Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 663 Attack from both sides
“You mean my brother and that wine merchant?” Hilly asked, her expression cold.

“Yes,” Thales nodded and calmly explained, “Dagorie Moss was a businessman who secretly worked for your brother. Of course, during this time, he also took advantage of the situation to embezzle and line his own pockets. Until the Secret Service approached him and used this to turn Moss against his own side.”

"I'm not surprised."

"And what I do know is that, next, Morse returned to Emerald City, found your brother, and offered to get close to me and become a double agent, but..."

"But my brother did something unexpected on the very first day: he arrested Moss in public," Hilly mumbled, puffing out a puff of smoke as he spoke, "and used him to smear you, accusing you of protecting a corrupt businessman?"

“Thank you for reminding me again,” Thales said, frowning. “But that’s the problem.”

"what is the problem?"

"Morse had just found me and hadn't even had a chance to do anything before he was arrested," Thales said. "Logically, wouldn't it have been more damaging to my reputation to arrest Morse and list his crimes after we'd been together longer and were closer? Why was Jenn in such a hurry to do it?"

Hilly's eyes darted around: "Perhaps my brother was worried that he knew too much about Emerald City, so he decided to strike first?"

"Maybe."

Thales wore a thoughtful expression:

"In short, this caught me completely off guard, and in order to stay in Emerald City with peace of mind, I had no choice but to reveal a secret to Jenn."

"A little secret?"

Thales nodded and said:

“I’ll tell your brother that Moss is a spy recruited by the Secret Service to sow discord between me and him. As for the fact that I was sent to marry you, it’s a plot by the king to take over Emerald City and annex the South Bank.”

Hilly snorted:
"So, you betrayed His Majesty and the Secret Service to clear yourself?"

Thales felt no remorse:
"This is for the greater good, they will understand, besides..."

"Besides what?"

Besides, you should see how they betrayed me.

Thales thought unhappily.

He shook his head and returned to the current conversation:
"After several days of probing, I have discovered that Janne is fully aware of the kingdom's situation and his own circumstances."

Thales' expression turned serious as he recalled what Jenn had said to him at the Battle of the Hill.

“As early as when the marriage proposal arrived at Kongming Palace, Jan had already guessed my father’s schemes for Emerald City and what Fuxing Palace was trying to do by sending me here.”

Hilly's expression remained unchanged, but his words carried a hint of doubt:
"you sure?"

“He went to Yongxing City specifically to thwart the ambitions of the Restoration Palace,” Thales said with certainty. “The worst time was when he almost killed two people at a royal banquet by simply sending them a sword, causing a huge commotion at the Royal Council.”

“That sounds like him,” Hilly nodded. “Wait a minute, but that means Jenn knew you were…”

“Yes, Jenn knows everything,” Thales said coldly. “He’s just been putting on an act with me all along, saying, ‘What? Your father wants to harm me? What? You’re against your father too? Great, Thales, let’s put aside our differences and cooperate!’”

Hilaire sneered, her voice filled with disdain:

"How many of the mindless stage plays from the Temple of the Night have you watched?"

Thales coughed awkwardly:
“If that’s the case, given Jann’s suspicious and distrustful nature, he must have suspected that the wine merchant had been turned by the Secret Service as early as when Dagory Moss approached him and asked to get close to me.”

“Therefore, my brother made up his mind,” Hilla pondered, “to arrest that wine merchant on the very first day he approached you, so that the Secret Service would not succeed and your reputation would be ruined.”

But Thales shook his head:
"too fast."

"What's too fast?"

Thales took a deep breath:

"Based on what I know of Jann, if he truly suspects Morse is a spy for the Kingdom's Secret Service..."

Hilly nodded slowly:

"Then my brother should have remained calm and played along. He should have let that wine merchant get close to you, let Morse pretend to report back to him, and let Morse act like a self-righteous spy?"

Thales agreed:

"Yes, so that we can know ourselves and our enemy, seize the opportunity, and make the most of every bit of value we can extract from Moss—for example, how the Kingdom's Secret Service plans to act."

