Monster Girl Development Master.

Therefore, Zhuang Sen was not surprised by the “spectacle” caused by his intimidation. He was more puzzled as to whether these guys really had no secret information left.

Just as Zhuang Sen began to wonder if he had given them too much medicine and damaged their brains, a tense voice broke the silence: "Sir, I just remembered something else, something I'm not quite sure about, but could we talk about it privately? I mean, it's not appropriate for too many people to know that news, and I'm really not sure about it."

Zhuang Sen looked in the direction the voice came from and, unsurprisingly, found it was Sister Mary, whose voice had quickly become hoarse: "Of course, Sister Mary."

The vengeful nuns stepped forward, removed Sister Mary's shackles, and escorted her to the adjacent dungeon. Dantalian followed with Johnson in her arms, and Lydia, Angela, and Mira also went after them, leaving behind a group of prisoners who didn't know whether to be thankful or desperate, walled up in endless worry and fear.

"Give her a glass of water and a seat." Zhuang Sen said, casting a [Heal] spell on Sister Mary to prevent her from being tormented by that sawing-wood-like voice, and also to prevent Sister Mary from suddenly passing out halfway through her sentence.

Sister Mary, who had been hanging up all day and was finally able to sit down and drink water, felt a surge of gratitude for Zhuang Sen's kindness and treatment. She carefully drank the warm water, let out a long breath, and Zhuang Sen didn't urge her, but simply watched her.

“Thank you, Your Excellency. What I’m about to say is best left unsaid to others.” Sister Mary licked the water from her lips and said earnestly, “This matter concerns the very foundation of the kingdom, and even more so the origin of the Church… if what I know is true.”

Zhuang Sen waved his hand noncommittally: "I have my own judgment, just tell me."

Then Sister Mary spoke up: "Patriarch... the reason Yelena is willing to support Prince Grean is because Prince Grean promised to allow Yelena to use the palace's secret treasure, and claimed that the treasure has the ability to change bloodlines! It can switch a person's bloodline to another bloodline!!"

Zhuang Sen's previously relaxed expression turned serious, his gaze sharpening like a dagger. However, this didn't seem suspicious, because upon hearing about the ability to alter another's bloodline, no one with that bloodline would remain unmoved. Zhuang Sen's reaction was already a display of considerable composure and shrewdness!

After all, he also possesses this ability.

Sister Mary continued, "At first, I didn't believe the news about this treasure, but since that day, Yelena has firmly stood on Prince Grean's side. She may not be very trustworthy in other aspects, but at least she is not a fool who can be easily deceived. Moreover, she has indeed always wanted to change her bloodline because she wants to become stronger, live longer, and regain her youth."

Sister Mary took another sip of water and finally said, "As for why I know this, one reason is that I was in the room when Prince Grean came to see Yelena, and I wasn't kicked out immediately; and although Yelena kicked me out before Prince Grean could produce the evidence, I still overheard part of their conversation. It seems that Yelena knew about the treasure all along, and that Prince Grean had used it before!"

Sister Mary's information was indeed astonishing, but what surprised Zhuang Sen the most wasn't the "secret treasure that can change bloodlines," but rather, "Could that thing be one of the three relics the system is looking for?"

When Zhuang Sen was granted the title of Earl, he unlocked the Nest function, as well as the fiefdom map and relic function. The system indicated that there were three relics to find. However, according to the system's guidance, the three relics were located in the north, south, and west directions of Leon territory, respectively, and were not within Leon territory itself. Therefore, Zhuang Sen was too lazy to go out and explore. After all, there were only directions and no distances, so who knew where they were?

However, the information given by Sister Mary made Zhuang Sen subconsciously think of the relics. After all, the ability to "change bloodlines" sounded too similar to the system's ability, and the capital city was indeed located in the east of Leon territory.

However, after thinking it over, Zhuang Sen realized that knowing this wouldn't change anything. He couldn't very well raise an army and march on the capital just because of this information; that would only make him a target for the Titan King. It was better to wait until he married Celine, and then use his status as a prince to enter the palace and see if he could get close to her.

As his thoughts raced, Zhuang Sen's expression remained unchanged: "Hmm, that sounds alright, at least it's reasonable... Fine, you can live, but you'll be spared the death penalty, though you won't escape punishment."

Sister Mary didn't understand the awkward expression in the last half of Johnson's sentence, but she understood that she could live. She immediately knelt down and said, "Praise be to the goddess, praise be to the merciful Lord Johnson."

