Inside the prayer room, it suddenly became quiet for half a second.
Whether it was Margaret or Su, the clergy or even the Golden Sun Wheel soldiers, everyone turned their heads in disbelief and looked at the inspector who was uttering wild words.
It was unknown who was the first to go berserk. “You! How bold!!”
Then came the wail of sorrow. “Blasphemy, this is the greatest blasphemy against god——”
But none of these people could move as fast as Major Zheng Yue. His eyes were ablaze, took two steps ahead, and amber-colored crystal bones suddenly protruded from his fists—
As a veteran officer of the Golden Sun Wheel, his decisive bravery and obedience to orders were fully demonstrated at this moment. With a wave of Zheng Yue’s arms, the crystal bones were like two maces, and viciously hit the Crystal Nest statue!
Several clergy screamed as if they were mourning for the dead.
Bishop Su’s face finally changed color. “Stop!”
The shell made of low-purity real crystal ore naturally couldn’t withstand the heavy blow of the crystal bone, and immediately cracked open. Jiang Jianming pulled out the Wings of Venus to protect himself with his backhand and shouted, “Smash it open!”
Zheng Yue roared, and his crystal bones swelled like bamboo shoots after the rain. He used all his strength and pulled it to both sides.
Ka-chak!!
No sooner said than done, the Crystal Nest statue made a deafening cracking sound, and half of the statue was split broken by the crystal bones. Countless fragments of the shell shone and splashed towards the ceiling of the church.
At the same time, with a muffled sound, a large number of transparent and colorless crystal blocks rolled out from the inside of the empty statue!
Beep beep beep—!!!
The crystal particle concentration monitor was still attached to Zheng Yue’s waist. At this moment, the number indicating the purity of the real crystal ore jumped and rose crazily. When it broke through a certain critical value, the number turned red and suddenly buzzed crazily!
It was a purity far exceeding the legal alert threshold set by the Empire.
It’s the stolen real crystal ores!
Outside the church, the accumulated snow in the streets and alleys had yet to melt.
Behind the cordon pulled out by the Golden Sun Wheel soldiers, layers of crowds had already widened their eyes in astonishment at such a sudden turn of events.
When they heard the alarm sound from the monitor, the fearful screams from the crowd formed a sound wave, one after another shaking the sky of the Star City where the night was coming to an end.
“It’s an illegal alert!!”
“The church is hiding prohibited and dangerous goods!?”
“Let’s get out of here…”
Those Crystal Cult believers were still muttering “impossible” and “what does this mean” with ashen faces, while more ordinary civilians began to push each other, turned around and tried to escape, turning the streets into chaos.
“All Golden Sun Wheel, listen to the order!” Lieutenant General Luther’s face jumped fiercely, waved his hands and roared.
“First team; control the church personnel, second team; recover the banned real crystal ores! The rest of the team; protect the evacuating people, and block the street entrance, quick!!”
“Lieutenant General!” A Golden Sun Wheel soldier came quickly to report.
Luther turned around swiftly and saw the soldier’s pale face, pointing to the opposite street. “Quickly look, that shouldn’t be——”
Suddenly, the sound of music sounded in the ears of the old lieutenant general at an inappropriate time. The melody was majestic and high, and very familiar. The music was getting louder and closer.
At the other end of the street, the golden flag of the Human Interstellar Empire fluttered in the wind, with the flag guard’s air vehicle leading the way and the military band playing the national anthem.
A special air vehicle for the royal family was crowded in the middle and was slowly approaching. A dark red curtain embroidered with gold was hung at the door. Its interior was obscured from view, and only a silhouette of a woman was vaguely exposed.
The soldiers guarding both sides were also soldiers from the Golden Sun Wheel, only that they had an additional rose emblem symbolizing the royal family on their chests. The military boots stepped on the street bricks and hard snow, and each step was firm and powerful.
The soldier collapsed and said, “That, isn’t that the emperor’s imperial carriage?”
Old Lieutenant General Luther took a closer look, his courageous demeanor suddenly deflated, and shouted in despair, “Impossible, it’s not daylight yet, what’s going on!?”