Hilly narrowed her eyes: "It seems you know quite a bit about my brother."

“Not enough.” Thales shook his head solemnly.

Hilly realized:

“But my brother didn’t do that.”

“On the contrary, he arrested the wine merchants,” Thales nodded slightly, “and after Dagory Moss met with me, he had the Emerald Legion fully armed and publicly listed their crimes.”

“Then this piece is essentially useless.” Hilly squinted.

The prince said solemnly:
“Yes, even if Morse doesn’t die, he can no longer get close to me, nor can he appear in public, let alone generate more value or spy on the Secret Service’s operations.”

Hilly understood, her eyes shining:
"My brother, he abandoned his pawn too quickly."

Thales nodded, deeply suspicious:
"It's too fast for his character or interests."

“It’s so fast it’s like…” Hillay said tentatively.

“Yes,” Thales continued, his eyes gleaming, “sacrifice the pawn to save the king.”

----

“Our investigation has encountered obstacles.”

In Thales's lounge, Marius's brief summary made the prince's face darken.

“First, there was Kommuto. He tried, just like before, to contact acquaintances in the Security Bureau to obtain the case files on Dagory Moss and learn about his previous activities in Emerald City. However, after Moss died, the relevant case files were sealed away, and…”

Marius didn't continue speaking, but instead looked behind him.

Kommut coughed, stepped forward, and continued, somewhat embarrassed:
"What's even stranger is that my friend in the security department only tentatively mentioned it, and was warned by his superiors that he shouldn't ask questions. This scared him to death, and he refused to reveal any more information to us... I think it's probably very difficult to dig anything out of the security department now."

Clearly, someone doesn't want them to find the answer.

Thales, his face cold and expressionless, stroked the teddy bear in his hands:
"So, the trail went cold here?"

Marius turned his head away, while Wya stepped forward excitedly on the other side:
"Fortunately, Your Highness, thanks to the management regulations of Emerald City, the document filing system of each department is quite complete."

“Documents? Archives?” Thales narrowed his eyes.

Wyman nodded:

“There is a report file in the city hall: a few days ago, the Security Department blocked off an intersection in the Gold Rush District, ostensibly to search for a fugitive, but the signature was unusual. It was the Security Department Chief himself, and the timing was exactly the day after Moss’s arrest. The personnel sent were all security officers related to the Moss case.”

Thales' eyes lit up:
"So it must be related to Morse... But how did you know about this filing file?"

At this point, Wyman's smile faltered, and his voice lowered:
“There’s a new intern clerk at the city hall, whom I met at the dinner party. He is… He has an uncle who works in the capital, in the Foreign Affairs Department, so he’s willing to do us a favor.”

Foreign Affairs Department...

Thales fell silent for a moment: So, it's all thanks to Gilbert.

"Great, then what?"

“Morgan and Oscar Elson went to that intersection,” Marius continued, “the blockade has been lifted, but…”

The watchman looked behind him.

Oscar Elson stepped forward, cautiously eyeing the adorable teddy bear in Thales's hands, his voice trembling: "That's an area where wealthy gentry and merchants congregate, Your Highness, so the Security Bureau's searches must be reported to the City Hall, but the problem is..."

"That place has been 'cleaned up'," veteran Morgan couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up decisively, his voice filled with murderous intent. "The neighbors, the gatekeeper, the street vendors, and even the rickshaw drivers who often travel that road have all been spoken to. Everyone is tight-lipped about words like 'liquor merchant,' 'fugitive,' and 'arrest,' as if they're certain someone will come to inquire. Nobody is willing to speak."

“There are still people watching around the intersection,” Oscar Elson added, glancing nervously at Morgan. “They’re probably local watchmen, or even the Emerald Legion. We barely managed to shake them off.”

Screw you, Jan.

Thales sighed:
"So, the trail has gone cold again?"

“Not entirely,” Oscar Elson began. “One coachman said he recently drove a man who looked a lot like Moss and watched him go into one of the mansions.”

