Chapter 162 Growth, Gambling, Violence (asking for monthly tickets)
July 24, noon in Whale Garden.
In the crystal ball, Yagubaru opened his eyes.
Looking through the glass toward the dormitory window, the blood-red sky came into view. Flying fish, wrapped in sea breeze and fluorescent light, spread across the sky like drifting stars.
After a while, it turned its head to look inside the bedroom.
Cesar sat at the desk, eyes lowered, reading a book called "Annual Book of World Curiosities".
"Agubaru... who are you?"
Amid the rustling sound of his fingertips rubbing against the pages of the book, the young man with white hair and green eyes suddenly spoke.
"What are you talking about?" Yagubaru said, "I am Shark, not 'someone'."
Cesar said nothing.
Yagubaru blinked and observed his expression quietly.
It always felt that Xizel was like a different person today, introverted and quiet. After all, the person closest to him died in a cruel way. He was full of resentment and tortured by the feeling of powerlessness. Even the weakest boy would more or less have some changes in his mentality.
But this is not enough...if the third prince wants to survive, he has to lose more.
If he finally showed his fangs to the world, would César stand by him and smash the whale's box garden with him? Yagubaru thought.
"Yagubaru, you asked Ikar to steal the fragments, right?" Xizel said as he flipped through the pages of the book. "The guard's investigation records said that Ikar stole a total of twenty pieces of strange stories... and these fragments disappeared, without a trace."
He paused. "The only thing I can think of is that the pieces are hidden in your stomach."
It seems that he is just simple, not stupid... Thinking of this, Yagubaru said calmly:
"I just said that if he had time, he could feed me instead of risking his life to do those things."
"Then he..."
"Ikar chose to die on his own."
"You said," Cesar said softly, "he wanted to wake me up, right?"
"right."
"Can I trust you, Yagubaru?" Xizel asked after a moment of silence.
"You don't need to think about this. If it weren't for me, you would have died." Yagubaru said calmly, "The night before yesterday, the second prince opened the protective barrier of the floating city and sent an assassin into your bedroom."
"Where's the assassin?"
"Dead. I threw him into the sea."
"Really?" Xizel asked, "Your goal is those strange fragments in the Royal Court, right? You approached me, probably to obtain those fragments."
"Of course not."
Yagubaru didn't take it seriously and shook his round tail.
It thought to itself that my goal was to swallow the entire whale's box into my stomach, and that a few broken pieces were underestimating me.
Seeing that Xizel remained silent, it continued: "What are you thinking about?"
"I have been wondering why my father contracted the Black Death even though he had been staying in the palace. Moreover... my father was the only one in the entire Whale Garden who contracted the Black Death, while no one else showed similar symptoms."
At this point, César paused while turning the pages of the book, and his eyes stopped on a page of the World Curiosities Yearbook. This page introduced the generation-level curio "Black Death" in detail with text and illustrations.
He whispered, "It's just that I didn't want to believe it before."
"They are your two brothers," Yagubaru said. "They must have worked with the leader of the Black Death Cult, Bernardo Edward, to poison the king. They wanted to kill you while the king was bedridden, so that they would have a chance to seize the throne."
"But I never wanted to compete with my brothers for the throne from the beginning." Xizel said word by word.
"None of this is up to you," said Yagubaru.
Xizel lowered his eyes and remained silent for a long time.
He said, "Yagubaru, come with me to travel around the world. There are all kinds of oddities all over the world. I can find them for you even if they are generational oddities. You don't have to worry about the things in the Royal Court. That's very dangerous."
Yagubaru was stunned: "Okay, that's fine. But do you really think you can travel around the world?"
Xizel said seriously: "If I tell my brothers clearly and swear not to come back after leaving the Whale Garden, they will probably let me go for the sake of brotherhood... Even if my father likes me, seeing that I have been gone for so long, he will probably give up the idea of letting me inherit the throne."
He paused and said, "This way, my father won't be implicated."
Yagubaru said helplessly: "This is just your wishful thinking. Why do they bet that you won't come back? And why do they bet that you won't become stronger after you come back, strong enough to dominate the entire royal court?"
"No matter what you say, I have already done it." Cesar said calmly, "Just now when you were asleep, I sent a letter to my brothers by pigeon messenger."
