Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 333 Smooth Road

The two sat facing each other, leaning against the wall, speechless.

After a long while, Thales coughed and spoke softly:
"What's the situation up there—in Dragon Sky City?"

Raphael opened his eyes.

"It's terrible."

The secret agent's pupils contracted:
"Since King Nuen's death six years ago, the Meteorites' White Blade Guard has been drawing their blades with murderous intent, sparing no expense and frantically purging Dragon Sky City's underground intelligence world, practically turning the entire city into an impenetrable iron barrel. Even the secret rooms suffered heavy losses, let alone us."

"Now, with the disappearance of the Star Prince, the implications are far-reaching, involving war..."

Raphael's tone was heavy, his face grim, and the color in his red eyes unsettling: "Dragon Sky City is under complete lockdown. No one is allowed to leave, and every household is being thoroughly searched. I heard that the Meteorite is furious and is like a madman, searching the entire city, not letting go of any channel or information. He has imprisoned batch after batch of all sorts of suspicious people, including some high-ranking nobles, showing no regard for anyone's feelings or face—and the usually cautious Risban is even supporting him from behind the scenes."

Thales listened to the other person's story in silence.

"So it was really stupid of you to go to Rumba today and disrupt our plans."

"And forcing us to rescue you is the worst possible option."

Raphael's face was tense: "At least at this moment, everyone in Dragon City is on edge and in a state of fear... At least, in the hands of the Secret Service, almost all escape routes are unusable."

Upon hearing this, Thales let out a heavy sigh.

Seeing the prince's expression, Raphael cleared his throat and changed the subject: "But there is some good news: the day of the regency involves too many people, and the city is full of all sorts of people."

"Your disappearance raises suspicions that the various vassal lords under Dragon Sky City, the scheming Qi Yuan City, and the aggressive Black Sand Territory have all kidnapped you. Moreover, they distrust each other and are even hostile to one another."

"This will draw the attention and resources of Dragon City. It will take time and resources to investigate the Meteorites and Risban one by one."

"At other times, we might not have had such a good opportunity to risk our lives to rescue you."

Hearing the words of comfort, Thales managed a weak laugh.

The prince mustered his strength and asked, "So we're stuck here, unable to leave?"

Raphael shrugged: "Viscount Putila says he has a backdoor and is making contact..."

But before he could finish speaking, a third voice came from the dark passage:

"Soon, Your Highness, you will be setting off before dark."

Thales and Raphael stood up at the same time and turned to the other side of the passage.

There, a middle-aged man carrying an ever-burning lamp slowly walked over.

"Putilay!"

Thales' eyelids twitched, and he asked in surprise, "I haven't seen you since I came out of the hall... How are you?"

The thin Putilai smiled wearily, "Thanks to you, I'm alright for now."

“When Rumba appeared in front of the hall, I had a bad feeling... so I quickly slipped out to make arrangements.”

When Thales saw him, he felt his tense and depressed mood immediately eased.

Raphael chuckled softly, his eyes filled with an inscrutable emotion.

But Thales' expression immediately changed.

“Wait, you said I’d leave before dark,” Thales muttered, then gasped in surprise, looking back and forth between Raphael and Putila: “You, you’re not coming with me?”

Raphael and Putila exchanged a glance.

“Such a major event as the disappearance of Prince Star,” the Bone Man pursed his lips, his expression hardening, “wouldn’t it be highly suspicious if the Kingdom’s Secret Service remained indifferent and quiet?”

Raphael looked at the puzzled Thales and nodded:
“That’s right. Not only can I not leave, but I must also show myself immediately and anxiously search for information everywhere, just like a normal secret agent would do—it would be best if I were discovered by the Meteorites and locked up in a dungeon, so that I can better cover your escape.”

Thales was stunned.

He stared blankly at Raphael, who was dressed in white and appeared calm, speechless for a moment.

That's it.

"It's not just him."

Putila sighed and withdrew his hand from his pocket to take out his pipe:
"The people around you, including me, must also stay in Longxiao City and maintain the status quo. This is both to keep your profile in check and to continue gathering information until everything settles down and you successfully return home."

Thales pursed his lips.

Yes, he escaped.

but……

He has mixed feelings right now.

“Yes, Your Highness, although the arrangements are complete,” Putila smiled slightly, but to Thales, the smile appeared rather bitter:
"But you'll have to walk the rest of the road yourself."

Thales turned to Putila, his brow furrowing.

But Putila just watched him silently.

In the end, the prince suppressed his other emotions.

"Is that so?" He suppressed his extra expression and nodded indifferently.

“Besides,” Raphael said calmly, “who among the people around you could possibly know that you would be escaping from here today?”

"We have to consider the worst-case scenario."

