"I know~~I know~~~"

In the hot summer, cicadas are screaming wildly in the trees, and the only thing they need to achieve disco is a guitar.

"Clatter~~Clatter~~"

Under a giant tree, clear spring water was gurgling, and in a huge spring pool, four people were enjoying the cool summer heat.

One is Queen Zoya, one is General Zelaya of the Shadow Guard's Second Legion, and the other is Rosen's old acquaintance, General Jadiya of the Shadow Guard's Sixth Special Operations Regiment.

The last one is naturally Rosen.

Everyone has holidays, including the emperor.

In the summer of the Glorious Empire, if there is no major national event, as long as the royal fortune tellers confirm that there will be extremely high temperatures the next day, the Queen will issue a holiday decree and let the entire capital take a holiday to escape the heat.

At this moment, the three women in the spring pool were wearing thin silk water skirts used exclusively by the royal family, which were similar in style to low-cut suspender skirts.

They either sit, float, or swim, and look like three white lotus flowers blooming in the water, which is very pleasing to the eye.

Rosen followed the local customs and wore a pair of knee-length waders.

In this cool pool that is over 50 meters long and wide, similar to the Baotu Spring on Earth, he ate iced melon, a specialty of the south, while admiring the beautiful scenery around him, feeling as comfortable as a living god.

But because there were many maids watching by the pool, he behaved well except for the occasional glance.

Zelaya and Jadiya were both generals, and they couldn't sit still in the pool. After chatting for a while, they went swimming one after another.

Zhuo Ya sat near Rosen, less than two meters away. After chatting for a while, she asked, "Have you figured out the magic of longevity?"

Rosen took a sip of his iced sparkling ale.

"The contents of the spell book are incomplete. In other words, it should not be called a spell book, but rather 'Instructions for Using the Upper Spirit Fruit'."

"From the details of the autopsy, he has taken the fruit of the upper elves, and his body has begun to change."

This 'he' is naturally Messiah, the Lord of Light.

He had already been buried, but because of the need for magical research, he was dug out and dissected again.

Many discoveries were made, but because the soul was collapsed, they were not of much help in the study of magic.

They didn't even bother to bury the last corpse, so they just burned it.

In addition, Rosen also dissected the bodies of the legendary upper elf wizard and the dragon, and obtained a lot of data.

But they all encountered the same problem, which was the lack of soul data.

Zhuoya is very curious about the art of immortality. Everyone would be curious. After all, everyone wants to live longer, and elves are particularly long-lived.

"Do you think there is a way to allow mortals to obtain the lifespan of the upper elves without becoming slaves of the Lord of Truth?"

Elf is actually another name for 'Apostle of Truth'.

Therefore, the fruit that can transform mortals into upper elves is naturally a sweet fruit that contains poison.

That's why Zhuoya asked this.

Rosen shook his head slowly: "It's very difficult. I don't have any idea at all."

Seeing that Zhuoya was a little unconvinced, he explained seriously: "You know, I have three lower elf captives in Weilan."

Although he is a lower-level elf, his lifespan is one-third of that of an upper-level elf. And because he was promoted to a legend, his status in the elf race is still not low, and he knows many secrets.

"When I was researching the spell book, I carefully studied the souls of these lower-level elves, and learned a lot of information about the elf fruit from them."

"Then, I discovered that this so-called elven fruit might contain a power that mortals cannot understand."

"Can't understand?"

Zhuoya was a little confused.

Rosen's face showed great solemnity.

"A more accurate description is that there may be a kind of knowledge that far exceeds the limits of mortal intelligence."

"Just like the beasts can never understand the magic of us mortals. Only this time, the mortals have taken on the role of 'animals'."

The intelligence of wild beasts has its limits, and of course this is also true for mortals.

For example, a mortal living in three-dimensional space cannot intuitively imagine the situation in four-dimensional, five-dimensional or even higher-dimensional space.

Zhuo Ya understood and frowned, "Is the wisdom of the Lord of Truth so terrible?"

Rosen shook his head slowly: "I think this may not be the wisdom of the Lord of Truth, but the knowledge that the Lord of Truth accidentally obtained."

"He only knows how to use it, not how to modify it."

Just like most people on earth know how to use mobile phones, but if you want to make a mobile phone, that would be difficult.

Zhuoya didn't understand again: "If that's the case, then it's great. Why do you think so?"

Rosen smiled and said, "I got a book from Nawat called Encyclopedia of Void Creatures."

"The book describes the information of the 76 Void Gods and Demons in as much detail as possible."

"Through this information and my personal experience dealing with demons, I can see that the intelligence of void beings is far superior to that of mortals, but their depth is essentially the same as that of mortals."

“The facts have also verified this.”

"If the intelligence level of gods and demons reaches a level that we mortals cannot understand, then we mortals will have no way to fight against them."

"What's more likely to happen is that we are all easily toyed with by the gods and demons, and we don't even know we've been toyed with."

