Forge a path to success

He understood the meaning of royal power. Once branded a traitor, even the strongest force would be doomed. Before setting off, he entrusted the White Wolf to take care of Velvet. At that time, the White Wolf's health was already critical, but he was still capable of serving as a guard for a day.

As he boarded the helicopter, a white-haired girl in a dress sat beside him; she had grown somewhat since their first meeting. At that moment, Chu Hengkong knew that this mission was unlikely to end well.

As he suspected, the dark wizards' "witchcraft" was unbelievably powerful. Normally, they would merely use crude methods to stitch people together for show, but this time, the dark wizards had become living monsters. Multi-headed blobs of flesh, cultists whose lower bodies writhed like minced meat, a cult leader so obese it was nauseating…

When the mission was over, even Wang Quan's dress was stained red with blood. Chu Hengkong ripped off the cult leader's head and smashed it on the muddy ground.

“It’s over.” He gasped for breath. “Put that thing down, I’m smashing it.”

Wang Quan was holding the black wizards' "idol," a strange, jet-black sphere that resembled a full moon with a mouth. This freak, who played among humans, seemed bewildered and uncertain, as if he had sensed something from the idol.

Chu Heng reached out to snatch the statue, but Wang Quan dodged it. It grabbed the moon and took a step back.

"The elderly want this."

"Tell them it was destroyed in the battle."

"For necessary research—"

"This thing can't be left behind."

“I will keep an eye on them.” Wang Quan looked him in the eye. “Smash it immediately after the preliminary analysis report comes out. Trust me.”

"Alright," Chu Hengkong said, then suddenly hurled a pebble, smashing it through the statue. A large hole appeared in the center of the full moon, from which a disgusting black liquid flowed.

Wang Quan sighed deeply, tossing the useless thing into his bag: "I'll be sent to an internal court..."

"To hell with those old fogies." He slapped Wang Quan hard. "Come on, let me buy you a drink."

The mission was a success. After treating Wang Quan to two drinks, he returned to the Verus estate and thanked the literally exhausted White Wolf profusely. He recounted all the details to his master, convinced he had done the right thing.

"Ah Kong, are you sure it's a full moon?" Velbert also seemed nervous.

“That strange thing actually looks more like a ball of flesh, but the first time I saw it, I thought it was the moon.” Chu Hengkong thought for a moment, “as if the moon should look like this.”

“You did the right thing,” Velbert said firmly. “Tell me everything you know about those wizards. From this day forward, the Blood Oath is no longer trustworthy.”

He wanted to say that his boss was making a mountain out of a molehill, but he knew that his boss never exaggerated.

After that, an eerie calm descended. The assassins ceased their attacks, and the Blood Alliance sent no new missions. Yet, this very calm suggested that the enemy was brewing something. Velvet found a new lead, meticulously investigating every major Blood Alliance mission over the past twenty years, starting with the exterminated dark wizards. She grew increasingly weary, but never discouraged, for she was on the right track.

"It's almost here, Ah Kong," she told Chu Hengkong privately. "It's very close. I've already guessed the truth."

"It's not like we're solving a case, there's no need to talk about evidence. I'll just go directly to whoever I've identified."

"We need evidence this time."

On that bitterly cold winter day, White Wolf's life finally came to an end. He personally saw his old acquaintance off on his final journey, wandered alone on the snowy streets for half a day, and finally logged onto QQ to send a message to an account he had chatted with long ago.

The next day, he and Wang Quan stood in front of the white wolf's grave, and Wang Quan placed a bunch of sunflowers on a blue stone.

“The Russians all like this,” it said confidently.

"This is the first time I've ever seen sunflowers placed on a grave."

"White Wolf isn't one to wallow in self-pity, wouldn't it be nice to lighten the mood?" Wang Quan shrugged. "Any last words?"

Yes. 'Thank you.'

Wang Quan was confused. He explained, "White Wolf didn't want to die in bed, so we had a final fight."

Wang Quan understood, and his smile appeared so melancholic in the bright sunlight.

"You personally saw off one of your few friends."

Chu Hengkong placed a pack of cigarettes in front of the grave. He had quit smoking some time ago, and he carried it with him as a memento.

