We are from the future ark

Chapter 176: Cooperation and Concern

"See? This is the current state of the palace."

At night, after a grand banquet in celebration of the princess' safety, the emperor pretended to be drunk and slowly left. The civil and military officials were also drunk and were carried out one by one. In the bedroom, the emperor immediately regained his composure and spoke to Chen Qi and his party.

"Yeah." Chen Qi, Lin Dong, Zao Lu and the others nodded. The situation was very clear.

"The reformists and the aristocrats hold their own opinions, which are difficult to reconcile, and they continue to expand their influence..."

As a former noble, Zaolu's political sense did not deteriorate after joining Rhodes Island. On the contrary, after arriving at the palace, Zaolu almost used her political sense to the extreme, fearing that she would miss anything.

Zaolu knew that the struggle between politicians required a high degree of mental concentration, and the slightest mistake could lead to fatal disaster.

"Why don't you chop off all those nobles?" However, in contrast, Winter seemed very determined. He frowned slightly and said to the emperor:

"You are a reformist, right? And you are the emperor, right? Why can't you remove all those who oppose you?"

"I have always wanted to, but we can't do this." The emperor was amused when he heard this, and said to Winter: "The noble faction has stood firm in the Ursus Empire until now. Although several families have changed, their foundation is immeasurable."

"For the empire to function, it cannot do without the support of the nobles. These nobles are an inexhaustible source of funds and it is impossible to completely eliminate them."

"Then rob their homes." Hearing this, Lin Dong frowned slightly and said without hesitation: "Replace them from inside to outside with your own people. In this way, you can completely control the resources of the nobles."

"..." Lin Dong's words shocked the emperor. He didn't expect that such unimaginable words would come from the mouth of a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old.

"... Considering your young age, I will not pursue your wrong words this time. But if you don't want to lose your head, shut up and don't say such things again."

In the end, the emperor could only say this indifferently. He shook his head and finally turned his gaze to Chen Qi. He slightly straightened his face and said, "So, what do you think?"

"…Your Majesty, I have no interest in the internal struggles of the Ursus royal family."

However, Chen Qi smiled slightly when he heard this, waved his hand and said: "As I said, my goal is your biggest crisis right now. Obviously, the fight between the nobles and the reformists is not what bothers you most right now."

"But the noble faction is mostly people recruited by the Grand Marshal." The emperor's eyes turned cold when he heard this, and he said abruptly: "If you can't stabilize the noble faction, the Grand Marshal will definitely notice the clues. By then, where will you get a chance? Where will I get a chance?"

"Besides, this is the imperial palace. I am your king. You should speak as I ask you to."

"…Your Majesty, as I said, I have no interest in internal fighting. There is nothing to talk about."

Chen Qi also waved his hand upon hearing this. Then, facing the emperor's serious expression, he smiled and continued:

"But if you want to conceal your identity, I have a way."

"Oh? Can you tell me about it?"

"It's very simple." Chen Qi raised a finger, pointed at Lin Dong and Zao Lu, and smiled faintly: "As long as we are in opposition, we will appear extremely inconspicuous."

"To be specific, let Sonya (Winter) infiltrate the reform faction, and then let Natalia (Zaolu) infiltrate the aristocratic faction. Both sides hold their own opinions and become opponents. It is best if the quarrel is as fierce as possible."

"In this case, the two sides will be against each other and no one will pay attention to them. They will be accepted as companions by their respective 'factions', and I will become the most isolated 'pro-royal faction'. By then, I will be completely isolated and gradually fade out of everyone's sight because of my weak strength."

"This way, the influence of the three of us will be reduced to a minimum, and we will blend in as if nothing has happened."

"..."X3

However, Chen Qi's words made the three people present silent. Lin Dong and Zao Lu looked at each other. Just now, Chen Qi made them quarrel and confront each other, which made them seem to understand.

However, the emperor understood and also thought about the pros and cons behind it.

"This plan... is brilliant." Upon hearing this, the emperor nodded solemnly and muttered to himself, "In this way, the nobles and the reformists will continue to maintain a balance of confrontation, thus concealing their tracks. In addition, I will not be noticed and will not arouse anyone's suspicion."

The more he thought about it, the more the emperor felt that this strategy was very effective. After a few gleams of light flashed in his eyes, he turned his head to look at Chen Qi beside him and couldn't help but say:

"This strategy is simple, but very effective, and it won't leave any traces."

"What a pity, you are a foreigner. If you were Ursus, I would have let you study in the Ursus royal family. You would be a natural politician."

"Your Majesty, I am not worthy of this. What I dislike most is politicians." Chen Qi waved his hands, revealing a helpless expression. The emperor was slightly stunned when he heard this, and after a long while, he almost laughed.

However, after almost laughing out loud, the emperor thought of something again, looked at Chen Qi's face, and a trace of fear flashed in his eyes.

