Chapter 42: The Iskan Meeting
“Put out the fire! His Majesty is still inside!”
Inside the imperial palace, the panicked cries of the servants spread together with the raging flames.
At the center of the palace fire, Charlemagne VII was quietly looking out the window. A white bird feather drifted down.
On the secretary bird that was desperately flapping its wings, a blond man leaned weakly in the arms of a white-haired man. Under the sudden attack of the fire, they flew away from the palace.
As their figures gradually disappeared, Charlemagne VII let out a cold snort and pressed the central button in the palace’s defense control room. The defensive barrier that wrapped around the outside of the palace was completely opened.
Because of this, snow fell for the first time inside the palace, which had always been as warm as spring all year round, putting out the sudden blaze.
That year, Charlemagne VII had been in power for two years, and Charlemagne VI was still alive.
…
In the fourth year of Charlemagne VII’s reign, the previous emperor passed away, and the whole nation entered mourning.
It was also from this incident onward that all of the palace’s dark history slowly had its curtain pulled back, exposing itself before the eyes of the seventh-generation emperor.
In the bottomless underground deep pool, the first-generation empress, who had been trapped for several hundred years, was locked away. And in that lightless laboratory, the elder brother that the seventh-generation emperor had always been searching for was also imprisoned.
Inside the enormous container tanks were the bodies of each generation’s most optimal bloodlines.
That elder brother, who had been born even before him, was still in the form of a child only a few years old, lying lifelessly inside the container tank.
In the container tank beside him was the immortal body of the second generation’s most optimal bloodline.
“This is my eighth child. The most outstanding child, one who perfectly fused beastman and human genes and does not have a mental illness.”
The necklace around Charlemagne VII’s neck suddenly made a sound, echoing throughout the vast underground level.
A snake eye hanging on his chest moved slightly, looking toward the child in the container tank whose growth had stopped.
“They’re dead?” Charlemagne VII asked in a low voice.
“Of course not. As long as even a piece of their flesh remains, they will continue to live, forever providing samples for the experiments of you imperial descendants.”
“Is that so…”
No expression could be seen on Charlemagne VII’s face. He merely looked quietly at the boy who was no different from his younger self, waiting for the answer the imperial family had always pursued.
In the fiftieth year of Charlemagne VII’s reign, the seventh-generation emperor’s inherited mental illness broke out. It was precisely then that he encountered an envoy sent by an outside race—a zerg from the SN701 star region, 001.
a zerg whose pursuit aligned with that of the imperial family.
They made a deal.
The aliens would hand over the “hound” research they had experimented on for many years, while Charlemagne VII would hand over the Empire’s proudest high bloodlines.
After forcibly taking in the other party’s memories, Felix frowned tightly, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the seventh-generation emperor lying on the instrument.
The skin on the arm that had originally been branded with a snake-shaped totem had become smooth. There was not the slightest trace that it had ever been branded.
Thinking of this, Felix finally realized the seventh-generation emperor’s intention and turned to look into the other party’s eyes.
The other party’s tightly shut eyes slowly opened. He looked toward the empty space behind the console, toward the spot where Felix should have been, and made a shushing gesture with his mouth.
Immediately afterward, an alarm echoed through the zerg starship.
005, who had been operating the instrument, stopped and walked outside. He grabbed 004, who was passing by the door, and pressed him for answers.
“What happened?”
“The Quetzal divine tree extract cannot fully fuse with a sentinel’s body. 001’s operation failed and interfered with his main body’s energy.”
“001 wants to switch to a sentinel body?”
“Yes. During a confrontation with a human guide, his main body was damaged. He can no longer control the complex consciousness cloud of a human guide.”
004 was explaining when 002’s voice came from somewhere else, interrupting the rest of their conversation.
“Stop the invasion operation against the Empire. Prioritize landing on the third planet of the SN701 star region…”
“Report, Marshal. The aircraft has now left the SN701 star region and is currently heading toward Iskan District One.”
A soldier entering the command room interrupted Felix’s report to Aphrodite.
“All right, I understand.”
Felix received the report transmitted by the army captain. His expression grew heavy as he looked at one of the lines: A dog-type beastman soldier disappeared after entering the southwest mine.
Thinking of the clusters of zerg eggs inside the mine, Felix could not help tightening his hand, recalling the manic period triggered back then because his mental barrier had cracked.
A newly born zerg larva had actually been able to invade the consciousness cloud of an adult beastman.
Felix frowned in confusion. But before he could think further, a fluffy sensation came from his neck.
Puff shot into the command room with a whoosh, climbed onto his shoulder, and affectionately rubbed against his neck.
As the sound of someone knocking on the door came, Jin Chi’an called, “Felix.”
The moment Felix saw Jin Chi’an’s figure, he dismissed the soldiers in the command room. With one hand, he pulled the other man into his arms and inhaled the fragrance on him.
“Marshal Felix, there’s still some time before the aircraft arrives at District One. You can rest for a while,” Jin Chi’an said, gently stroking the back of his neck and looking with heartache at the faint redness around his eyes.
“All right.”
Felix wrapped an arm around Jin Chi’an’s waist and, under the eyes of all the soldiers, returned to the room Jin Chi’an had come from.
Before the door even closed, Felix consciously transformed into beast form and jumped onto the clean and tidy bed.
“Felix, you’ve been in the wild for so long and haven’t bathed yet.”