“If it weren’t for cancer, this day might have come decades later,” he said. “But it will come eventually. No one can live forever, and we will all have this day. I’m thinking about whether I should take on an apprentice to help me with my affairs after I die, otherwise if I die even earlier, no one will be worthy to see me off in my final moments.”

"You're overthinking it. That day will never come."

"We must accept reality..."

"Will not!"

Wang Quan forcefully interrupted him, gripping his shoulders tightly with both hands. A hint of madness flickered in his dark eyes.

"Life never ends, for love is eternal!"

Chu Hengkong was speechless: "Wake up!"

“You are the one who is ignorant,” Wang Quan told him. “You will see it, Chu Hengkong. Tell Verus to obey me this time, and you will see true love!”

That was the last time they met as friends. A week later, the Blood Alliance held an emergency meeting, which all family heads were required to attend in person. But Violet didn't move. She said that if she went this time, she would really die, and there would be no chance of turning the tide.

Chu Hengkong trusted her judgment and made comprehensive preparations, including the worst-case scenario. However, he never expected that Shaks Ibn Urd would initiate a duel just two days later. That damned mercenary was finally going to fight him to the death, and at such a terrible time.

The morning after the duel, he lay in his hospital room, chatting casually with his boss who had come to see him. The boss put down his newspaper and prepared to leave, but he grabbed the man's hand. He knew Vilbert had something else to say.

"You've found it," Chu Hengkong said confidently.

“I found it.” Wilber nodded.

He tried his best to stay alert: "Who is it?"

“Ten years ago, my father was investigating the secrets of the dark wizards. He almost found out everything about them. He suspected that the dark wizards had infiltrated the upper echelons of the Blood Alliance, so he made an agreement with the King of the Blood Alliance to launch a top-secret raid.” The girl said softly, “That mission was of the highest level of secrecy. The current Twin Serpents went there in person. Apart from my father and the previous Serpent of Life, only one other person was qualified to participate in that operation.”

She silently gazed into Chu Hengkong's eyes and uttered the name that was both familiar and utterly foreign to him.

"Dark Reign".

Chapter 360 A Friendship as Faint as a Phantom (The End)

Many believe that the Blood Alliance's rulers are a collective, an ancient organization ruled by venerable elders who take turns wielding the scepter. The royal power is the shared mandate of these rulers, its very existence signifying their collective will. The highest level of this secretive organization represents the pinnacle of secrecy; members need not know the identity of the ruler, but only comprehend their will.

However, the truth is quite simple: at least ten years ago, there was no king. He or she once existed, but died at the hands of the most powerful assassin they had trained. No one can know the truth, because even the former king's closest confidants could not see through the disguise of royal power, let alone the heads of the various families who obeyed his orders.

Just as it said back then, the king himself is meaningless; what matters is the power he holds. A king can become whatever he wants. For more than a decade, he has stood on the stage and stepped off, wearing different masks to issue orders to himself, driving the masses to gradually achieve his goals under the guise of eliminating dissidents.

Old Velus's thinking was correct; he suspected a traitor within the Blood Alliance was plotting alone with the King. However, he hadn't anticipated that the biggest traitor had already murdered the King and taken his place. Upon arriving at his destination, he wasn't met with news of victory, but rather with a knife coming from behind. The King easily killed him and his snake, conveniently arranging everything.

Old Velus's greedy brother would kill his only daughter, seize his estate, and renounce the blood pact. The Velus family, closest to the truth, would thus fall, and no one could stop the royal power from accessing the secrets of the outcasts. The most powerful people in the world would be manipulated by a mere assassin, reveling in the perfect one-man show he staged.

But it never expected that a meddlesome deliveryman would happen to pass by that day, and that the only girl it rescued would turn out to be another genius, even more talented than the old patriarch. It tried to cover it up, it issued countless warnings, it sent assassins and personally warned them, it attempted to use its infallible tricks once again to wipe out the last bloodline of this family.

But this time, the one-woman show could not continue, and Velus's only daughter revealed the truth.

Thus, the secret hidden for ten years was exposed to the world, and there was no room for reconciliation between the two sides.

The day after Chu Hengkong was seriously injured, at noon, the Blood Alliance declared the Verus family to be traitors who had sided with the aliens, and the two sides officially went to war.

At 4:44 PM, the No. 6 memorial service ended in death.

At 7:59 that night, the No. 7 Double Butterfly died.

