Volume 3: Artifacts Chapter 123 Preparing for the Wedding
After the meeting of the three giants of the empire, Queen Christina immediately ordered the entire Golden Shield Warrior development team to go to the Triumph Fortress in the Tedega Hills and notified Sinclair to prepare for the reception and protection.
Luke also ordered the two existing magic Titan test machines and support teams in Rage City to go to Triumph Fortress.
Clear Sky then sends a Power Rangers to Fortress Triumph.
A special operation against the World Bank branch in Tedega Hills is about to begin. In order to deal with the revenge of the Shining Gold People and to ensure the smooth wedding of Duke Nutao and the eldest princess, the imperial capital's defense level has been quietly raised by several levels.
Not only did the city garrison begin to assist in the city's security, but some new equipment that had been secretly developed and had yielded results was also placed in the palace and important buildings. In order to provide enough magic energy, the Raging Waves City Magic Laboratory also specially built a large element fusion reactor in Saint Lun City to meet the increased demand for magic energy.
Therefore, after entering the dark night, unlike the brightly lit Saint Lun City like the Raging Waves City, slowly rippling waves of magic energy can be seen above the entire city, like floating colorful ribbons.
After the Queen's coronation celebration, city residents once again entered into a carnival prelude.
Large quantities of supplies were supplied to the cities, and previously very expensive commodities dropped in price significantly, becoming something that ordinary people could afford.
The Western Province sent red wine and dried fruits.
Luke's two trips to the West completely won the hearts of the people in the West. With the completion of the railway from the Halmutu Basin to the Crescent Oasis, the closed West finally came into contact with civilized society. The Empire's comprehensive development of the West has made the residents of the West clearly feel the benefits. An increase of 100 imperial marks in income is nothing in the City of Raging Waves, but in the West it is twice or even 300 times the previous income.
All the nobles in the West who were oppressing them became lords of the residence, and a bright future was unfolding before the West. As the legendary story of the meteorite spread in the West, the residents of the West finally understood how they got their current life.
Therefore, after learning the news that the Duke of Meteorite was going to marry the eldest princess of the empire, the residents of the Western Territory spontaneously paid tribute to the empire, and sent carloads of local specialties to the city of Saint Lun.
The downtown area is also within easy reach.
The current downtown area is no longer the garbage dump it once was. After Luke placed the small commodity production center in the downtown area of Saint-Lun, the demand for labor made it constantly absorb bankrupts caused by industrialization.
This is not an industrial city and does not require so many skilled workers. As long as you have hands, you can find a job here that can provide you with food and clothing.
Now the population growth rate of the Lower City has surpassed that of Raging Waves City. It is almost certain that Saint Lun City will become the world's first megacity with a population of ten million before Raging Waves City.
This is not only a major event that can enhance the international influence of the Golden Shield Empire, but also represents the problem of industrialization leading to the unemployment of a large number of poor people at the bottom. Now Saint Lun City and Raging Wave City are like two big sponges that absorb a lot of water, turning rural population into urban population, allowing them to generate more value and still live a better life than before after being exploited by the empire.
If the unemployment rate drops, many social problems will be solved.
The former gang leaders in the downtown area have become wealthy businessmen, and their speech and demeanor are completely different from before. Their faces are greasy and their abdominal muscles have turned into beer bellies. When drinking, they don’t talk about where to kill people at night, but how much money they can make together.
The public security in the downtown area is now an absolute model area. If someone loses something here, before they even find the police station to report the case, someone will return the lost item. Generally, not only will they not lose money, they may even get more money (in the past, they would get more fingers).
The residents of the Lower Town all knew that the earth-shaking changes in their lives were brought about by the Prime Minister of Meteorite.
Therefore, as soon as the wedding date of the Duke of Nutao City and the eldest princess was announced from the palace, the Lower City District said, "We will take care of the decoration of the entire city. The Empire does not need to spend a penny. We guarantee that on the wedding day, Saint Lun City will be the most beautiful city in the world."
Millions of residents in the lower city worked overtime for the wedding without pay. They wanted to wrap ribbons around every tree in the imperial capital, install colorful lights on every building, hold colorful flags in everyone's hands, and give every child a gift with the blessing of the Duke of Nutao and the eldest princess.
