Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 515 My acting is pretty good, right?
On March 1, 1623, Prince Rudolf of the Basque Country returned to Madrid.
The reason why he stayed in America for more than half a year after executing Tokugawa Yoshinao was, of course, because His Royal Highness the Prince had cordial and friendly exchanges with various governors-general in America under the pretext of inspecting the colonies.
Of course, this kind of communication was superficial: eating together, hunting, watching performances, etc., just to get to know each other, and there was nothing more to say. The only deeper thing was that Rudolf held a large-scale military exercise in Lima, South America in November 1622, showing off his muscles to local colonial officials and natives: This is nothing, didn’t he say that he wanted to intimidate the Spaniards, mixed-race people, Indians and black slaves in America? Isn’t a military exercise the best deterrent?
In short, Rudolf himself felt that this trip to America was perfect: he killed Po Jun and confirmed his inner doubts. He also appropriately strengthened the relationship with the governors of various places, but did not go beyond the rules at all.
Very good, very good.
His Royal Highness was in a very good mood, and his mood became even better as he approached Madrid.
Because, this time when he came back, Philip held a grand entry ceremony for him. Starting from ten kilometers north of Madrid, the road was paved with flags and flowers. Countless people stood on both sides of the Avenue of Flowers, either spontaneously or in an organized manner, warmly welcoming this great hero who eliminated the invaders from the Far East and ensured the safety of the kingdom's American colonies.
"Welcome back to Madrid, Your Highness . Your achievements have spread throughout the country, and as time goes by, they will spread throughout Europe and even the world!"
"Hahaha, Prime Minister Osvalles, where is His Majesty?"
"His Majesty was originally planning to come and greet you in person, but Prince Louis had a slight cold this morning, so... His Majesty said that he would wait for ."
"Okay, there's a lot going on in America, and I need to report to His Majesty immediately."
As for whether to mention the truth of the game that Tokugawa Yoshinao told him after returning to Madrid, Rudolf thought after careful consideration that he should mention it, take the initiative to mention it, and immediately after returning to Madrid. Then after Philip's "explanation" that it was the enemy's words to sow discord, he accepted it calmly - this play was in line with the image of a "reckless man" that he had always created.
What? You said to stay in America and not come back to be an independent king? This option does not exist. Because when they were born, the birthmark on his belly was "Guardian"! This guard betrayed the king, first of all, the people and the army did not support him. Besides, compared with the Spanish mainland, which has established a nearly complete primary industrial system, what else does America have besides agriculture, mining and planting?
Therefore, the option of staying in America and not coming back never existed. The only option was to wait for the European-Austrian war and find a way to kill His Majesty the King by stray bullets.
The doors of the palace's rooms opened one by one, and Rudolf walked briskly to Philip's study without any hindrance: this was the place where he and Philip would hold closed-door meetings. The room was small and had a panoramic view. The roof was a suspended dome, so no one could hide. Therefore, in normal times, as long as the door was closed, both parties could say anything without restraint.
"Welcome, our great hero, you have successfully repelled the Japanese invasion. I heard that you even killed the Japanese leader with your bare hands? Hahaha, your fighting skills are amazing!"
"Philip!"
Looking at Rudolph's red face, Philip still had a strong scholarly aura and responded gently: "What's wrong? Dear Rudolph, what made you so angry?"
"I heard that the Japanese traveler..." Boom! Before Rudolph could finish his words, he suddenly lost all his strength and fell abruptly onto the thick carpet in the study.
Before Rudolf's consciousness finally disappeared, he only heard a cold voice: The system discovered that the host had exposed himself to the natives of this plane and will wipe him out!
This, how is this possible?
"Ah~" After a light sigh, Philip took out a pistol from the drawer of the desk, then walked closer to Rudolph's body, slowly and cautiously stretched out a hand, and tried Rudolph's breath. After confirming that the other party was not breathing, he reached out to Rudolph's carotid artery and felt it for a while.
After confirming that there was indeed a corpse on the carpet, he returned to the desk and pressed something that looked like a bell.
When this thing was pressed, there was no crisp ringing sound, but there was a slight snapping sound from the bookcase behind him. Philip walked to the bookcase and pressed a wooden block that had just bounced up. Only then did a small part of the bookcase turn slightly.