In other words, if the void creatures were really so terrifying, the Creator would have matched them with stronger opponents, rather than getting entangled with mortals.

Therefore, Rosen suspected that the Lord of Truth was lucky enough to "pick up" a treasure, a treasure created by a true "God".

As for what this real "God" is, Rosen has no way of knowing, and he is not worried, because worrying is useless.

Just like everyone will grow old and die, if you worry about this every day, then there is no point in living.

Zhuoya understood, but she suspected that Rosen was lying to her.

Rosen could naturally sense it, and said in a serious tone: "Your Majesty, I will not joke with you on such a major event that concerns the fate of mortals."

After that, he added: "In addition, I have learned a lot of information about the elf fruit from the three lower-level legendary elves and the mighty father. Your Majesty, do you want to listen?"

Zhuo Ya nodded repeatedly: "Of course."

Today, the elves live in the endless forests. They are very mysterious and few people know about them.

Rosen continued: "This so-called fairy fruit should grow from a tree called the Tree of Life."

"Its appearance and taste can be made exactly the same as ordinary fruit, and it may be difficult to detect any abnormality in the fruit using all currently known techniques."

Zhuoya immediately thought of a possibility and was shocked: "Couldn't the elves be able to quietly infiltrate important members of the empire?"

The supply of fruit in the Glorious Empire was very abundant, and everyone from nobles to commoners could often eat various fruits.

If the elves mix some elven fruits into it, they can silently transform the imperial people into apostles of the Lord of Truth.

It’s terrifying to think about it.

Rosen also thought this trick was powerful, but he had already thought of some countermeasures.

He analyzed carefully: "First of all, the manufacturing cost of the Elf Fruit is not low. The lower-level Elf Fruit is more, but the number should not exceed 10,000 per year."

"So the amount imported into the empire will not be too large. It will definitely be supplied to important members of the empire first."

“That’s even more terrifying.”

Whenever Zhuoya thought about how she had inexplicably become an elf apostle, she felt very panicked.

However, the panic only lasted for a while and then she felt much better because she immediately thought of several solutions.

For example, strictly controlling the source of fruits, using animals to test poisons before eating fruits, or simply not eating raw fruits and only eating cooked ones.

I don't believe that such a delicate thing can still be effective after being cooked.

But there was one thing he had no solution for, so he asked Rosen, "If someone has been transformed into an elf apostle, is there a way to tell them apart?"

After saying that, he raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, do you mind if I show you this spell?"

Zhuoya was more than happy to say, "Of course I don't mind."

"Then please stand up first, Your Majesty."

Zhuoya stood up from the water as instructed.

Because of the dragging effect of the water, the thin silk skirt almost clung to her body, causing Rosen's heartbeat to speed up slightly.

Of course, there was nothing abnormal about him.

He began to cast the spell, while explaining: "This is called the Radiant Insight Spell. The original principle came from your Radiant Knowledge, and later I made some developments on it."

As he spoke, a faint white light emerged from his palm and flashed slightly towards Zhuoya's body, followed by...

A clear light and shadow appeared in the air in front of the two people, showing a translucent human outline.

"Your Majesty, please look, the outer shadow is the skirt you are wearing, and the inner layer is your skin."

Zhuo Ya had already sat back in the water. She glanced at the light and shadow, her cheeks flushed red, and she said in a low voice, "Rosen, you are such a bastard."

Rosen chuckled, but then returned to a serious look: "Your Majesty, don't be in a hurry to scold me. Look inside. It's the skeleton inside your body and the phantom of your internal organs."

In fact, it is just a magical X-ray, but it is much clearer than the X-rays on Earth. Under Rosen's precise control, the effect is even comparable to magnetic resonance imaging.

Zhuo Ya pursed her lips and looked at it carefully. She really understood it, and then felt a little surprised: "Is this really a brilliant spell? It can actually ignore my magic power barrier?"

Rosen smiled and said, "I will share this spell with you later, but now please listen to me, Your Majesty."

Of course, he would not share the essence of light, but only the specific details of the spell, so as to prevent the Glorious Empire from being infiltrated by the elves without knowing it.

He pointed at Zhuoya's internal organs and bones: "A body transformed by the spirit fruit will undergo some subtle changes and be slightly different from that of a mortal."

"For example, here in the intestines, there is something that mortals have but elves don't. And this white thread doesn't go out of its way to wrap around in a big circle."

"As for the eyes, their structure is slightly different from that of mortals, so there are no blind spots in vision."

"In short, there are more than a dozen subtle differences, and through these anomalies, we can accurately distinguish between elf apostles and mortals."

Zhuoya understood, but she still felt uncomfortable with a man observing the details of her body.

She waved her hand to dispel the light and shadows. "I understand. I will promote this spell and use it especially in important occasions in the empire to accurately identify infiltrated mortals."

