Volume 2: Empire Chapter 100: The Sixth Artifact
Luke waved his hand and asked the others to leave the carriage. After the doors at both ends of the carriage were closed, he asked, "How credible do you think this news is?"
Agatha looked solemn and fell into deep thought.
Emperor Augustine asked Queen Christina to assist in handling government affairs, and there were signs of this before they left the imperial capital to go to the western border. However, at that time, the queen only read memorials and documents for the emperor and did not have the power to approve them.
But how could such drastic changes happen in the palace in just one month?
Agatha told Luke her analysis: "Queen Christina is from the Kingdom of Luthien, and is a very traditional royal princess. After she married my father, she kept a very low profile in the palace. She had no other hobbies except reading, and she rarely left the palace.
The Queen has no foundation in the palace, and the Kingdom of Lucien will not take sides in the palace.
I guess my father let the queen handle government affairs for health reasons, so that he would not have to worry about giving up power and not being able to take it back. If my father really died, she would not dare and would not be able to keep it secret .
Anyone who spreads such rumors should be killed!"
In his heart, Luke disagreed with Agatha's judgment.
Queen Christina was not without roots in the empire. Although she could only control the palace, she was still able to do things like keep the death a secret.
"This is your family affair!" Luke didn't know what happened in the palace. He first removed himself from the incident. "After I arrive in the capital and report on my work, I must return to Nutao City as soon as possible. I have wasted too much time in the Western Territory for a month."
Agatha understood that Luke was unwilling to get involved in this mess.
"If it weren't for the fact that my status as the eldest princess couldn't be changed, I wouldn't want to face all that shit. I really don't know what those people are thinking. We're doing our best to maintain the stability of the empire and prevent foreign invasions, but they... can only see the throne."
Agatha was so angry that she slammed her fist on the table, leaving a dent in the metal surface.
Luke didn't know how to comfort her.
The palace of the Golden Shield Empire has completely changed. Without a strategy, he has no idea what the current situation is inside the palace.
Is Augustine the Great alive or dead?
To what extent has Queen Christina gained control of the palace and what will she do next?
What role does the eldest prince Fania play in this? Will he lead his troops to attack the palace?
And how would the second prince, Alex, react to the news? Would he lead the newly reorganized Western Border Army to march towards the imperial capital?
Luke could imagine what kind of scene Agatha would face when she arrived in the imperial capital, and at this time... the invasion of the Art County Alliance was imminent!
Luke suddenly had an urge and told Agatha: I will face it with you.
He knew that Agatha was also waiting for the promise he made to her.
But two people can't fall into it all.
"Let's continue with the previous division of labor. You will investigate His Majesty's current situation in the imperial capital, stabilize all parties and prevent the situation from escalating, and investigate the source of the rumors.
Leave the East Sea and the North to me."
Agatha looked at Luke.
She really wanted him to accompany her to investigate the matter thoroughly, but reason told her that Meteorite was right.
If the struggles in the palace are not properly handled, the operation of the entire empire will stagnate. If no one handles the external pressure, the country will perish.
In this situation, someone has to step up to take on the responsibility that others cannot bear and turn the tide in the crisis.
Agatha said to Luke, "Leave the stabilization of the court and the investigation to me. You have been planning for a long time against the Kingdom of Rio in the eastern seas, and I am relieved. But the North is facing a very powerful At County Alliance, and the strength of the North Army has been severely weakened, and most of it is controlled by Fania."
"Then I will go talk to the eldest prince. After all, it will not be good for him if the Art County Alliance attacks him from the north."
"This is the only way..." Agatha turned her head and looked outside the carriage. Leaving the oasis, it was full of gravel. She said faintly, "May God bless the Empire!"
Luke picked up the newspaper and continued reading.
The train clanked eastward along the tracks.
The Western Territory, the Grasslands of the Ancients, and the Moonlight King’s Court.
The Moon Lake, surrounded by lush green rings, was as calm as a mirror. The World Tree in the middle of the Moon Lake had grown to a thousand meters high, with its huge canopy covering the entire lake.
