The Villain Princess survived the Imperial Riot

So what if he was considered a traitor without any conscience? The more so, the more likely he would be appreciated by the princess, and Gros Riel's attitude would become a taboo.

Looking directly into Gros Lier's eyes, Pierre sneered inwardly - this useless young man is worthy of being the Baron of the White Sea? He can replace him!

Gros Lier felt the hair on his back shiver under the cold gaze, as if he was being entangled by a ferocious poisonous snake.

He snorted angrily and began to plan a sinister scheme in his mind.

In short, Pierre cannot be allowed to replace his ecological niche on the princess' side!

"call."

After confirming that only a few wisps of spirituality had been incorporated into the Witch's Book, Hestia, having missed out on using her skills, tossed the gun to Clara and sighed helplessly.

She then looked at Pierre and said, "You've done very well. According to the reward offered by the Empress Dowager, each rebel cadre will give up 100 gold shields, and each rebel member will give up 10 gold shields. I will send someone to deliver the reward to you later."

Pierre knelt on his knees, his heart filled with loyalty. "Your Highness, I have never served you for money, but out of hatred for myself, who was once deceived by traitors! Everything I do is merely atoning for my past sins. If Your Highness has mercy on me, I beg to be your humble servant, letting the light of order illuminate all darkness!"

"I can see that you have a loyalty to the Empire that is as sincere as gold," Hestia said with a half-smile, "but the royal henchmen don't accept useless people. It also depends on whether your claws are sharp."

"Your Highness, I also know of a rebel stronghold that was relocated after the attack on Crown Square!" Pierre said solemnly. "We can send in the Iron Army while they're still unprepared. If we succeed, we can not only replicate the Lord's previous success, but also follow the clues and severely damage the rebels' grassroots forces!"

"You're talking nonsense. I didn't do that..." Gros Lill stopped talking and turned to the princess, "Your Highness, you must be on guard. Let's not talk about whether this guy has truly turned from evil to good. What if he's using a series of tricks and entering this trap just to lure Your Highness into it..."

"Your Excellency, are you overthinking this?" Pierre interrupted. "Going through life and death is the duty of us, the lesser men. Why would we burden the noble Dragon with such a task? I have no intention of competing with you for credit, and you don't need to criticize me. After all, we all want to better serve your Highness and the Empire, don't we?"

"Can……"

"Alright, my lord," Hestia signaled him to stop talking. "Clara, you should lead your men and cooperate with Mr. Pierre to clear out the strongholds of these termites. If it is really as he says," she said meaningfully, "the empire will have another rising baron, a double blessing."

……

Despite the freezing cold, there was a constant stream of mercenaries and adventurers coming to the Little Mouse Boutique.

This is a reputable and extraordinary shop in the coastal area, selling scrolls, potions, enchantment books and familiar contracts needed for various seafaring adventures. In addition, if you have an acquaintance to introduce you, some extraordinary stolen goods with a long history can also be sold here.

The shop owner, the red-caped lady, was a "high-class" Ratman who had once served in the Iron Army, enjoying great respect in both the underworld and the underworld. With her meritorious service, she was no cheap military animal. In the strictly disciplined Iron Army, even the NCOs had to address her as "Sir."

In the alchemy room leading to the back alley, a ratman with slightly white fur and dressed as a woman was lying on a ladder, stirring a giant crucible.

After a busy moment, she jumped down the escalator, turned on the tap in the crucible, and filled a jar with a thick, goose-yellow potion.

The rat woman couldn't tell her age, but her voice sounded like an elderly woman. She handed the potion to the small girl and said, "This is a freshly made health potion. With this, your mother's condition will be better."

The little girl was Alice Leland, who had the medicine jar tucked tightly under her coat, and a pretty blonde girl was standing beside her.

"Ma'am, how long will it take for my mother to recover?"

"It's hard to say. The effect of the health-promoting agent is to strengthen the body and excrete toxins. It is not a magic medicine that can cure all diseases." The rat man stood on tiptoe and touched Alice's forehead with a smile.

Alice asked, "I heard some of the sisters who work in the match factory are also in very bad health. Is that the reason?"

"The illnesses of the female workers at the match factory primarily stem from exposure to white phosphorus, which causes the jaw to phosphate, teeth to fall out, and the face to rot." The Rat Man shook his head. "Your mother's constitution was already weak. This was both unfortunate and fortunate. The match factory fired her because of her work efficiency, thus sparing her the fate of those female workers."

Domis asked softly, "What is Mrs. Lilan's illness? Madam, aren't you a renowned master of medicine?"

"What master..." The rat man laughed dryly. "This is the first time I've seen Malarilan's illness. I observed an excessive number of colorless cells in her blood sample. It's probably caused by a fluid imbalance. The health supplement won't cure her, but it will help alleviate the deterioration of her condition, giving me more time to observe her."

"I heard some adventurers say you are the 'Immortal Red Cloak'. Can you make my mother look like you?" Alice asked again.

