reincarnation npc, but tomorrow's ark

A moment later, a deafening roar followed by the sound of bricks cracking. Skadi had easily breached the tunnel wall, smashing a large hole in it.

"Well done," Bai Ye praised, while Skadi smiled easily, clearly indicating that it was nothing to her.

The two jumped down through the hole and headed towards an even darker and deeper level.

"Guess how many eyes are watching us in the dark," Bai Ye joked.

“Not a pair,” Skadi replied immediately. Clearly, she saw everything except for any trace of anyone else present.

"Theoretically speaking, the Beastmaster of Aslan is watching over this place and protecting the monarch of Lentinium. Of course, that guy shouldn't be here now, but on Rhodes Island."

It's clear that Bai Ye knows about Vina, the Rhodes Island operator Siege, and the existence behind her. Rhodes Island has all sorts of strange and monstrous things, including a genuine Beast Lord. Dr. Kal'tsit obviously wouldn't be unaware of this.

However, that guy usually doesn't appear. Of course, he couldn't possibly be here right now.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Bloodstains

Bai Ye had never actually seen the beast lord behind Vina, nor had he ever communicated with him. He also knew that the guardian of the Londinium Aslan royal heir could not possibly be here.

However, at this moment, he felt that the atmosphere around him was a bit strange, as if something unseen was watching him.

This is probably the atmosphere that the environment here is deliberately designed to create.

They had now penetrated deep underground, leaving the Sarkaz, the Londinium citizens' self-defense army, and the nobles far behind. Before them lay a long passageway, with solemn sculptures and reliefs etched into the walls.

The statues of knights stand on both sides of the passageway, as if guarding the Victorian kings who rest here in peace.

The illusion Bai Ye described was probably caused by these knight statues. After all, they were indeed lifelike, and in the darkness, they even seemed to move.

Skadi didn't care about that; if she really swung her fist, she would probably just smash those statues to pieces with one punch.

The two continued on their way, and although they didn't seem to be moving very fast or deliberately speeding up, they eventually reached the end of the passage after a short while.

At the end of the passage was a large gate.

A heavy door, seemingly made of metal, but clearly both Skadi and Byakuya noticed something else more than the door itself.

The two turned and looked at each other, then both lowered their heads.

This time, Bai Ye turned on the lights and looked down at the ground.

Under the light, Bai Ye could clearly see the dark red marks that had flowed on the ground.

“It’s blood.” Skadi nodded gently.

She paused, then added:

"It's the blood of land people."

“Of course, we just arrived here, and we wouldn’t bleed for no reason. This is what people left behind before.” Bai Ye knelt down on the ground and looked down at the ground.

Unlike the previous stretch of road, the ground here was already soaked in blood. The blood had long since dried, leaving only dark red, twisted stains covering the broken bricks and stones.

It must have been left behind after someone fought here several years ago.

Besides bloodstains, there were traces of various battles: broken arrowheads, fragments of swords, and deep craters left by magical attacks. Even the sturdy and sacred gate bore massive marks; it was hard to imagine what could have caused such devastation.

Because it's buried deep underground, the traces here have been well preserved, and the bloodstains from several years ago are in good condition. If they were on the surface, they would probably have been washed away by rain long ago.

“This is Sarkaz blood,” Bai Ye judged. “These weapons on the ground also belong to that group of Sarkaz mercenaries from the past.”

These are the Sarkaz people who came here with the Regent. Their weapons are different from those of the current Sarkaz royal army.

The current Sarkaz army uses weapons manufactured in the Highbury district's arms factories, which are very similar to the standard weapons used by the Victorian army. They have been mass-produced and armed.

The weapons used by the Sarkaz mercenaries in the past varied in design and were crudely made, yet they were far more savage and terrifying. Bai Ye had fought some of those mercenaries in the past, right in the heart of Chernobog.

Skadi reached out and touched the marks on the ground. Suddenly, she stood up, picked up a broken Sarkaz greatsword from the ground, and began to swing it around casually, imitating the fighting style of the Sarkaz.

Yes, both of them are experienced and skilled fighters. They can easily reconstruct the scene just by looking at the traces left behind.

In Bai Ye's brain database, there are countless different kinds of data. Every battle he experienced and every videotape he watched was the nourishment for his growth.

However, this time, he sensed something strange. He couldn't figure out what was fighting these Sarkaz. It seemed less like humans and more like some other strange entity.