Floats will fill the streets and balloons will cover the sky.
They all naively believed that the marriage between the Duke of Nutao and the eldest princess of the empire would make the position of the Prime Minister of Meteorite more solid and their own lives would get better and better.
There is also the empire's eastern coastal city belt headed by Nutao City.
This narrow strip of land considers itself as the fiefdom and actual private land of the Duke of Nutao. Since it is the Duke who is marrying the eldest princess of the empire, as a direct retainer, he absolutely cannot be stingy.
The Government Office of Nutao City offered 10 billion Reichsmarks as a gift for marrying the eldest princess, and promised to issue a commemorative coin with a face value of 100 Reichsmarks to all citizens of the Empire. The commemorative coin was funded by Nutao City and printed and issued by the Imperial Royal Bank.
Commemorative coins can be circulated and transferred, and are interchangeable with the empire's current currency.
The wealthy Nutao City is so direct and straightforward.
Other parts of the empire also presented gifts in their own way to express their blessings for the wedding.
Not long after, Her Majesty Christina, the Emperor of the Empire, came to the rescue again. She announced: On the wedding day of the Duke of Nutao and the Princess, the entire empire and all colonies... will be granted amnesty!
The enthusiasm of the entire city of Saint Lun was rising rapidly, changing at a rate that changed every day.
So when Princess Dale walked out of the train station, she almost thought she had gone to the wrong place and entered a city that only existed in fairy tales.
The ubiquitous colors impact the vision, ribbons, colorful lights, colorful balloons, even the stray dogs on the street are caught, washed, and then put on bows of different colors.
The streets were washed spotlessly clean and the air had a sweet smell of candy.
Everyone's face was filled with joy. Even the usually arrogant sheriffs and imperial spies became amiable and stood at attention and saluted before enforcing the law.
Just as Dai'er was staring at the suitcase, several plainclothes agents quickly stepped forward. A female agent took Dai'er's suitcase and whispered, "Dear Princess Dai'er, welcome back to the capital. We are taking orders from Her Royal Highness the Princess to take you to Rose Manor. Please follow us."
Other plainclothes agents pretended to be passers-by and were scattered around to keep watch.
Dai'er followed the female spy forward and asked quietly, "Did something happen? You look nervous?"
The female spy led the way, looking around cautiously: "Nothing special happened, everything in the imperial capital is normal. It's just that the empire has had some minor conflicts with the World Bank. In order to protect the empire's dignitaries, the Imperial Secret Service has set up a professional security department to ensure the smooth progress of the wedding.
There are many outsiders in the imperial capital right now, and a large number of them are foreigners attending the wedding, so Your Highness still needs to be careful."
"I understand..." The sensible Dai'er lowered her lady's hat, lowered her head and followed the spies.
They got into a car waiting on the roadside and drove quickly towards Rose Manor.
In the garden of Rose Manor, Agatha was carefully carving a clay sculpture. There were many spots of mud on her face, body and hair, but it did not distract her at all.
In order to prepare for the wedding, Agatha received a rare long vacation from Queen Christina. She really handed over all the work to her subordinates and concentrated on completing this work at home.
Dai'er arrived under the guidance of the lady-in-waiting. She was stunned for a moment when she saw the sculpture of Agatha: "As far as I can remember, this should be the first time you made a sculpture for him, right?"
Hearing Dale's voice, Agatha turned around and saw her sister, so she walked over and gave her a big hug, rubbing the mud on her body onto hers.
"This is indeed the first time I made a statue for him." Agatha took Dale's hand and walked to the statue: "But I seem to be too serious. This is definitely not all of him. You came just in time. Look at the details I didn't notice."
Dai'er looked at the sculpture in front of her and her eyes became wet.
She picked up the carving knife prepared by the female official and walked forward to make detailed modifications to the sculpture's face.
"You're right, seriousness is not all he is. Maybe you haven't seen another side of your father, and he won't let you see that side of him, but he occasionally behaves like a father in front of me."
The sculpture Agatha has been working on during this time is a full-length statue of Augustine the Great.
Augustine the Great had many sculptures during his lifetime, which were placed in the palace and squares in other parts of the empire. But none of them were made by his children...
