Uncle here isn't your average office worker!

The Sarkaz workers in the factory are reasonable. The one who walks in through the door is the boss; the one who breaks through the wall is a bandit.

Even if you want to change this rule later, saying that the factory manager is the one with the strongest troops and that the key or the crown is not important at all, you still have to come in openly and legitimately as the factory manager to announce it. If you don't have a title and just spout nonsense in broad daylight, the Sarkaz people will not only not recognize it, but might even punch you and call you a lunatic.

This is why, even now, though Theresis has nominally unified the various Sarkaz tribes in his own way and established the armed forces of the Kazdel Military Council, he is still unwilling to go further and sit on the throne to rightfully rule Sarkaz as the "Demon King" rather than the "Regent King."

It's not that he doesn't want to, it's that he can't.

Ruling Sarkaz as the Demon King would be a legitimate and trouble-free endeavor, something everyone would want. Even from a purely profit-driven perspective, a proper ruler sounds better than a regent. But the Demon King isn't just a title; it's also a form of power.

Theresis was ready. This battle against Amiya was the final step in his grand plan to unify Sarkaz. If he won, he could rightfully accept the crown of the Demon King. Afterward, whether he removed the black crown from the Sarkaz's shackles or wore it to enjoy the prestige and power passed down through generations, it would all be up to him.

To act entirely on one's own ideas—that is the most luxurious thing on this land.

"Boom-"

A dull knock echoed through the hall. Theresis tightened her grip on the throne with her right hand, and her crimson eyes, which had been deep in thought, regained their cold gleam as she looked at the uninvited guest outside the door.

"Kelsey."

He muttered to himself.

"If I can kill you once, I can kill you a second time."

.........

Victoria, Iron Palace.

Walking through the familiar yet unfamiliar palace, Vina's expression changed several times before she finally quickened her pace, caught up with Amiya, and revealed her plans.

"Split up?"

Amiya stared incredulously at the Aslan girl before her.

“However, Miss Vina, the Iron Palace is not safe right now. Although the kind Miss Felin has helped us find out the distribution of the Sarkaz patrols in the palace, no one can guarantee that they may have other arrangements.”

“I know.” Vina nodded, but instead of heeding Amiya’s reasonable advice, she gave a reason that left Amiya speechless: “But, this is my home.”

“Every brick, every inch of wall, every secret passage, and even the dense network of mazes underground bears my footprints.”

Vina still remembers the words her father said to her as she carried her into those dark, narrow passages when she was little:

Vina, remember, these crisscrossing tubes are the blood vessels buried beneath the enormous body of Lentinium. They sustain Lentinium's life, and through these vessels, Aslan's daughter can go wherever she wants.

The Iron Palace is the heart of Londinium, the Factory District is the lifeblood of Londinium, and the Pipes are the blood vessels of Londinium.

Roy said that the resting place of the kings lies hidden deep beneath the earth of Londinium, and the national sword, Breath of the Kings, also lies there. If this dispute truly requires a king to arbitrate and settle, then Vina must obtain that sword.

"This is a decision I made after careful consideration."

She said it with a double meaning.

"Then, Roy, you go with them."

Kal'tsit suddenly spoke, startling both Roy and Vina.

"But over there...."

Vina instinctively wanted to refuse. Having witnessed the battle against the Blood Demon Lord from the city walls, she had already realized just how powerful the enemy Amiya was facing.

The Sarkaz leader who now occupies Londinium, Regent Theresis, is no less powerful than the Blood Lord.

Mr. Roy is a key player in this battle for Londinium, and Vina is worried about Amiya if he is not there.

But Kal'tsit shook her head firmly and repeated what Vina had said:

“This is a choice I made after careful consideration.”

Just as Vina was destined to travel alone to the resting place of the kings, Amiya and Rhodes Island's confrontation with Theresis was something that was bound to happen eventually.

Roy's presence provides a safety net, but Amiya ultimately needs to grow up.

Because Kal'tsit knew very well that what was bound by Amiya's small black crown was not just the fate of the Sarkaz race.

She has to grow up and step out of her wing, not only Roy, but also herself.

Volume 1: Chapter 319 The Power of Technology

Londinium, underground.

Aldean Cumberland hadn't anticipated that Rhodes Island would choose to split up at the Iron Palace. And the plan given by the Shapeshifter King clearly didn't include this event.

Does this mean she seems to have some right to choose?

Compared to Rhodes Island and the Sarkaz leader they were about to face, Aldean Cumberland undoubtedly cared more about Vina. This Crown Prince Aslan, who had returned to Londinium after several years of growing up, had come back, albeit too late, but perhaps it was too late to mend the situation.

If she could really get her hands on that King's Breath.

Legend has it that the Breath of Kings was forged by the first King Aslan. During Aslan's conquest of Victoria and his fight against the Drak royal family, the Breath of Kings displayed the power to cleave through the Scourge. Although the sword was later consumed by the raging flames of the Drak king of Londinium, melting half of it, the mystique surrounding it after its reforging did not diminish but rather intensified.

Aldette Cumberland considered herself a realistic person, but her current desperate situation forced her to believe in miracles.

If Vina, of Aslan blood, obtains the Breath of the Kings, can she truly unleash the full power of that national sword, repel the Sarkaz in the city, intimidate the Grand Duke outside the city, and restore Victoria to its former glory?

She wasn't sure. But even if there was only a sliver of hope, she was willing to give it a try.

After all, the situation was not what the King of Shapeshifters had anticipated, nor could it be considered that she had violated the agreement. Rather, it was precisely because of her experience of being arrested by the Sarkaz and then "rescued" by Rhodes Island that she was freed from another heavy burden—the surveillance and manipulation of Duke Castle.