Zhuang Sen shook his head and called out. The nun who had gone out earlier, led by Loris, pushed open the door and entered. She helped up Sister Mary, who was kneeling on the ground, and followed Zhuang Sen back to the dungeon they had just been in.

All eyes turned to him, and Zhuang Sen calmly delivered his final verdict: "Thank Sister Mary, you poor wretched creatures, you can live. But from now until this time tomorrow, you will spend your days on the streets, letting all the people of Leon know you pathetic spies... well, except for Sister Mary."

—That is, to parade them through the streets in public.

As for Sister Mary's extra treatment, one reason was to prevent her from being silenced if she went out, and the other was... Stockholm was still very useful. Even if Sister Mary didn't get sick, others wouldn't welcome her for enjoying preferential treatment, which naturally created rifts among these people.

Whether there are dates or not, we'll still take a couple of shots.

Chapter 194: Celine's Rebellion

While Johnson dealt with the clowns and the Farau family received yet another piece of bad news, Celine Anser arrived at the royal city, which she was neither loyal to nor hostile to. The Zhanxing Guards relaxed slightly, and one of them suggested with a sour tone, "Your Highness, now that you're here, shouldn't you rest?"

Someone immediately retorted, "Her Highness hasn't even arrived home yet, how can we let our guard down! We must escort her all the way to the palace!"

The first person to speak wore the traditional black chainmail and blue robe of the Zhanxing Guardians, adorned with flowing starlight. The second person, however, wore plate armor that was anything but traditional, bearing no resemblance to the Zhanxing Guardians' heritage. It was covered in gaudy patterns, and the silver and sky-blue cloak and robe looked terribly mismatched—someone was getting impatient.

Celine glanced back at the two guards, knowing that the Azure Star Guardians who weren't wearing [Rune Plate Armor - Earth Protection] were jealous of their comrades wearing it and wanted to quickly get them to change out of this novel, gorgeous, and incredibly powerful new equipment—after all, there was no danger in the royal city! Why are you guys dressed so smartly!

Judy spoke up at the right moment: "Alright! Shut up, all of you. Do you want me to help you recall the military regulations?"

When the captain spoke, the Zhanxing Guardians fell silent again. However, the ten Zhanxing Guardians, including Judy, who had changed into rune equipment, were all extremely arrogant. It seemed that if it weren't for the helmets restricting the angle of their neck movements, they could have held their chins up to the sky.

Although the Zhanxing Guards, as the royal guards, are usually proud soldiers, such arrogance is rare and naturally attracted many eyes. Fortunately, Celine and her party were carrying the royal flag, so no one came to cause trouble, and they arrived at the palace easily.

"You lot, come with me to see His Majesty the King."

Celine marked the few Star Guardians who had switched to rune-equipped gear, saying, "The rest of you can go and rest."

Amidst the envious and jealous gazes of their comrades who knew the truth, and the envious yet curious gazes of the others who were unaware, the Star Guardians, including Judy, followed Celine with their heads held high.

……

In the throne room, Baroque King Anser was discussing state affairs with his court ministers when a shout suddenly rang out from outside the door: "Princess Serene has arrived—"

King Baroo raised his head, his eyes flickering: "Oh, right, Celine said she would arrive today, but she's back so early. That's not like the lazybones she's used to... It seems she's really confident in her rune equipment."

When His Majesty the King spoke, the others naturally echoed him. The Kingdom's Marshal, with his white beard, laughed and said, "Your Highness is thinking of the country, which is why you care so much about military preparedness."

The marshal's words were very tactful; he not only praised Celine but also subtly addressed her concerns, preventing Celine from being implicated should the rune equipment prove faulty. After all, he was the marshal, a proponent of war, and a loyal ally of Serafina.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer—Prince Grean's ally—was about to launch an attack when Celine strode in. Her specially painted fiery red plate armor, adorned with dragon scales, exuded a majestic and imposing aura, fully showcasing the [Dragon's Might] she possessed after awakening her bloodline. This instantly stunned the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who possessed only a level three bloodline and was completely unprepared. Moreover, no one noticed this; they simply felt that Celine looked quite imposing in this attire.

If Princess Serafina dressed like that... the marshal subconsciously thought.

Unlike his ministers, Baro didn't have as many inner thoughts. He simply looked at his youngest daughter and laughed, "You actually brought ten fully armed warriors to my throne room, Celine. Are you planning a rebellion?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd. No one thought Baroo was serious. Even if there were a hundred times more, Princess Serene and ten Star Guardians, they still wouldn't be a match for the Titan King!