Thales' expression shifted: "Really?"

“Wait a minute,” Wyman couldn’t help but ask, “but you just said that everyone around was greeted, and no one was willing to speak?”

Morgan glared at him and snorted, "Yes."

Why was that coachman willing to speak up?

“It’s because we are polite and courteous,” Oscar Elison quickly interjected, “that we asked him in a gentle and polite manner before he would speak.”

Wyatt squinted at Morgan's arm:
"Morgan Vanguard Officer, why are your knuckles bruised?"

Morgan subtly concealed his hands and said coldly:
"I just practiced boxing today, against... a sandbag."

Everyone immediately realized what was happening.

“You mean,” Wyman asked skeptically, “to practice boxing in a civilized, polite, and respectful manner?”

Morgan's eyes were sharp as knives, brimming with murderous intent.
Have you asked enough questions?

“Anyway, Your Highness,” Oscar Elson quickly interrupted, trying to smooth things over, “we found out that, well, the mansion that Morse visited belongs to a wool merchant named Diop.”

"Wool merchant? Diop?"

Thales pondered for a moment and said:

"So, Morse visited this Diop, and then what?"

Marius nodded: "Mrs. Diop said that on the day Moss was arrested, her husband left home early but did not return for a long time and his whereabouts are still unknown."

The prince frowned immediately:

"The trail has gone cold again?"

Marius coughed softly: "That's not necessarily true."

“Alright,” Thales sighed, “which all-powerful Starlake Guardian is it this time?”

Marius glanced at his subordinates, his expression unusually...unnatural.

“Guard Danny Doyle, who learned through unconventional means,” the Watchman tried to recount truthfully, “that Mr. Diop has a mistress and another residence.”

Thales paused for a moment:
"You mean DD, what unconventional methods?"

Marlowe paused for a moment, seemingly blaming Thales for speaking out of turn, but he continued anyway:

"As far as I know, Mr. Diop's wife, she took a liking to Officer Doyle and was thus persuaded by him..."

He looked up to him with great favor...

Upon hearing this, the Star Lake Guards booed, "Just as I thought."

Thales squinted.

Everyone started chattering, their comments sarcastic and mocking: "I wonder how DD 'convinced' her..."

"Of course, with your mouth..."

"That's right, DD is very eloquent..."

"And where did you manage to persuade them?"

"In a warm, cramped bedroom?"

"Mr. Diop has no objection to this?"

"Mr. Diop doesn't know..."

"It's best not to know, right?"

"Silence!" Marius had to maintain order. "We're talking business!"

Thales rubbed his forehead, realizing what was happening:
"Wait, where's DD?"

“That’s what I was about to say. He and Vanguard General Golov volunteered,” Marius frowned, “to go ahead to Mr. Diop’s mistress’s residence to gather intelligence.”

These words sparked another round of sarcastic whispers among the crowd:
"Alas……"

"Why is he so eager..." "He's trying to steal the credit..."

"It must be because of that mistress..."

"Could it be that it's still because of Mr. Diop?"

"Then who knows..."

"But he also brought zombies with him..."

"Three people, it'll be more fun..."

"You mean a pincer attack?"

"And then there's Mr. Diop, so that makes four people..."

"Why do you like Mr. Diop so much..."

But amidst the cacophony of inexplicable discussions, Marius astutely noticed:

Prince Thales frowned deeply.

----

"Have you ever considered that the reason Moss was arrested so quickly is because my brother was too afraid of the Secret Service?"

Hilly questioned, "Instead of risking using this pawn, he cut off the Secret Service's hand at the root and nipped the conspiracy in the bud from the start?"

“Possibly,” Thales nodded, “but then he would be too slow.”

"Too slow?" Hilly asked doubtfully. "You mean, if my brother is so wary of the Secret Service, then he shouldn't have let Morse meet you at all. He should have silenced or arrested Morse the moment he became suspicious, to avoid any further complications?"