She asked impatiently, "Vina, how far is the final resting place of the kings?"

But to her surprise, Vina just glanced at her silently, then shook her head with some guilt: "I don't know. I haven't been there."

This instantly dampened the hopes that had just begun to rise in Alede's heart:

"Haven't you been there? But isn't that the burial and memorial site of the Aslan kings throughout history?"

Vina opened her mouth as if to say something, but couldn't bring herself to speak directly. Roy answered for her, very bluntly:

"How old was Vina when she escaped from Londinium? Did your father take you to visit the cemetery when you were little?"

Victoria wasn't like the Great Yan Dynasty, with its tradition of ancestor worship and the need to pay respects at ancestral temples and altars during festivals. Furthermore, when Vina was young, the situation in Victoria was already on the verge of collapse; the king and nobles were even openly discussing plans for rebellion and judgment among their confidants. Vina's childhood was almost entirely spent with the beast lord Gawain, so it was perfectly normal that she hadn't visited the final resting place of the kings.

As she grew a little older, she was taken out of the Iron Palace and wandered the streets of Londinium, living an anonymous life, let alone sneaking into a tomb she herself didn't even know was in the first place.

Arlene was speechless at Roy's question. After a moment of silence, she could only ask, rather devastated, "..."

"So, we still have to look for it?"

Finding the hidden passage leading to the Kings' Rest in the centuries-old network of pipes beneath Londinium is less difficult than simply following Rhodes Island from the beginning, defeating that Sarkaz named Theresis, and then entering the Kings' Rest through the regular roads in the palace!

Vina could understand Alede's anxiety.

She traveled from outside the city all the way to the Iron Palace, and the sights of Lentinium came into view along the way, so different from what she remembered. The city's desolation, the chaos under the Sarkaz's rule, and the tense atmosphere of impending war had already changed many people beyond recognition.

Vina saw hardly any passersby on the street; everyone tacitly kept their doors and windows closed, locking themselves in dark rooms, seeking a fragile sense of security. Even the nobles were no exception.

As for Aldebaran, when Vina met her, she was still being held captive by the Sarkaz in a prison van, and was a prisoner.

It's not hard to understand why she would feel nervous, afraid, and incredibly sensitive to the hope of changing everything.

All Vina could do was offer comfort and apologize.

“I’m sorry, but I have some recollection of that direction, and with Mr. Roy here, it won’t take long.”

Roy shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.

He would definitely help with finding the way, but there was only so much he could do. Although he had the heart of a Chinese, he hadn't inherited the ancestral skills of geomancy. Besides, even a seasoned tomb raider would have a hard time determining the location of an underground tomb in an industrialized town using feng shui.

What he really needed to do was to keep a close watch on Miss Alder's every move.

Although Vina was unaware of Aldebaran's true identity, Roy, with his keen intuition, knew that this young lady was the Duke of Castile's real spy within the city. While her final confession and sacrifice in the original storyline suggested it wasn't her own will, Roy still dared not let his guard down.

Who knows when or where a gray top hat might suddenly appear?

He wasn't afraid of being ambushed, but Vina was a different story. He wasn't sure what exactly made the Aslan race different from the Felin, or if it was simply a prestigious title that rose from the Felin to signify nobility.

Roy had just taken down a spy in a grey top hat when he encountered Allardy, which inevitably felt like a preordained event, leaving him no choice but to take it seriously.

"Oh, speaking of which, you've reminded me."

As if suddenly remembering something, Roy suddenly spoke, rummaged in his pocket for a while, and took out a steel ball the size of a fist.

“This was given to me by a friend. It’s a miniature drone, originally intended for reconnaissance in open areas, but judging by its size, it could also be used to explore underground pipes.”

The friend Roy was referring to was, of course, Trevor Friston.

When the preserver was carrying out the Laterano overhaul and introducing the Angel drone to Roy, he handed him this simplified version. Although the weapon systems were removed, its size was reduced, and its reconnaissance and stealth capabilities were enhanced. It could also fly in narrow underground pipes, significantly reducing the cost of trial and error.

Moreover, and most importantly, this thing is connected to Trevor Friston's main brain.

Once this little gadget flies around underground, and with the help of Trevor Friston's mainframe's computing power, the entire complex underground pipe network of Londinium will soon be laid out before us. Then, Roy can simply drive the navigation system, which is much simpler than clearing the underground area piece by piece.

This is the power of technology!

Volume 1: Chapter 320 Traitor to the Nation!

The final resting place of the kings is a vast underground space. Its area is almost the size of a modern football field, and even slightly larger than the largest Thor's Arena in Kazimierz.

In reality, Victoria did not have nearly as many former kings to be buried. Most of the underground space was left unused, with only the pedestals of uncast statues standing among the classical marble columns. This scene of waiting in vain had a dark sense of humor, like "the second, the third, and even the ten thousandth generation."

If you were to consume this in light of Victoria's current economic downturn, it would be an absolute hellish joke.

With the help of technology, Roy found the underground passage leading to the final resting place of the kings in no time. Ultimately, the tomb wasn't a place that needed to be kept secret; it was only because the underground network of Londinium was so complex that people got lost.

When Vina, the last crown prince of Aslan, stepped solemnly into the hall with high expectations, her heart was breaking.

Because the current appearance of this hall is somewhat different from the solemn and majestic scene she had imagined, one that carried a sense of historical weight and sorrow.

To be precise, all that's left here is bleakness.