Chapter 1456: Chapter 1457: Modified Humans
The Queen did not react much to Xu Huo’s intentional provocation; she gazed at the portrait before her, seemingly lost in her mories, and murmured, “He said he would build a castle out of gemstones, using the most beautiful gemstones to construct a palace, making this gemstone palace a treasure passed down for millennia. That way, his na could be forever rembered with the castle… Unfortunately, the gemstone castle hadn’t even begun construction when he died…”
“Kris…” The Queen caressed the face of the person in the painting, “If you were still alive, you would surely envy Jewel City, not just the castle—my entire country is built from gemstones. Not only the royal family, but all my subjects can also live in houses made of gemstones, never worrying about food or clothing.”
Xu Huo didn’t interrupt further, waiting for her to finish before asking, “The Most Beautiful Gemstone that King Kris found should be in your and your husband’s possession. Where is the gemstone kept?”
The Queen’s gaze never left the portrait as she softly replied, “I did once own The Most Beautiful Gemstone, but not long ago, after a living doll-like figure ca here, The Most Beautiful Gemstone disappeared. The King likely handed the gemstone to him. Xiao Si cannot leave the castle, so we are all uncertain where The Most Beautiful Gemstone was taken.”
“If you want to know the whereabouts of The Most Beautiful Gemstone, you can ask the King. He is a cowardly man and will surely tell you.”
Xu Huo remained unmoved, “The King is a cowardly man, but he is also full of lies.”
The Queen smiled at this, “Not all n are as perfect as Kris; at least the King built Jewel City for . I accomplished sothing Kris never did.”
“Was it the King who built Jewel City for you?” Xu Huo raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t it the dolls you created that built this city? You are the Queen of Jewel City, and also their mother. Hasn’t your maid told you that the King is selling the dolls you made to that Doll Person?”
The Queen was evidently aware, showing little emotional fluctuation. Instead, she said, “That can’t be helped. If I don’t agree, the Doll Person will destroy Jewel City. The King is also trying to protect Jewel City.”
After speaking, she leaned against the portrait, her expression as gentle as ever.
Xiao Si stepped forward, “The Queen needs to rest. If you want to know anything else, you can ask .”
After they left the studio, Xiao Si kept his word and answered Xu Huo’s questions truthfully.
First, regarding the Black Gemstone. The Black Gemstone was not brought by the Doll Person but was accidentally discovered by the King and Queen. Although the dolls originally made by the Queen could move, they weren’t flexible and couldn’t move like real people. Initially, the Black Gemstone was mixed in with other ordinary gemstones as decorations for the dolls. Later, more agile dolls appeared. At first, they didn’t link the change in the dolls to the Black Gemstone, thinking the Queen’s craftsmanship had simply improved.
In fact, realizing the effectiveness of the Black Gemstone was only a recent discovery, just before Jewel City was built.
Second, even though the Doll Person took away so dolls and left so trading props, what he truly valued were the Black Gemstones. He once warned the King that if any Black Gemstone was lost from Jewel City, he would kill the King and Queen. That’s why the King has been so worried recently. In reality, after the completion of Jewel City, the King no longer cares much about the Black Gemstone, because only the Queen can use it to create living dolls, and Jewel City’s dolls are sufficient.
Lastly, the Doll Person already knows the location of the Black Gemstone mines. That place is no longer under the King’s control, and it only sends so Black Gemstones to Jewel City regularly.
If The Most Beautiful Gemstone wasn’t taken out of the instance, it’s probably in the mine.
Xu Huo thanked Xiao Si and prepared to leave, but Xiao Si suddenly asked, “You’re an outsider; can you answer a question for ?”
“Go ahead,” Xu Huo paused.
“Why would a man not like a woman?” Xiao Si asked sincerely.
“Are you referring to why King Kris doesn’t like the Queen?” Xu Huo directly pointed out, “The Queen might be a lovely person, but not everyone who ets her will like her. So people will like her, and so won’t. King Kris probably just happens to be in the group that doesn’t.”
Xiao Si seed to partly understand but did not ask more, rely lanting, “The Queen is so kind; why must she face such unfortunate events?”
Unfortunate events?
This should be sothing King Kris might say. A man who was so obsessed with gemstones that he even sacrificed his life for them, abandoning even his fiancée, is unlikely to be the kind of person who would flirt or be fickle. It’s not clear if there were deeper entanglents with the Queen, but the hundred people Kris brought with him truly died, and the gemstones he collected were likely not just white ones. The Most Beautiful Gemstone was stolen, ending up with the King and Queen of Gemstone City, so what happened to the remaining gemstones?
Enough gemstones to build a city—unless the King of Gemstone City discovered several gemstone mines—the timing of the appearance of Jewel City and the disappearance of those thieving bandits is too coincidental.
Of course, this is the hidden backstory of a fairytale. Ultimately, it’s just a story, and delving into it holds little aning.
Xu Huo left Jewel City and set out for the mine.
The location of the mine was quite far, and it started to rain along the way, forcing him to stop and go intermittently. He only arrived at the mine in the middle of the night.
The mine had only one entrance, and in the forest outside, so dolls patrolled with weapons in hand. These dolls were different from those made by the Queen; despite wearing clothes outside, their exposed joints during movent indicated the material used was of a completely different, far superior quality. Compared to these dolls, the Queen’s were like children’s playthings.
After searching the vicinity of the entrance, Xu Huo discovered Yan Jiayu crouched nearby.
Silently moving beside her, he gently patted her shoulder.
“You startled ,” Yan Jiayu turned around, quickly signaled him to get down, and whispered, “Those dolls are very sensitive; it’s harder to be detected if you lie low.”
“Duan Cheng and Li Kun went in?” Xu Huo lay alongside on the ground; the rain continued to fall, dripping on them, blending into the surrounding forest, not drawing much attention.
“Those two fools really went in,” Yan Jiayu said, “The dolls had already noticed their presence and deliberately left a flaw for them. I didn’t expect them to actually dare to go in.”
“What’s inside?”
“A person who looks a lot like a doll,” Yan Jiayu replied, “I don’t think he is a prop; he could be a modified human being.”
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