——Given such a chaotic situation, Her Majesty’s royal progress should have been postponed without a doubt. How did the Commander-in-Chief make the arrangements? How could Her Majesty be allowed to travel ahead of schedule?
****
In the Grand Cathedral, the Golden Sun Wheel soldiers guarding the prayer room drew their guns and pointed directly at the two bishops and the clergy.
The leading soldier roared, “Raise your hands, don’t move, otherwise we’ll shoot!”
Then something strange happened. The expressions on the faces of the clergy inside the prayer room vanished, and they all stared back at the Golden Sun Wheel soldiers with cold, emotionless faces, showing no fear.
“……”
The two bishops, Su and Margaret, looked at each other in that quiet air.
The white-haired girl raised her beautiful cheeks, and with a soft crackling sound, more than ten crystal bones were released from Margaret’s back.
Those crystal bones were white and translucent, and were connected to each other, making her look like a spider demon perched in the middle of a giant web, nimble and weird.
Jiang Jianming’s heart jumped uneasily, he pulled the trigger without hesitation, turned his head and said sharply. “Back off!”
However, it was too late. Margaret closed her eyes and clasped her hands, her pink lips seemed to be whispering a prayer.
This was how everything started.
Accompanied by the piercing sound of air friction, white shadows that were difficult to capture with the naked eye pierced out from the church floor.
“Ah!!!”
“Ugh ahhh-!!!”
In an instant, real crystals accurately pierced the body of each Golden Sun Wheel soldier, and brilliant red flowers bloomed one after another.
Blood and brain plasmas splattered on the walls, and screams and sounds of flesh tearing and bone cracking echoed in the prayer room.
At the critical moment, Zheng Yue swooped down and pushed Jiang Jianming to the ground. White crystals appeared one after another, grazing the two people’s backs in the air.
Accompanied by a piercing and crisp sound, even the amber crystal bones were pierced and cracked inch by inch. Zheng Yue screamed in pain and only had time to desperately reach out to protect the back of Jiang Jianming’s head. The two of them fell heavily to the floor, rolled several times before hitting the steps.
“Old Zheng!”
Jiang Jianming gasped and raised his head, and then his pupils suddenly shrank.
The chandelier above their head was shattered, and with a strong gust of wind, the huge chandelier with a religious style crashed onto the floor in front of the two of them, sparking a few strings of sparks.
The dazzling white light flashed for a moment and then disappeared. In the darkness in front of him, a swaying reflection of hell was reflected.
The floorboards were cracked and tiles lifted. On the white real crystal prisms as thick as a bowl, hung crookedly the corpses of the Golden Sun Wheel soldiers… still dripping with blood, like hanging strips of dried meat.
The holy church was filled with blood. Two white-robed bishops stood in front of the broken Crystal Nest statue, with dozens of clergy behind them looking indifferent.
Su’s eyes glanced at the real crystal ores on the ground. He lowered his head, holding a wrist device in his hand, and contacted someone. “The situation has changed. The real crystal ores have been exposed. Suspend your plan.”
At the same time, Margaret took a step forward.
Her crystal bones suddenly stretched for more than ten meters, and against the backdrop of the tall stained glass on all sides, they were like death’s scimitar, and were instantly pressing before him.
Zheng Yue spat out a mouthful of blood, with a look of death already on his face. He pushed Jiang Jianming back and said, “Little Excellency, go quickly…!”
Jiang Jianming didn’t leave, and he knew clearly that he couldn’t leave.
Zheng Yue’s crystal bone had reached A level, which was considered a high level in the Golden Sun Wheel army. However, this little bishop who just now spoke as though in stupor could break it so easily…
This showed that her crystal bone strength was at least S level, and may even reach a level close to that of His Royal Highness.
It is impossible to escape.
At this moment of life and death, Jiang Jianming held his breath, raised his hand and grasped the small ring hanging around his neck through the fabric of his clothes.
In the next moment.
Ding ding ding…
He heard the timer he had set on his wrist device ringing loudly.