"Immortality? I'm sixty-five, child. For a ratman whose average lifespan is only a dozen years, this is indeed an age where I could become an ancestor. But I, too, will grow old and eventually die. I won't live any longer than humans." The ratman helplessly ruffled the kid's hair. "We live in this world to allow a part of ourselves to continue, to let the world remember our traces. Everyone has concerns, and that's the proof of our existence. So, as the continuation of Mara Leland, believe me, even if one day you go to the ends of the earth, your dreams will still bring your feelings close to you."

"Okay, ma'am." Domis sighed, "Alice, you go out first."

"Oh."

After the little guy left, Domis asked, "How long will Mrs. Lilan's illness last?"

"It's hard to say, I'm just a pharmacist," the rat man laughed dryly. "But what's certain is that the excess white blood cells are eroding her health. Fluid imbalance sounds simple, but anything in our bodies, whether too much or too little, can lead to serious consequences. But so far, the health supplement seems to be working quite well. It can delay the disease for a few years, or even more than a decade."

"Can't she be cured through occult techniques?"

"Domis, our path is full of temptations. Struggle is a temptation, and so is immortality." She twirled her beard, shook her tail, and muttered as she walked around the alchemy room. "A good swimmer drowns in water. You think you're familiar with water, but you never know whether your next encounter will be a trickling stream or a raging river. My secret technique can certainly 'continue' her, but turning her into a corpse puppet, or into mindless living flesh? Domis, survival is not our goal, but a means. Life and death have their destiny. You must understand, within the thick fog of Dreams, which direction is yours?"

"Well," Domis sighed, a little sadly, "For a mortal, a decade of peace and well-being is not bad."

"Compared to true mythology, you and I are but mediocre," the Nezumi corrected her.

"Ah."

"You care so much about her because you like the eldest daughter of the Lilan family, right?" The rat man twirled his beard, a gleam of brilliance in his eyes.

"Liu Er," Ling Duo Mi Si took a deep breath and stammered, "We are friends, of course..."

The rat man smiled but said nothing. She poured the potion from the crucible into jars one by one, and after a long while, she said:

"You know what I mean, Domis. My parents were clan leaders loyal to the Empire, bearing the glory of their 'family.' I served in the army as a doctor and logistics officer. Amidst the countless lives and deaths, I witnessed countless anger, hatred, compassion, and despair. Tragic scenes were countless, and moral corruption was even more common. Later, I understood one thing."

"That is, life is only once, and countless people are constrained by their own rules and mental processes, constantly going around in circles in prescribed cells, constantly suppressing their own instincts, thinking that doing so will make their lives better."

She stood with her hands behind her back, slammed her waist, and looked up at the girl's somewhat flustered face:

"Domis, you are full of contradictions and conflicts, but those are the thorns you need to step over, not your true nature. You think you yearn for freedom, but your freedom is still trapped in a cell confined by some giant hand.

"Sometimes, I wish you were a moth, because moths always yearn for light. They don't worry about gains and losses, nor do they regret taking the wrong path. They only trust their intuition and instincts and burn out their lives. Right or wrong is not important."

Domis said in a tangled voice, "I have my own mission. I cannot betray my mentor and companions..."

"If I were you, I would take that girl and her family to the New World to live a carefree life." The rat man hummed a hoarse, unpleasant tune, contentedly. "As for your mission? You are rebels, but isn't the rebellion of rebellion also a kind of rebellion, a kind of compliance with one's heart? Rules don't suit people like you, Domis. The New World is a lawless place, but danger always brings opportunities, and it won't be as lifeless as the rule of the Tower. Moreover, chaos will come soon, as many people in Mengxiu can guess."

"Then why don't you leave?"

"I'm old. I once depended on my family and the empire, and now I can't leave them," the rat man said. "Ten or a hundred years mean nothing to me. I want my race to survive in the cracks and stand in the sun. This is the continuation of what I have done."

"What if the Empire wants you to deal with us?"

"Then I'll deal with you." The rat man blinked. "After all, you can hide better than us rats, right? Of course, we are friends first, and friends should say happy things to each other. If you discuss the government in my shop, I, an old man, will kick you out."

"Thank you." Domis bowed deeply.

"Oh, I just hope you won't resent me if you fail. If you succeed, I hope I can let the rat people live in the sun a little like you humans. That's enough... Wait for me." The rat woman went into the pharmacy. The sound of clattering could be heard from inside. When she came out, she was holding a pink triangular medicine bottle in her hand. "Here, give this to your friend."

"this is……"

"You know the Desire Potion," the ratman rubbed his hands and blinked. The sixty-year-old woman still looked like a righteous and vile trafficker. "The willpower of an ordinary young girl is no match for such a potent potion. I've modified it so that it can transform every impulse from the skin to the bone marrow of a living being into... well, anyway, as a blade cultivator, you can't be any braver than those moths, right?"

"But you clearly want me to be strong..." Domis's face flushed with embarrassment.

"It's just that I don't like cold love! That's right, it's consensual. That's called passion. Don't you have any confidence in your friendship?" The rat man laughed dryly and stuffed the potion into the blonde's arms. "If you still have the conscience of a child, then use this potion on yourself. It will make you charming and delicious too."

"I wouldn't do that," Domis said blushing.

