Chapter 182: King of the West? The Third Prince

Silas stood in the crowd, watching this shocking scene, his fat body unable to stop trembling.

He wasn't afraid, but excited!

He knew he had bet right!

This young man named Roko, his future is limitless!

The Commercial Alliance has hugged a real thigh this time!

"I, Archibald, apologize to you—to the dead people of Vanguard Valley for my stupid behavior."

Archibald's voice was filled with humiliation and unwillingness, but he still said it word by word.

After speaking, he knocked his forehead heavily on the cold ground.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

One, two, three... —

The dull sound of kowtowing echoed before the silent city gate and also struck everyone's heart.

Roko remained expressionless; he looked coldly at Archibald kowtowing before his horse, not a hint of pity in his eyes.

For an enemy who wanted to put him to death and also killed so many of his innocent people, he would not have any mercy.

What he wanted was to tell everyone a truth in the most cruel and direct way.

Provoke me, Roko Raymond, and you must pay the most painful price!

Until Archibald kowtowed until his head was broken and bleeding, his forehead a bloody mess, Roko finally opened his mouth slowly, his voice cold and devoid of emotion.

"You did the first and third conditions."

"Now, the second."

He turned his head and said to Hart behind him: "Hart, take our people to the Governor's Mansion's treasury."

"Remember, what I said is move whatever you want."

"Yes, Master!" Hart responded excitedly, light flickering in his eyes.

With a wave of his hand, one hundred black-armored knights immediately dismounted, their movements uniform, making a clanging sound of metal collision.

Under everyone's gaze, they walked with uniform steps, following Hart like a tide into the city gate of Sunset City.

Watching that army radiating monstrous killing intent walk into their city so swaggeringly, heading toward their Governor's Mansion,

the defenders on the city wall didn't dare to step forward to block them.

Their weapons, held in their hands, felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.

Archibald still knelt on the ground; he lowered his head, not daring to look at Roko's eyes, nor daring to look at the disdainful gazes around him. He now only hoped that this nightmare would end quickly.

However, what he didn't know was that this nightmare had just begun.

Roko watched Hart take people in, a hint of imperceptible arc curling at the corner of his mouth.

He naturally knew that an old fox like Archibald couldn't have put all his assets in the treasury on the surface.

But he didn't care.

What he wanted was not just money.

What he wanted was everything Archibald had, including his secrets that couldn't be seen in the light.

And these secrets were often hidden in the deepest part of the treasury.

He believed Hart would bring him a surprise.

However, not long after Hart took people into the Governor's Mansion, a knight galloped out of the city with a grave expression and came straight to Roko.

"Master! Captain Hart has an urgent discovery, please come over immediately!"

The Governor's Mansion of Sunset City was now completely controlled by the Storm Knights.

The guards and servants in the mansion were all trembling, shrinking in the corners, not daring to breathe loudly. They looked in terror at these black-armored knights radiating cold killing intent, walking through the mansion and taking over all the key positions.

Roko dismounted, threw the reins to a knight, and strode toward the backyard of the Governor's Mansion.

Fula followed closely behind him, her heterochromatic eyes filled with vigilance, guarding against any possible danger.

Passing through several magnificent corridors, Roko arrived in front of the Governor's Mansion's treasury.

The treasury gate, made of thick refined gold and engraved with complex magic arrays, had already been violently broken open, lying twisted to the side.

At the gate, Hart was waiting anxiously.

Seeing Roko's figure, he immediately greeted him, saying with a grave expression: "Master, you're here."

"What discovery?" Roko asked straight to the point.

"You'll see for yourself." Hart didn't say much, just stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation.

Roko nodded and stepped into the treasury.

The interior space of the treasury was huge, simply like a small plaza.

Rows of huge shelves were piled full of golden coins, shining gems, various precious magic materials, and well-crafted weapons and equipment.

This wealth was enough to make any King jealous.