Under the World Tree, Qingkong sat cross-legged on the lake, closing her eyes in deep meditation. Dots of green light slowly swirled around her, sometimes entering her body and then exiting again.
At this moment, Qingkong entered a state she had never experienced before. She looked at herself and the world from a special perspective, as if everything existed in some kind of law and connection.
Qingkong, who had learned the ancient golden language, quickly realized what he was experiencing.
Mysterious energy is everywhere. It can be so weak that it goes unnoticed, or so powerful that it can destroy the world.
The words of the occult are a way to stimulate mystical energy, and the known words of the occult, even if combined with the secret words recorded in Luke's cell phone database, can only utilize a very tiny part of the mysterious energy that exists.
The reason why ancient civilizations were so powerful is that they mastered an extremely convenient method of using the language of secret arts, using sound, graphics, and cognition to directly mobilize mysterious energy for their own use.
Ancient writing is the analysis and application of secret techniques.
This means that the secret arts are not without rules as the common consensus now, but are empirical academics. In fact, they have their own set of logic, which can be learned, used, and created.
It's just that in the ancient wars, the artifacts of the five civilizations were lost, which made it more difficult to pass on the ancient texts. Now, let alone the creation of the five ancient civilizations, after thousands of years of loss, there are not many ancient texts left.
Now Qingkong can be very sure that what he has realized from meditation is the underlying logic of mysterious energy. It's just that his current knowledge cannot see through the rules, nor can he use the ancient golden language to reflect it.
This is the World Tree's interpretation of the mysterious energy contained in all things in the world. It is another ancient language system, an ancient language different from the five ancient civilizations.
Qingkong suddenly realized what the so-called divine weapon was.
The artifact is actually a decoder of mysterious energy. The race that masters the artifact can analyze the mysterious energy through the artifact, and thus summarize the method of systematically using the mysterious energy, thus the ancient language came into being.
The artifact is also a server. Ancient civilized races send instructions through ancient languages, and the artifact activates secret techniques.
The difference between ancient languages and magic is that a magician is an independent terminal, and his own strength determines the power level of magic he can release; while ancient languages are completely dependent on the server of the artifact, and the degree of mastery of ancient languages determines the power of the skills released.
Therefore, the loss of the artifact caused weak server signals and high latency, which directly led to the rapid decline of the ancient civilization that prospered for an era.
Based on this inference...the World Tree is the sacred artifact of the ancient grasslands.
It’s just that the creatures on the grasslands of ancient ancestors had no way to communicate with the World Tree, and they were left guarding a sacred artifact without knowing how to use it. Otherwise, there would not be five civilizations in ancient times but six.
From this, we can understand why a great war broke out on the idyllic grassland of our ancestors in ancient times, which eventually led to the destruction of the World Tree.
No one else wants to get the artifact that you can't get!
Qingkong opened his eyes and looked at the world tree that resonated with him.
This thing attracts more firepower than the Book of Disaster.
Fortunately, in the game plot, the World Tree does not seem to have attracted too much attention from the five ancient civilizations. I don't know if it's because the ancient civilizations today don't know the true function of the World Tree; or if they know it, but for some reason they dare not fight for it openly.
After all, the World Tree is so big that it cannot be moved. If it is destroyed in the fight, no one will benefit.
This is the only artifact in existence!
This really caused another big trouble.
Qingkong was not too happy about discovering the secret of the World Tree. As the Moonlight Queen who inherited the authority of the previous generation of the World Tree, she should have guests coming soon.
"Your Majesty!"
When Qingkong didn't know whether to be happy or sad, Modesti, who had become the leader of the Moon Song tribe again, stepped on the ripples and walked behind her.
Modesti knelt on one knee, lowered her head and called out softly and devoutly.
Qingkong floated up and stood on the water again, then turned to Modesti and said, "The revival of the World Tree is a serious surprise to this world. In view of the disaster that happened before, the Moonlight Royal Court must quickly form a defense force to protect the World Tree."
Modesti raised her head, and the tree core gem hanging on her chest was extremely dazzling.
She said firmly: "The Moonlight Knights, the Fierce War Song, the people on the grasslands of the ancestors, and all the barbarians in the west will swear to defend our world tree to the death."