“Yes,” Thales said, “that’s what I don’t understand: if Jenn still wanted to use Morse, then he abandoned Morse too quickly; if Jenn was afraid of the Secret Service, then his arrest of Morse seemed too slow.”

"Perhaps his mindset is somewhere in between; he wants to use Morse to give you a hard time, but he's also wary of the Secret Service lurking in the shadows and doesn't want to give them a chance?"

“Maybe, that makes some sense,” Thales sighed, “until last night.”

Hilly exhaled a puff of smoke: "Moss is dead?"

Thales nodded.

“No matter who did it, the death of a sensitive Secret Service spy in his prison should have made Jann more vigilant and suspicious, and he should have pursued the matter relentlessly,” the prince said with a suspicious look. “But firstly, he instructed his men to fabricate evidence and even the time of the incident to cover it up, saying it was to avoid affecting the Contest. Secondly, after I discovered and pointed it out, he went along with what I said and tried to convince me that it was the Secret Service that did it, saying that Morse’s death was just a misdirection, and that Morse might have been used by the Secret Service to sow discord—but this was originally a story I made up a few days ago to gain his trust.”

“Unless Jenn did it himself,” Hilly frowned, “there’s something fishy going on with that wine merchant.”

Thales nodded in agreement:
"In this way, I have probably pieced together another version of the truth."

Thales gently rubbed his hands, his eyes shining:
"At first, Morse went to Jann and made the latter suspect that the wine merchant had been turned by the Secret Service. But Jann was confident and not afraid at all. Instead, he pretended not to know and used Morse to get close to me in order to gain the greatest benefit."

"But just as I arrived in Emerald City, Janne suddenly discovered that there was something wrong with Morse. This made your brother change his mind and decide to abandon the original plan, arrest Morse in the street, and even after he was imprisoned, he continued to pursue him to silence him."

Hilly frowned: "What's wrong with Morse?"

Thales shook his head:

“I don’t know. But since Jenn was able to let Morse approach me, he must have thoroughly investigated Morse beforehand. What made him change his mind must not be some old, rotten story, such as Morse embezzling or the wine business losing money.”

Hilly nodded knowingly:

"And it must have happened after this wine merchant arrived in Emerald City, or even before he came to find you?"

Thales nodded: "Exactly."

"It's the Kingdom's Secret Service."

Hilly hesitated for a few seconds, then said firmly:
"Whatever problem Janne discovered in Morse that caused him to lose his composure, it must be related to the Secret Service; that's the only explanation."

Thales agreed, and said solemnly:
"I think that in the matter of Morse, the Royal Secret Service and your brother may have already been exchanging blows in the shadows for several rounds."

Hilly seemed to remember something, and her expression changed slightly:

"Wait, so you've sent people to track down Moss?"

"They've already gone, right as we were talking."

“Bring them back.”

“Okay—what did you say?” Thales asked in surprise.

Hilly shook her head:

“If the problems with Morse really make my brother so wary… believe me, you won’t find anything out.”

"Are you sure?"

Hilly affirmed:
"First of all, you are outsiders. Given my brother's control over this city, none of your actions can be hidden from him..."

"Secondly, if your men are lucky enough to find some clues, that would be even worse. Given my brother's personality, he would stop at nothing and use any means necessary to..."

Thales frowned:
"What do you mean?"

"it means……"

Hilly took a deep breath and said seriously:

"Your men are in danger."

----

"We're too late."

In a luxurious mansion, DD followed Golov into a room filled with the smell of blood, the curtains drawn tightly shut.

"This must be that wool merchant named Diop, and his mistress. They've been hiding here all this time, until..."

Golov frowned as he looked at the couple who had been dead on the bed for some time.

Behind him, DD, pale-faced, leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths.

"Never seen a dead person before?"

“I’ve seen her, but…” DD gritted his teeth, forcing himself to look at the two corpses on the bed, “They didn’t need to kill her too.”

Glov calmly drew back the curtains, letting light into the room: Diop's expression before his death was one of utter terror.

