Swan Lake still has very beautiful scenery in winter.

Under the warm sun, the endless frozen lake reflects the golden sunlight, which is a perfect fusion of ice and fire. The tall Metasequoia trees by the lake stand neatly like silent giants, showing a tough temperament unique to the north.

Walking along the Swan Lake, Irene felt cheerful, and she was well prepared for the questions Rosen asked.

The only thing that surprised her was that the other party had waited until now to bring it up, because the defeat of Aaron’s navy had been almost five months ago.

Even if she returned to Weilan, two months would have passed.

In fact, this was her first private meeting with the Duke in two months.

"Duke, I have carefully studied this matter. It is the result of our country's Light Forge Bureau acting on its own initiative."

"After the Queen learned the whole story, she asked me to apologize to the Duke. The various Lightforge weapons equipped on the Levender warship were given to the Duke as an apology gift."

This was an argument that left Rosen speechless.

Fortunately, Rosen did not really want to settle accounts with the Glorious Empire, and the Lightforged weapons he obtained on the Levender battleship did benefit him greatly.

In particular, it carries a magic array that transforms flames into light power, and he has applied it to many fields.

As for the high-energy Judgment Array as an anti-aircraft weapon, he naturally also took it into his possession and modified it.

One of the most important transformations is puppetization.

In other words, most of the attack actions are completed by the combat puppet, and the mage only needs to provide auxiliary control, which greatly reduces the difficulty of operation and greatly increases the attack power.

So, he spread his hands and said, "Okay, let's just forget about it."

After a pause, he changed his tone and said, "But from now on, I, Weilan, will openly become an enemy of Levender. I hope your country can stand on the side of the human race and maintain a neutral attitude as much as possible."

Irene blinked, somewhat puzzled: "The human race's position? What the Duke meant by this is that Weilan represents the human race, and anyone who stands against Weilan is the human race's enemy?"

She felt that the other party's words were too arrogant.

Unexpectedly, the young Duke of Weilan nodded seriously, his face looking very solemn.

"Ms. Irene, I have been very busy these past two months. Guess what I have been mainly busy with?"

Irene said lightly: "You didn't tell me, how would I know?"

After saying this, he felt that his tone was a little wrong, and he coughed lightly: "Your Excellency the Duke might as well speak frankly."

Rosen smiled faintly: "I am investigating the Levender royal family."

Without waiting for the other party to ask, he explained in detail.

"Perhaps you don't know, but your queen must know that it is possible to summon an alien plane or an existence in the void outside the ring through the forbidden summoning spell."

Irene was shocked: "No, I know."

As a member of the glorious royal family, she really knew.

She also knew that the continent across the sea had fallen into a terrible disaster because of this summoning technique, and this was also the biggest reason why the empire banned summoning techniques.

Now that you know this, it becomes a simple matter.

Rosen raised his eyebrows. "After careful investigation, I found that the guardian sage of the Levender royal family, the frost messenger Lafengge, practiced the forbidden summoning technique without authorization, and may have fallen into the puppet of the outer void demon."

Irene was shocked and stopped in her tracks: "Impossible!"

Rosen also stopped and looked into his eyes without hesitation.

"I don't need to lie. Some time ago, Princess Molly of Levender escaped to Weilan and told me this in person. I also saw the incredible power with my own eyes."

"If we hadn't developed a powerful thunder weapon, we would not be a match for Lafengge with just traditional magic."

Irene's heroic eyebrows were almost locked together: "Where is the evidence? I want evidence!"

Rosen could have provided irrefutable evidence, which was the ice-blue demonic power, but this thing had already completely collapsed.

Even if it doesn't collapse, you can't take it.

Because once he takes out this thing, his ten-ring magic power will inevitably be exposed.

And as far as he knew, the Glorious Empire was very wary of this.

Therefore, he couldn't produce any solid evidence, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.

"Lafengge hid it very well, and Weilan is too far away from Levender, so the investigation is difficult, so what I got are some indirect supporting evidence. I will sort it out and send it to you later."

"Of course, this is just my personal opinion. Miss Irene may not believe it, but please take this matter seriously and pass the news to the Queen so that she can investigate it carefully."

Irene nodded slowly: "The Duke is right, this news is very terrible, I will indeed report this back to the country."

She wanted to go back and tell him the news, but she stopped halfway and turned to look at Rosen: "Duke, I suddenly think this is very interesting."

"Because our country's special envoy to Levender has also received information that is very unfavorable to the Duke."

"There seems to be a sense of throwing dirty water at each other between your two countries."

Rosen raised his eyebrows: "Unfavorable information, Miss Irene?"

"Levender said that the Duke possesses the power of the peak ten rings."

As she said this, Irene stared into Rosen's eyes without blinking, as if she was carefully observing his reaction.

