CH 9

Alfred looked at Xiu and listened to him say “never regret it.”, as if he had returned to two years ago, when Xiu had arrogantly taught him to “trust no one”.

Only this time, Alfred did not cry, nor felt disappointed, angry, or incredulous. Two years of masochistic growth allowed him to be reborn, and he would no longer lose self-control easily.

This time, he gracefully nodded and replied: “That’s good. If you were begging for mercy, I might be in a difficult situation.”

After speaking, he turned and left.

The sun was rare today, and it didn’t snow.

When Alfred walked out of the Prince’s Palace, he noticed someone was waiting for him in front of his car.

“Your Highness.” Joshua saluted him.

Alfred said: “Didn’t I tell you to go back first and not wait for me?”

“I’m worried about you,” Joshua glanced at the villa. “Did that… embarrass you?”

“Embarrass me?” Alfred sneered: “He wanted to embarrass me. You saw what happened this morning. What a joke. I have been operating here for two years. Can he take me down the next day after he lands? “

Joshua shook his head and said not very optimistically: “I visited two media outlets for you to inquire about the progress of today’s press release … They knew I was your person, and both of them were evasive, refusing to answer directly. I guess others are probably the same. His Royal Highness must have put pressure on them. Today, although Your Highness has managed to avoid danger, I am afraid it will be difficult to go further.”

Alfred didn’t expect Joshua to go out, complete his task in such a short time and return. His expression relaxed a bit.

“You have always been competent.” He said, “Have you contacted your father?”

Joshua replied: “Not yet. I’m sure my father will support Your Highness. But since Your Highness did not give any orders, I thought I should not send the news back to the main planet without your permission.”

“All right,” Alfred said with satisfaction. He finally looked squarely at Joshua, and paused before continuing: “Joshua, you have been with me for two years, and always loyal and have done things properly. As I recall, you’re a few years older than me… Speaking of which, I also have two brothers. In the past two years, they haven’t even bothered to check up on me. You are the only one who has taken care of me like an older brother.” 

Upon hearing this, Joshua immediately kneeled in the snow and bowed his head: “Young Prince, when I came out with you, my father reminded me to be loyal and dedicated. The golden pupil was the greatest masterpiece of the Bai family’s ancestors, and you are the most orthodox heir to it. As descendants of the Bai family, we will do our best to protect the rightful heir of the Golden Pupil no matter what.” 

Alfred was slightly moved, and personally helped Joshua up.

“I promised the Bai family,” Alfred solemnly said, “that on the day I ascend to the throne, the Holy Bai Tower will be rebuilt.”

The Holy Bai Tower was a genetic research institution that existed at the beginning of this era. It was as ancient as the Holy Golden Palace. The first high priest was the leader of the genetic modification program. However, after completely surviving the civilization crisis, the Holy Bai Tower was shut down and the genetic modification program and research that saved human civilization were also stopped.

Although the place where the current high priest lived was also called the “Holy Bai Tower”, it was only symbolic, and not the same as the top genetic research institution at the beginning of the era.

The ancient genetic modification program was so tragic, and sacrificed countless volunteers. Until modern times, the descendants of many genetically deficient people still suffered from genetic modification’s drawbacks. But at that time, even civilization’s survival was a problem. Without a large number of people with special abilities to expand the territory and transform the environment, there was only waiting for death.

Since the crisis was over and the social structure had become stable, the people, who had benefited the most from this plan and even proclaimed themselves emperors in the end, naturally did not want or need this kind of research to continue.

Therefore, the Bai family had requested several times to the Holy Golden Palace to resume genetic research. But they were all politely rejected by the Holy Golden Palace.

Alfred promised what none of his ancestors had ever agreed to.

Joshua’s eyes turned red, and he choked up, saying: “The Bai family will die for Your Highness!”

“Okay. Well, I have a big task for you to handle now.” Alfred took his arm and moved closer to him. “The Crown Prince wants to kill me, and I absolutely can’t let this go. Since he has come to our territory, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to settle the old and new grudges with him. Since he was the one who made the first move, I will respond with double the force. I’ve already thought about…”

He gave a few instructions in a low voice, and Joshua listened calmly without changing his expression.

“Your Highness, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it and make sure it’s done.” Joshua said.

