Chapter 762: Make Xingtan Great Again
"Since Hong Xiang is so sad, should we comfort him? Then, Your Majesty, what do you think of little Lucien as an heir? Can he inherit the throne?"
The jester Lalo asked with a grin, "That boy... oh, I mean that noble prince. He does have some talent for alchemy—he can at least turn gold into copper. If we just put in a little effort to reverse his talent, we'll be rich."
The implication was to satirize Lucien's extravagant and wasteful habits, and to remind the king that Lucien, the only heir he had not denied, was also closely related to the red phase that Valentine VII hated.
But the king was too lazy to pay attention to old Lalo's sharp tongue.
He shook his head seriously and replied, "I never thought about Lucien, and you know the reason."
After hearing his words, the jester Lalo's expression became serious for a moment.
But soon, the Fool's expression changed back to that of a clown, full of mirth. "My dear Majesty, you have been remarkably resolute and bold this time... With all due respect, this is the longest you have persisted in doing anything in the fifty years that old Lalo has been with you. When you die, I will drink a bottle of fine wine in your honor."
"We've been preparing for so long, now we have to do it."
Valentine VII simply said: "Although this may anger Pomponazzi...but the 'Principal' will stand on our side.
"It just so happens that the recent commotion in Leipzig will distract their attention. Let's just let the Society and the Red Castle fight... and then find a way to add fuel to the fire, Lalo, and get the Association's people involved."
"Of course, of course. You can trust old Lalo to do the job."
The Fool said with a grin, "If you want them to fight, they will fight. Old Lalo is not good at trying to persuade them to make peace, but he is a master at fanning the flames—but are you really sure? This is your country."
"Xingti needs a disaster."
The old king shook his head calmly. "The Red Phase, the Black Phase, the Association, the Society... they don't take Valentine seriously at all. Do you know what I thought when His Holiness the Pope killed that succubus?"
"You must be thinking—well done, well done!" cried the clown.
"Well, I almost applaud. What a good boy, he kills without hesitation."
The old king smiled, his eyes wrinkling a little more. "Those people could never have imagined that their great plan would fail like this."
"I think... Your Majesty, you should just tell them the secret of the destruction of the Helasar Empire."
"It's useless. They won't believe it. If I stop them from performing the Tail Ring Ceremony, I'm afraid I'll be killed—that's how Transcendents behave. Dusk, Transcendence, Love... All the disasters left over from the past are now fulfilled one by one..."
The old king murmured, shrinking back in his chair and looking much smaller, but his old and majestic voice was still calm and rational: "The little queen of Avalon did a good job. If power is not controlled, it is better to smash it.
"Let them fight. Xingti needs a well-timed disaster—I was planning to start with the goblins, but I didn't expect that foreshadowing to go nowhere...
"Then we have to find a way to get rid of them before everything is over, so that we don't have to pay back the money we owe. However, once the debt problem is resolved, it will be a bit troublesome to deal with those counterfeit coins produced by Heinrich."
"Didn't you tacitly approve of that? And you told me not to interfere..."
"Well, that's exactly what I was planning to do. If the hole can't be filled, I'll take over Leipzig to pay off the debt. Or I'll kill him, and the rest of the blame will be his... If the economy stabilizes, I'll issue credit currency, just like the people of Avalon.
"—Let's not talk about that. Anyway, once I kill that 'Louise' in a few days, our plan will officially begin. I'll be working on you then."
"Wow, old Lalo is about to burst into tears."
The jester pretended to wipe away nonexistent tears, his words still venomous: "Your current queen is the Red Prime Minister's 'daughter' and his lover. When something happens to his daughter, what father can endure it? When his lover is framed, what man is willing to endure it? Oh, maybe your father can endure it. Maybe you can endure it too."
"That's what a monarch does, Lalo. Let me give it a try..."
The old man sighed, his eyes so calm they were almost frozen. "Perhaps I shouldn't have regretted it. After Louise was transformed into the Child of the Moon, her incurable disease would have been cured... If I had continued to transfer the principal's preserved soul back into her body, perhaps I could have spent the rest of my life with her... What do you think, Lalo?"
"Yes, yes. It's also possible that her soul will be completely polluted, trapped in that body, never to return to the dream world. Of course, there's another possibility: your beloved queen will live forever here, weeping bitterly after your death, and then decades later find a new young prince and scream every night."
The clown-like jester spoke in a pompous tone, speaking with great boldness: "Of course, it may not take more than a few decades. Humans are always forgetful, and the Children of the Moon are even more dissolute."