"You are so stupid," Yagubaru said. "I don't think they will let you go even if you explain it clearly."
"How could that be?"
"Why don't we make a bet?" Yagubaru sighed. "The eldest prince and the second prince will send the next batch of assassins soon, most likely tonight."
Xizel was silent for a while, then raised his head and said, "Okay, I'll make a bet with you."
"What if they don't want to let you go?"
"Ikar is dead, and my father has been tortured like that... If I leave here on my own initiative and my brothers are still unwilling to let me go, then..." Xi Ze paused, lowered his head, and his snow-white hair covered his face.
"Then we'll...wait and see."
He whispered to himself, a shadowy gleam in the corner of his eye.
Yagubaru was stunned and gulped down two mouthfuls of sea water, thinking to himself, are you going to become a blackened elementary school student too?
Cesare pulled a bird feather out of the Almanac of World Curiosities.
He leaned back in his chair, lowered his eyes, and stared quietly at the fiery red bird feathers. The edges of the feathers were shaking with sporadic fire spots like embers.
"What's the use of phoenix feathers?" Yagubaru asked, "Li Qingping doesn't expect a feather to save you, does he?"
Xi Zeer said casually: "Li Qingping once told me that 'Phoenix' is different from other popular anecdotes. It can be promoted."
"Promotion?"
"Um."
"Promoted from common level to generational level anecdotes?"
"Yes." Xizel said, "Li Qingping said that only he knew about this matter and asked me not to tell anyone else." He paused, "Li Qingping also said that when that day comes, he will give me the Phoenix."
"Li Qingping is really generous. He gave me a first-class novel as soon as he said so."
"What else?"
"Shasha doesn't understand anything. Shasha just wants to eat. After Li Qingping gives you the Phoenix, can you give it to Shasha?"
"Why do you want to eat everything?"
Little Shark pouted: "Your butler is here. We can't talk anymore."
It pricked up its ears just now and heard footsteps coming from the corridor outside the dormitory. The owner of the footsteps was Xi Zeer's new butler, "Shiva".
Just then, there was a gentle knock on the door.
"Your Highness the Third Prince, the celebration has begun." Shiva said in a low voice.
“Here I come.”
César put the phoenix feather into his sleeve, then picked up the crystal ball, walked towards the door and pushed it open.
Shiva glanced at the crystal ball and hesitated to speak.
Xizel followed the butler out of the castle and stood at the edge of the island. Flying fish flew over his head and the sea breeze blew from the bottom of the small garden.
He took a deep breath of the air that blew towards him, lowered his eyes, and looked down at the scene in the whale's box garden.
Under the blazing light of the sky, the sandbox world is presenting a beautiful and warm scene.
It was the summer festival, and the isolated islands that were originally scattered on the sea surface slowly floated and merged to form a complete continent. At this moment, the residents of each island were like rivers flowing into the sea, constantly gathering towards the island in the center.
The central island was packed with people. Looking from above, the crowds were so dense that they looked like a colony of ants migrating on a tree branch.
Butler Shiva put his hands behind his back and turned his head to look at Xizel.
He suggested using the "Floating Stairs" to give him a ride, but César shook his head, summoned the Atlas of Wonders, took out the generation-level wonder - "Christmas Sleigh", and crushed it.
An orange light flashed by, and a long cry echoed in the air. Soon, two elks dragged a red sled, carrying a thick layer of snow and wind from under the blood-red sky.
Finally, he stopped at the edge of the island, lowered his head and waited for César's instructions.
"In that case, Your Highness the Third Prince, please be careful." Shiva warned.
"good."
César said this expressionlessly, holding the crystal ball and getting on the Christmas sleigh. The reindeers walked in the air and slowly descended to the island in the center of the ocean.
After a while, they landed on the central island.
The crowds of people walking through the streets and alleys were like a flowing piece of music. A few shouts came from the roadside stalls, and when I turned my head, I saw fishermen selling exotic fish caught from the sea. People sang and danced, linked arms and drank and recited poems under the bloody sky.
Amid the melodious sound of bagpipes, someone used a pole to prop up a fishing net sprinkled with spices and bait. Schools of flying fish swimming under the sky were attracted and swarmed over, casting fluorescent lights towards the town, as if it was snowing heavily.
The Christmas sleigh was suspended in the air, and Cesar was holding a crystal ball with his long white hair swaying.