In response to this, Rosen looked "surprised", then spread his hands innocently.

"Miss Irene, we have had the most intimate contact ever, and I think I have been completely honest with you about the situation."

Irene's cheeks felt slightly hot, and she nodded, "That's why I'm not going to plot against you secretly, but ask you openly."

"I also hope that the Duke can give me a convincing enough explanation."

There were actually quite a few travelers around Swan Lake, but they all kept a polite distance from each other. This time, Rosen and Irene deliberately concealed their identities and talked in private, so there were no guards around them.

At this moment, the two of them unknowingly walked to a relatively secluded lakeside road. There were no people around, which was a perfect place for a private chat.

So, Rosen took advantage of the situation and released a pure water breathless crystal wall technique, as well as a light invisibility technique to hide his body.

Then he explained with a sincere look on his face.

"Irene, I said before that I know myself well. Our Weilan is just a principality and we have no intention of becoming an enemy of your country."

"I also said that my strength is only at the initial stage of the eighth ring, and I have no power to improve."

"The magical weapon that Miss Irene brought back earlier should have clearly indicated this."

Irene nodded: "That's true, but if the Duke really possesses the ultimate magic power of the Ten Rings, then you are still able to deceive the detection of the magic weapon."

Rosen was puzzled: "I'm very curious, even if I really am the ultimate mana of the Ten Rings, is this matter more important than the invasion of the Void Demons?"

Irene shook her head: "Of course the latter is more important."

"But our country has infinite power and is fully capable of fighting against the devil and eliminating other potential threats."

Rosen sighed inwardly: "Ah~ Maybe it's the arrogance of the great empire."

He could fully understand this spiritual quality, because when a country is large enough and well-organized, the power that can be unleashed is truly terrifying.

Over time, everyone from the empress to the people will develop a feeling of being invincible and omnipotent.

This is true in other worlds and also in countries on Earth.

Even Rosen himself felt that if he sat in the position of the empress, he might be even more arrogant than her.

At this time, you can't change the other party's mindset by relying on all kinds of verbal truths. If you keep talking, people will just think you are a clown, and a simple "Come and hit me if you dare" will be enough to stop you.

Only a truly heart-wrenching military defeat can make the people of a great country come to their senses and re-examine their own shortcomings.

Rosen naturally would not be a 'clown' who preached great principles, so he sighed: "Your Majesty's courage is really admirable."

"So, what should I do to completely eliminate your Majesty's worries?"

Because the current Natural Alliance is still in a scattered state. In this state, the Glorious Empire can easily cause great trouble to him.

For example, by supporting a war agent in the alliance, providing him with all kinds of powerful magical weapons behind the scenes, and specifically having him fight against Weilan, this would not only make Weilan's life very difficult, but also greatly consume the alliance's strength.

Another example is sending a strong man from the country to assassinate him directly.

If one isn't enough, then ten or a hundred will do. Even if Rosen becomes a legend, his life will be very difficult. Even if he doesn't die, all his family members will die.

Of course he could fight back, but basically his only option was assassination.

But the risk of assassination is also extremely high. An obvious fact is that the phase transfer array is definitely ineffective against the God of Light.

Since the other party knows the existence of the devil, they must have set up a phase confinement array.

After comprehensive consideration, the best way is to keep a low profile, quietly integrate the alliance, and wait until you have the strength to compete head-on with the Glorious Empire before reasoning with the other party.

On the other hand, seeing Rosen being so frank, Irene personally had completely believed him, but no matter what, His Majesty's will had to be carried out meticulously.

"Your Majesty needs some of the Duke's blood, not much, fifty milliliters will be enough."

As soon as Rosen heard the request, he understood the other party's idea, because blood and other human tissues contain a person's most basic soul information.

With enough blood, a very powerful form of soul divination can be performed, which can penetrate all fog and directly observe the essence of a person's soul.

If it were in the past, Rosen really wouldn't dare to let the other party get so much blood. Even when he was intimate with Irene before, he deliberately controlled the amount of body fluids gushing out.

But things are different now.

The ultimate realm of ten rings is not enough to perfectly disguise the soul, because the Lord of Light also possesses ten rings of magic power, and the sensitivity of the souls of both parties is at the same level.

However, his current soul strength is more than 20% higher than that of a ten-ring ultimate warrior.

Twenty percent is not a lot, but the sensitivity to force is an order of magnitude higher.

What I couldn't understand before is now clear to me. What I couldn't control before is now easy to do.

Of course, this does not mean that his power is invincible, because the mysteries of the world are endless, and there are all kinds of mysteries that cannot be figured out.

But then again, when it comes to soul divination, Rosen is completely capable of achieving perfect disguise.

So, he spread his hands and said, "Does it have to be fresh blood? Fifty milliliters is not a small amount."

