From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

"The middleman responsible for the transportation died at the scene of the attack on the Principality Bank. We are still investigating." The elder elder looked at Douglas seriously. "If the Ninth Bureau of the Federation obtains intelligence on the activities of the Abyss Order, Priscilla will formally request that it share the information."

Douglas nodded and agreed to pass on the message.

As he left the terrace, waiters in the banquet hall had already begun clearing away the wine glasses. Several royal protocol officers informed the representatives of each country that the meeting arrangements had been changed at the last minute.

Deputy Envoy Du Shi, who had been deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, stood at the front of the crowd and gave the Federal Counselor a knowing smile.

An official approached Douglas and said in a low voice, "Please follow the Federation delegation to the Royal Mirror Hall, where His Majesty King Dusch will be participating in the upcoming meeting."

This answer did not surprise Douglas.

Representatives from various countries left the banquet hall one by one, passed through the temporarily opened east corridor, and came to a long hall that retained its pre-war style.

More than ten floor-length mirrors lined both sides of the long hall, their frames decorated with golden lion patterns, and the heavy curtains were all drawn.

In the center of the hall stands a striking, life-sized golden statue.

The statue wears a crown, leans on a cane in its right hand, and has a cloak covering its left shoulder; its face is dignified and cold.

Douglas had seen this face in the documents compiled by the Ninth Bureau regarding the top leadership of the consortium, and quickly recognized the statue's identity.

Henry Norbusson, King of Dusch, "The Crown of the Golden Lion".

Grand Duke and Duchess Plichin stood in front of the statue, with Conrad and Matilda on either side.

Several members of the royal family looked undeniably haggard. Conrad's right arm was wrapped in bandages, and he still tightly gripped the half of the golden sword left behind by the Crown Prince.

The chief envoy of the Kingdom of Dushi stepped forward and took out a diamond from a silver box lined with black velvet.

The gemstone shone with its own light, and inside it seemed to contain a golden spark that had never been extinguished.

The envoy presented the diamond to the Grand Duke, who then accepted it and embedded it into the groove in the center of the statue's crown.

All the mirrors in the hall went dark at the same time, and Douglas heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from a great distance. Immediately afterward, thunder roared overhead, and a golden-white bolt of lightning struck the golden statue precisely from the void.

The sparks inside the diamond rapidly expanded, flowing along the crown, face, and cloak throughout the entire statue.

The originally slightly gray stone floor lit up, and wisps of black mist rose from the cracks in the bricks, which were burned into nothingness by the light falling from the tip of the staff.

An intense pressure emanated from the statue, and Douglas felt his heart leap.

The chair that had been slightly tilted against the wall was quietly straightened, the curtains stopped swaying, and the still liquid in the wine glass became smooth.

The golden statue slowly opened its eyes, undoubtedly bearing the will of a powerful and influential figure.

His arrival here naturally placed him in the position of ruler, and the people, objects, and even this space around him all acknowledged his authority.

King Dushi first looked at the Grand Duke and Duchess, and a slightly echoing sound came from inside the statue.

"I have confirmed that the attackers are from the Abyss Cult. They have summoned two fourth-tier evil god messengers to the Hengtian Realm."

"I led the Crown Knights to fight them, severely wounded one of them, and captured a key member of the cult."

A hushed murmur arose in the Hall of Mirrors. King Dush raised his cane, and all sound immediately fell silent.

"The interrogation has begun, and soon we will know the cult's real-world strongholds and allies, and deliver a powerful blow to them."

The Lord's path has always been adept at command and control, and the Dush royal family also preserves some of the oldest interrogation rituals in the Western Continent.

Douglas could easily guess what the prisoner was about to face; he didn't believe a feudal king would have any humanitarian feelings toward his enemies.

The king then looked at Conrad: "Give me the sword that Leopold left behind."

Conrad stepped forward and presented a half-gold sword with a hilt and royal crests with both hands.