However, Roko's gaze only swept over it casually and landed on an empty space in the center of the treasury.

There, dozens of Storm Knights were busy, moving boxes of gold and silver jewelry out and piling them together.

And behind them, on the floor of the treasury, a black hole leading underground had appeared.

"This—" Roko's brows lifted slightly.

"Master, we followed your order to empty the treasury. But while moving these treasures, we found traces of loose floor tiles in one place." Hart explained, pointing to the hole.

"I had people pry open the floor tiles and discovered this secret room."

"Our people have already gone down to investigate; inside—there are some incredible things."

Hart's tone was unprecedentedly serious.

Roko's heart stirred; he knew the things he was looking for had arrived.

"Take me down."

"Yes, Master."

Hart lit a torch and walked down the stone steps leading to the secret room first.

The stone steps spiraled downward, and the air was filled with a damp and musty smell.

After walking about dozens of meters deep, a small stone room appeared before their eyes.

The stone room was not large, only about a dozen square meters, with no gold or silver jewelry, only a few locked black iron boxes.

Several knights had already used battle axes to chop open the chains of the iron boxes; the boxes were open, and inside were all sheepskin scrolls and letters.

Roko stepped forward and picked up a letter that had already been opened.

The material of the letter was high-quality magic-patterned sheepskin paper, and the handwriting on it was written in a special ink that could prevent magical detection.

At the beginning of the letter was a ferocious scorpion mark.

Poison Scorpion Society!

Roko's eyes instantly became sharp.

He quickly browsed the contents of the letter.

The contents of the letter were shocking.

This was a secret letter written by "Poison Blade," the person in charge of the Poison Scorpion Society's Black Stone City branch, to Archibald.

The letter detailed the Poison Scorpion Society's plan and progress in infiltrating every town in the Sunset Province, planting people, controlling local officials, and even developing forces within the city guards.

Among them, it also mentioned how they used gray forces like the "Black Wolf Bandit Group" to accumulate wealth for them and eliminate dissidents.

Roko read letter by letter, his face growing increasingly gloomy.

These letters were like a huge spider web, clearly outlining the dirty transactions between the Poison Scorpion Society and Archibald.

Archibald provided shelter and convenience for the Poison Scorpion Society, while the Poison Scorpion Society became the sharpest knife in his hand, helping him eliminate political enemies, consolidate his rule, and seize massive wealth.

"This bastard, he is raising a tiger to cause trouble, inviting a wolf into the house!" Hart watched from the side, burning with anger, and couldn't help but curse in a low voice.

A provincial Governor actually colluding with a notorious assassin organization to such a deep extent—this was simply unheard of!

Roko didn't speak; he put down the letter in his hand and walked toward the last and largest iron box.

The things in this box seemed even more important, locked by Archibald with a magic lock attached with a curse.

"Master, this lock—" Hart was in a difficult position.

"Move aside."

Roko said lightly.

He extended his right hand, and golden Holy Sun Battle Qi instantly condensed in his palm.

That aura of ultimate rigidity and masculinity made the entire dark secret room brighten up a bit.

He pressed his palm lightly on the magic lock.

"Sizzle!"

The black curse runes, as if meeting their nemesis, let out a harsh scream and were instantly purified into nothingness by the golden flames.

With a "click," the magic lock opened.

Roko opened the box, and the things inside made his pupils shrink violently.

Inside the box, there was only one letter.

But this letter was sealed with golden silk thread, and the emblem stamped on it was not a scorpion mark, but a three-headed dragon emblem.

Black Kingdom, the Third Prince's emblem!

Roko's heart skipped a beat.

He carefully picked up the letter and broke the seal.

The content of the letter made him feel even more shocked than all the previous letters combined.

This was a handwritten letter from the Third Prince to Archibald!

In the letter, the Third Prince promised that as long as Archibald could fully support him, use the geographical advantage of the Sunset Province to secretly meet and fund the secret army from the neighboring Castilla Principality, after he ascended to the throne, he would seal the entire three western border provinces to Archibald, making him the true "King of the West"!

