Chapter 125

Shenzhou.

A girl as slender as a serpent stared strangely at the intelligence in her hand—the very text message Li Ang had sent.

After triple-checking she hadn't misread, she asked the man beside her, Zhou Minhao: "Are you certain this was sent by the Bronze and Fire King?"

Hearing this, Zhou Minhao wiped sweat from his brow: "This was intercepted by the carrier. There's no mistake."

The Sovereign fell silent, then suddenly burst into laughter moments later.

"Those Cabal fools have always despised all pure-blooded dragonkind—how could they ever have imagined one of their own hides a Dragon King?!"

"Hahahaha."

The girl laughed uncontrollably—this was the funniest thing she'd seen in all her years.

"Go. Spread this news. Let every bloodline on Earth know: Pompeius Cato is the Sky and Wind King."

"Lord, this isn't appropriate."

Zhou Minhao's face showed hesitation.

Given it involved a Long Wang, he felt it was too reckless.

Yet the Sovereign merely set the intelligence aside, picked up the controller in front of her, and began playing a video game.

"Do you really think the Bronze and Fire King asked us for a phone because he didn't know our little tricks?"

"And if this intelligence is true, do you believe the Cato family would ever side with us?"

"Don't waver, Minhao."

Hearing this, Zhou Minhao froze, then suddenly understood: "You're right, Lord."

With that, he turned to carry out the Sovereign's orders.

But the girl suddenly called out to him: "Did you confirm the recipient's identity?"

Zhou Minhao spun around swiftly: "Chu Chu Zihang. Born June 1, 1990. Parents divorced. Attended Shilan High School domestically. Currently studying Golden Mechanism at the Cassell Academy."

". Lord, this information is already in the intelligence report."

The girl playing the game stiffened, then spoke casually: "I was just testing you. Did you find out why the Bronze and Fire King has contact with a bloodline?"

In response, Zhou Minhao's expression turned grave: "Both of them appeared in America."

"And our people confirmed they flew back from Mexico."

"Even the quieter one lived in America for many years."

Hearing this, the Sovereign put down the controller and stared at the game screen, lost in thought.

After a long silence, she murmured softly: "It seems these two didn't sleep as long as we assumed… Fine. For now, pretend we know nothing. Go spread the news that Pompeius is a Long Wang."

"Yes, Lord."

Zhou Minhao replied and withdrew.

Soon, an absurd rumor spread among bloodlines worldwide.

That the famed dragon-slaying Cato family's patriarch, Pompeius, was the Sky and Wind King among the Four Dragon Kings.

It was an utterly ridiculous lie.

After all, everyone knew the Cato family, as part of the Cabal, had always been on the front lines of dragon-slaying.

And they immediately issued a public denial.

Yet what puzzled the bloodlines was that no other families in the Cabal reacted at all—as if they'd never heard the rumor.

Cato Ancestral Hall.

A handsome blond man with rimless glasses stared blankly at a group of old men.

The blond man was Pompeius Cato; the elders were the Cato family's patriarchs.

"Lord, what do you make of the rumors circulating these past few days?"

The speaker was a skeletal elder, barely keeping his eyes open, addressing the casually dressed blond man before him.

Hearing this, Pompeius returned to reality, wearing a perfectly measured smile: "Do you really think anyone believes such an absurd accusation?"

"Shouldn't they be the ones producing evidence that I'm the Sky and Wind King?"

The principle is simple: he who asserts must prove.

Unfortunately, in the Cato family's intelligence network, the source of this information was the Bronze and Fire King, who had recently appeared in Shenzhou.

The two had no conceivable connection—logically, the King could not possibly know Pompeius.

And precisely because of this, the situation had become what it was.

Upon hearing Pompeius's rebuttal, the elders fell silent.

They knew the current Cato patriarch was right—but what use was truth if outsiders refused to believe?

In recent days, suspicious glances from within the Cabal had grown more frequent; Cato youths had all faced some degree of exclusion.

Pompeius, as patriarch, knew all this. He shrugged: "Don't worry. As long as the Cato family continues its dragon-slaying mission, this rumor will collapse on its own."

". I hope so."

The elders gave no clear reply, but for now, no better solution existed.

They couldn't possibly hand over their own patriarch over a rumor, could they?

Pompeius paid no mind to the elders' inner thoughts. He whistled, waved his hand, and turned toward the exit of the Ancestral Hall: "If there's nothing else, I'm off."

"I just found a target these past two days—I hadn't even moved on him yet when you called me back."

The elders in the Ancestral Hall were used to Pompeius's carefree attitude; besides, he rarely handled family affairs day-to-day, so they said nothing.

Yet in a corner unseen by all, a faint, almost imperceptible golden light flickered in Pompeius's eyes.

'Noton.'

'Where did he get this intelligence? Could he, like me, have never entered slumber all these years?'

'No—if that were true, he wouldn't have lived in New York for so long.'

According to intelligence within the Secret Party, Pompey already knows Old Tang's life trajectory.

'So, is it Constantin?'

Thinking of this, Pompey could not help but feel a flicker of hesitation.

It is widely known that among the Dragon Kings, the one who wields the 【Power】 invariably has severe personality flaws.

In his memory, Constantin was a profoundly timid, autistic child who relied entirely on his older brother for everything.

Yet the Constantin now appearing in Shenzhou gave him a sense of dissonance.

This cannot be explained by a change in personality, for when the Black King created them, he designed them precisely this way—to balance the Dragon Kings' power.

'Or perhaps'

'someone has accomplished what Herzog wanted to do?'

Pompey's mind flashed with information about Li Ang, and his gaze flickered slightly.