The golden statue reached out and grasped the broken sword, and the light in the Hall of Mirrors then focused on the sword.

Gold threads seeped from the smooth fracture, passing through the statue's palm and extending into a mirror directly in front of it.

The mirror surface suddenly surged with darkness, revealing a blurry figure trapped in a chasm with no upper or lower dimension. Further away, an astonishingly large shadow undulated slowly with the flow of water.

"Leopold is still alive," King Dusch concluded definitively. "He is trapped in a gap between the mortal realm and the spirit realm."

The Grand Duchess lowered her head and covered her face with her hands. The Grand Duke took a half-step forward anxiously: "Brother, can we bring him back along this connection?"

"The other end of this connection has already been entangled with the power of the underwater city." The king's fingers brushed across the golden thread, and a faint sound of tides echoed in the Hall of Mirrors.

"Forcibly pulling him might tear his soul apart, or it might awaken an ancient being slumbering in the city. At that time, He will send His power into reality along this anchor."

His gaze swept over the Grand Duke and Conrad in turn: "I will continue to search for a rescue method, but the battle in Hengtian Realm is not over yet. If the underwater city awakens, the disaster will not be limited to Prishini."

The Grand Duke did not ask his brother for any further promises and nodded solemnly.

King Dushi looked down at the broken sword in his hand, his five fingers gradually closing together. The gold softened like heated metal, the cracks on the sword were mended one by one, and the jagged edges were pinched together.

Ultimately, the broken sword transformed into a golden sword that was nearly half the length of its original length.

After the king released his grip, the golden sword floated to the second prince, Conrad.

"Keep it safe. Until Leopold returns, you must defend this country and eliminate the strongholds and associates left behind by the Abyssal Order. Every blow in reality will weaken their ability to maintain the gap."

Conrad accepted the golden sword with both hands and solemnly replied, "I will do it, Your Majesty."

King Dush tapped the ground lightly with his cane, and the golden light in the Hall of Mirrors quickly flowed back, causing the eyes of the golden statue to freeze again.

However, the oppressive aura had not completely dissipated. Douglas tried to move his fingers and could still feel the statue silently scrutinizing the entire hall.

Du Shi, the mastermind, stepped forward to explain: "His Majesty left behind a portion of the royal will. As long as the statue is located in Prishini, it possesses power roughly equivalent to a third-tier powerhouse, and any damage to the statue will be immediately known to His Majesty."

The people present exchanged glances, and Douglas felt that the last sentence was mainly meant for the people in extraordinary management organizations in various countries.

Conrad then held a brief meeting in a side hall with the extraordinary representatives from various countries.

The representatives spoke in turn, discussing sharing information about the Yuanqian religious group, tracing cross-border funds, and providing temporary law enforcement authorization for joint operations.

When it was the Federation's turn, Douglas, on behalf of the Ninth Bureau, agreed to open some non-core files and requested to see the results of the interrogations of the captured cult members.

The meeting ended close to night. A weary Douglas returned to the Royal Guest House, declined the formal dinner in the restaurant, and asked the waiter to bring him a bottle of red wine and a plate of savory snacks.

After such a day, he would scream if he were to interact with other people again.

He took off his coat, sank into the armchair in the guest room, and ate biscuits for dinner while flipping through newspapers from various places collected by the mission secretary.

Douglas turned to a page advertising relief fundraising, his gaze suddenly stopping on a photo on the next page.

The two people in the photo are standing in front of an old flag. The young man on the right is wearing a well-fitting suit, his hair is combed back, and he has a calm and elegant smile on his face as he faces reporters.

Douglas put the glass back on the table and picked up the newspaper, bringing it close to the lamp.

His clothes, hairstyle, and expression had all changed, but his face remained the same.

The caption below the photo reads: "The Earl of Schenkel and investor Adrian Cole jointly announce the relaunch of the Knights of the Laurel and a search for the long-lost Old Port."