At 8:30 p.m. that night, Black Death Soldier No. 5 died.

At 9:05 PM that night, the Velus family headquarters was destroyed.

At 9:13 that night, No. 4 Blood Smoke died.

……

At 11:40 PM that night, No. 1 Dark Kingdom died.

Vilbert Vellus died in the early hours of that night.

A friendship as fleeting as a phantom is severed completely by death.

·

Chu Hengkong gently tapped his temples. The memories accumulated in his mind over the years passed in an instant in reality. After ascending to the fourth level of mass, his way of remembering was different from before. All his experiences were integrated into his blood, and a single thought could bring back vivid memories.

He stopped thinking about the bloodshed after the war and carefully considered every word Wang Quan had said, pondering what the assassin would say in that moment—the simulation was surprisingly simple, and Wang Quan ultimately failed to imitate him, but he already understood Wang Quan very well.

“The monarchy is a psychopath,” he said. “It craves eternal, unchanging, and selfless love, but such a thing doesn’t exist in reality. So it turns to finding a substitute for love, and what it loves most are those who are willing to give to others.”

"...He sounds like a nice person?" Van der said.

“But the ‘love’ of royalty is a kind of obsessive protection. It believes that ignorance is happiness and incompetence is a blessing. It does everything it can to keep its beloved living in the cradle it has created, far from reality, far from strife, far from suffering, and living a life of eternal happiness,” Chu Hengkong said. “It will stop at nothing to achieve its delusions. Anyone who threatens the cradle, even its friend, will surely die.”

Lico's expression wasn't good: "Are there Parrymanists in your hometown too...?"

"I'm afraid it's even more extreme than Parriman. By royal standards, the city-state of Thorn Robe, which sings praises of love, is the best place in the Flooded Realm. It loves city-states so much that it will definitely help Parriman become independent, protecting Thorn Robe in its carefree cradle, disregarding the fate of the rest of Dust Isles."

A moment of silence fell over the bookstore, and everyone felt a chill run down their spines. Such thinking might sound like that of doting parents, but when the cradle expands to billions of people, it ceases to be merely the love of one person, and instead resembles some kind of evil god whose obsession has distorted the world.

"In short, he's just a degenerate!" Ji Huaisu slapped the sofa. "Using the banner of family love and universal love to turn the world into a pile of dog shit, I'm all too familiar with this kind of behavior. Trying to understand the thinking of this kind of madman is pointless; blasting him to smithereens is the best solution!"

“I agree with Miss Ji’s opinion.” Wilbert nodded. “The monarchy cannot take gentle measures. The two sides are not on the same side, so it’s a matter of life and death.”

Van Der asked, "What about the other assassins? Did those Earthlings all willingly obey the monarchy?"

"The King once used some means to make them obey his every command on Earth..." Chu Hengkong said thoughtfully. "At the time, I thought it was some kind of new drug, but now it seems that it was the blood of the Fallen. The mark of the Black Moon was planted before they became Ascended, and I think they still cannot resist the King's orders."

"Hey, are you sure there's nothing wrong with your hometown?" Trek frowned. "In my experience, the appearance of even one Moon Beast means that Dust Isle has become the lair of the Fallen."

"I killed them all before I left. I observed them for over a year and there was no movement, so they must be completely dead."

Everyone cheered and praised Chu, saying that she had done a great service. They then discussed and voted again for a while, after which the boss announced that she would redesign the battle plan and officially begin the operation early the next morning.

So everyone dispersed and returned to their beds, hoping to end this terrifying day. Many people went to bed still praying that everything would be normal when they woke up; the bill had been a nightmare that had lasted far too long.

Chu Hengkong couldn't sleep. Memories of the night his family was wiped out lingered in his mind, overlapping with his carefree memories. Then, a long-forgotten thought surfaced, a thought that had been constantly on his mind during the time he was wiping out the remnants of the royal faction.

—Your best friend and your boss are sworn enemies who killed each other's fathers. They both eventually died, and your entire family was wiped out, while you, who killed many people, were powerless to stop it.

—Your life is a complete joke.

He sat up, walked out of the bedroom, and pushed open the boss's door. Violet had just checked in that night; the room was bare except for some mushroom-shaped cushions, and she was writing and drawing at her self-made desk.