...Luckily, he is not a politician. But even if he is not a politician, such political acumen is enough to be a threat.

Such a smart person is not from Ursus... What a pity.

"To put it simply, it means that I have to quarrel with her, right?"

However, Lin Dong did not understand what the two were saying in sign language, and asked Chen Qi impatiently, "But how should we quarrel? Should we just yell at each other and drive each other away?"

"Don't be anxious. It's not the right time yet. We haven't even touched the door of the Reformists and the Aristocrats yet. If we go in now, I'm afraid we will be kicked out by the others."

Chen Qi smiled and shook his head, then turned his gaze to the emperor beside him and said with a somewhat mysterious smile: "But I think His Majesty the Emperor should have a way to make the status of the two of you rise?"

"…This matter is very simple."

However, the emperor nodded upon hearing this, looked at Lin Dong and Zao Lu, and said calmly: "You two, there is no need to show your conflict now. It would be best if you could be like real sisters and be inseparable."

"Wait until I make some moves, and then you will find that the nobles and reformists will come to you on their own."

"Then it will be time for us to put on a good show."

As he said this, the emperor couldn't help but reveal a smile at the corners of his mouth, and coincidentally, he let out bursts of cold sneers just like Chen Qi.

On the other side, after looking at each other, Lin Dong and Zao Lu felt a little cold unconsciously, as if they had fallen into a trap in an instant.

As expected... politicians are so dangerous... At this moment, Lindong and Zaolu truly agree on this issue.

……

Even late at night, the guards in the palace were still not relaxed, especially on this day when many ministers came. Therefore, the defense measures here were layered and extremely strict.

But at this moment, there is a black shadow that constantly shuttles through the night and blends into the night, just like a black cat, swift and without leaving a trace.

Even moving through the heavily guarded palace was extremely difficult, but this did not seem to hinder that figure.

The black figure dodged and hid all the way, constantly shuttling through blind spots without leaving a trace, relying on the increasingly close sense of proximity, and continued to move closer to the target.

"Snapped."

"!" The black shadow's body suddenly trembled, and he subconsciously attacked the person beside him. The next moment, only a dull collision was heard.

However, after this sound, the black shadow looked at the figure behind him who was holding him, and his heart paused slightly.

"...Sister Jessica, please be gentler next time. If it were me in the past, I would have been knocked unconscious by you."

Chen Qi looked at the black shadow in front of him that had hidden him very well, touched his neck which had just been hit hard, and spoke in a helpless tone.

Chapter 177: Jessica's tenderness, I hope you can take me out of the darkness

"——Why are you here?"

"This is my problem, okay." Chen Qi grabbed Jessica's wrist, then suddenly sensed something and quickly pulled her aside.

"Shh...be careful."

"Woo." Jessica was suddenly pressed against the wall. Looking at Chen Qi who was very close to her, her breathing became less smooth for a moment, but she knew that this was not the time for her to be impatient.

Suppressing the pounding of their hearts and holding their breath, Jessica and Chen Qi remained extremely calm and composed, quietly waiting for the patrolling servants in the palace to pass by.

"It's a bit strange that there are three outsiders here today."

"I heard that His Majesty is going to reward them? It's clearly their first day in the palace, and they haven't done anything."

"Don't talk nonsense, or you'll get chopped off."

...I accidentally heard such a conversation between the servants. However, after a long time, silence finally returned. Chen Qi and Jessica slowly distanced themselves and looked into each other's eyes again.

"...What are you doing here?" Chen Qi looked at Jessica and asked calmly. Because Jessica was only 147 cm tall, the two of them were very close at the moment. Chen Qi could only look down at her and said:

"The palace is heavily guarded. How did you get in?"

“…No matter how strict the environment is, you can’t hide from me.” Jessica hid her hair behind the black hood, raised her head slightly and looked at Chen Qi, and said lightly: “I just don’t want to do this normally.”

"So, what do you want to tell me?" Chen Qi was quite helpless when he heard that. He knew that Jessica had a stubborn personality. If she really wanted to see Chen Qi, then no matter how difficult it was, she would try her best to come here.

Even though this was a heavily guarded palace, it could not stop Jessica's agility when she acted alone.

"...You, Zaolu, and Operation Winter are too dangerous."

Jessica looked at the unhurried Chen Qi in front of her, and felt a little anxious for no reason. She was worried about his safety, but he was so calm, as if he didn't know he was in danger.

However, since he was the comrade-in-arms to whom she had entrusted her life and death, Jessica still had to give Chen Qi some advice.

"The Ursus Palace... Even if we killed Makarov, it was just luck. We never tried to kill anyone in the palace because it was almost impossible."

"This palace, with such a large number of attendants and guards, is enough to put us through a tough battle. Moreover, do you think that the emperor doesn't have some 'emperor's inner guards' hiding in the dark around him?"