"Chili water is the antidote to the lust potion, but it has side effects. You'll lose your sense of taste for a week." The rat man chuckled meaningfully. "The best antidote is, of course, the person you love most."

Amidst her laughter, Domis fled the alchemy room in a panic. In the boutique lobby, Alice sat on a chair, dangling her legs. Upon seeing the blonde girl, she smiled again, her sullen expression returning to normal. "Domis, what are you doing in there? Are you planning something bad with the lady in the red cloak?"

Domis immediately felt guilty, then quickly reacted and poked the little guy on the forehead: "You guy, you just like to talk about others behind their backs! Are you talking about me with others when I'm not around?"

"No, we're lifelong friends. I wouldn't betray anyone but Domis!" Alice grabbed Domis's arm and pulled her out. "Hurry up, hurry up, I still have to make medicine for Mom."

The two of them left the boutique talking and laughing. As soon as they walked out, a deafening explosion was heard in the distance.

"Oh, is there thunder?" Alice pricked up her ears.

Domis looked at the smoke in the distance, and the chaotic noise from the layers of low buildings rose into the sky.

"That is……"

Her pupils suddenly constricted.

That's the direction of the cafe.

Volume 50: Dreamer: . Delicious

The streets were clogged, the flames and explosions echoed for miles, and terrified vendors, beggars, and pedestrians fled like headless flies, desperate to avoid the danger. It was almost dark, and the oil lamps along the roadside were still unlit. Only panicked wails and screams could be heard.

Several high knights, along with hundreds of "Sentry Falcons", surrounded the coffee shop. The smoke-filled street fighting lasted for less than a quarter of an hour. As the small buildings were reduced to ruins under the secret techniques of the high knights, the rebels who lost their shelter were soon reduced to broken corpses.

"Clara, let Monsieur Pierre wail. This princess is benevolent and unwilling to harm innocent people. Those who surrender will be spared." Hestia, perched high on the bell tower, tapped a plate of sunflower seeds imported from the New World, overlooking the commotion a hundred meters away. "If the rebels insist on using civilians as shields and harming our people, don't blame the imperial falcons for their thundering wrath."

The "Sentry Falcon" is the eyes and ears of the military, and only the most elite Iron Army soldiers can serve in this role. Each Sentry Falcon has undergone extraordinary transformation and is both an imperial military police and a spy gathering intelligence.

Even secret cultivators usually do not want to leave a document at an imperial outpost and be hunted down by the "Sentry Falcons".

In less than five minutes, Pierre, dressed in a gorgeous formal suit, arrived at the door of the cafe accompanied by a tall knight. Before he entered, a dagger suddenly shot out and was blocked by the tall knight with his bare hands.

"Stab!"

The dagger flew away and disappeared, leaving only a tiny bloody crack on the tall knight's palm.

Pierre was startled, but he mustered his courage and shouted, "The Imperial Army is here! The Free Will rebels are instigating riots, poisoning the people, spreading plague, and causing famine! They have caused immeasurable damage to Yunling's commerce, the damage is simply too extensive to describe! Every person with a conscience deserves death!"

"But the princess knows that many of you have been deceived and led astray. Therefore, the princess has decreed that those who surrender now will be pardoned. Those who abandon evil and join the good and help the empire eliminate rebellion will be knighted and rewarded with a hundred gold pieces!"

"Oh!"

This time, what shot at Pierre was not a strange dagger, but a bullet.

But the tall knight had anticipated this, shielding Pierre with his body while blocking the hidden gun's attack with his arm. This time, he was not injured again. The splatter of bullets seemed to shave off a layer of steel, and apart from the sparks of the explosion, there was no trace of blood.

"Fuck you, Pierre, you bastard, you traitor—"

There was a barrage of abuse from a window.

The gunshot went off into the air, and the "Sentry Falcon" lying on the opposite roof to monitor quickly found the target and shot it with a sniper.

"When are we going to attack, Will?" A woman dressed in a modified military uniform stepped forward. She had short hair down to her neck and wore a tricorn hat with a folded brim on her head.

"It's hard to say. His Highness said to capture as many alive as possible, especially those Blade Cultivators." The tall knight stared at the cafe's door. "The rebels around here have been cleared out, but this stronghold is a bit strange. There might be a trap that will destroy both of us."

"Doesn't this just prove we're a big fish?" the woman laughed bitterly. "Your Highness is still too kind. Winning over people's hearts is not a virtue in the military. If it were me, I'd bring out ten blast furnace mortars and raze this place to the ground."

"So you are just a pawn and cannot be the Knight Commander, Utana."

"I don't have your fawning, flattering 'progress'." Utana chuckled. "The High Knight only needs to follow orders and kill, but the Knight Commander has much more to consider."

Will didn't argue, just stared at the door leading to the depths.

He needed to be more flexible and realize that killing is the goal, not the means. The noble dragon needs order and submission, not ruling over a deserted ruin.

If you kill all the people, what are you going to rule over? Rats and ants?

Inside the cafe, flames burned strangely around the kiln brick walls. Only a dozen or so key personnel remained, guarding the last line of defense. In addition, there were more than thirty guests and employees, and a maid was kneeling on the ground sobbing.