Foolish Game of the Chapter 487: Da Yi's Urgency

Da Yi might be a hot-tempered [War] follower, but he had one excellent quality: he never interrupted a teammate's rhythm.

Seeing Cheng Shi fall into deep thought after the interrogation, he rely frowned but made no further demands.

Before long, Cheng Shi looked up and asked the Historian:

"Does the Rosna Empire possess any relic that symbolizes royal or divine authority?"

The old man startled, then nodded hurriedly: "Yes... the Sin Cleansing Scepter in His Majesty's hand is the supre symbol of imperial power. However, the scepter has been taken."

"What does the scepter look like?"

"Person-height. Three fingers wide. Carved from a single piece of wood. A dark-green gemstone set into the top."

Cheng Shi frowned. Another option eliminated.

Several rounds of questioning had failed to produce the answer he wanted. He had no choice but to try a more direct line of inquiry.

"What about daggers? Is there any famous dagger in the empire? Or perhaps it isn't technically a dagger, just sothing functionally similar. Anything like that?"

Hearing this, old Jia Lun finally understood that these powerful humans weren't searching for a person — they were hunting for a dagger.

He racked his brain for a while, then suddenly widened his eyes:

"There may have been... sothing like that."

"!!!"

Everyone perked up instantly. Da Yi snatched Jia Lun off the ground with visible excitent:

"Hot damn, finally! What's it called? Where is it?"

Old Jia Lun was terrified. Trembling uncontrollably, he stamred:

"The First Prince once traded with a foreign rchant caravan and purchased a dagger that could cut through iron like butter. He displayed it publicly several tis. But after a while, he sealed it away and strictly forbade anyone from ntioning it ever again.

"This was a long ti ago. Or rather, very few rember it. Had my child not been close friends with the First Prince's child, and accidentally stumbled into his secret chamber during play, perhaps no one would have recalled..."

Cheng Shi scoffed: "How convenient. Your kid just happened to stumble upon it?"

"I... speak only the truth."

Cheng Shi could tell the man wasn't lying. But wasn't this too convenient?

"The First Prince is your age?

"Then your emperor must be over a hundred.

"What, he really had a crown prince for several decades?"

Old Jia Lun's face stiffened. He answered with deep sorrow: "I was born in Year 64 of the Rosna New Calendar. I'm only... 36 years old."

"..."

"..."

Thirty-six...

'Bro, never mind 36 — with your condition, you could say 93 and I'd believe it.'

'Truly worthy of a [Decay] follower. The devotion was visible.'

'No wonder the emperor ran. If Rosna's pri-age n all looked like this, any war of resistance would basically amount to ntal patients slaughtering their way through a nursing ho...'

Cheng Shi's expression turned peculiar. His gaze on old Jia Lun even took on a tinge of pity. The thought was dark, but he couldn't help it: 'No wonder the emperor didn't take you when he fled. Past 35 is peak optimization age, isn't it?'

'Who'd have thought those rules applied even in the Sinking Era's Land of Hope.'

At this point, Da Yi couldn't contain himself any longer. His face was urgent: "Hot damn, where does the First Prince live? When he left, did he take the dagger? If you know, start leading — don't make

slap you again!"

"The First Prince, he..."

"?"

'What was with this pause? Another twist?'

'Again!?'

Cheng Shi had gone numb. His gaze on old Jia Lun suddenly turned scrutinizing. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if this dear Historian might be so kind of undercover colleague.

'Was he stringing them along?'

'Great, the paranoia was flaring up. The more he looked, the more suspicious it seed. So was this man a [Deceit] colleague or a [Fate] colleague?'

Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened. The more he thought, the more uneasy he felt. But he didn't act rashly. Instead, he gave Poison a aningful glance.

While he'd built a "cunning" reputation with Hu Wei, he didn't want to over-display his caution and shrewdness. So he reached for the tool at hand.

And this trial's designated tool was, without question, intel-core Miss Poison.

The instant Poison caught Cheng Shi's look, she sensed his suspicion. As the "never-say-no" desire catalyst, she understood perfectly and imdiately sprang into action — snatching Jia Lun from Da Yi's grip and ripping open the old man's clothing in the howling blizzard, exposing the scar-covered torso and back.

But the Historian's wounds were different from those on the civilian couple. His scars overlapped and tangled in ghastly patterns, covering his entire body — the suffering he'd endured was clearly far greater.

Everyone frowned at the sight. Only Cheng Shi seed to notice sothing aningful about the scars. But before he could examine them closely, Da Yi yanked the man back, cursing:

"Hot damn, Poison, don't tell

you're trying to steal my prisoner.

"I'd advise you to behave. Don't forget — Gongyang could be anywhere."

He jerked Jia Lun upright and demanded again: "Talk. Where's the First Prince? Where's his dagger?"

Jia Lun was frozen stiff. Shivering violently, he stamred:

"The First Prince... was banished from the palace by His Majesty.

"As for his collections and contraband, the guards likely swept everything up and took it all..."

"?" Da Yi blinked. "You're saying the person's still here, but the dagger's gone?"

Old Jia Lun nodded fearfully.

THUD.

Da Yi dropped him with a dark expression and spat viciously: "Hot damn, I won't believe it until I see for myself. Old man, where's the First Prince's palace?"

Jia Lun pointed a quivering finger in a direction. Da Yi's eyes swept the group. He said only "Wait for " before vanishing again. Watching Da Yi's frantic urgency, Cheng Shi grew even more puzzled.

'Were these [War] brutes really this desperate for Dizel's soul?'

'The man wasn't even trying to hide it.'

'Even if it was an Envoy's soul, extracting value from it was a thorny problem for players. Yet this man acted as if he'd already found a thod...'

'Wait!'

Cheng Shi suddenly recalled the Grand Marshal's words. Hu Wei had said he'd learned certain things from an "extrely reliable channel." At the ti, Cheng Shi had wondered if that channel might be Them... Thinking it over now, the possibility wasn't far-fetched.

'Could their source be their Benefactor, [War] Himself?'

'Did [War] also want to make moves after [Prosperity]'s fall?'

'Not impossible, but that didn't match his impression of Him.'

'Unless it was... [Chaos]?'

Hu Wei's second faith was [Chaos]. That tracked. But what about Da Yi — was his second faith also heading toward [Chaos]?

Two [War] followers backed by [Chaos]?

?

Cheng Shi's expression turned strange. 'Oh no. Had he run into people from the sister company while on a business trip?'

'If he pulled out a board mber badge from the sister company right now, would Da Yi... actually not believe it?'