Utopian Empire.
Eunuch Licia waited outside the palace. While waiting, she quietly watched the entire live broadcast of the killing show, and her heart was still pounding. At this time of year, even eunuchs were not qualified to enter the palace, let alone ordinary people.
Licia also just became a eunuch today. Her predecessor, a lady from the Titan tribe, resigned not long ago to pursue her dream of a killing show. Licia stood out by passing three exams and got this high-tech and leisurely job.
Not far from Lisia, groups of interstellar media carrying instruments were on the scene. Photographers and reporters from Zeus Newspaper and Circumcosmic Newspaper were all wearing special raincoats and holding umbrellas.
It is still raining today in the area around the Utopia Capital Palace.
In this era, miniature automatic rainproof devices are very advanced, and antiques like umbrellas and raincoats have not had a chance to appear for a long time... But it is different this time.
The rain around the Utopia Palace is continuous all year round and is extremely corrosive.
There was still half an hour until the Uncrowned Match began. His Majesty never showed up early, but some reporters couldn't wait any longer and quietly clung to the railing to ask Licia:
"I heard that the reason for the continuous corrosive rain is because the Imperial Palace was built on the site of the legendary Laboratory X901..."
Licia was most afraid of being asked similar questions by the media. Just as she was about to say "I have no comment", the reporter who had been chattering away suddenly stopped talking.
The reporter looked behind Lisia, his expression becoming somewhat guilty, and he retreated back into the crowd in silence.
Licia seemed to realize something and turned around——
A dark shadow was standing silently behind her.
Lisia couldn't help but shudder.
That was the palace steward. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, his skin extremely pale, and his entire figure as thin as a sheet of paper.
The butler, dressed in a solid-colored uniform, stood under the eaves of the palace amidst the drizzling rain, exuding an aura straight out of a horror movie. He stood there quietly, then turned to Licia and said, "It's time. Follow me."
This was the steward who had served the monarch for nearly thirty years. He looked like an ordinary, frail middle-aged man. Until many years ago, a group of space pirates wreaked havoc on Planet Caril and even attempted to invade the imperial palace.
At that time, this unremarkable steward was standing under this eaves, holding a black umbrella upside down, and stabbed the pirate leader's throat without changing his expression...
"……yes!"
After waking up from her brief recollection, Lisia dared not let her mind wander any further. She quickly lifted her skirt and saluted, not daring to waste a moment, and followed the steward into the hall.
The heavy palace door opened and closed again.
This is an empty and deserted palace.
The style of the Utopia Palace is completely different from the carefully designed Muse Palace by the Muse's parents. The interior structure of the Utopia Palace is also extremely simple.
The dark red thick velvet carpet makes almost no sound when people walk on it. There are no magnificent ceiling lights, only cold-toned wall lamps for lighting. It looks more like a sparsely populated laboratory than a palace.
"No matter what you see later, don't be surprised and don't tell anyone about it," said the butler.
Licia nodded frantically, of course.
The steward paused, then continued in a calm tone, "Since the founding of the country, there have only been three eunuchs, including you, and the eunuchs have never retired. Do you know why?"
Licia asked cautiously: "Why?"
The steward warned meaningfully, "For eunuchs like you who earn a monthly salary of 100,000 star coins and only work four days a month, there's no such thing as 'resignation' or 'retirement'."
"The only way for you to leave your post is to die in the line of duty."
Licia broke out in a cold sweat on her back.
Her calves began to tremble.
The steward was very satisfied with the effect of this sentence. He nodded and continued walking forward.
".....But," not long after they left, the butler heard Licia's cautious voice, "But Ms. Taina is still alive and well. She even participated in the semi-finals of the Killing Show a few days ago?"
Taina was Licia's previous eunuch, a cheerful, red-haired Titan woman. She had even made it to the semifinals of this year's Slaughter Show, a highly anticipated prospect. Posters from the Slaughter Show finals she shot were plastered all over the streets.
Coupled with her career over the past decade, some fans enthusiastically call her the 'Gun Maid' or something like that.
Manager: "..."
Manager: "............"
"You know too much," the steward was silent for a moment, then warned her in a tone straight out of a movie, "Young man, being too curious is not a good thing."
Licia: "Oh oh."
So the topic of martyrdom was just glossed over?
That's obviously the case.
Because after that, the steward had a cold face and didn't say anything to Licia.
The two of them took their own suspended elevator, descending tens of thousands of meters underground. It took less than half a minute to get from the surface to the underground. After a beep, the two of them stepped out of the suspended elevator.