After a pause, he asked, "How about spit? Or urine?"

Irene couldn't help but want to roll her eyes: "Be serious, Your Excellency the Duke, spit may be okay, but urine is definitely not!"

"But do you really intend for me to bring fifty milliliters of saliva to your majesty?"

Rosen waved his hands repeatedly: "Of course I won't be so disrespectful to Your Majesty."

"I can give you 50 milliliters of blood, or even 100 milliliters, but Miss Irene must give me some compensation."

Irene's cheeks suddenly turned red, and she said coquettishly, "You are such a big guy, what does such a small amount of blood mean to you? You even want compensation?"

Rosen chuckled, "You know what I want, Ms. Irene."

Irene glanced at Rosen and said, "Tonight, I'll come to see you tonight."

Rosen was satisfied: "The old place?"

"Can't we go somewhere else?"

It feels weird to do work in the study.

Rosen chuckled and said, "In fact, I have opened a new lounge behind the study. It has a big bed, a separate bathroom, and even a dressing room."

"Duke, you're such a jerk. But all right, I'll come see you tonight."

Seeing that there was no one around, Rosen pointed to his cheek again and said, "Miss Irene, give me a kiss."

Irene pursed her lips, but finally stood on tiptoe and did as she was told.

Of course Rosen would not be honest either. He took the opportunity to hug the other person and held him tightly in his arms.

The whole performance is that of a dissolute duke who has no restraint when it comes to beauty.

Irene thought to herself as she thoroughly enjoyed this forbidden intimacy.

"Your Majesty is too cautious. This duke is only 21 years old, not much older than the little King of Silla. Reaching the eighth ring is already a top talent. How could he be at the tenth ring?"

The news from Levender was slanderous. Why did they spend so much effort to investigate? Just as she was thinking, she suddenly felt that the Duke's hand was in a place that it shouldn't be, and she hurriedly stopped him: "Duke, not here!"

If someone saw this, how would she face people in the future?

"This place is very remote, no one will come here, and we are protected by the Eight Rings barrier."

Irene still wanted to refuse, but her head was dizzy and she nodded somehow.

After a mess of actions, she heard the Duke say, "Miss Irene, you can actually bring this thing to His Majesty."

Irene glared at Rosen fiercely and said angrily, "Little Duke, you are being disrespectful! Do you want to die?!"

She felt that the Duke was so absurd in private, and she wondered if the people of Weilan would be shattered if they saw this face of the Duke.

She would never believe, even if she died, that such a ridiculous guy could have the ultimate magical power of ten rings.

After ending the somewhat ridiculous trip to the lake, Irene hurried back to the embassy.

After a while, someone brought a jar of blood in a glass bottle, which was 100 ml in total and had acid added to prevent it from clotting.

The strong smell revealed in the blood showed that it was indeed the Duke's blood.

Irene would never admit her mistake on this point. She secretly commented: "Although his personal morality is very absurd, he is not confused at all when it comes to big things."

After she froze the blood, she sent someone to quickly send it back to the empire. At the same time, she also transmitted the information about the demon invasion of Levender back to the country through a secret optical channel.

The information naturally arrives before the blood.

Less than an hour after she spread the news, it reached the city of Medasilin and was placed on the Queen's desk.

The Queen took the document and looked at it carefully.

The first half made her feel relieved, but the second half made her frown again.

"It seems that this guy Lafengge really has a big problem!"

Not only because of the information sent back by Irene, the Empire's envoy to Levender also discovered many strange things. The two sides corroborated each other, which was enough to explain a lot of things.

She tapped the table lightly, and after a long while, she drafted a top-secret document: 'You are not allowed to directly intervene in the conflict between Weilan and Levender, but to observe neutrally instead.'

After finishing writing, she asked her maid to distribute the document, and the Queen immediately drafted a new top-secret document.

'Imperial Shadow Guard, Sixth Special Operations Regiment, go to Levender immediately to investigate the demonic invasion of the Levender royal family.'

Why is it called the Special Operations Group? It is a group set up specifically to deal with demon invasions. Its training and equipment are all developed by the Imperial Weapons Research Department at great expense, with demons as the imaginary enemy.

After passing down the document again, the Queen sat up behind the desk and walked to the huge light window in the study.

Through this specially made large window, you can overlook the entire city of Medasilin.

After watching for a long time, she asked softly in her heart: "Grandfather, can we fight against the void demon?"

Ten seconds later, she got a response in her mind: "If we can't, then no one in Witt Continent can."

"What about the Holy Elf Empire?"

"They are very strong, but the conflict between the Sun God Bolo and the Moon God Dora is getting deeper and deeper. This will definitely be used by the Void Demon and become the fuse of its internal strife."

"Zhuoya, my granddaughter, this world can only be saved by us."

(End of this chapter)