At the end of the letter, a detailed plan was attached.

In the plan, the Castilla Principality would send an elite army of 50,000, disguised as caravans and mercenaries, to sneak into the Sunset Province in batches through the Mist Mountains.

And Archibald's task was to provide them with supplies, cover their tracks, and at the critical moment, open the western border defense line, allowing them to drive straight in, coordinate with the Third Prince's rebel army from the inside and outside, and strike straight at the Royal Capital!

"Hiss!"

After reading the entire letter, even Hart, who was always steady, couldn't help but gasp.

His face was filled with horror.

"Colluding with foreign enemies, intending to betray the country! This Archibald—he is a traitor!"

Hart's voice was trembling.

This was no longer a simple noble struggle or power play.

This was treason! It was a monstrous crime sufficient to have the entire Archibald family pulled out by the roots and all family members sent to the gallows!

Roko's face was also so gloomy it was about to drip water.

He finally understood.

Why Archibald dared to act so unscrupulously in cooperating with the Poison Scorpion Society.

Why the Poison Scorpion Society could so easily take root in the Sunset Province.

Because behind them stood an ambitious man who wanted to overthrow the entire kingdom—the Third Prince!

And Archibald was the most important chess piece planted by the Third Prince on the western border!

What a "King of the West"!

What a great ambition!

Roko gripped the letter, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

His original plan was just to extort a sum, abolish Archibald, and make him unable to pose a threat to himself ever again.

But now, he changed his mind.

He looked at these secret letters in his hand, a cold chill flashing in his eyes.

If these things were only used to topple an Archibald, it would be too wasteful.

They were keys sufficient to pry open the pattern of the entire kingdom!

"Hart." Roko opened his mouth slowly.

"Subordinate is here!"

"Seal all these things up, send our most trusted people to guard them day and night, and there must be no mistakes."

"Yes, Master!" Hart responded solemnly.

"Also—" Roko paused, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth, "go call that fat man Silas over."

"Just say, I have a huge business to discuss with him."

Silas felt his mood today was like riding a roller coaster.

A moment ago, he was excited about successfully mediating and hugging Roko's thigh.

The next moment, he was politely but firmly "invited" to the secret room of the Governor's Mansion by Roko's knights.

Looking at this gloomy environment and the black-armored knights radiating killing intent around him, Silas's heart was beating like a drum.

What—what is the situation?

Could it be that Roko Raymond wants to kill the donkey after the work is done?

That shouldn't be! I'm still useful to him! The channels and connections of the Commercial Alliance are not a small amount.

Just as Silas was letting his imagination run wild and cold sweat was about to soak his clothes, Roko walked down from the stone steps slowly.

"Master Roko." Silas quickly squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying and bowed respectfully.

"Master Silas, no need for formalities." Roko waved his hand, signaling him to sit down.

There was only a stone table and two stone stools in the secret room, and the atmosphere was suffocating.

Roko threw a stack of sheepskin paper onto the stone table casually.

"Take a look."

Silas's heart skipped a beat, not knowing what medicine Roko was selling in his gourd.

He picked up the letter on top cautiously, and just by looking at that ferocious scorpion mark, his eyelids jumped violently.

Poison Scorpion Society!

As the person in charge of the Commercial Alliance in the Sunset Province, how could he not know this notorious organization.

He endured the unease in his heart and continued to read.

The more he read, the paler his face became.

The more he read, the more cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

When he saw the letter mention how the Poison Scorpion Society, under Archibald's shelter, infiltrated and controlled every aspect of the Sunset Province,

his hands had already started trembling uncontrollably.

This—this is simply shocking!

Archibald, this bastard, actually almost turned the entire Sunset Province into the Poison Scorpion Society's backyard!

If this were to be poked out, let alone a Marquis, even the family behind him would have to suffer the consequences!