Chapter 28: The Palace Incident (Part 2)
“Are you sure this is how you land?”
Inside the Allied Forces’ imperial aircraft, Aphrodite clumsily operated the central control panel and replied to Felix in a panic, “I’ve read their product manual. I think this is how it’s used.”
“Are you joking?”
Felix pulled him away from the pilot’s seat, then sat down himself.
“Move. I’ll do it.”
Looking at the dizzying array of buttons, Felix relied on his understanding of Iskan aircraft and pressed one without hesitation.
Immediately afterward, the aircraft emitted a warning-like alert, then sent three options to the central control.
Looking at the wordless scripture on the screen, where only buttons of different colors appeared, Felix chose the most conservative green option without pausing.
Faced with his smooth, effortless movements, Aphrodite asked suspiciously, “Do you know what you just pressed?”
“Landing method selection.”
Felix sat calmly in the pilot’s seat, waiting for the aircraft to begin acting according to the instruction.
Before long, the aircraft began flying rapidly toward the palace.
As the scenery outside the window suddenly changed, the central control displayed that the aircraft had reached District One’s middle layer.
The abnormal descent speed made Aphrodite question him again.
“Felix, are you sure this is landing?”
Perhaps because the emperor’s questioning was too panicked, Felix could not help doubting his own operation just now. He calmly analyzed, “There is a fifty percent chance that it is.”
Just as the two of them failed to analyze anything useful, a communication from the beastman army forcibly connected to their aircraft.
“Reporting, Marshal. Your aircraft is currently crashing. May we ask whether you have already evacuated the aircraft?”
Receiving a definite answer, Felix immediately came to realization and began analyzing his operational mistake in his mind.
His calm appearance fell into Aphrodite’s eyes, making the already worried emperor instantly anxious to the point his heart rose into his throat. He forcibly joined the line and said, “We have not evacuated. Support is needed.”
“Received.”
The beastmen who received the order had already prepared. In an instant, several beastmen transformed into bird forms in the sky, holding a specially made giant net in their beaks as they rushed toward the falling aircraft.
At this moment inside the cabin, Aphrodite raised his hand and smacked Felix on the head.
“You brat! I told you to land, and you made us crash. Are you insane? If anything happens to your father, I’ll arrange a divorce for the two of you when we get back.”
For a moment, the atmosphere inside the cabin became heavy.
Felix rubbed his head, suppressing the anger in his heart. Then he put on a wronged expression and looked at Aphrodite.
“We can’t divorce. He’ll run.”
“Then make sure your father lands safely.”
Aphrodite gripped the emergency handrail in the cabin and looked at his son in the pilot’s seat with a helpless, disappointed expression.
Only after he felt the aircraft’s falling speed slow down did he transform into beast form, coil his body around the handrail, and poke his head out to look through the window.
As the shaking inside the cabin gradually stabilized, the aircraft descended into District One’s troposphere.
Looking at the palace gradually approaching, Aphrodite finally relaxed and sat back in his seat with peace of mind.
Then the line connected again. The face of a bird beastman gradually transforming into human form appeared on the screen.
“Reporting, Marshal. There is a protective barrier around the palace. We cannot enter.”
Before the voice on the line could finish speaking, the aircraft, having lost the resistance of the giant net, plummeted rapidly toward the palace. When it collided with the barrier, an explosion occurred, tearing a hole in one section of the barrier at the same time.
Bai Ye, who was rushing toward the source of the mammoth cries, happened to see this scene. As soon as he looked up toward the palace barrier, a white tiger, holding an unconscious golden snake in his mouth, was falling toward the ground.
Stepping on the plants grown within the palace grounds, Felix landed steadily. The scrapes on his body caused by the aircraft explosion quickly healed.
In contrast, the golden cobra in his mouth had fainted from the impact of the explosion, its body hanging limply as the white tiger carried it.
“Wife.”
Bai Ye ran up to the white tiger and carefully took the golden snake from his mouth, looking resentfully at Felix, who appeared completely fine.
“Where is Jin Chi’an?”
Not seeing Jin Chi’an beside Bai Ye, Felix impatiently questioned him.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Bai Ye guiltily pointed in the direction Jin Chi’an had left, pretending to be dissatisfied.
