Chapter 108: The Back Mountain Restricted Area

A man and a dog quickly entered the final hall.

This hall was where Prince Obina lived. There were even more fallen people here; the ground was densely covered with corpses. However, there were finally signs of struggle and fighting inside the hall. At this point, it seemed the attacker was a warrior with Fire Element Battle Qi or a Fire Mage, because the stone hall had burn marks from flames. Some bodies were even directly burnt to charcoal. The air was filled with the smell of blood and a scent of roasted meat…

Sun Fei’s gaze sharpened.

He saw a relatively well-preserved corpse lying deep in the hall.

This corpse wore a bright set of armor with faint traces of magic power shimmering on it, clearly a piece of valuable Magical Equipment. The deceased had golden long hair and a fairly handsome face, though a hooked nose ruined his demeanor. He wore a golden crown inlaid with over ten various gemstones. His eyes held an expression of unbelievable terror. His throat was cut by a blade, the wound bearing some burn marks. A large amount of bloody foam spurted from his mouth, the blood already coagulated and turned black. He was completely dead.

Throughout the entire stone fortress courtyard, there was not a single living soul left.

The entire Thrace Kingdom delegation of over two hundred people, who had come to Shampoo City to congratulate Sun Fei on his acceptance of the Zenit Empire’s conferment and his formal ascension to the throne, had been completely wiped out by unknown enemies with almost no resistance, leaving no survivors.

The cold night wind blew, sending a chill through Sun Fei’s heart.

Judging from the slightly warm bodies, the battle had definitely occurred no more than ten minutes ago. This was what shocked Sun Fei. The Thrace Kingdom’s Post House was only a little over four thousand meters away from the Reike Kingdom’s Post House. That meant while he was previously with Prince Modric and others, a battle was happening here. Yet, with over two hundred people killed just over four thousand meters away, including some experts, Sun Fei hadn’t sensed the slightest trace of it.

This was simply too terrifying!

What kind of expert could kill such a group without anyone noticing?

And who would do such a thing to the Thrace Kingdom’s prince, and for what reason?

Sun Fei found the situation becoming more and more complicated.

Originally, because of the He Shengzhen assassination attempt, he thought he had almost found the reason. But now, it seemed his previous assumptions were far from the truth; it was not that simple at all.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded in his ears.

“Your Majesty… what is this?”

It turned out to be the handsome old man Best and Prince Modric of the Reike Kingdom. They had waited outside for some time, hearing neither sounds of fighting nor receiving any summons from Sun Fei. Growing worried, they led the soldiers in. Only when they saw the ground covered with corpses did they realize something was wrong.

“I did not kill these people. When I came in, they were already dead!”

Sun Fei frowned and recounted what he had just seen. Both Best and Modric’s faces changed dramatically. Prince Modric examined the golden-haired, crown-wearing warrior’s corpse deep in the hall, whose throat had been cut, and exclaimed in shock, “This is the Thrace Kingdom’s Fourth Prince, Obina… Obina, known as the Winged Eagle, one of the ‘Five Eagles,’ had strength reaching the Four-Star Level, not to be underestimated. Yet, someone cut his throat with a single blade, leaving him no chance to resist. Who could be that powerful?”

Sun Fei shook his head.

The Big Black Dog sniffed around the hall back and forth, as if searching for some clues.

“At least a Six-Star Expert, and more than one. Otherwise, it would be impossible to kill so many people without a sound…” Prince Modric’s face also turned pale.

“Your Majesty, what should we do next?” Best’s expression remained relatively calm, but as a civil official, he was very uncomfortable with such a bloody scene. His face was sallow, and he barely held back from vomiting.

“Have everyone withdraw from the stone fortress courtyard. Then order Brook to send men to seal off this Post House. For now, do not let the news leak.” Sun Fei thought about it; currently, this seemed the only option.

The situation was becoming more and more complex.

Sun Fei could now be certain that Shampoo City had unknowingly been drawn into a massive, mysterious conspiracy… This was a crisis brewing. If the killer of the Thrace Kingdom delegation’s over two hundred people was truly a mysterious Six-Star Expert, that expert alone could turn the current Shampoo City upside down.

…

The Thrace Kingdom Post House was quickly tightly sealed off by Brook, who arrived upon hearing the news.

