stingy and miserly Chiu Chiu Linga. He then sat down again, rubbed his fingers between his toes, and took a deep sniff. “It doesn’t smell that bad.”

This scene disgusted Raven. He saw that Bai Yue and Igni were deathly pale, almost vomiting.

"What's this called?" "It's called having a tiger in your heart but a rose in your hand." Chirping Linga, oblivious to the danger, said with rapt attention, "You should all read more books."

"I can't take it anymore!" "I need to take a shower right now!" Igni was furious and stood up abruptly.

"Lingling is already boiling water, let's wait a bit." To keep things quiet, there were too few servants in the castle, and even with Elaine's help, they were stretched thin. Raven could only reassure them.

"Come, come, come!" "Bring them in!" Chirpinga suddenly shouted towards the outside of the castle.

A short while later, several werewolves carried in sacks. Accompanying them was an old friend they hadn't seen in a long time—Paine. Paine entered and immediately bowed deeply, saying excitedly, "My lord!" "Please forgive my abrupt departure!" "Things were urgent before, and I couldn't find you, so I rushed back to fetch reinforcements!" As he spoke, tears welled in his eyes. "Look at you," he said, "it hasn't been long, and you've already turned completely white." "Luckily, we arrived in time!"

Despite knowing that Pain was spouting nonsense—he had even kidnapped Kiki Gak from the arena when he escaped—Raven couldn't bring himself to lash out. He could only nod and say calmly, "Thanks to you, Pain." "Thanks to your resourcefulness, otherwise, if you had arrived any later, I would have been packing my bags and running away." Raven wasn't lying about the last part. But now, with the support of these orcs, the battle was on!
"Quickly, open the sack!"

Following Chirping Linga's instructions, the sacks were untied one by one. Inside, people who had been cocooning like silkworms were gradually revealed.

Raven was startled when he saw these people, then glanced at Chuchulinga, Baiyue, Igni and the others.

"To catch these few bastards," said Chirping Linga, her face ashen, "over 2,000 of Igni's eagle-men died. Over 10,000 of White Moon's werewolves perished. And my goblin clan fared even worse, nearly 30,000 died." She stared at the men whose mouths were tightly stuffed with stinky socks. "Raven," she said, "weren't we good enough?"

Raven didn't speak. He stood up, walked to one of the men, and kicked the smelly sock out of the man's mouth. His voice was both calm and menacing as he said, "Marquis Tyrone," "Your Excellency the Governor," "We meet again."

Those lying on the ground were none other than the Tyrone family. Besides Tyrone, there were Minsk, Hyde, and Jon… and even two others whose armor clearly identified them as commanders of the Holy See. All of them had been captured alive by Chuchulinga and his men! It was unbelievable.

Igni's eyes darted around, noticing the fleeting shock on Raven's face, and she quickly added, "Raven, our orcish strength is formidable. If you hadn't been so despicable and cunning back then, we would never have lost to you."

“That makes sense!” Chuchulinga pointed at Igni and loudly agreed.

"Raven!" "You absolutely cannot collude with these orcs!" "Let me go!" Tyrone shouted, "If you release me now, I can go to Venice to plead with Marshal Ferdinand for your life!" "Raven!" "You're still young!" "Don't be foolish!" "I besieged Snowmaple County for half a year before, and I never attacked you!" "It was only because of circumstances!" "Although we have some disagreements, we have no grudges, let alone blood feuds!" "You still have a chance to negotiate now!" "Otherwise," "Marshal Ferdinand's army is about to be on our side!" "Think about it," "Even the fifth-tier dragon Zolzahn died at Marshal Ferdinand's hands!" "What will you use to resist Marshal Ferdinand?" "What strength do you have to challenge Emperor Habsburg?!"

Raven stared at Tyrone as if he were looking at a clown. He remained silent.

His performance didn't frighten Tyrone, but it terrified Bai Yue and the other two, who were afraid that Raven had believed his lies and would actually deal with them. After all, the thousand-year-old blood feud between humans and orcs was no joke! For a moment, all eyes in the castle hall were focused on Raven, holding their breath and waiting for his decision.

Just then, Pan suddenly spoke up: "My Lord Marquis," "We just entered the Nord Province and discovered that this man is attacking Viscount Jonathan of Mansa County." "Before this, he led an army of 10 and slaughtered the entire Hippocrates County!" "When we passed through Hippocrates County before, every five steps there was a skeleton, every ten steps a pile of corpses! Bones exposed in the fields, not a rooster crowed for a thousand miles!" "The tragic scene was truly like a hellish abyss. A den of demons." "Even more terrifying is that this man did not even spare children." "This year again..." It was a year of great famine, and Tyrone had viciously seized all the grain and provisions. This caused the price of human flesh to be lower than that of pigs! "This man's crimes are beyond description." Paine swallowed hard, took two steps forward, and said, "Even so, Viscount Jonathan did not flinch or flee before the battle!" "He led only 4000 men to fight Tyrone within his territory! A decisive battle to the death!" "Fortunately, our reinforcements arrived in time, saving Viscount Jonathan." "He was seriously wounded and could not come, but he asked me to pass on a message to you."

“Please speak,” Raven’s hoarse voice rang out.

"Whether we win or lose, we must fight!"

Pan En spoke these words clearly, and then said, "He also said that only you can understand the meaning of these words."

"Whether we win or lose, we must fight..."

Raven murmured the words over and over again, letting out a long sigh. These were Viscount John's last words to him. He never imagined that seven years later, these same words would come back to him from Jonathan's mouth. Raven understood that Jonathan was complaining, complaining that he had backed down time and time again.

Since that's the case, we will not retreat further.

"Take the men away." "Pass on my orders!" "Rest for three days, then march on Beihai Province!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Yue, Qiu Qiu Linga, and Igni all relaxed from their tense nerves, secretly breathing a sigh of relief. As for whether Raven was provoked or had planned this all along, that's a matter of opinion.

……

(End of this chapter)