“I brought him out. He was the one who ran back on his own. You can’t blame me for this. Didn’t you fail to watch over my wife too?”
Bai Ye lovingly coiled the golden snake in his hand into a circle and tentatively glanced at Felix’s expression twice.
Felix gave him a contemptuous look, then turned and ran in the direction he had pointed.
Bai Ye was just about to chase after him and explain the situation when the golden snake in his arms twisted its body and naturally coiled around his neck.
Only when several mammoth cries sounded did Aphrodite, whose head was resting on Bai Ye’s shoulder, narrow his pupils and lean close to his ear.
“That’s Charlemagne VII’s voice. Follow it.”
“What about Felix and the others?”
“They can handle it themselves.”
Feeling the killing intent beside his neck, Bai Ye stopped saying anything useless. He summoned the mental body in his mental sea and carried one person and one snake toward the place where the mammoths were calling.
When the two arrived, a scene of devastation entered their eyes.
Several subadult mammoths had been knocked to the ground, and countless trees and plants had been crushed beneath their enormous bodies.
In front of the imperial emperor, several royal sentinels had also fallen to the ground. From the wounds on their bodies, it was not hard to see that they had all gone through a fierce battle earlier.
Compared to the miserable state of the royal family’s side, Brayden, standing opposite them, seemed especially relaxed. The endless stream of mental power from the Zerg race was enough for him to continuously withstand the royal family’s attacks.
Not far from the group, Bai Ye and Aphrodite hid behind a thick tree trunk, secretly listening to their conversation.
Faced with Bai Ye’s sneaky behavior, Aphrodite, lying on his shoulder, was just about to hiss in dissatisfaction when Bai Ye pinched his neck.
At the same time, Brayden’s mental body was swinging its long trunk, knocking down another mammoth opposite it.
“How useless.”
The emperor, who had originally been surrounded in the center, watched as the princes beside him fell one after another, until only a timid golden cobra remained.
“Are you sure you still want to negotiate with us, Emperor?”
Brayden let out a soft laugh and kicked away the sentinel prince who had fallen by his feet. He gradually approached the imperial emperor.
Charlemagne VII’s arrogance had completely vanished, replaced by a somewhat panicked expression.
“Zerg, you wanted half of the empire’s high bloodlines. I’ve already summoned them all for you. Our transaction is over.”
“Oh, then what should we do? The lives Kashemir is about to birth number far more than this. Besides, Emperor, without us, how long can your royal line’s mental deterioration last?”
Charlemagne VII took several steps back, kicked Little Thirteen in front of him, and warily looked at Brayden as he gradually approached.
“What nonsense. The royal family’s mental illness has already been resolved. That has nothing to do with you or your kind, alien.”
“Are you certain?”
Under the emperor’s shocked gaze, a figure walked out from the palace woods.
The person who arrived was none other than the royal family’s long-standing guide physician—Talir.
“Talir?”
“It is me, Your Majesty. As your attending physician, I should remind you that the royal family’s mental illness treatment requires the intervention of the Kashemir race. The fact that your mental deterioration has been eased is precisely thanks to the Kashemir people.”
Charlemagne VII looked at Talir, who clearly now had a different core inside him, and let out a somewhat self-mocking laugh.
“Looks like I won’t be escaping today.”
Amid that gradually unrestrained laughter, an energy bullet shot out from Charlemagne VII’s imperial robe, attacking Brayden, who seemed slightly relaxed.
Just as the bullet was about to pierce through his head, Brayden suddenly dodged aside. Then, taking advantage of the movement, he drew a light sword and stabbed toward the emperor, who was still standing in place.
But Charlemagne remained where he was, the arrogance from earlier restored to his face. His tone could not hide the smile within it.
“Long time no see, my dear younger brother.”
The beam of the particle sword was completely blocked by a barrier. A giant golden cobra was coiled around Brayden’s body, biting down toward his shoulder and releasing neurotoxin.
Only after Brayden’s movements became sluggish did Aphrodite release his fangs and transform into human form, carrying the body whose spine had been crushed by his coils.
“If you die, that’ll be quite troublesome for me.”
“After all these years, I still don’t like the smell of snake beastmen, Aphrodite. I could smell you from far away.”
Charlemagne VII waved aside the long robe covering his arm, revealing a mental brand resembling a snake-shaped totem.