"Just having a determination to fight to the death is not enough. I think our ancestors also made tragic sacrifices to protect the World Tree, but we all know the ending.
To protect, one needs not only determination, but also the strength to defeat all enemies.
The outside world already has relatively mature means of improving individual strength. As a professor of magic and head of the Department of Mystic Arts at Oulu College, I intend to open a research laboratory for extraordinary warriors and integrate all the technology and equipment I can use to research and cultivate extraordinary warriors.
I need volunteers to serve as experimenters.”
"I am willing to be a volunteer." Modesti said without any hesitation: "In order to prevent the disaster from happening again, I can sacrifice my life. I just hope that after I die, I can be buried in the Moon Lake, and let me become a tree man and continue to protect the world tree."
Qingkong pulled Modesti up and said with a smile, "Don't make it sound so tragic. All experiments will go through repeated demonstrations and animal experiments, and human experiments will only begin when the safety rate is ensured.
You have received the blessing of the World Tree and possess the tree core gem, which gives you a very strong recovery ability. You are indeed the right person to accept this research and development."
Modesti looked much more relaxed: "Thank you, Her Majesty, for your trust in me. It is my honor to contribute to this project."
"Go and prepare. Select nine Moonlight Knights to follow me to Saint Lun City."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Modesty bowed to the clear sky and then walked towards the shore on the ripples.
Qingkong turned around and looked up at the World Tree.
"You are very cunning...you chose the easiest responsibility !"
After Qingkong sorted out the affairs of the Moonlight Court, he took Jennifer, the sheriff and ten Moonlight Knights back to Saint Lun City. Among the ten Moonlight Knights, there was the familiar Modesti and the half-orc Kelhain.
Imperial Saint-Lun City.
After a long and bumpy journey, Luke and Agatha finally arrived at St. Len's train station. They were greeted by the welcoming team at the platform, and then took a carriage to the palace.
An emergency imperial cabinet meeting was held, but the emperor did not attend the meeting. Instead, the empress Christina sat in his place.
At this time, Queen Christina had already revealed some of the majesty of a king, and her sharp eyes swept across the ministers at the conference table.
The door to the conference room was closed, the palace guards took their positions, and the protective shield was opened.
"First, let us welcome Princess Agatha and Viscount Falling Star back. They have returned from the West with a great victory.
It saved the empire from having to worry about the western border in the short term, saved the empire countless wealth, and saved countless young people from being buried in the yellow sand."
Applause breaks out...
Some people took the photos very hard, while others just took two photos perfunctorily.
When the applause stopped, Queen Christina said to Luke, who was sitting below Agatha, "His Majesty was very happy after reading the letter of allegiance sent by the nobles of the Western Territory. He has recovered a lot physically and mentally. He appreciated your contribution to the Western Territory and decided to give you the reward you deserve.
It’s just that some of the information is not detailed enough. Your Majesty really wants to know what you did in the Western Territory that made the nobles of the Western Territory make such a big decision.”
However, before Luke could answer, the eldest prince Fania, who was sitting on the other said in a bad tone: "Mother... you just said that the emperor's body and spirit have recovered a lot. Why did you say this morning that the emperor was not feeling well and didn't even see his favorite eldest son and eldest grandson?"
Queen Christina looked at Fania and answered slowly but with a sense of oppression: "I am only relaying your Majesty's will. It is not up to me to decide when your Majesty is feeling well or not. If you think I am lying, you can break into your Majesty's bedroom to verify it."
Fania said angrily: "Do you think I don't dare? It was Milscom that pulled me!"
Christina said, "Fanya... His Majesty needs to rest, so he said he would not see you. What do you want to verify by insisting on seeing His Majesty?"
Fania stared at Christina and said, "I am the son of my father, and I am the eldest prince of the empire. I have the right to know the true physical condition of my father, and I have the obligation to serve him.
Instead, it's you...
Why did the emperor suddenly announce that you would be in charge of state affairs? Why didn't he see anyone except you?
Even his son, grandson, and even his favorite Princess Daier were missing!
I need you to explain yourself here and now to everyone!"