The situation changed rapidly, from the moment Jiang Jianming opened his mouth to smash the statue to the time when the Crystal Cult showed its fangs and stained the Glorious Cathedral with blood, this all happened within just a minute.
The timer rang, which meant an hour had passed.
The agreed one hour…had arrived.
****
An hour and twenty minutes ago, that was about the time when Jiang Jianming hurried Zheng Yue to hold back Lieutenant General Luther and let the Golden Sun Wheel wait for him before taking action.
“…Even if something unusual is discovered, try to delay it until an hour later before taking action?”
Facing Commander Chen on the other side of the projection, Jiang Jianming pursed his lips and pondered for a moment, then nodded, “Okay, then I understand it, that you will send support over.”
Old Marshal Chen sighed. “But this does not guarantee your safety, Little Excellency.”
Jiang Jianming: “On the battlefield, no one can guarantee someone’s safety 100%. I am aware, Old Marshal.”
Chen Hanke had a complicated expression. “You, this child…”
“Time is tight and the situation has been reported, so I won’t say more.”
The black-haired young man smiled, left these words, and hung up the communication.
Old Marshal Chen shook his head solemnly, then immediately raised his head.
——He looked up from the steps of the main hall of the White Jade Palace, and as a matter of course, he first saw the woman leaning lazily on the throne.
“Knowing that there may be a fierce enemy hiding in the church.”
Old Marshal Chen knocked on the ground with his cane and said with a livid face, “The frail and sick remnant crystal human officer has to personally go to the front line to command, and and Her Majesty, the revered Emperor, will have to go to the front line to inspect in person as well. You both……”
“Oh, don’t say that.”
The female emperor waved her arms and chuckled lowly.
“Zhen just wants to watch the traitors be executed with Zhen’s own eyes.”
Old Marshal Chen raised his eyebrows. “Could it be that at the moment of the incident, Her Majesty will stay seated inside the air vehicle?”
The female emperor chuckled, and turned her head, revealing a face that was heavily colored—
Perhaps it couldn’t be said to be a beauty that could overthrow cities and ruined states, but everyone would be stunned by this face when they see her true appearance for the first time.
Ink-black hair that flowed like spilled ink, lips as bright as red fruits, brows gently arched with a seductive curve, and eyes with an upward tilt at the corners. The right eye was obviously a normal black, but the left eye was replaced by a scarlet prosthetic eye, and its vague luster made people shudder.
Thanks to the repair of cell surgery, the emperor’s appearance was fixed to that of someone in her early thirties, and wind, frost and time could not carve wrinkles on her skin.
The female emperor tapped her nails on the armrest of her seat.
Her tone was melodious. “Old Chen, don’t misunderstand. Zhen is going to watch a play, and not be a thug for you.”
Old Marshal Chen did not speak.
… Even though this appearance remained unchanged over the years, the emperor’s heart became harder to discern year after year.
While it was a race against time outside, she could still lean on the throne leisurely and chat with the commander-in-chief of the empire.
“Zhen’s first half of life, Zhen lived a difficult life.”
As the female emperor spoke, she casually gathered the ceremonial cloak around her shoulders, picked up the royal crown from the small table next to her, and put it on her head.
This was the outfit she would wear before the people of the Empire during the royal progress in a few moments.
“…Abandoned by the biological parents on the Blue Mother Planet, and the Blue Mother Planet was abandoned by the Old Empire. Zhen was raised by darkness and despair.”
“When most hungry, eat grass roots, eat insects and even licked mud. Cheat others, kill people, return kindness with ingratitude, sow discord…in order to survive, Zhen has learned all kinds of dirty and vulgar tricks.”
She stood up, with a graceful posture in the backlight.
“Later, at the order of Aslan and at the command of Kaios, swim in the gunfire while driving a starship, go all out at the cost of life, fight and kill.”
“With great difficulty, managed to put those guys to death one by one, and becoming the emperor, had to rectify the empire again, and had to fight against the space bandits again. Zhen’s life is also difficult.”