"It's not 'they,' it's 'he.'"

"he?"

“This method was done by the same person,” Golov grabbed Diop’s wrist and examined it closely. “He subdued the target and broke his wrist, just like Morse in prison.”

"The only difference is that, to prevent the target from struggling, Moss was probably knocked unconscious and silenced, while this one..."

Looking at Diop's expression and then at the blood-stained sheets, Golov frowned.
"Diop was tied to the bed, unable to move, and could only watch himself bleed and slowly die."

Feeling life slowly leaving the body.

DD finally calmed down and resumed normal breathing:

"why?"

“If you ask me, it’s for interrogation,” Golov examined the wound, “in this situation, he’ll answer whatever you ask.”

"No, I mean, why kill him?"

"Like Morse, this wool merchant must know something."

"So, the trail has gone cold again? Your Highness is probably going to—"

Clang.

A muffled thud suddenly came from upstairs, startling both of them.

DD took a deep breath and lowered his voice:
"You just said we're a step too late?"

Golov stared intently at the ceiling, gripped his sword hilt, bent his knees slightly, and quietly stepped out of the room.

"It seems he hasn't left yet; he's still searching upstairs."

"what should we do?"

“There are staircases on both sides of the corridor. If you go left and I go right, we can attack from both sides and trap him upstairs.”

DD, who had followed him tiptoeing out of the room, suddenly changed his expression: "Really? What if he jumps out the window? Should I go call some backup..."

“He’s about to escape, we don’t have time,” Golov narrowed his eyes. “Perfect, think back, how much of your swordsmanship do you have left—now!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Golov started walking and quietly made his way to the side of the stairs.

"Oops!"

DD whispered, "Golfo!"

But since things had come to this, Doyle had no choice but to follow Golov's instructions and quietly step onto the other side of the stairs.

Dad really misjudged him.

DD pressed himself against the wall, taking steps while cursing inwardly:
Staying by the prince's side is no easy task; it's not just about "eating, drinking, and wasting time"!
He quietly went up to the second floor, where he found himself in a pitch-black corridor.

DD swallowed hard: I'm not afraid of the dark.

Just now.

"You've come fast," a strange voice rang out from behind the wall, cold, hoarse, and ominous, "Big guy, are you one of the prince's men?"

DD was startled at first, then quickly realized:

Oh no, the enemy has discovered Golov!
"Hmph, you cowardly coward," Golov's voice rang out, clearly no longer concealing himself. "Are you wanted and unable to show your face, or are you too ugly to be seen in public?"

Doyle quickly sped up to meet up with Golover, preparing to launch a pincer attack.

The enemy chuckled sinisterly:

"So, you're from the Royal Guard, right?"

But DD hadn't run more than a few steps when he crashed into a wall!

Fuck!
Doyle realized what was happening and cursed inwardly:

Once you go up the stairs on both sides, the two sides are not connected!
And Golov... is probably still waiting for him to "attack from both sides"?
The situation was urgent, and DD gritted his teeth and ran back the way he came!
Fuck you zombies! What a terrible idea, go to hell with attacking from both sides!
"How much did the irises pay you?" Golov asked from the other side of the wall.

“Enough.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of weapons clashing suddenly rang out, accompanied by Golov's roar!
Clearly, Golov has already engaged the enemy.

"Golover!"

Ignoring the risk of being spotted by the enemy, Doyle ran while shouting to warn them of his location:

"The Vanguard of Golova?"

Fortunately, Golov was probably the most skilled person around the prince, well, maybe with the exception of that Aaron?
But soon, the sounds of fighting stopped.

The roar of Golov was no longer heard.

DD's heart tightened.

"Golver?"

No way?
"Karen Grover?"

But Golov did not answer.

"Zombies?"

DD roared:
"Groof? A zombie alpaca!"

"answer me!"

Golov still did not answer.

Doyle grew increasingly anxious, and he rushed up the stairs that Golov had walked on, heading up to the second-floor corridor.

Rushing into the darkness and the unknown before me.