Jin Chi’an complained with some dissatisfaction, but Puff’s movement of immediately following him onto the bed completely exposed his true feelings.
Puff purred, comfortably burying his body in the white tiger’s belly and kneading in enjoyment.
Looking at the white tiger’s soft belly, Jin Chi’an could not help swallowing. Felix caught him red-handed with sharp eyes.
“Do you want to touch it?”
Looking at the big, delicious-looking furball on the bed, Jin Chi’an ultimately failed to hold himself back. He climbed onto the bed, found a comfortable position, hugged the white tiger in his arms, and fell asleep peacefully.
…
Two days later, the starship carrying everyone successfully arrived at Iskan District One.
Charles, who was waiting at the port, greeted the two people coming down closely pressed together. Then he passed the surrounding soldiers and jogged toward Felix.
“You came back just in time. District One’s military department is organizing an emergency meeting.”
“What’s so urgent…”
Jin Chi’an somewhat unhappily squeezed Felix’s palm, thinking that the army, worn out from the long journey, had not even settled down yet.
“You don’t know yet, right? The Empire sent us an emergency request for help.”
As Charles spoke, he opened the cabin door of the transporter and made an inviting gesture to them. Then he said to Lin Chuan, who was following behind the two, “Guide Lin, please come along as well.”
After entering the teleportation device in Iskan District One, the group soon arrived at the conference room on the seventeenth floor of the military department.
At this moment, around the long conference table, Iskan’s emperor, ministers, and the rest of the military higher-ups had all taken their seats. Even Qin Hua appeared at this meeting.
Seeing Jin Chi’an and the others arrive, Aphrodite very naturally pulled out the chair beside him and gestured for them to sit.
When his gaze swept over Jin Chi’an, an unreadable look flashed through his eyes. Immediately afterward, he sniffed the surrounding scent.
But before Jin Chi’an could catch his strangeness, Aphrodite’s focus had already returned to the meeting.
Once everyone had fully arrived, the reporting soldier presented the situation of the Empire’s various districts on the large screen one by one, then continued, “Two days ago, a small zerg planet entered the Empire’s star region. During the period when the defense systems of the Empire’s various stars were being updated, it carried out an invasion. At present, within Imperial territory, large numbers of sentinels and guides in the frontline armies have been invaded by Zerg mental power.”
After describing the current state of the Empire’s districts, the reporting soldier displayed an optical-brain email on the large screen. Every line was filled with apologies to Iskan, hoping that Iskan’s beastman army could disregard past grievances and send troops to assist the Empire.
“What kind of joke is this? Those Empire bastards really do look down on people like dogs.”
In his fury, one of the military higher-ups transformed into a half-beast state, using his sharp claws to carve scratch marks across the conference table.
Facing this higher-up who had half-transformed into a snow leopard, Jin Chi’an looked toward his fluffy ears in surprise. With only one glance, he received Felix’s resentful gaze.
Seeing the other party’s aggrieved look, Jin Chi’an could only lower his head and guiltily rub the scratch marks spread all over the conference table.
Before he could prepare an explanation, a fluffy tail stretched under the table toward him. Felix, who was sitting upright at the conference table with a perfectly serious appearance, was acting outrageously under the table, stuffing that tail into his hand.
Faced with this secret fluffy seduction, Jin Chi’an accepted the other party’s tail without hesitation, enjoying the itchy sensation in his palm with a blissful expression.
At this time, the meeting was still ongoing. A gloomy-faced minister interlaced his fingers, intentionally or unintentionally glancing toward Qin Hua, who sat directly opposite him, and said, “I also do not support sending troops to assist the Empire. Humans have no integrity. That is a fact universally acknowledged.”
Looking at this somewhat familiar minister, Jin Chi’an curiously leaned closer to Felix and asked, “Who is he?”
“Iskan’s foreign minister. Xi Lian’s father.”
Before Felix’s introduction had even finished, an ear-piercing sound echoed through the conference room. The diplomat’s hand had turned into the talons of a golden eagle, scratching line after line into the conference table.
“Your Majesty, the Empire’s military department bullied my son.”
The diplomat’s gaze burned as he looked at Aphrodite, who sat at the head of the table. His ruthless tone carried a distinct flavor of an elementary school student tattling.
The silver-haired woman at the other end of the conference table also followed up with condemnation.
“Your Majesty, my son too. Those people from the Empire truly have no manners.”
The silver-haired woman’s face was filled with dissatisfaction. Before Jin Chi’an could ask again, she fully transformed into a wolf and tilted her head back to let out a howl.
In less than a moment, the howls of wolves seemed to trigger a chain reaction, spreading throughout the entire Iskan military building.
As the space in the conference room gradually became cramped, Aphrodite, seated at the head of the table, darkened his face and tried to block out the howls of beasts around him.
Only when animal fur floating through the conference room landed on his arm did Aphrodite finally lift his eyes helplessly and look at the Iskan higher-ups who had all transformed into beast forms one by one.
The chairs in the conference room had fallen all over the place. Even Felix had turned into a white tiger, protecting Jin Chi’an within the territory he had enclosed, his eyes dark as he watched the surrounding felines.
“Enough. This is a meeting. Every single one of you, transform back.”
Aphrodite forcibly suppressed the twitching of his eyelid and raised a hand to slap Charles beside him, who had transformed into a snake and was currently gnawing on the conference table with his teeth.
“From now on, no one is allowed to turn into beast form during any meeting!”