Laboratory X901 was famous throughout the universe many years ago. More than 20 years have passed. The instruments here are old and worn, and the furnishings have become extremely mottled. Only the cooling fan at the entrance is still humming tirelessly.
There was a smell of rust mixed with dampness in the air. The entire laboratory was filled with old items that had been stored deep underground for decades.
Licia didn't dare to look up or around. She followed the butler inside.
Soon, they walked into a laboratory.
As a palace attendant, Lisia had experienced a lot over the years. But what happened next was beyond her common sense and became the most unforgettable scene in her long career.
——This is a space that goes against common sense.
Thousands of meters underground, the gravity here seems to have failed. Newspapers, colored glass candies, beer bottles, broken bellows, only a straight line of heart rate...all kinds of strange things are suspended in the air, and underground is a small hillside piled up with various discarded large instruments.
A very old gramophone was squeaking as it played Western music, and the cold light of the incandescent lamp made people almost tremble with fear.
Their monarch is right above the 'hillside'.
The man stood tall and straight, dressed in military uniform. His deep eyes weren't covered with black silk as usual, and his thin lips were flat and drawn with lassitude. He exuded an aura sharper than a knife's tip, yet his expression was remarkably dull, like an artificial inorganic life form.
But his body was covered in blood and there was a black tattoo on his waist that looked like a factory number.
From the right shoulder to the waist and abdomen, there were large areas of gunshot wounds and burns, with new and old scars overlapping.
The robot suspended in the sky lowered its cables and mechanical arms, seemingly performing surgery on him, but in reality, the silver blade simply cut through the man's skin. For seventy-two hours, it mechanically repeated this action.
There was blood, flowing across the exposed metal surface of the abandoned instruments, and across the wires that were emitting blue sparks, and it had spread and soaked the entire room.
An unknown draft blew through the hall.
Lisia was startled and used all her strength to suppress the scream in her throat. She quickly lowered her head, panicking and not knowing what to do.
She finally understood why eunuchs had such a leisurely life yet were paid so much. The risk was too great!
No one knew what race the King of Utopia was. Given his foul-like combat power and lack of any of the characteristics of powerful races like Dragons, Titans, or Vampires, many mainstream interstellar media outlets even speculated that he was the legendary 'descendant of God'.
...Yes, in the universally accepted legends of this universe, 'Gods' are real. Many races' histories contain traces of Gods, such as the blue-tailed mermaids of the mermaid tribe singing hymns to God, and the Titans acting as God's guardians.
God has abandoned this universe, and as a result it has fallen into endless war, poverty, and disease.
Until the founding of Muse and Utopia.
Licia once secretly wondered if His Majesty was the descendant of God... Unexpectedly, His Majesty was actually a bionic man.
The steward was absolutely right. If this were to get out, she wouldn't just die in the line of duty!
Lisia's head was covered in cold sweat, and she could only stare at her toes.
His Majesty is actually a android? He disappears every year at this time. So he's in this laboratory? Why would a robot repeatedly... hurt itself?
No leaking of secrets, no asking questions, no curiosity. These are the three working rules of the eunuchs.
Moreover, Lisia didn't dare to ask anything.
The steward was obviously accustomed to this scene. Lisia heard him say: "Your Majesty, the time has come."
No response.
About two minutes later, the steward repeated, "Your Majesty, the time is up. The uncrowned match will begin in twenty minutes."
This time, there was finally a response.
The man looked at them, then stretched out his long legs and stood up. Then, there was a sound like metal colliding and collapsing.
He walked towards the exit, and with every step he took, the hideous, bloody wounds on his body healed miraculously quickly, returning to normal, leaving only faint white scars.
And those newspapers, glass bottles, discarded instruments... floating in the sky like swimming fish also spontaneously combusted without fire. The final explosion swept everything, and complete silence fell.
"Your Majesty, your clothes." Licia hurried forward and handed the change of clothes to the man. His Majesty did not like others to be too close to him, so the steward and Licia kept a polite distance of more than half a meter.
The monarch hummed lightly.
He quickly and swiftly buttoned up his shirt, his abs and scars clearly visible. Then he buttoned up his military jacket. The butler bowed respectfully and stepped forward to fasten the obsidian cufflinks on his sleeve.
“.......!”
Lysia caught a glimpse of a plain ring at the base of the monarch's left middle finger.
Those were two hands with distinct joints, the skin was cold and white, and the pale silver ring reflected a faint light.