Celine pouted and put on the helmet she had been holding: "Hmph! You old bastard! Today I'm going to take your throne!"

Baroo chuckled: "Letting you sit down isn't out of the question, as long as you're willing to listen to your mother and quickly find a good man... Wow?"

Baro reached out and caught the flying flame blade. His seemingly unremarkable skin was unharmed, but a piece of his magnificent royal robe was ignited by a spark.

"It's real flame? This is high-grade magic iron equipment? No, it looks like ordinary material..."

Baro looked curiously at his daughter who had drawn her sword in "rebellion": "Come on, let me see what other tricks she has up her sleeve?"

Celine snorted and waved her hand: "Everyone, proceed according to plan!"

The Zhanxing Guards paused for a moment, and only after the Grand Master standing behind His Majesty the King nodded in approval did they draw their swords and join Celine's ranks, pointing their rune-inscribed longswords at Baro.

"flame!"

"Frost!"

"Gale!"

"rock!"

"Thunder!"

"Highly poisonous!"

"dark!"

"die!"

"fear!"

The nine Azure Star Guardians simultaneously shouted out the trigger words for their weapons, and their rune swords ignited with distinctly different lights. With extremely exquisite skills and perfect coordination, they launched a joint attack on Baroo, assaulting him from nine directions in an instant. This was a brilliant teamwork that allowed them, as first-level bloodline users, to fight against second- or even third-level bloodline users.

Of course, this was still too easy for Baroo, for the Titan King.

Without even using any abilities, relying solely on his overwhelming physical attributes, he easily launched a powerful attack on the nine Zhanxing Guardians, dodging their attacks with lightning speed and landing a punch on their new armor.

As he anticipated, this attack wouldn't kill his loyal Zhanxing Guardians, but it would send them flying and leave them with injuries enough to confirm their defeat. However, as his fist landed, a surge of power suddenly erupted from the seemingly overly ornate but ultimately useless armor, weakening the attack controlled by Baruo by nearly 80%!

Thus, the nine punches in that instant not only failed to send the Zhanxing Guardians flying, but instead left Baroao wide open.

Just then, Judy's voice came from afar: "Annihilation!"

A deep, dark light rose from the runic longsword, and Judy, wielding it, appeared like an elf in the shadows, instantly moving from Celine's side to Baroo's side, thrusting her sword at the king's right hand, which had just exhausted its strength.

With a tearing sound, the magnificent royal robe was ripped apart, and a gash was torn in the Titan King's body, which was as hard as steel. Golden blood, solidified like iron beads, dripped out, one drop, two drops, hitting the smooth, mirror-like marble floor of the palace, and seemingly hitting the hearts of every other onlooker.

The Titan King was actually injured by a level two bloodline user and a Zhanxing Guardian.

Chapter 195: Official Announcement

"His Majesty!"

In the silence, Judy didn't even have time to sheathe her sword before she immediately knelt on one knee, ready to apologize and accept punishment. But Baroo simply waved his hand casually: "It's not your fault, I was too careless."

Given the strength of the Titan King, Judy's [Annihilation] could not possibly have harmed Baroo. However, in order to avoid harming his loyal Star Guardians and Little Cotton-padded Jacket, Baroo not only did not use his abilities, but also actively suppressed the effects of some of his passive abilities. Otherwise, those nine punches just now would have killed all nine guards.

Of course, the most important thing is that Baroo himself was indeed careless and let Judy's attack run free. Otherwise, he could have easily dodged in time or used his ability to withstand the attack and avoided getting hurt.

But then again, the fact that a level 2 bloodline user could injure a level 5 bloodline user who had awakened five times with a non-magic iron longsword shows that this weapon is definitely a divine weapon, and it seems to be mass-producible... The Kingdom Marshal's eyes were already shining.

Celine put away the longsword she hadn't even used and said with a smug look, "See, Father? I was right in my letter, wasn't I? Count Zhuangsen's work is far superior to magic iron equipment. Most importantly, such a longsword only costs three hundred gold coins."

Actually, the cost is only thirty, and even if you include Nia's precious labor, it's only about sixty gold coins, because the material is just ordinary steel, and the only troublesome process is engraving runes.

This "extremely low" price once again shocked the ministers present. Even Serafina's icy beauty softened slightly. As a female general who was passionate about battlefield military affairs, she saw the broad prospects of these rune equipment at a glance. However, after using the expensive price of magic iron equipment as a reference, she regretfully gave up her idea. The price was actually so low.