The female emperor casually picked up the scepter placed aside, walked down the steps, step by step, and came to Old Marshal Chen’s side.
She shook her head, sighed with seriousness, and lowered her eyebrows with a faint smile, “In the past few years, the world has finally become peaceful. Zhen has finished what Zhen has promised to the commander-in-chief and the great emperor.”
“For the rest of Zhen’s life.. just want to enjoy a few years of happiness and be a moderate monarch.”
“Look at the humble people kneeling at Zhen’s feet, singing something like praises of glory and prosperity, look at the foolish and loyal soldiers, one after another, throwing their heads and blood to protect Zhen.”
“This is called Feng Shui takes turns.” (TL: Good luck will not always belong to you, good luck will not always follow you, and good things will not always come to you)
“As for that kind of fighting and killing thing…”
In the White Jade Palace, the emperor placed her arm on OLd Marshal Chen’s shoulders and yawned, “Zhen is fed with it to death, don’t want to do it anymore in this lifetime.”
****
Aslan Star City, District Three.
In front of the Glorious Cathedral.
The winter wind blew and rolled up the imperial golden flag.
The roses on the chests of the Golden Sun Wheel guards were illuminated by the first ray of sunrise; and the music played by the military band fell on the most passionate notes of the national anthem.
In the royal air vehicle, the dress cloak was removed and was placed next to the seat, and the female emperor did not also hold the scepter in her hand.
She closed her eyes and held a long sword lying across her knees.
She held the sword, with half a smile on her lips.
The moment the queue reached the main entrance of the cathedral, the female emperor opened her eyes, her red prosthetic eye gleaming like a ghost.
The back of the hand gripping the blade suddenly showed bulging veins.
Clang!!
The light of the sword flew out of its sheath, like red lightning splitting through the cold night of late winter, passed through the first ray of morning light on the other side of Star City, and passed through the sky above the exclaiming crowd.
There was a loud bang, and the roof above the Glorious Cathedral was shattered.
Countless debris flew everywhere, and the exquisite architecture was destroyed. Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the shadow of the instigator’s sword had already pointed straight downward——
——The long sword in the female emperor’s hand hit Bishop Margaret’s white crystal bone like a scimitar of death!
The struggle in the smoke lasted for three seconds. Lin Ge glared, roared angrily, and with a forceful step, a few large marble bricks were crushed under her foot. (TL: Lin Ge-name of the female emperor)
Margaret groaned softly, and her petite body was lifted up by the rotating force of the long sword——
She flew out and slammed into the wall of the church prayer room!
“…..”
At this moment, Zheng Yue and Jiang Jianming, who had both saved their lives, were stunned.
Zheng Yue said tremblingly. “Little Excellency…”
Jiang Jianming cleared his throat and forced himself to calm down. “Don’t ask me, I didn’t know that Her Majesty would come in person…..to fight.”
The supreme female emperor of the Empire, the iron-blooded rose who once made the Lava Space Bandits frightened, narrowed her eyes and curled her lips.
“Where did you come from, you little bitch, dare to act under this old…..Zhen’s nose recklessly and cause trouble…”
Zheng Yue crawled to his feet and said blankly, “Her Majesty just now, did she hesitate for a moment?”
Jiang Jianmin was expressionless and then said, “Yes, she wanted to say “this old lady”.”
Zheng Yue collapsed. “How do you know!?”
Lin Ge snorted and gave a deep look at Jiang Jianming behind her with her scarlet prosthetic eyes. Then she raised her hand and moved the obstructive crown from her black hair.
The crown, which the most skilled craftsmen in the empire had painstakingly crafted for months, was ruthlessly knocked to the ground.
In the prayer room, the smoke gradually dispersed.
Bishop Margaret stood up, and Bishop Su with also a darkened face as if facing a great enemy, walked to Margaret’s side.
The uncrowned female emperor swung the long sword. The blade was as red as blood, reflecting Lin Ge’s breathtaking face.
She ground her teeth and tongue and said sorrowfully, “May as well, Zhen hasn’t killed anyone in a long time, and Zhen’s palms are itching for it.”