Alfred patted his arm, and said trustingly: “I believe in you.”

“Failed.”

Xiu said as he stood by the French window.

A voice with a distorted sound came from the handheld device on his desk: “I already know. Failing is not the most important thing. What’s more important is that not only did you not get rid of him, but you also let him show his prestige.”

“Today he was lucky enough to be favoured.” Xiu said, “It just so happened that the bow was right next to him.”

The old voice said, “Is that so? Do you think it’s just luck?”

Xiu frowned slightly, and he said: “Today’s itinerary was arranged by me personally. The Bow of Glory has always stood there, and it was not temporarily transferred. At that time, he had already guessed that it was aimed at him. He had no weapon on him. He had no other choice but to take a chance with the bow if he wanted to save himself. Fortunately, the terrain was suitable for sniping. I’ve reviewed it and there’s nothing wrong with it. Everything progressed naturally.”

The elder’s voice said: “It’s indeed natural. In the future, this matter will spread throughout the empire, and no one will doubt him. That is the worst thing.” 

“You mean, this matter was completely manipulated by him…” Xiu paused for a moment, quickly negating his own words. “How can this be? He was able to conceal his plans from both Teacher and I in the morning and left no trace afterwards. There are only a few forces within the empire that can accomplish this. It couldn’t be His Majesty changing his mind, could it?”

“Oh, that’s not it.” The high priest laughed, and his laughter was transmitted through the cantilever of more than half of the galaxy by the ether flow, with some distortion in his voice, “His Majesty is doing all he can to celebrate the graduation season for the Second Prince. Even I have to attend in two days — His Majesty personally came to the Holy Bai Tower today to invite me.”

The Second Prince was only two months younger than the legitimate elder prince. If it weren’t for the premature birth of the first empress, it’s difficult to say who the eldest son was.

Since the second prince failed to take advantage of his birth, he had to work hard based on his upbringing in order to succeed. At the same age of 28 this year, he had already completed the highest degree at the best academy in the empire. Although everyone in the aristocratic circle knew that there was an academic team appointed by the royal family behind every academic paper he wrote. However, no matter what, he got his degree.

For this matter, the Holy Golden Palace started building momentum half a year in advance. Many people privately speculated that the reason for the Crown Prince’s sudden visit to the border was to avoid the Second Prince’s graduation season.

Having been accustomed to the Holy Golden Palace’s attitude, Xiu responded calmly after hearing this: “It seems that His Majesty has not changed his mind. Well, if there really is such a force that can compete with us, how can Alfred, a prince who has lost power, gain support from others? Even if things were reversed two years ago, it would not threaten my status as the Crown Prince. On the contrary, in the eyes of everyone, I am still the one who interceded for him back then.”

“Your Highness is right. No one would dare risk offending the Crown Prince by helping him behind his back.”

“Now he is the weakest one. Unless he shows some winning chips, no one will dare stand with him.” There was a hint of arrogance and disdain in Xiu’s tone. “But, where does he have any winning chips?”

“That’s what happened today. I’m about to go out and announce the results of the interrogation soon.” Austin said, tapping on a concealed headset in his ear.

He was the only one in this completely closed military interrogation room right now, or in other words, he was the only living person.

Several assassins’ bodies lay at his feet, but he seemed familiar with this sense.

“Dad, have you figured it out yet?” Austin said. “What has happened in the past two years can barely be interpreted as being loyal to the empire. But what is to be done next will really tie us to the Third Prince in the same boat.”

“I know.” His father, Marshal Stone, replied calmly through the headset, “Whatever he commands, just do it without worrying about getting yourself into it.”

“Okay.” Austin agreed without hesitation, but then asked for clarification, “Can you give me a thorough understanding, Dad? I’m not a kid anymore. I admit that he is not the same as before, and now he does have some fighting power. I have been in contact with him for two years, and I also recognize his personal ability. But this kind of thing, from ancient times to the present, has not been won by personal ability alone. Perhaps he can win against the Second Prince who is a fool. But I can’t see his winning chance against the Crown Prince. What made you decide to stake our family’s fate on him?”

After a moment of silence, the deep male voice in the headset said: “He will win. Because he has an unbeatable card.”