If this were any other monarch, it would be outrageous remarks worthy of death.
However, the old man ignored him completely——
His heart seemed frozen, and no matter how the other party provoked him, only a slight ripple could be stirred. "So I must let her die no matter what. As for my soul, it will remain with Louise's soul forever."
"His Majesty."
The Fool's expression grew more serious, and his tone suddenly returned to normal: "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. I really don't want to go to the Dream World anymore. Louise has waited for me for so long. If we just end up shattered together in the Dream World, it would be a bit unfair to her waiting."
Valentine VII spoke calmly, his pupils a mixture of bright yellow and dim yellow: "Coincidentally, my children also don't have a suitable successor...
If we could awaken again, the Immortal King would reign once more upon the planet. I would be born with Louise in a new body, open our graves, and rise again, leading my people to overthrow the now irredeemable planet and revive the legacy of our ancestors. We would rebuild our kingdom upon this rotten earth.
"The Avalonians have been so authoritarian for so long, yet their regime is stable enough that we can say they enjoy peace and prosperity. The Minister of Trade, whom we bribed with great effort, was discovered and executed before he could do anything. The military's retaliatory attacks are orderly and controllable. The power of their authority has made them a truly powerful nation.
"In contrast, the powerful Helasar Empire was plagued by internal strife and internal friction due to the fierce conflicts in the Nine Great Paths, and eventually fell apart...
"Look at Parthia and Horus. They are similar to us, and they also faced chaos caused by numerous internal factions and the loss of royal power... This is enough to prove that, from a national perspective, the path of the Tao is more refined than numerous.
"Take Avalon's approach as an example—they chose Authority over Devotion, while we can prioritize Balance over Dusk.
"Last night's promotion of the Heavenly Master is only the beginning. The era of chaos has arrived, and there will be a steady stream of apostles becoming Heavenly Masters... The principal promised me that the Winter Maiden is about to complete her ascension, and the only thing left is the final step of the ritual - transforming a mortal monarch into a Winter Undead.
"By then, although we won't have the Pillar God's protection, we'll have the Star Antimony people's own patron saints. All we have to do is purge the Transcendence and Love factions... After all, a bunch of traitors and monsters are nothing to be slain."
Without the jester's verbal stimulation, the old king's words and mood became increasingly calm.
His voice gradually lost its rhythm, becoming dead, like an old man telling his grandson a bedtime story. His skin gradually frosted and then melted, and the whites of his eyes turned noticeably yellow, like a dying tree. "If they insist on performing that damned ritual... then let them die."
"But what if you don't wake up in the end, Your Majesty?"
Lalo finally asked, "Two souls resurrected in one body—that's beyond common sense. Perhaps you would like Albert to make you a corpse with two heads?"
"—What should I do if you don't wake up?"
This jester, whose hair was as funny as cauliflower and who was always talking nonsense, now had his back straight.
His pupils were clearer and more upright than those of most people on the planet.
"Then you will preside over the king selection ceremony for me."
Valentine VII replied without hesitation, "I have only one request for you—Valentin VIII must be a sufficiently good Balancer. Although we intend to join the Winter Maiden, there's no need to put the entire Star Antimony on her. That would make us look cheap and we'd be looked down upon."
"Yes, my respected Majesty..."
Lalo bowed deeply, as if mourning the remains.
But just as he bowed, as if something suddenly occurred to him, he tilted his head upwards to look at the old king and asked, "So what you mean is... Lady Freya? There is no alchemist more outstanding than her... and she is quite free."
"The only exception is Lady Freya... Her mother is Lady Sprengel."
Valentine VII said seriously, "That lady is the queen of Valentine I—isn't this a case of generational chaos?"
"Her mother is Lady Kingsford."
Lalo reminded.
"It's all the same."
The old king shook his head. "Don't say that. I may not die yet. Seven is the number of authority and was once the number of 'strength,' while eight is the number of transcendence. This may mean that the eighth Valentine should be a transcendent. If you think about it carefully, this is actually very auspicious - I am both the monarch and 'Valentine,' and I will overthrow and rebuild Xinganti... This can also be considered an act of transcendence.
“My actions are in line with the Holy Numbers, and perhaps the Pillar God is also willing to see such a future.
"——Let the future Valentine VIII lead Star Antimony to greatness again."
This is the conclusion drawn by the old king.
A 6,000-word update, published regularly!
If there are any typos, I'll correct them when I get up.
(End of this chapter)
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