"At least, not human... or rather, not an ordinary person." A normal human couldn't have created such battle marks. Bai Ye felt it was more like some kind of monster...

"I never thought I'd be calling other guys monsters one day," Bai Ye said with a laugh.

After all, he was more like a monster than an ordinary person.

“This is only part of the battle's traces; there’s much more inside the door,” Bai Ye said, pointing to the closed door in front of him.

The bloodstains meandered out from the gate, making it hard to imagine what horrific things had happened inside.

Or rather, what else does Lentinium possess that can put up such a fight against the Sarkaz? Aside from its prized high-speed warships and city defense artillery, what else does Lentinium have that can contend with the Sarkaz mercenaries within the city walls? Well, at least within such a confined area, the physically superior Sarkaz should have a clear advantage.

City defense troops? Tower knights?

It seems that none of these are a match for the Sarkaz mercenaries.

And a giant beast? A red dragon? That doesn't seem quite right either.

At least, theoretically, the Red Dragons should no longer exist when the Sarkaz entered Londinium. Furthermore, no burn marks were found on the ground by Baiye. The heat that the Red Dragons were most proud of was not manifested.

"Let's go in."

From the outside, nothing would be apparent, and the Sarkaz corpses had already been cleaned up by their companions. Judging from the amount of blood, they had suffered heavy losses.

……

Now, standing in front of White Night and Skadi is a giant gate.

Further in, we should reach our destination: the final resting place of the kings.

Bai Ye took the key out of her inventory. It was a memento from Edward the Red Dragon, and also a memento left to Talulah by her biological father.

In the past, Old Wei had kept this item, intending to give it to Talulah when she grew up. However, fate played a cruel trick on her; Talulah was taken away by Duke Koschie when she was very young, and the immortal black serpent attempted to possess Talulah's body to complete his "great cause."

It wasn't until Bai Ye found Talulah that Lao Wei had the opportunity to return the item to her. Talulah then gave the key inside to Bai Ye.

Old Wei actually had some reservations about this, but since it was Talulah's choice, he could only keep quiet. Under the current circumstances, could this thing actually be considered Talulah's dowry to Bai Ye? Or perhaps, the Victorian sword hidden in the burial place of the kings was the dowry.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Tragedy of the Steam Knight

Although her own bloodline is not pure, Talulah's biological father is indeed a genuine heir of the Red Dragon King, and her bloodline is absolutely authentic.

Therefore, it is legitimate for Bai Ye to enter this place with his belongings.

“Open it.” Skadi pointed to the door blocking their way.

She had already tried knocking with her hand before, and it seemed that getting in wasn't an easy task unless she used a key.

It's less of a door and more of a thick wall, its thickness conservatively estimated to exceed the category of a "door".

Moreover, the material used to make this door is extremely sturdy; even for Bai Ye and Skadi, entering wouldn't be easy. Bai Ye was also worried that using brute force to enter might trigger the tomb's self-destruct system—if it truly did exist.

Fortunately, Bai Ye had the key.

He took the key in his hand and then inserted it into the mechanism on the door.

The door opened...

Bai Ye pulled out the key.

It is said that there are two such keys in total.

One of them was kept by the Red Dragon, and it belonged to King Drak, who had taken over Londinium, not to King Gael, who had taken over Tara.

Therefore, it was Edward, not Abrahina, who inherited the key.

As for the other key, it's naturally kept by the Aslan royal family, but Bai Ye doesn't know where it went. Vina certainly doesn't have it, so no one knows where it is.

It certainly won't fall into the hands of the Sarkaz, otherwise Regent Theresis would have opened the gate and entered long ago.

"Let's go in."

Bai Ye put the key into her inventory, and then went inside with Skadi.

"Oh..." Skadi and Byakuya couldn't help but exclaim as they stepped inside.

If the knight statues outside are already quite moving, then the statues of kings inside the resting place of kings are even more magnificent.

These statues belong to the monarchs of Victoria, including Aslan and Draco.

For example, Frederick III, the "Conqueror of Gaul," stands prominently in front. Beside him stands his mother, Elizabeth the "Glorious."

Bai Ye was able to identify these Victorian monarchs because he had examined the data in the data terminal on Rhodes Island.

“She would be so happy if Shark were here,” Skadi said with a smile. “You should have brought her along too.”

Bai Ye nodded. Skadi was right. These statues had nothing to do with Originium Arts; they were purely handcrafted works of art, each requiring many years of carving and polishing by the royal stonemasons.