"We still don't know the number of Ursus's 'Emperor's Guards', but as long as there are more than three of them, you, Rin Dong, and Zao Lu alone will not be able to protect yourselves in the palace."

"...Chen Qi, I don't know what kind of plan you suddenly made before this, but you are now in the palace, it is too dangerous, I can't just sit there and watch."

"...Are you worried about me?" However, after Jessica said so many words, Chen Qi was stunned for a moment, and asked back with a strange look on his face.

"What—" Jessica's face froze subconsciously when she heard that, but then she immediately lowered the brim of her hat, suppressed the trembling in her heart and said, "Don't be so serious, I'm talking about serious matters!"

"You are in a very dangerous situation now, Chen Qi. I don't care what plans you have, but you must ensure your personal safety."

"...I'm safe now." Chen Qi smiled unconsciously upon hearing this, and said to Jessica with a little surprise: "There is probably no place in this world safer than where I am now. The Ursus Palace, I think, except for someone like you, Jessica, there is no other person who can sneak in without leaving a trace."

"Are you really stupid or just pretending to be stupid?" Jessica was almost mad with anger. She resisted the urge to beat up the person in front of her and said impatiently:

"The Ursus Palace is in dire straits, and the inner guards are everywhere. If you continue like this, and die here one day, we won't even be able to receive any news."

"So many eyes are fixed on the Emperor of Ursus. If you approach the Emperor like this, aren't you walking into a trap?"

After a long conversation, Jessica calmed down a little. She grabbed Chen Qi's sleeve and said to him very seriously, "Be obedient and follow me. Take Lin Dong and Zao Lu with you. We will leave together."

“It may be a little troublesome, but I will definitely take you out, wuwuwuwu——?!”

The next moment, Jessica was speechless. A slightly rough hand suddenly covered her mouth. She subconsciously wanted to resist, but after realizing that it was Chen Qi's action, she quickly calmed down.

"——When did you lose confidence in me?"

At this moment, Chen Qi, who was covering Jessica's mouth, showed a bitter smile on his face. In the dark night, he saw Jessica's eyes looking at him. After a moment of silence, he said to Jessica lightly:

"Jessica, we have fought side by side more than once. When did you feel that I was someone who would take action and make plans without certainty?"

"When was there any time when I didn't make plans for you and I made plans for you, and when did our operations fail?"

"..." Jessica was silent for a while. Although it might be because Chen Qi covered her mouth, Chen Qi's words did calm Jessica down.

What Chen Qi said was right. Formulating battle plans was not Jessica's forte. She could infiltrate, spy, assassinate, poison, perform ultra-long-range sniping, hack and other tasks, but commanding battles and formulating plans were not Jessica's forte.

Jessica is good at acting alone. Her incredible mobility on the battlefield makes it almost impossible for anyone to keep up with her pace, not even Chen Qi.

As long as it was a plan made by Chen Qi, Jessica would carry out the task no matter how difficult it was, and complete it successfully. This is how the trust between the two was established.

But this time...it’s not that Jessica has no confidence in Chen Qi, but she is really...uneasy.

After all, the person they wanted to assassinate this time was the Grand Marshal of Ursus - Makolov.

And this Grand Marshal has another meaning to Jessica - it was because of him that Senior Razer and Senior Franka died tragically in the cave of the Originium mine during the mission.

Back then, when Jessica dug the two girls out of the Originium cave, she only saw two bodies hugging each other, and... two people's heads pierced by Originium bullets.

That was a lifelong psychological trauma for Jessica, and also the biggest transformation in her life.

Did Jessica hate Markov? Of course she did. But besides hatred, what Jessica didn't know was that she also had a hidden fear.

Even though he had killed Makarov once with his own hands, the situation now was different from before. Makarov's power was now at its peak, and he was almost only one step away from controlling the entire Ursus. He was a marshal in his prime, and this was an existence that made people feel fearful just thinking about it.

Jessica was indeed scared, but she was not afraid that their operation would fail. What she was afraid of was that her comrades would once again die at Markorov's hands because of her failure to arrive in time.

This is a shadow that he will never be able to get rid of in his life...Jessica doesn't want him to experience it again.

"I'm... worried about you."

Finally, as Chen Qi's hand slowly dropped, Jessica slowly spoke out the deepest words in her heart.

"I'm worried, afraid...you'll be the same, and leave me."

"Back then, you almost left me. I was so scared... that something like this... would happen again."

Gently grasping the sleeve of the young man in front of her, Jessica leaned her head against his chest, listened gently to his heartbeat, and said with a slight tremor:

"If even you leave me...what else will keep me going?"

"...I won't, Sister Jessica." Chen Qi felt the timidity and uneasiness coming from this cat lady. The emotion that had almost disappeared from Jessica was now flooding again. Chen Qi felt that she seemed to have returned to the original Jessica.

Everyone is timid at heart, but some people have lost the qualifications to be timid...

"No matter how many difficulties we encountered, we got through them safely, didn't we?"