Sun Fei ordered some professional physicians to search the Post House overnight, hoping to find some previously overlooked clues. Then, they were to dispose of the bodies by burning or burying them as soon as possible. Although it was already late autumn and the weather was cooling, the corpses needed to be handled quickly to prevent decay, stench, and the spread of disease or plague in the city.

The Reike Kingdom soldiers and guards who participated in this incident were also strictly ordered by Prince Modric to keep it secret… However, with such an event, it certainly couldn’t be hidden. It was estimated that it wouldn’t be long before the outside world found out.

The group walked back to the Reike Kingdom Post House in a somewhat somber atmosphere. Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the stone fortress courtyard gate, a Reike Kingdom soldier rushed over in a panic to report, “Your Highness, King Alexander… that… that prisoner named He Shengzhen… he’s dead!”

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this.

“Dead? How did he die?” Sun Fei asked, both shocked and angry.

After the Thrace Kingdom delegation’s over two hundred people were all killed by mysterious experts, the only clue to uncovering the truth was this Earth Elemental Combat Aura captive who had been beaten to a pulp. Sun Fei had been planning to interrogate him severely immediately, to extract some information from his mouth. Who would have thought that before he could act, this lead was also severed.

“He committed suicide. He hid a potent poison in his mouth. Not long after you left, he died from poisoning.”

The soldier explained.

Sun Fei, with a dark expression, quickly went to the Reike Kingdom Post House’s main hall with Black Whirlwind.

Sure enough, he saw that He Shengzhen, who had been beaten to a pulp, was completely dead. Foam remained at the corners of his mouth from his struggle after poisoning. His facial expression was frozen, extremely grotesque. The skin on his face turned black, with dark blood flowing from all seven orifices. His lips and throat area had even turned purple—clear signs of death by poisoning, and from a very fearsome poison at that. The foam dripping from his mouth had corroded the bluestone floor, creating small pits and holes.

The last lead… was also damn broken.

Sun Fei felt as if an invisible hand in the shadows was controlling everything, staying one step ahead at every turn, leaving no flaws. And his every move seemed completely under the control of this hidden hand.

Looking at He Shengzhen’s miserable death on the ground, a thought suddenly struck him. He crouched down, flicked his hand, and took out a small bottle from the Barbarian’s Belt Space. Carefully, he collected some of the white liquid residue from the burly man’s mouth into the bottle, then put it away.

“Since he’s already dead, he’s of no value anymore. Brook, have someone take this corpse and throw it back into the Thrace Kingdom’s Post House to be disposed of along with the others later… Be careful; the body contains potent poison!” Sun Fei signaled to Brook with his eyes.

Brook was momentarily stunned, then personally carried He Shengzhen’s corpse out with another soldier.

…

By the time they returned to the Royal Palace, it was already midnight.

Sun Fei was still pondering everything that had happened today. The changes came too fast, simply unbelievable. He repeatedly recalled the earlier encounters, and the more he thought, the more alarmed he became. More and more powerful individuals had sneaked into Shampoo City. Tonight, even a Six-Star Level expert appeared. This made Sun Fei sense the scent of conspiracy even more strongly.

“What are these people coming to Shampoo City for?”

Sun Fei sat on the stone chair, deep in thought. Had the matter of the Divine-Demon Ruins been exposed?

Thinking about it, that seemed unlikely. If that were truly the case, the Underground Grotto Labyrinth in the Back Mountain would likely be in complete chaos by now. But the actual situation was that it had been the calmest place in Shampoo City these past few days… Apart from that, Sun Fei couldn’t think of any other reason that would attract so many lofty experts here. The mere enthronement ceremony of a king of a Sixth-Class Vassal State wasn’t that attractive.

Wrapped in confused thoughts, Sun Fei unknowingly fell asleep.

…

The next day.

There were two days left until the conferment ceremony.

Sun Fei, Angela, and the golden-haired little Lori Gemma happily finished breakfast together. The two girls mysteriously left, saying they were preparing some gift for the ceremony.

Sun Fei was about to enter the World of Diablo to activate the Assassin Mode for leveling up when Prison Warden Oleg, flustered and led by the palace guard Michelle Ballack, arrived at the Great Hall.

“Your Majesty, last night someone broke into the Back Mountain restricted area.”

The fat man wiped cold sweat from his forehead and spoke with a panicked expression.

“What happened? Explain clearly.” Sun Fei was startled inwardly and immediately thought of a terrifying possibility. It was true—what you fear often comes.