After a pause, she asked, "But what if someone accidentally infiltrates and it's hard to give up on them? Or if it's just me who accidentally eats the Elf Fruit, what should I do?"

Rosen certainly has a solution: "First of all, Your Majesty, it is difficult to target you."

"Because you are a legendary wizard, when you eat the fairy fruit and your body changes, you will feel it immediately."

"At this point, if you spit out the fruit immediately, it should be enough to stop the change."

Zhuo Ya immediately relaxed a lot: "Well, this is not a difficult task."

"But what if it's someone else?"

Rosen spread his hands and said, "Time is too short. I haven't found an effective way to reverse the situation yet. I'll leave it to the Empire's Magic Department to figure out a solution."

He is still researching. Even if he can't figure out the principle of the Elf Fruit, he will find a way to use it.

Seeing Zhuoya's puzzled expression, he explained: "At present, the faith puppet has been built and can respond to the prayers of one million believers at the same time."

"As for subsequent maintenance and upgrades, leave it to my puppet substitute. By the way, my puppet substitute has arrived at Metasilin and is currently waiting outside the Nevernight Palace."

"And it's time for me to return to Weilan."

Zhuoya immediately looked reluctant.

These emotions are very complicated. Some of them may be the reluctance between lovers, some may be the reluctance to part with outstanding talents, and finally, many of them are the reluctance to part with the guardians.

The fact that she was able to take control of the situation so quickly and become the true Lord of Light had a lot to do with the huge deterrent power of the mysterious assassin Rosen.

Now that he was leaving, she felt empty and a little uneasy.

"Are you leaving so soon?"

Rosen smiled and said, "Your Majesty, I am still in the Nevernight Palace, I just changed my identity. If you don't believe me, you can summon my substitute now."

Zhuoya really wanted to take a closer look, so she summoned him immediately.

About a quarter of an hour later, the puppet substitute arrived.

This is still a flesh and blood puppet, but it is a previous generation version.

There is no disguise of mana aura, nor of soul. In terms of mana, a legendary crystal is used instead.

Zhuoya commented: "He looks like a living person, but he is a living person without a soul."

Rosen smiled and said, "He is a living person. In fact, he is the result of a magic I learned from the devil."

"Normally, he is just an ordinary puppet who will diligently help His Majesty maintain the credibility of the puppet."

"When necessary, Your Majesty only needs to tell him my name. I can directly control this puppet through the connection of the power of faith and have a real-time conversation with Your Majesty."

As he spoke, Rosen gave a demonstration.

Sure enough, the puppet that seemed a little dull and rigid the moment before suddenly became vivid after being directly controlled by Rosen. Except that the soul power could not be felt, it was completely indistinguishable from the real Rosen.

Zhuoya immediately felt much better.

She was mentally prepared for Rosen's return. After all, his Natural Alliance had a lot of things to do and it was impossible for him to stay by her side forever.

After a few seconds of silence, she said, "Regarding our marriage, I tried to sound out the issue at the family meeting, but was met with widespread opposition."

"Even Jadiya, who has always supported me, is against it. The only one who is somewhat supportive is probably Irene, but her support is not firm either."

"Most people think that if you were a citizen of the Glorious Empire, you would be fully qualified to be my husband, but since you are the Emperor of the Natural Empire, that is not the case."

Hearing this, Rosen thought Zhuoya was going to go back on her word, but he wasn't disappointed.

After all, Zhuoya has to consider the opinions of her supporters, otherwise her position as emperor will not be stable.

"Your Majesty, if it really doesn't work, there's no need to force it."

Zhuoya knew that Rosen had misunderstood, and said seriously: "I don't mean to give up."

"I mean, if you want this to succeed, you have to make the Natural Empire show its strength. At least it can't be weaker than the Glorious Empire, and in some aspects it can even surpass it."

"In this way, I am not marrying down, but marrying up, and there will be much less resistance."

That's true.

Rosen finally confirmed: "Your Majesty, are you really going to marry me?"

Zhuo Ya nodded: "I will not regret what I have decided. Even if it takes ten or twenty years, I will insist on pushing forward."

"But you, please don't get disgusted with me halfway through."

Rosen laughed: "It won't take ten or twenty years, five years at most will be enough."

The Natural Alliance actually has some national strength, but its biggest problem is its looseness. As long as it is united together, it will not be much worse than the Glorious Empire.

And he has many ways to unite the natural alliance.

Zhuo Ya suddenly felt the desire to win, and said, "Rosen, I'm not that easy to defeat. Maybe in five years, the gap between our two countries will be even bigger."

"Then we'll see."

After saying this, Rosen took a last look at the queen, who was as delicate and gorgeous as a starry rose in the pool. The latter's cheeks turned red at his fiery gaze, but she did not retreat. Instead, she straightened her trembling chest and looked at Rosen.

Rosen laughed, stood up and left the pool.

"Well, goodbye for now, Your Majesty."

(End of this chapter)