Chapter 1496: Chapter 1169 What is your secret?
"Turns out gold is still so valuable even in such places," Long Yi said to Elsa in the contract.
"Perhaps it’s just the Emperor showcasing his privilege," Elsa replied, remembering La Sang’s memories. "They don’t use gold as a symbol of wealth; it’s merely a symbol of imperial authority."
"It means only the Emperor can use it, basically the same thing," Long Yi chuckled.
"However, I don’t really understand the Emperor’s intention. It seems he was very eager to acquire the new type of alloy and automatic magic, but why did he leave us out to dry once we got here?" Elsa asked, puzzled.
"Maybe to balance the opinions of other Families? Or to prevent the La Sang Family from thinking they are too favored? If the Emperor isn’t foolish, then it must surely be some imperial strategy; what else could it be?"
"That makes sense," Elsa said.
The Worm had taken control of the Emperor, and it had, consequently, become the Emperor. As the Emperor, it naturally had to do what Emperors do—balance the relations among Families.
The rise of the La Sang Family had become the most scheming topic throughout the Empire recently. The two aces thrown by the La Sang Family, Henki and Aisa, dazzled even other Families, catching them off guard, as no one knew how the La Sang Family had advanced to such an extent. As intricate as the relationships between the Families were, it was nearly impossible for one Family to secretly hide such secrets. Especially something like the new alloy and automatic magic that required such extensive experimentation, manpower, resources, and financial input. What puzzled all other Families was that before the appearance of Henki and Aisa, there had been no leak of information inside the La Sang Family. Then, suddenly one day, two individuals, without any prior indication, emerged—something quite unbelievable for anyone.
Yet, believing it or not wasn’t important; the fact was that it had happened. Now, Henki and Aisa had successfully entered the Imperial Guard, and this move was likely just a ruse. The Emperor’s real aim was still to obtain their new alloy formula and the automatic magic, undoubtedly the same gift that the La Sang Family decided to present to the Emperor.
Initially, the La Sang Family had chosen the wrong side in the factional battle, and though they later corrected this, the Emperor had already started to distrust them. The Family had since begun to decline. Now, the emergence of these two new technologies was enough to reestablish their position in the Emperor’s mind!
In fact, while Long Yi and Elsa were engaged in monotonous training, the Emperor was busy dealing with various Families’ side comments and distractions, which occupied most of his day. But the Emperor thrived on this; he hoped those Families would seize the opportunity to reveal more technologies, thus giving him an edge in the battle against the Prophet.
Unfortunately, technology was a process of accumulation, and unless someone like Long Yi and Elsa unexpectedly popped up from another world, it was hard to achieve with just the internal resources of The Forgotten Ones.
However, as Long Yi had mentioned, another reason was that the Emperor was trying to alleviate the current atmosphere slightly, ensuring the La Sang Family wouldn’t think they had already secured victory. Although the La Sang Family initially appeared somewhat arrogant, as time passed, the Elder Council’s experienced members quickly grasped the Emperor’s intentions, and the whole Family began to restrain themselves.
Finally, the Emperor believed he could no longer keep sidelining those two technical talents.
Even so, Long Yi and Elsa had waited a long time, and the procrastinating Emperor made Long Yi very uncomfortable. Standing outside the dizzying Imperial Palace, waiting until their bodies grew mushrooms, finally, it was their turn to enter.
Compared to the uniform battle armor of the warriors, the officers’ armors were much richer and more lavish, adorned with various impractical decorations to distinguish their ranks. And the Emperor, as always, sat in his golden armor, his face invisible, leaving Long Yi uncertain of his current status. At that moment, Long Yi only wanted to figure out what the Emperor’s weakness was, how to literally crush that controlling Worm!
What Long Yi thought, the Emperor did not know, and at this time, the Emperor was in a very good mood.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Henki! And Aisa!" the Emperor stood up and loudly addressed all the Ministers.
This was an unprecedented honor!
Long Yi and Elsa both saluted simultaneously, thankful that the big ceremony of this race was not kneeling since they were clad in armor, making kneeling essentially meaningless.
Long Yi and Elsa stood below, and the Emperor began to recount his observations of the battle and how he had insightfully discovered these two talents. The Ministers echoed the Emperor’s claims. In fact, the skills and talents of these two were evident to anyone who was not blind. However, since the Emperor had started boasting himself, the ministers naturally wouldn’t show off their abilities, and began to unroll their flattery.
After boasting a series of his own contributions and casually praising the strength of Henki and Elsa, the Emperor finally came to the main topic of the day.