At this time, Queen Carilena walked down from the moving stairs. She stood in the center of the entire island, her luxurious and graceful long skirt fluttering in the wind, as if she had become the center of the entire world.
The common people on the island stepped back respectfully, leaving some space for her.
Kaliliana smiled slightly and took out a strange story card with orange light patterns from the strange story atlas.
"What is that?" asked Yagubaru.
"A generational wonder, the ancient Roman Colosseum." Xizel said, "Once a year, on the day of the summer festival, my father will release a wonder on the central island and build a Colosseum... Then the seven members of the Royal Court team will start a show match in the Colosseum. This is the busiest day in the entire Whale Box Garden, and everyone will rush to the Colosseum to watch the game."
He paused, "Because my father is ill, my mother will release the 'Ancient Roman Colosseum' on his behalf this year."
At this moment, Carilina crushed the "Ancient Roman Colosseum" in her hand.
The orange light flashed and the ground trembled and roared. Countless sturdy Roman stone columns broke out of the ground, and arches and stairs covered with bronze carvings were piled up layer by layer.
Finally, they interweave into a gigantic circular building.
As dust and sand flew, the core area of the Colosseum gradually took shape, and iron fences rose up under the audience seats.
The fluorescent light cast by the flying fish fell on the stone stands like broken snow. The blood-red skylight poured down through the gap in the dome of the Colosseum, casting a halo on this magnificent and ancient battlefield.
The cheers of the crowd rose and rose, and the huge shadow that blocked out the sky took in all the noise of the summer celebration.
Yagubaru opened his shark eyes, looked around through the crystal ball, and said with emotion:
"So there's something like this in the generation-level oddities?"
Xizel was not surprised and explained, "There are many types of generational wonders. They are not necessarily all combat-type wonder fragments like the Royal Court Team. For example, the 'Holy Grail' is a healing wonder, and the 'Ancient Roman Colosseum' is an architectural wonder."
"Shark understands."
Yagubaru licked his fangs, his appetite aroused, and thought that a wide variety of food was a good thing.
Kaliliana put her hands in front of her stomach. She stepped on the floating stairs and slowly landed on the royal stand amid the crowd's cheers. Then she turned her head to look at Xizel on the Christmas sleigh and waved to him.
Xizel drove the Christmas sleigh towards the royal stand and landed next to Kaliliana.
He got off the sleigh, put the Christmas sleigh back into the book of curiosities, and then sat down beside the Queen, holding the crystal ball.
"Mother, I'm here," he said.
"Good boy." Kaliliana said, "Why did you bring the Noble Shark with you again?"
"This is a gift from my father. I want to keep it with me." Xi Ze paused, "Where's my brother?"
“Here they come.”
Kaliliana looked up at the sky.
Following her gaze, Agubaru looked up and saw the eldest prince Lorenzo and the second prince Cosimo appear. They were wearing luxurious swallowtail long coats and walked step by step on the silver-white floating stairs.
Behind them followed the seven members of the Royal Court Team, led by Ruth and Li Qingping. As usual, only Li Qingping wore a black suit, while the others wore the uniform robes of the Royal Court Team.
As the Royal Court team and the two princes appeared, the crowd pouring into the Colosseum erupted in unprecedented cheers. The noise was so deafening that it almost drowned out the entire world.
Lorenzo waved to them with a smile; Cosimo had a stern face and his hands behind his back.
The two of them walked slowly and finally landed under the royal stand. They looked deeply at César and then sat down to the left of the queen.
Xizel ignored them and just looked at the dome silently.
Li Qingping crushed the card. A silver light pattern flashed, and the Phoenix expanded in the air, turning into a shining giant bird, carrying the seven members of the Royal Court Team into the Colosseum.
A scorching rain fell from above their heads, embellishing each of their awe-inspiring figures.
Amid the overwhelming screams and cheers, César suddenly spoke.
"Mother," he turned his head to look at Kaliliana and whispered, "After the exhibition match between the Royal Court teams is over, can I also have an exhibition match with my second brother?"
Kaliliana was slightly stunned, thinking she had heard wrongly.
"Cesare, you..." She met Cesar's gaze and murmured.
"I'm serious." Cesar said expressionlessly, "This will make everyone happy, right?"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