While waiting for her wedding, Agatha could not help but start making a sculpture of Emperor Augustine. She made the image of her father come alive , but it did not look like a father.
It wasn't until Princess Dale took over the revisions that Agatha realized... that he really had a fatherly side.
"I'm so jealous of you, Dale. You don't know that even at the last moment of my death, I was just an imperial princess in his heart."
“Maybe it’s because I’m the most useless child.” Dale modified the eyes to make the sculpture’s gaze less sharp: “You and your brother have been working for the empire for a long time, but I don’t know anything.
Sister, when I entered the empire, I could feel that everyone was happy about your marriage to Prime Minister Meteorite. Everyone thought that you two were such a perfect match..."
"And you?"
Agatha's sudden question almost made Dale's carving knife go wrong. She answered in a panic: "Of course I think you two are a good match. One is the eldest princess of the empire, and the other is the duke of the empire; you are so beautiful, and he...he is also very handsome..."
Agatha hugged Dale from the back and said, "I'm sorry, Dale! Although I wrote you a letter, I still have to apologize to you in person.
Only when I am with him can I feel that I am not a princess and do not need to bear so many responsibilities imposed on me by my father. I can no longer leave this feeling. I am sure that he is the one I have been waiting for. "
Dai'er turned around and faced her sister who looked somewhat similar to her.
Now she no longer looks like a noble princess. Without the burden on her shoulders, she is just a sentimental girl waiting to get married.
"I know why you suddenly want to make a sculpture for your father. You want to get his blessing..." Dai'er smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about me. I came to your wedding just to bless you."
"Thank you, Dale. You were the only person in this world that I didn't want to hurt, but I ended up hurting you anyway."
"Stop saying things that make my hair stand on end. This is not my sister Agatha." Dale pulled Agatha to face the statue of Augustine the Great: "I think we should finish it together. I see my father, and you see your father as well."
"Okay!" Dale's answer made Agatha feel better. She picked up the carving knife and said, "How to make a person's two completely different faces appear on a sculpture is a great test of a sculptor's skills and emotions.
We sisters are probably the only ones in this world who can truly portray Augustine the Great through sculpture.
You stay at my place for the next few days, and we will definitely be able to finish it before the wedding."
Dai'er took the carving knife and spun the flower between her fingers: "Okay! I want to sleep in the same bed with you like when we were little. When you get married, I won't have this chance anymore."
"Ah?" Agatha didn't expect Dale to make such a request, but this was her sister's request, so Agatha had to agree: "Okay, we'll sleep in the same bed. I want to hear about your adventure in the Emerald Forest. You were the first to discover the headhunters, so that must be a very thrilling story."
"Of course, when I first discovered them, I had no idea how terrible they were..."
Agatha and Dale chatted while sculpting.
The female official serving on one side quietly withdrew, first sent someone to quickly clean the bedroom and put away things that shouldn't be there, and then sent someone to the Silver Manor to report the news.
"Princess Dai'er is back. Her Royal Highness the Princess has asked her to stay in the palace... the date is unknown!"
Luke, who was in the back garden of Silver Manor, read the note sent from Rose Manor and his fingers were burned to ashes.
Then he said to the tall and mighty visitor: "King Terran! I think I have made it very clear. Theresa knew that the Empire would take back the Silver Manor after they left, so she took away everything she could take away before leaving, and destroyed everything she could not take away.
Besides, so many angels have been busy for so many days and still haven’t found the artifact here. Can you find it?"
The Golden Dragon King Tyran knew that Luke was telling the truth. All the angels had run away without a single one left, so they must have gained nothing.
But ever since he learned that the angel was looking for the artifact in Saint Lun City, his heart has been as if it was scratched, and he would even dig a hole in the ground when he slept.
"I know that angels won't leave anything useful behind, but... I won't be able to rest easy if I don't look for it."
“You should be more aware of how many spies there are in Saint Lun City. If I let you enter the Silver Manor and search around, the angels will know that you and I know the information about the artifact.
If you believe in me, let me find it, and I will let you know when I find it."
The Golden Dragon King Tyran looked at Luke and said after a while: "I don't believe you, I only believe in King Taotie."
Luke said disdainfully: "What can that young dragon who can't even speak tell you?"
King Tailun replied: "I am talking about... the real Taotie King!"