If it were Originium Arts, it wouldn't possess such preciousness and depth. It would be a soulless, hastily produced product.

These stone sculptures would likely be very meaningful art pieces for Laurentina, and she would certainly like them.

Of these statues, only one remains unfinished. That statue is believed to be that of the last Victorian monarch. After his death, the throne of Londinium remained vacant until now.

“It’s a real pity. This statue should belong to Vina’s father…” Bai Ye shook his head gently. “However… in the end, there is no Drak King here anymore. Aslan broke the ancient covenant and drove out all the Drak.”

Victoria, pieced together by greed, ambition, and desire, killed herself.

"White Night, look ahead." Skadi suddenly pointed ahead.

Bai Ye raised his head and looked ahead in the direction Titi was pointing. Then, he saw the corpse on the ground.

Those were the corpses of the Sarkaz. Although their bodies were gradually decomposing, their clothing suggested that they were elite soldiers of the Sarkaz royal court and guards of the Absolution Master.

This was the most elite Sarkaz army that Regent Theresis had brought from Kazdel to Londinium. Aside from the powerful figures of the various royal courts, they were probably the strongest representatives of the Sarkaz military force.

Those who possess power comparable to theirs and can fight against them must also be incredibly powerful beings, and now the mystery has been revealed. Those who fought them were the Steam Knights.

In the shadows of the corpses, a bronze light still shone. Knights in steam-powered armor, these noble warriors, clashed with the Sarkaz's most elite army. Swords, spells, and magic-infused spears bore horrifying wounds on their steam-powered armor, yet could not break their formation.

However, speaking of formations...

Bai Ye and Skadi exchanged a glance simultaneously.

They had clearly noticed something was wrong. These knights weren't guarding the resting place of kings; they were attacking.

It was a trap. The honorable knights who entered were ambushed by the Sarkaz hidden within the tomb and all perished. From that time on, there were no more Steam Knights in Londinium.

“These are the last few dozen steam knights…” Bai Ye counted the array of armored figures in front of them.

Without anyone's help, the Sarkaz would not have been able to wage war against the Steam Knights here. In other words, this was a conspiracy between the Grand Dukes of Victoria and the Sarkaz, who joined forces to eliminate these Steam Knights.

The grand dukes provided the key to this place and lured these noble knights here. The Sarkaz paid the price, annihilating these knights with their elite troops.

Bai Ye looked at the knight's remains before him and said softly:

"The Steam Knights were a symbol of King Aslan's authority and the Victorian army, but after the coup of 1072, this force became very awkward. As a symbol and glorious example of the Victorian monarchy, the Steam Knights would not submit to any Grand Duke, and the Grand Dukes would not allow this force to submit to their enemies."

"The dukes reached a consensus in the council that the steam knights must be exhausted. So the council sent the steam knights to fight on the front lines in extremely harsh and dangerous environments without providing any supplies, intending to send the steam knights into certain death. The factories in Londinium that produced steam knight equipment have also stopped production, and Victoria, which is without a king, has no one left to confer the title of steam knight."

Skadi blinked and looked at Bai Ye.

Bai Ye slapped his forehead, realizing that this guy probably didn't understand.

"In short, the Grand Dukes wanted to wear down these Steam Knights as much as possible, but they did not expect these guys to be much more tenacious than they thought. So the Grand Dukes, who were fighting each other, finally reached an agreement before 1094. Their only consensus was to completely eliminate the Steam Knights, an extremely important armed force that no one could control, and to destroy the glorious symbol of the Victorian Aslan era."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Survivors

(Starting to play Girl in Love with Her Older Sister 3!)

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"No wonder these steam knights didn't appear when the Parliamentarian army stormed the palace during the coup of 1072 and executed the last Victorian monarch and his loyal subjects."

"They had already been transferred away from Londinium before this, and by the time they returned, it was too late. In 1094, the Grand Dukes reached a consensus and brought in the Sarkaz as their henchmen, who wiped out all the Steam Knights here."

Bai Ye looked at the remains of the knights before him and gently shook his head.

Victoria, pieced together by greed, ambition, and desire, killed herself.

“Victoria has so many things that are a pity, such as these steam knights, such as the Tower Knights…” Bai Ye said softly.

They did not die at the hands of a powerful enemy, but from betrayal—betrayal stemming from the very things they believed in, things they held dear that one day betrayed them.

They were loyal to Victoria, yet Victoria betrayed them.

It's hard to imagine the despair they experienced before they died. This kind of pain is difficult to dispel even after time.