The turned bookcase was very small, but there was a person inside!
This was a pretty girl dressed as a maid, with a blush on her face. At this moment, after she came out of the mezzanine, she saw Rudolph lying on the ground. Before she could scream, Philip hugged her neck with his right hand from behind, and with his left hand, he pressed a handkerchief against her mouth and nose.
The girl was stunned by this sudden change, but it was only for a moment, and the feeling of suffocation prompted her to struggle desperately. But how could such a weak girl be a match for Philip, who was in his prime?
Slowly, the girl's struggles weakened and finally stopped.
After repeatedly confirming that the girl was completely dead, Philip put the girl's body back into the mezzanine of the bookcase and restored the mezzanine, then came to the body of Rudolf, whose body temperature had begun to drop.
"This mechanism is known only to the king and the crown prince who is sure to ascend the throne. There are two levels of the mechanism, and the most difficult one is the first one, because it misleads people's minds. Many people who sneak into this study see that it is a bell and think it is something to summon the waiter outside, so they subconsciously don't press it. Little do they know that it is not a bell.
This mobile bookcase has been treated with visual color deception and special material treatment. It is not easy to find in sight. Even if it is found, there will be no empty echo when knocking on this bookcase. After breaking the outer periphery of this bookcase, all you can see is the wall... This is used by the king for refuge in the most critical moment.
Hey, Rudolph, I really don't want to kill you so quickly in this way."
He stretched out his hands and straightened Rudolph's body, which was lying on its back. Then Philip struggled to carry the body, which was over 1.9 meters tall and weighed nearly 200 kilograms, a few steps and placed it on a chair.
Then he sat down on a chair nearby and said, "For more than 20 years, you and I have actually cooperated quite well. You have brought the country's military to a new level and are invincible on the battlefield. This has given me more energy and time to deal with many domestic affairs. Really, I am very grateful to you over the years.
However, you really shouldn't have contacted the time traveler from Osman. And you shouldn't have sent your Basque killer to sneak into my study to see if there is a compartment here after communicating with that person in Morse code... I am indeed just a history professor, and I have never dealt with spies before traveling through time. But don't you know that so-called historians have to learn everything and know a little bit about everything? There are black hairs placed in specific places in my study. Every day when I enter the study, the first thing I do is to check if these hairs have moved! Not to mention, since sixteen years ago, when you insisted on forming a killer organization, I had already sent people to infiltrate your organization...
That's why I allowed you to go to North America. I know that if you go to North America, the time traveler from Japan will tell you the truth about this game again. But the reason why the Lord made me the king and you the general is because the Lord believes that I can control you. Even if I can't control you, I can get rid of you in time.
...Hehe, you didn't expect me to kill you this way, did you? Well, come to think of it, I didn't know this system was so good at killing people. It took away a person's life directly without any scars. I thought it was a person that exploded completely. You see, I even prepared the manuscript for you to carry a bomb to assassinate me. Now, the great Prince Rudolf died of illness due to overwork. Perfect!"
Half lying on the chair, Philip looked at Rudolph's face, and finally saw an extremely surprised expression. After thinking for a while, he stretched out his hands to close Rudolph's eyes, and also "massaged" the muscles of Rudolph's face to make his expression look more gentle: "This girl, haha, I am Greedy Wolf, what should I do if there are always women approaching me? She thought she was caught cheating, so I let her hide in the mezzanine, and she really didn't make any sound. Haha, tying up a living person and throwing him into the mezzanine will inevitably make a sound. Only if a person is willing not to make a sound, you will not notice it... Ah, Rudolph, now the system tells me that your talent has been transferred to me! Hahaha~"
The hearts of time travelers are all lonely. People like Zhu Youdong are better off because he has been alone since childhood and is used to it. People like Philip, who had to get rid of Rudolph at this time, felt a deep emptiness in his heart... So, killing Rudolph only took a moment, but he spoke to the other's corpse for a long time afterwards.
But, I can’t say any more. If I continue, the remaining warmth of this corpse will completely cool down.
He stood up, patted his face, changed his expression, and pulled a book on the desk that looked like a book but was actually a machine. Suddenly, alarm bells rang loudly inside and outside the study.
After doing all this, he immediately threw himself on Rudolph's body in panic: "Rudolph, my dear Rudolph, what's wrong with you?"