Baro immediately clapped his hands: "Contact Earl Zhuangsen, I want to purchase ten thousand pieces!"

The Chancellor's face stiffened, and he was about to persuade her when Celine's face turned dark first: "No, Father, I've already pre-ordered all of Earl Johnson's production. I'm going to equip all the Red Dragon Guards with this kind of gear!"

Celine launched her third attack, but after the shock of the first two, the crowd didn't seem to think much of it. It was just that Princess Celine had intercepted His Majesty Baro, but anyone who didn't know better would have thought that Princess Celine and His Majesty Baro had fought in the throne room.

But unlike the others' indifference, Serafina noticed a serious problem. Even before Baro could speak, she directly questioned Celine: "How could Earl Johnson agree to let you take all his goods?"

Celine's lips curled into a wild smile as she dropped the final bombshell: "Because I agreed to marry him, he's willing to support you now, Serafina!"

Even with the groundwork laid in the previous three times, from King Baroo and Princess Serafina down to the Zhanxing Guards and palace maids standing by, everyone felt as if their brains had been strengthened, causing confusion and dizziness. They even began to doubt whether they were dreaming and had not yet woken up.

The most favored princess went out to bestow the title of earl, but when she returned, she said that she wanted to marry the newly enthroned earl, and that her purpose was to support the eldest princess in her struggle for the throne. She said all of this in front of His Majesty the King.

In other words, the people from the other world didn't know the story of Xuanwu Gate, otherwise they would probably have a distorted feeling like "Li Shimin said he wanted to stab Li Yuanji to death in front of Li Yuan." But similar situations do exist in other worlds, so they still clearly understood this very, very crazy feeling.

But this is only one part of the plan.

Whether it's publicly promoting the rune equipment or announcing her relationship with Johnson, these are all plans that Celine and Johnson have discussed, and so far, the plan is progressing as expected.

This series of bombshell announcements will inevitably attract everyone's attention. Compared to the cheap yet powerful weaponry of rune equipment, the explosive news of the most beloved princess arranging her own marriage will overshadow everything else, such as the Bloodline Order and the conflicts in the Earl's Territory, giving Zhuang Sen a lot of time.

And importantly, Celine had no intention of having a secret relationship with Johnson; she wanted to openly declare their relationship to everyone. Furthermore, a sixteen-year-old count with real power and the kingdom's intelligence minister was more than a match for a princess whose bloodline hadn't awakened. This is why Celine didn't engage in physical combat with Baruoo before, but instead posed on the edge—to avoid being discovered that she had already awakened her bloodline.

Meanwhile, given Celine's relationship with Johnson and Celine's preparation to re-equip all of Serafina's personal guard, the Red Dragon Guards, Serafina could easily justify sending a large army to Leon, effectively buying a significant amount of time. Once Her Highness wields her copper-headed leather belt and whips the Bloodline Order into a frenzy, further exposure becomes irrelevant—isn't that a huge achievement?

Moreover, Celine has further plans. Although everything is very high-profile now, it is actually a case of first suppressing and then elevating.

Of course, such a shocking fact will not be accepted by everyone, and the first to object will be...

"Stop messing around, Celine. I don't need the support of a scumbag who's after a little girl's body!"

Princess Sera Fina, the sister-obsessed princess, was furious. Her icy, aloof beauty crumbled like an avalanche, revealing a chilling rage.

While others dared not provoke the red dragon, Celine was not afraid at all: "Sister, don't be silly. Zhuang Sen is two years younger than me. I had to force him to agree to this. If you don't believe me, ask Judy."

Judy's muscular body trembled beneath her armor, but since Celine was her master, she could only nod and try to remain calm as she met Serafina's almost murderous gaze. "Indeed, it was Her Highness who first proposed a marriage alliance to Earl Johnson."

—Although Count Johnson had already shown his bestial desires towards the princess before that.

As Judy, the assist leader, thought to herself, she had successfully severed ties with the past.

Serafina was momentarily speechless. She wasn't good at speaking to begin with, and facing her younger sister Celine, she couldn't use any intimidating tactics, so she could only remain silent. Celine then continued, "Besides, Johnson is only sixteen years old and has already become an earl, as well as the kingdom's intelligence minister. Now he's invented rune equipment, something that can change a country's military strength. If I don't choose him, should I choose an old man in his forties, fifties, or sixties, or those useless people who haven't even completed their third awakening and only know how to play with maids at home?"