Chapter 2389

Early morning, the melodious sound of a harmonica made one's spirit feel relaxed. There were very few pedestrians on the streets. This was Wesoke City, the capital of the Dongze Kingdom, a city with a very slow pace of life.

Compared to the militarily advanced Lehman Kingdom, the quality of Dongze soldiers was clearly a notch lower. An excellent life is certainly happy, but it also grinds down people's willpower.

Even the Storm Kingdom, which relied on the sea, was a notch stronger than the Dongze Kingdom. If the Council House were not sitting in the Central Continent, the first kingdom to be destroyed would definitely be the Dongze Kingdom.

They were often bullied in diplomacy and trade. Fortunately, the Council House was fair enough and had helped the Dongze Kingdom seek justice many times. The Dongze Kingdom was an elegant 'lady'; she was not good at fighting, but 'her' musical attainments could beat the other three major kingdoms.

Today, Wesoke City was the same as always. People woke up under the call of the morning light. As soon as it hit seven o'clock, the streets gradually became lively. Today was the Sacred Music Festival of Wesoke City, a festival held only once every five years.

Travelers from other kingdoms did not hesitate to take several hours of steam train rides just to witness the Sacred Music Festival with their own eyes. In tomorrow's newspapers of every country, this Sacred Music Festival would definitely be the headline.

Laughter and musical instrument melodies were the main theme of the streets. In this atmosphere, people felt a sense of ease and comfort from the bottom of their hearts.

On a towering domed building, a man draped in a black robe stood on the roof, overlooking the streets below.

"Kuku Lin, Bai Ye."

The black-robed person spoke in a low voice. Under his loose sleeves, several black tentacles as thick as little fingers were writhing.

"You are very troublesome, but you, far away in Ango City, can no longer stop us. Only when the Secret Technique Masters are all dead can the anger of the gods be appeased. The Hyena Wolf tribe or humans will rebuild a new empire on the ruins—an empire without secret patterns."

The black-robed person seemed somewhat lonely. A breeze blew past. Under his hood was a somewhat pale face. He took a stained stone slab from his bosom. As soon as this slab appeared, the black tentacles inside his sleeves wrapped around it.

Crack~

A very thin space crack appeared. The black-robed person slowly pressed the stone slab in his hand forward. The surrounding space cracks became increasingly dense. In just over ten seconds, a large area of space cracks appeared above Wesoke City.

The civilians naturally noticed this abnormality. From their perspective, the sky split into cracks, and a black sun appeared above.

At the same time, inside the royal palace of Wesoke City, a dozen maids were serving Abel IX as he dressed. Today, Abel IX's attire was exceptionally gorgeous. As the King of the Dongze Kingdom, he was to make an appearance at noon during the five-yearly Sacred Music Festival.

"Cough~"

Abel IX gave a light cough, and the dozen maids around him immediately bowed and stepped back a few paces.

"My throat is a bit uncomfortable. You may continue."

Abel IX was somewhat distracted. There was still no reply regarding the debts of the Lehman Kingdom. That 'rogue' was clearly preparing to default on the debt.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough."

Abel IX suddenly coughed dryly again and again. When the dry coughing ended, he felt a sense of relief in his chest.

"Maj, Majesty, you, you."

The dozen maids looked at Abel IX with terror. Abel IX's eyes revealed confusion. Although there was some anger in his heart, he did not show it.

For some reason, Abel IX felt his hands were wet. He raised his right hand. On the back of his hand and his cuffs, they were covered in black liquid. As these liquids dripped downward, they formed threads due to their viscosity.

"This is..."

As a king, Abel IX appeared very calm at this moment. He wiped his lips with his clean left hand. Sure enough, his hand was stained with that black, viscous liquid.

"Cang Hun, go notify General Charles. Order all steam train stations to unconditionally let all soldiers and civilians board the trains to Ango City, to the Council House, to find Councilor Rose. Hurry!"

Abel IX could clearly feel his body going numb. Ango City was the safest place. Under Ango City, there was an underground city built by Emperor Okaz, which could accommodate at least a million civilians or soldiers. Ango City itself was easy to defend and hard to attack, and the underground city was the final line of defense.

"I didn't expect it would be me giving this order. I hope the people are safe."

Abel IX was very calm. According to the secrets passed down through generations of the royal family, he knew he was going to die. As a king, he did not fear death; what he truly feared was the destruction of his kingdom.

"Cang Hun, hurry, the anger of the ancient gods is about to descend. Cang Hun? Cang Hun?"

Abel IX looked at the shadow behind the screen. Cang Hun had been guarding him here every moment.

Hmph~

A beast-like low grunt came. A humanoid monster with a withered body walked out. Although his whole body was withered, he gave off a sense of power. The clothes on his body had long since weathered into tattered strips of cloth. Even more shocking was that the energy in his body had decayed into black. Those gray pupils stared at Abel IX. This was the Cang Hun that Abel IX had called; he had turned into a monster even earlier than Abel IX.

"It has been hard on you. The Secret Technique Master Society will be the first to be eroded. How could I forget this?"

Abel IX smiled. Black liquid flowed from his ear canals, and the gorgeous clothes on his body became dilapidated, as if corroded by decades of time.

Boom!

Cang Hun pounced on Abel IX. Abel IX had no power to resist and was directly decapitated by Cang Hun, who had turned into a humanoid monster.

Abel IX's headless corpse took a few steps back, his arms hanging down powerlessly. Black liquid sprayed from the severed neck, constantly eroding the surroundings.

"Roar!!"

Cang Hun roared, and the withered skin on both sides of his cheeks was torn open, revealing gray-yellow flat teeth.

The black viscous liquid rolled back with Abel IX as the center, and his severed head was also rolled back.