He hugged Vilbert from behind and buried his face in her hair.

"Ah Kong?"

“It’s nothing,” he said. “I just feel so good to see you again.”

Chu Hengkong had his eyes closed, but he knew that Velbert was smiling slightly. She gently patted his hand.

Let's all go to bed early.

·

On this night of madness caused by the bill, only a few houses remained calm. The exhausted bookstore was one of them, while another was far away in Mansa Star Castle, the heavily guarded Speaker's residence.

Parriman walked wearily into the mansion, throwing off his white military uniform. After reporting to Jing Sha, he spoke with Banningtik for a while, followed by a discreet exchange with his confidants, and adjustments to the next steps of the plan.

These actions weren't physically demanding, but they were quite mentally taxing, because everything in this city-state left a trace, and even the slightest clue could be used by the prosecutor's office to launch an attack. To secure the speaker's seat, one had to be extremely careful and leave no trace.

When he turned on the light, he felt a lightness on his face, and a slight tingling sensation came from his skin, which hadn't been exposed to the outside world for a long time. The white-haired boy sat on the sofa, casually playing with his iron mask.

“Thank you for your hard work, Speaker Parriman.” Wang Quan looked at the mask as he spoke. “I think it would be more polite to greet it, after all, it is the real ‘Speaker’.”

"That's the truth, so please give it back to me. Someone like me has nothing without a mask."

Wang Quan tossed the iron mask back to him, and Parriman sat down opposite it, holding the mask. He scrutinized the invisible monster intently; this time, it appeared as a white-haired youth, dressed simply, but wearing an expensive watch on its wrist. Wang Quan's disguises were always flawless, and the purpose of this incongruous accessory remained a mystery.

He gave up trying to figure out what the other person was thinking. His profession as a politician had inevitably taught him to see through people's hearts, but even after meeting Wang Quan several times, he still couldn't understand the man's thoughts. Wang Quan was like a black mirror; no matter what intentions you had when observing him, you would only see yourself in the end.

"Relax, just talk about it. How are things going?"

“It’s much better than the worst-case scenario,” Parriman said, putting his mask back on as he shared the information he had gathered.

"The empire has only sent one lord, and the other war generals have not made any large-scale troop movements recently, which means that the emperor has decided to wait and see for the time being."

The Spiral Tower has remained inactive. Considering that the Sorcerer Supreme has long lost interest in the mortal world, I think the one who will likely make a move in 30 days is 'The Courtyard Saint Mother'.

The divine realm, buried in the mist, is beyond our observation, but the ancient dragons have made a prophecy. A deacon will lead an army, and I hope the Funeral God hasn't bestowed a sword upon it, otherwise the situation will become far more complicated.

As for the Sea of ​​Illusions… the Chaos Demons are already in the city, and the kings will likely not personally intervene again.”

Parriman concluded, "Aside from the Eternal Calamity which is waiting to be completed, at least three deities are waiting for their chance to seize the Robe of Thorns."

"Is the Second Abyss also making moves? Those paranoid skeletons want to get involved in everything they see." Wang Quan smiled. "Then it's still part of the plan."

"The defense system is basically complete, and public opinion is always in my hands. If we can maintain our advantage for 30 days, that will be enough to deal with the situation. But if we fail at the last minute, then you can do whatever you want."

In a few words, the future plans were finalized. This man, who would become the speaker, had actually colluded with heretics, yet he didn't care about cause and effect or retribution. Success meant ascending to godhood, failure meant nothing more than a pile of bones; since that was the case, what need was there for any worries? Having his own purpose in mind was enough.

“Without the help of the divine child, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to get this far. However, please allow me to ask a question that may be impolite.” Parriman paused slightly, “I still don’t understand why you helped me. Someone as perceptive as you should have already discovered that I have no love for the divine tree.”

“It’s very simple!” Wang Quan said with a smile. “Although your plan has only considered ‘yourself’ from beginning to end, once independence is achieved, the Jing Sha city-state can effectively become a paradise. Since my beloved city-state can be protected, why should I care about your motives?”

He jumped off the sofa and patted Parriman on the shoulder: "This is selfless love. I love the people of this city, and I'm content as long as they are away from the war."

"So please do your best, Speaker. Try to do your best... don't make me have to do it myself."