Thales tried his best to dispel the gloom in his heart and cheered himself up.

“Nobody knows,” the prince pondered for a moment. “Aside from Ada and Jenard, whom we couldn’t avoid, I only gave Wyah some hints.”

Poor Wyman.

I hope you remember why I told you: no matter what happens, don't panic.

Fortunately, the perceptive Rolf must have sensed something before leaving.

“Very good,” Raphael said earnestly, “Are there any loopholes or threats?”

Thales turned his gaze and pondered carefully.

"Among Justin's men, four of the Grand Duchess's guards who are responsible for protecting me are specifically assigned to monitor my movements. Some of them may suspect Jenny, but it doesn't matter, I have destroyed all communications."

Thales shook his head: "One of the Grand Duchess's maids has a mission and has been eavesdropping on my conversations with the Grand Duchess for the past six years—such as when I said goodbye to the Grand Duchess this time. But it should be fine; she will think that I was saying goodbye because I was going to Black Sand Territory."

“The servant who cleans my room is an informant for Risban and Nicolai. He often sneaks through my books, letters, and even my scribbled notes when I’m not around, but I’ve checked and he hasn’t left anything suspicious.”

Thales continued speaking as he pondered, and with each word he uttered, the other two men's brows furrowed a little more.

“Ada told me that a Grand Duke’s bodyguard who was responsible for guarding the roof and had worked as a scout could use a reed to eavesdrop on my conversations with my men inside the house at night. So when he started eavesdropping, I would deliberately change the subject, and I have also rarely talked to them about my recent situation these past few days.”

“Nikolai and Jinx will judge whether I am abnormal based on my daily routine and habits, but for this reason, I have tried to act very casually in the past few years, whether it is my resting place in the palace or my daily routine. There should be no pattern. This time I came out under the pretext of seeing Rumba, so it will not arouse suspicion.”

"Lord Justin had a little notebook. Every time I went out to play chess, he would secretly observe my every move, who I talked to, my walking route, and even my movements while riding a horse. After the game, he would even come up and record the end of my chess game. Justin suspected that it was a secret code, but fortunately, everything I did in the chess room had nothing to do with this cellar."

"I can't think of anything else right now."

After Thales finished speaking, he looked at the two of them again.

Raphael and Putila exchanged a glance, both seemingly surprised.

This little guy spent six years in Dragon City...

How did you get through it?
In fact, Thales muttered to himself: That's not all.

Sigh, I might be able to publish a book someday titled "The Prince in the North: My Days of Outwitting the Meteorite".

Raphael coughed and said somewhat awkwardly, "It sounds alright."

Putila sighed almost imperceptibly, and nodded:

"very good."

"I've already made arrangements for leaving the city. I've used some friends' connections. Although it's not as reliable as having my own people, it shouldn't be a problem."

Thales hummed in agreement, but then he suddenly remembered something.

"And what happens after we leave the city?"

The prince frowned and said, "I can guarantee that after such a big incident, the roads south of Dragon Sky City are now full of checkpoints, with every thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy under strict guard." "The same is probably true for the Weilan Territory and the Black Sand Territory. To prevent me from returning to the stars, the area around the Dragon Broken Fortress will definitely be under martial law again—not even birds can fly over there."

How do I get back to Xingchen?

This time, Putila and Raphael exchanged another glance, both seemingly smiling.

“That’s right, Lumba won’t let you cross the Black Sand Territory freely,” Putila smiled and shook her head. “So, no, we won’t go south.”

"Not going south?"

Thales pondered for a moment, then said gravely, "Alright, other directions... going north is impossible unless I want to seek refuge with the orcs at the Quegur Glacier. So, either go east, trek a thousand miles, pass through Beacon City to reach Deer City, and then sail south to Star City..."

But when Thales was deep in thought, Putila simply raised a finger and flicked it lightly, interrupting him.

“No, we’re not going east, nor are we taking a boat,” Raphael scoffed from the side. “None of those.”

He said decisively, "Go west."

Thales was slightly taken aback.

"west?"

Raphael's expression remained unchanged as he continued to nod: "First, enter the territory of Qiyuan City, then head south to the Great Desert, turn east from the desert, and continue until you reach the Western Wilderness Territory of Xingchen."

and many more.

Thales retrieved from his memory a phrase Quaid often used to threaten them when they were beggars in the abandoned house long, long ago:

[You son of a bitch, tomorrow! Tomorrow I'll sell you, you little brat, to the Great Desert! To be food for the Bone People!]

"Heading south to the vast desert?"

Thales frowned, incredulous: "That chaotic desert teeming with sand bandits, thugs, criminals, and even the Bone Tribe and orcs?"