Abel IX stood blankly on the spot. His entire body's skin was cracked, his long black hair fluttered, his right pupil had turned deep red, and half of his left pupil was still normal, but it was being rapidly eroded.

Abel IX raised his right arm, his index finger pointing forward into the void.

Wave~

A ripple spread in the air where Abel IX had lightly pointed. The next moment, his left pupil also turned deep red, and he completely lost consciousness. The King of Dongze had fallen here.

Bang!

Cang Hun's body suddenly exploded, bursting into large pieces of withered fragments. This was the final dignity Abel IX had bestowed upon him. Cang Hun was very proud and would not want to turn into a monster.

Inside Wesoke City outside the royal palace, this capital of music had turned into a living hell. Screams were endless, and roaring sounds had not stopped. One humanoid monster after another with withered bodies leaped between buildings; some stood in high places roaring, while others were pouncing on and killing civilians on the streets.

Above the royal palace, the black-robed person sat on the edge of the roof, watching the scenes below expressionlessly. When he saw a little girl only a few years old have her head crushed by a humanoid monster, his hand trembled imperceptibly.

"I did all of this. Feel free to despise me."

The black-robed person was smiling. He would not offer even a single word of defense for his actions. Slaughtering living beings is evil, regardless of the purpose.

The black-robed person was named Gru. He was born in a small village outside the border. That small village did not even belong to any kingdom; no kingdom was willing to accept such a remote and impoverished place.

Gru's belief was that even if he had to turn into an evil ghost, he had to take back all the secret patterns. The combination of secret patterns and steam technology would bring absolute destruction. A generation of civilization had already paid the price for this.

Many years ago, when Gru first discovered this, he felt it was impossible. But after several explorations where he almost lost his life, he verified it. This was a disaster that had truly happened.

After confirming this, the young Gru tried every method and finally found an official of the Storm Kingdom. The result was that the other party received him very politely and listened to his description solemnly. When it came to evidence, the young Gru was speechless. He had only seen illusions, and later, by chance, entered a certain place to confirm those 'illusions'. The young Gru could not provide any evidence.

That kingdom official told the young Gru very solemnly that he would take this matter seriously and report it to his superiors. When he heard this sentence back then, the young Gru felt joy in his heart. But months passed, and his major discovery did not cause any ripples. The newspapers were still reporting on the progress of combining secret patterns and steam.

The young Gru was somewhat angry. He found that kingdom official again and emphasized the severity of the matter multiple times. The other party still appeared very 'serious'. When Gru was leaving, he gave him 15 pounds to investigate this matter.

The young Gru, holding the 15 pounds, felt very awkward. Although the other party was always smiling, when he took out the 15 pounds, it was like shooing away a mangy dog that had come to beg for food multiple times. The young Gru did not do this for money; he just did not want to see anyone die because of this matter, that was all. That year, Gru was only 17 years old, liked to drink milk to grow strong, liked dogs, and liked pretty girls.

Another two months passed, and the news in the newspapers still had no changes. The young Gru found that kingdom official for the third time. After all, this was the person with the most power he could reach.

The result was that the young Gru was thrown into prison that very day on the grounds of stealing 15 pounds from a town official and intending to incite chaos. For this, the young Gru had to face 15 years of imprisonment.

Gru escaped. He escaped to the Dongze Kingdom. He did not change his name. For a 17-year-old young man, he always believed he had done nothing wrong, and he did not believe that all kingdom officials were like that curly-haired fat pig.

Seven years later, Gru resigned from his position as a surveillance officer of the Dongze Kingdom and mysteriously disappeared. At that time, this matter even alarmed Abel IX. A surveillance officer was not a small figure; that was a second-class official of the kingdom, a big figure whose decisions could affect the development of a city.

The more one knows, the more one realizes how whimsical it is to take back all secret patterns and stop the combination of secret patterns and steam technology. Driven by power, interests, and fame, it is simply impossible to stop.

This was only Gru's brief youth. When Gru joined a force that had been established for a thousand years and held a high position, that was the moment he truly began to shine.

Ango City, inside the home of the Saint Realm councilor.

Su Xiao looked through the documents in his hand. These documents were retrieved by Puri from the Council House in his capacity as an acting councilor. The stack of documents he held came from the Storm Kingdom and the Dongze Kingdom, and they recorded the same person.

"Elvis Gru, it seems it is you."

Su Xiao handed the several documents in his hand to Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang. Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang was skilled in reconnaissance; it had the best chance of finding the person behind the scenes, Elvis Gru.

"Woof."

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang barked, meaning that the person in the photo looked quite handsome and could definitely charm thousands of young girls.

With a bang, the study door was kicked open. Puri, covered in cold sweat, rushed into the room, supporting himself on the desk with both hands and panting heavily. He picked up the teapot on the table and poured several large gulps into his mouth before letting out a long sigh of relief.

"Kuku Lin, I have something to tell you."

"Mm?"

"The Dongze Kingdom has perished!"

Puri swallowed his saliva. One of the four major kingdoms, Dongze, had actually perished within a few hours. If it weren't for his special intelligence channels, Puri would not have believed this. Today, the Dongze Kingdom was supposed to hold the Sacred Music Festival. Now, there was no need for sacred music; let's change it to funeral music.

"Oh? When did this happen?"

Su Xiao extinguished the cigarette in his hand, his expression unchanged.

"Just this morning."

Puri looked Su Xiao up and down. In his view, as long as one was a normal person, one would be shocked upon hearing the news of Dongze's destruction.

Su Xiao was of course surprised that a behemoth like the Dongze Kingdom could perish in a few hours. As for being shocked, that was not the case; he had once witnessed a world collapse, with everything turning into dust.