I'll also work hard to conquer the dungeon today.

Chapter 529, page 2.1-43: The Crown: The Treasure of a Lost Dynasty
"I was wondering why the King suddenly chose to have me accompany him here, but still didn't choose to remove my chains. Now I've finally found out. He wants to use Queen Skatech of the Underworld's 'Shadow Kingdom' to kill me, because he can't find a weakness that can kill me, so he can only rely on outsiders."

The so-called banquet of the gods was nothing more than a ploy to provoke the Queen's wrath. From the very beginning, the King's target was me; he was willing to do anything to kill me because my existence was an obstacle to him.

Mu Yegui glanced down at the golden chains binding her feet, her expression remaining largely unchanged. She was now bound by them, and she couldn't resist whatever this ruler of the underworld wanted to do to her. However, she was quite curious: could this ruler really kill her?

She remembered clearly that from the moment she made the pact with the Nightmare Book, her life was bound to it. So, after entering this instance, with her items automatically confiscated, could they really kill her without the Nightmare Book? Right now, she truly seemed to have no weaknesses.

Blood loss would at most weaken her but not cause her death, and under normal circumstances her wounds would heal in just one second. Unless she needed to inhibit the healing process, there was no possibility of her losing blood.

Lin Ya sighed softly. It turned out that what Wang had said earlier about not wanting to be disturbed by her was just a casual way of brushing him off.

“Generally speaking, when it is necessary to cover up the truth, there is always something to divert attention. After all, there has to be a suitable excuse to send someone away, right? He couldn’t just say ‘I’m going to kill you’ before letting you out. He should at least lie to others. What I said before was his message to the outside world.”

Mu Yegui didn't care about these things. She was thinking about the relationship between the king and the Queen of the Underworld. Did they reach a consensus, or did he really use her anger to get rid of her?

In truth, both are possible, since there's no rule that cooperation necessarily precludes betrayal. Furthermore, the dark creatures do have some connection to Skatech, given that those undead creatures did indeed originate from the Land of Shadows, the legendary underworld.

"Tír na nóg, she really dares to say that it's an eternally young land, forever youthful and full of joy. That queen certainly has the common ailment of divine arrogance." Mu Yegui narrowed his eyes and said coldly.

"With the gods fallen, that queen seems to have become even more arrogant. After all, almost all her rivals have disappeared, and she no longer needs to hide herself." Mu Yegui took a few steps back and stood behind Lin Ya.

"What's wrong?" Lin Ya asked softly.

“The underworld is far from here. If she wanted to observe closer, she would definitely stay in the nearest place. As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is the safest, and it’s also the easiest place to hide yourself. This arrogant queen must be in this city.” Mu Yegui looked down at his increasingly deep black mark and said slowly.

“If it is Queen Skatech, then the residents’ inexplicable weakness has a reason, and the brand on their backs could even be irrefutable evidence. Should we continue the investigation?” Lin Ya frowned and asked.

"This situation absolutely needs to be investigated. Not only must we continue the investigation, but we must also pretend we know nothing. Otherwise, neither the King nor the Queen will be able to explain themselves." She can't just sit back and watch the two fight; she will drag both of them down from their thrones.

"Aren't you afraid I'll tell the King if you tell me so openly? After all, I'm his most trusted priest," Lin Ya said in a low voice, lowering his eyes.

He didn't know how to face Mu Yegui. Her genes helped him perfect his genes, but they also completely separated him from humanity. He couldn't hate her, nor did he want to hate her, because in the beginning, he was the one who actively begged for her help; all she did was offer a mere act of pity.

However, because he had no way to hate or deal with Mu Yegui, he had already become disloyal to the king he was loyal to, and even his heart was getting closer and closer to Mu Yegui.

He struggled, but to no avail. He couldn't bring himself to oppose Mu Yegui; on the contrary, turning against the king, who was loyal to him, was as simple as drawing a dagger. "Your king has long since distanced himself from you. He trusts Bertias the most now," Mu Yegui said, glancing at Lin Ya.

"...I know, I even know from which day they started to distance themselves from me, but even so, I have no intention of trying to win them back. The admiration they once had has long since vanished without me even realizing it." Lin Ya gave a bitter smile; he didn't even know what was wrong with him.

Mu Yegui turned the two corpses over, straightened their clothes, and made sure everything remained as it was before.

"Because I removed the influence of the dragon blood on you and freed you from the king's control. That drop of dragon blood did make your power incredibly formidable, but it could also easily destroy you. That lewd dragon may seem frivolous, but he is actually more brutal than anyone else, distrusts no one, and only feels at ease when he has people completely under his control. Because I erased the dragon blood that controlled you, he no longer trusts you, it's that simple."

In fact, Mu Yegui did not tell Lin Ya that it was the effect of natural expulsion. Her blood was too domineering and would automatically devour all incompatible 'bad things', while the compatible ones would be replenished by it.

That's an innate ability of the Samuro race; they are born so powerful that they stand at the top of the food chain. However, there are advantages and disadvantages; the more powerful a being is, the harder it is for them to reproduce.

Aside from killing each other, even when they mated with other species during their mating season, the probability of reproduction was only 0.001%. In such a case, there was no reproductive isolation, because the law determined that they would become extinct.

Therefore, starting with her generation, Samuro no longer had gender or estrus cycles.

Races unable to reproduce are destined for self-destruction, not to mention that the laws also stipulate that they must kill each other when they meet, which further accelerates their demise.

The outside world is full of malice towards Samuro, but the laws here treat all living beings equally and accept everyone, making it feel more like home than the outside world...

The more she explored, the less she wanted to leave; becoming a part of this place seemed like a good idea.

Assimilation is becoming increasingly severe...

Lin Ya's expression was very complicated. Just as he was about to say something, Tia and her attendant came over.

"We haven't found anything else besides that. It's really strange. What kind of illness could make someone so weak for no reason..." Tia muttered. "It feels like their life force has been taken away."

Mu Yegui stood behind Lin Ya and silently tugged at his sleeve, as if to remind him of something.

Lin Ya took a step forward, frowning as she asked, "Life force stripped away? Why would you think that?"

(End of this chapter)