"That terrifying, bloody, complex, and dangerous desert, which even ancient empires failed to conquer, and which is full of all sorts of bizarre legends?"

Raphael didn't speak, he just stared at him intently.

The prince clicked his tongue, repeating the adverb three times: "That's much, much, much more difficult than heading south to Black Sand Territory, are you serious?"

Putila chuckled.

“Yes, Your Highness, you need to pass through,” the thin, middle-aged man sighed, “a part of that chaotic desert that 'once' was teeming with bandits, thugs, criminals, and even the Bone Tribe and orcs…”

Thales instantly grasped the key words.

His brain seemed to freeze for a moment, and then instantly reboot.

“Wait a minute,” he exclaimed, his mouth agape in surprise, “You mean—'once'?”

once?

No way.

That means—

A wonderful idea flashed through his mind like lightning.

Thales' eyes were unfocused, and his breathing began to quicken uncontrollably.

For a moment, his heart skipped a beat.

The prince suddenly raised his head, staring intently at the smiling Putila, his tone tense.

"Putilay".

"The Star Kingdom's army... two thousand cavalry or something, they unprecedentedly crossed the Blade Fang Dunes camp, traversed a small section of desert, and reached the border between Qiyuan City and the Free Alliance..."

Putila laughed again upon hearing the prince's words.

As Thales looked at his expression, he became more and more certain.

He finally asked in shock, "They're not going to support the Freedom Alliance, are they?"

Raphael snorted and turned his head away.

“Of course not,” Putilae picked up the conversation, his smile fading as he said indifferently, “The Free Alliance? Hmph.”

He shook his head and said disdainfully, "Since those people can't gain the friendship of dragons, what makes them think they can gain the friendship of stars?"

Thales widened his eyes to their maximum.

"So, the army of the stars, their purpose, they are, they are..."

Raphael shook his head and clicked his tongue in amazement.

Putila snorted softly and sighed, "That's right."

In that instant, Thales finally understood.

The army of the Star Kingdom...

they are……

they are……

"I see."

The prince leaned weakly against the wall and let out a sigh of relief.

At this moment, his feelings were incredibly complex, a mixture of sudden realization and sadness, as well as a belated sense of relief:
"I also find it strange that in Gilbert's letter, the usually decisive Ms. Ginny would so tediously instruct me to 'eat more bitter herbs from the Western Wilderness.' Ah, bitter herbs from the Western Wilderness, ah, the Western Wilderness, she means..."

Thales smiled bitterly, his voice strained, his emotions surging, and he couldn't continue speaking for a moment.

Putila looked at the prince's expression, slowly nodded, and continued his words:

"Yes, for over a month, thousands of Star Soldiers have set out from the Western Wasteland, marching northwest. As an unparalleled force in the desert, they have swept through the northeastern part of the Great Desert at any cost, and swept through the desert region between Exter and Star..."

He sighed deeply: "As for Qiyuan City, since Ronnie thinks we are going to interfere with his western expedition against the Free Alliance, then all his heavy troops will be deployed on the western border, guarding the direction of the Free Alliance, thus leaving him no time to attend to the east or the interior of the desert..."

Thales gently closed his eyes.

Putila's voice continued, still ringing in my ears: "And those soldiers of the stars, the reason they spared no expense, disregarded costs and casualties to venture deep into the desert, driving away and eliminating all threats from sand bandits, orcs, and the Bone Tribes along the way, and even forcing Qiyuan City to withdraw its forces, was because..."

"It is for you, the Second Prince, the heir to the kingdom in the North."

At that moment, Thales felt an indescribable heaviness in his heart.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

For me.

The troops marched westward, deep into the desert...

For me!
No one can understand how he feels right now.

"As long as we leave Dragon Sky City..."

Putila's voice remained calm, yet beneath his words lay a chilling sharpness, a unique edge belonging to the Shield of the Western Continent and the Star Kingdom:

"From Qiyuan City to the Western Wilderness Territory, whether it is the powerful Northerners who pose a great threat or the once insurmountable chaotic desert, whether it is an army, a checkpoint, a bandit, or an orc, all obstacles have been completely cleared away."

"Only the stars themselves remain, their army and banners, awaiting your return."

At that moment, Thales gently clenched his teeth, his face tense.

Putila said calmly yet with great composure:

"With tens of thousands of soldiers sacrificing themselves one after another, with countless officials working day and night, and with the nation's great strength as the stars gradually recover..."

"Your Highness Thales."

"From this moment on, your journey home begins."

"The road ahead is already smooth."

Don't doubt it, I am the real Wujian himself. I'm only posting two updates because I'm going out to play tomorrow.

It's not because of the extra chapters added by the donations!

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(End of this chapter)