Even though she had seen it before, every time she saw the ring, Licia's heart would still be in turmoil. Their Utopian custom was that if two people got engaged, they would both wear rings on the middle fingers of their left hands - but wearing a plain ring on the left hand was different.
A plain ring means 'one-sided love', or it can be said to be a one-sided engagement.
If the ring you give someone is rejected but you are still unwilling to give it up, it is a hopeless situation.
The monarch generally does not wear a ring in public where he may be photographed by celebrity media. It is said that he is "worried that a child may misunderstand it", but he often wears it in private or social occasions.
There are rumors that His Majesty once gave the ring to one of Muse's lovers, but was rejected, and only then did he wear the ring... However, everyone agrees that this rumor is not very credible. After all, the relationship between Muse and Utopia is so complicated.
The more likely possibility is that the monarch was simply annoyed by the constant bad love affairs, so he wore the ring as a default rejection to reduce trouble.
"...Don't look around." The steward coughed and reminded Licia in a low voice.
Licia quickly stood at attention.
Fortunately, the monarch paid no attention to their little tricks. He was a little distracted, his eyes half closed, and he buttoned his shirt casually.
The tailored, pure black imperial uniform had a heavy, deep texture, giving him an oppressive aura. The monarch then took out the silk storage box the butler handed him, removed the pure black eye mask, and carefully put it on.
After the monarch came out, the first thing he did besides putting on his eye mask was to open his personal terminal, as if he had entered some software - it displayed the words 'Light Tower Friendly Reminder: We are sorry, due to unknown reasons, it is currently not a live broadcast period, and the patient is resting~'.
Upon seeing this line of words, the air pressure around the monarch dropped significantly by several degrees, and he even showed a rare hint of irritation.
...and this has laid the most serious hidden danger for the disaster that will happen next.
Licia was very curious, but she kept the rules in mind and did not ask any questions.
The butler began to describe the killing show: "The finalists are the Titans and..."
They entered the suspended staircase, and the monarch gestured to stop the steward. It was a little late this year, and the competition was about to begin. He didn't have time to listen to the details, so fast-forwarding was more efficient.
"Conclusion." The monarch said concisely.
"Uh... the result of the game is——"
This was the first time for the General Manager to do something like this. After all, the winner this time was none other than the King of Muse!
This was incredibly exciting no matter how you looked at it. Even if others didn't know, the steward, who had worked for the monarch for so many years, would definitely know that the person his majesty had been secretly in love with for nearly thirty years was...
Therefore, before saying that name, the overly nervous steward couldn't help but utter an earth-shattering sound:
"belch!!!"
Licia: "..."
“Burp, burp—burp!”
For the next three minutes, until they boarded the starship, the butler could not say anything else. His face turned red, and he kept burping repeatedly with uneven pitches.
It's like a rooster being chased around, and at first glance it sounds a bit like a symphony.
There were nearly ten minutes left before the start of the uncrowned match, and the starship sailed steadily towards its destination.
Lisia tried her best not to laugh out loud.
The monarch's terminal was still connected to the game with the black screen, so he couldn't search on his own.
As if a little impatient, the monarch pinched the knuckles of his index finger a few times with his thumb... Lisia looked again and found that he seemed to be clapping the rhythm of the steward out of boredom to make it more rhythmic.
The Butler and Licia: "..."
Licia exclaimed in her heart, "What a guy!"
Is this the kind of personality your Majesty has?! He seems much more cheerful than before, like someone who's fallen in love with a particularly lively child and has been subtly changed by them...
The manager wanted to cry but had no tears. This was simply the biggest stain on his career. Finally, he gave up expressing himself with words and instead projected the screen of his personal terminal in the air. It was a screenshot from the live broadcast of the Killing Show.
The monarch and Lisia looked at the photo and fell into a long silence.
There is no one in this screenshot.
Smoke, ruins, and wires emitting blue light and crackling sparks. If Licia remembered correctly, 'that person' appeared two or three seconds after this scene.
The butler danced with joy and pointed at the screen excitedly: "Hiccup...Hiccup...Hiccup!!"
"..." Master Jian Shidou ordered, "Translate."
The steward also looked at Lisia eagerly with anticipation.
Licia wanted to cry. She didn't understand what he was saying. But at this point, there was nothing she could do. She could only bite the bullet and go ahead. She guessed what the butler meant and said tentatively, "The winner of this killing show is in this photo. He was the one who destroyed these ruins."
The steward nodded eagerly.
Before arriving at the competition venue, he must tell His Majesty that the winner this time is the one he has loved for decades...
Monarch: "Yes."
The steward began to wink at Licia frantically. She had to guess the steward's intentions again and then said:
"Oh, yes, this time the winner is from the Muse Empire."
The monarch's gaze paused.
And the steward was even more moved and nodded.
...Not only that," Licia breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the steward's affirmation, and she became more and more excited as she spoke, "This is still your absolute
To someone you don’t want to see!”
monarch:"?
The manager: “…??”
Licia felt that her ability to adapt to changing circumstances was too strong. As the saying goes, kings do not meet each other. It is impossible for the monarchs of two countries to clash in such an occasion.
No one could have imagined that, apart from anything else, the Star Network had already been bombarded several times, and almost all the media in the universe were squatting around the stadium.
The universe is on the verge of a storm.
Besides, isn't it said that the person His Majesty secretly loves is in the Muse? Licia thought about it and said:
"Besides, he might even hinder your marriage!" After all, no king would agree that his subjects would marry the king of a neighboring country with whom he had an unknown relationship.
Lord, are you getting married?
Manager: "?????"
monarch:"……"
The three people present once again had obvious differences in their thinking, and the three of them chatted in three different channels.
Licia thought that she was a maid with great adaptability.
It's all over now - thought the steward who had served the royal family diligently for decades.
Highly destructive, the Muse will hinder his marriage. Speaking of those who meet these three conditions, many faces suddenly emerged in my mind, such as a dragon, a vampire, a merman, etc., etc. - the ruler of Utopia thought.
...It's really tricky.
The monarch lowered his eyes.
"Burp, burp!" The steward knew something was wrong and there had been a huge misunderstanding. He wanted to explain but couldn't make a sound. At that moment, the starship arrived at its destination!
Outside is the arena for the uncrowned match, with fluttering red silk flags, mountains of spectators, and countless media.
And.....hahahaha!!!
Five minutes before the start of the uncrowned match, the starship finally arrived at its destination.
The silver-gray hatch swung open, and a sound as hot and noisy as boiling water, and a wind carrying gunpowder smoke and the smell of cannon blasts, rushed in all at once.
Licia and the steward could not say anything more and bowed respectfully, as did everyone inside and outside the cabin.
The monarch walked into the arena, under the watchful eye of countless cameras. The curve of his jaw and lips appeared indifferent and extremely cold.
The dark red carpet was surrounded by reporters from all over the universe, and the two rows were separated by military soldiers in explosion-proof suits.
The reporters had just been pushing and shoving the officers fiercely, vying to be the first media to interview His Majesty, but now they were suddenly like ducks with their necks stuck, unable to speak.
.....[Your Majesty.] Someone said this dryly.
The clock at the top lit up and counted down. Three and a half minutes remained until the untitled match began. The virtual arena had already been constructed from the sandbox, but neither of the two protagonists had yet arrived.
No reporter dared approach to interview him. Finally, just as the monarch was about to reach the end of the long carpet, the star reporter from the Universal Newspaper couldn't help but speak up. God knew their reporter had received the news an hour ago and spent over a hundred thousand star coins to rent equipment and buy tickets to the levitation machine to rush to the scene. How could they let this opportunity slip away?
As soon as they moved, other media couldn't help but get agitated.
The audience in the stands were also staring at the broadcast.
"Your Majesty!" The reporters rushed to raise the microphone above the soldier's shoulder and asked loudly, "What do you think of the outcome of this killing show?"
Are you satisfied with the results? Is there any controversy over the final outcome of this killing show?"
"Does the outcome of the Uncrowned Tournament carry political overtones? Will it affect the future relationship between Muse and Utopia? Your Majesty—"
"Your Majesty, what do you think of the winner of the Uncrowned Tournament?"
I can only say that the reporters were worthy of being reporters; their questions were very sharp and hit the nail on the head. Driven by them, the atmosphere in the entire venue became lively.
The monarch was the most emotional person among them. He felt detached from everything and lacked interest, as if he was distracted.
Just when the reporters were disappointed and thought they would not get an answer, until the last second before entering the field, the monarch suddenly stopped and looked at a camera that was almost close to his face.
They were reporters from the Universal Newspaper. They projected the terminal screen into the air, intending to show the recent final of the Killing Show, where the 'Water Elf' appeared to save the day in the extremely tight ten seconds (God knows this short video was uploaded to StarNet and had over a billion views within half an hour). Who knew - it accidentally played another video instead.
This is a photo taken by a terrified traveler in the Muse Empire. It shows a giant dragon roaring and flying across the sky, blocking out the sun.
It was this video that made the monarch stop:
"Who's the winner this time?"
"Huh?..." The reporter being questioned hadn't realized what had happened. Soon, the joy of His Majesty's spontaneous answer overwhelmed everything. He didn't even notice he'd misplayed the video. He kept saying, "Yes! Yes! Your Majesty, what do you think of this winner? Are you looking forward to the uncrowned match?"
This question has been raised before, and out of respect for the game and the opponent, the usual answer is always "hmm".
This time, the monarch did not answer immediately.
Freedom is the principle of the Killing Show. Over the years, some strange people have won the Killing Show, but... it is indeed tiring to confront one of those arrogant and jealous parents in the uncrowned match when you can't see your lover.
To describe his relationship with the great dragon Lei Qi, or indeed the entire dragon race, as "normal" would be a stretch. Of course, he had no intention of targeting the dragons; it was simply that they held the same person dear to their hearts, and trust was difficult for both parties.
Furthermore, Reiqi in the video even threatened: "Utopia is full of simple-minded, strong-limbed barbarians who advocate violence! Savages! I will never like it there!!"
...No one can take him away from me." The dragons dug their sharp claws into the ground and roared anxiously for some unknown reason.
monarch:"……"
'Snatch'?
He rubbed his thumb over the ring on his knuckles.
After a pause of about two seconds, the monarch suddenly looked at the camera closest to him.
The flag was blown up by the wind.
...He said lightly.
The extremely low, cold voice passed through the radio receiver, spun gently in the electric current, and quickly disappeared in the wind.
"ah……?"
The reporter holding the microphone was stunned.
The slight silence grew and spread rapidly like tentacles, eventually covering the entire stadium, like a net that made it impossible to breathe.
The brain processed the information slowly, and after several seconds, it was sure that their usually emotionless and calm ruler had indeed said this.
——'I will not show mercy'.
It is an extremely impolite statement that can even be understood as a provocation.
...And this time, the opponent in the uncrowned match was none other than the young King of Muse. With the two monarchs facing off for the first time in this bizarre manner, it was reasonable, even for diplomatic reasons, to leave some room for maneuver, or even to cancel the duel with dignity.
But the monarch did not.
Not only that, but for the first time in history, such a tense statement was uttered.
The Star Network exploded almost instantly, with countless speculations about the relationship between the two countries circulating one after another. However, the only thing that convinced all the people in Utopia was...
The Muses and the Utopian monarch are extremely at odds.
[Fuck, they can't even maintain formal decorum. Are we just going to start fighting?]
[Everyone calm down, the two countries have a tacit agreement prohibiting hot war]
[This is a personal grudge, it won't escalate to a national level, so don't worry, just stay calm and watch the show.]
[…Hehehe, I can’t calm down!! Your king is so handsome and adorable! What kind of treasure is a water spirit? How could she have a personal grudge against such a treasure?! As expected of His Majesty?!]
What will happen in the next uncrowned match?
Because there is a tacit agreement prohibiting hot wars, and everything that happens in the killing show is not related to real factors, everyone is nervous but not too worried.
At this moment, all the people in Utopia suddenly felt an indescribable feeling, worried and nervous, and a little bit wanted to watch a show.
It was gossip about a national drama. The comments and viewer count on the live stream channel skyrocketed again.
Soon, the countdown displayed in scarlet font at the top gradually decreased, and the sandbox simulation stadium was about to be completed.
Build a dedicated channel.
And just as everyone was watching, the countdown finally ended. The lights went out, and the host took the microphone: "Welcome to——"
Let’s go back a little bit in time, five minutes before the start of the uncrowned match, in the preparation passage leading from the rest area to the competition area.
Wen Xingze was still figuring out how to run.
After all, he inexplicably landed in the competition area, inexplicably won the game, and was about to inexplicably fight with Chi Yan in front of the whole universe. This whole thing was really unbelievable, bizarre, and embarrassing.
"Sorry, I'm not interested in the Uncrowned Tournament. I want to forfeit," Wen Xingze told the host. He rarely spoke at such length to others and was exhausted. "Also, I shouldn't be the champion of this Killing Show—no, I know there's no precedent for forfeiting in the Uncrowned Tournament, and it has nothing to do with the prize money, but I won't change my mind..."
The host hesitated for a moment, then said hesitantly, "But the prize for this killing show is the SpongeBob SquarePants co-branded Blue Star Stone currency. There are only one in the entire universe. If you don't complete the race, you will be deemed to have forfeited the prize and will be directly sold—"
Before he finished speaking, Wen Xingze stepped into the competition channel with a snap. He was very fast.
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