CH 111

The queen's palace was located in a secluded area behind the main palace building that housed the audience hall. Right in front of the queen's palace was a small patch of eye-grabbing grass. This field was entirely different from the ash-gray grassland I had seen all over Akko.

I controlled my fighter and descended slowly. I stopped and hovered before a window on the third floor of the palace. The fighter was so well-designed that its engine was completely silent when I descended.

"Old Du, I'm outside the window on the third floor. I'm going in to get you. Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm in a room in the middle part of the third floor. The door of the room is covered by a curtain of knitted vine. There is also a fero canine outside the door. Be careful," said Old Du.

"Wait there. I'll be there immediately," I said before opening the door and preparing to enter through the window.

"Canyue, take the cloak of invisibility with you. It will help you hide. I won't charge you this time," said Domo.

"The fero canine probably has a strong sense of smell. The cloak won't help. I'm going to use force. Don't worry," I said.

I turned on my shield and tightened my grip on my gun before jumping through the window. The palace was decorated delicately in a style suited for a woman. I wasn't in the mood to appreciate the decorations, so I ignored my surroundings and went straight for Old Du.

Suddenly, two red dogs, which were shining brightly as if they were burning, came out from the two side rooms. The two dogs had sharp and long ears, and their tongues drooped from their mouths, constantly dripping drops of burning saliva.

"Good lord. Why did the queen keep such pets? This is a fire hazard!" I said.

The moment we met, the two fero canines charged toward me without making any other sound. I raised my gun and downed the fero canine right in front of my face. However, the second canine managed to bite my thigh. Its bite force was so strong that I could feel it even through my powerful morph-capable shield.

"This fero canine's bite strength is too scary," I exclaimed.

"Be very careful. I actually saw these fero canines feast on steel earlier," said Old Du.

"What animal is it? It eats metal as food? Canyue, be careful. Do you need my help?" asked Zhang Bao'er with concern.

"A few native dogs won't be able to harm me. Stay where you are. I'll come get you, Old Du," I said confidently.

I flicked my leg strongly in my attempt to fling the canine away. However, the canine's bite strength was beyond my expectations. It kept its jaws clamped around my shield and was stuck to me. Since I was running out of time, I did not bother wasting more time on it. I aimed my gun at its head and pulled the trigger. The canine immediately dropped to the ground.

'No matter how strong you are, you won't be the match of a gun,' I thought.

After taking a corner along the corridor, I saw a room with a curtain of knitted vines. Three fero canines were seated in front of the door.

"Old Du, I saw your room. Wait. I'll be there in 30 seconds," I said to the communicator.

The three fero canines saw me at the same time. They did not hesitate to charge toward me together. With my previous experience dealing with these canines, I turned on the tracking bullet mode immediately. My tracking bullets accurately traced and shot all three canines down. Then, I rushed to the door and pushed the curtain open. With one gaze, I saw Old Du hiding behind a table.

"Get up. The way out is cleared," I said smugly.

"I have been waiting for quite a while. These canines had appeared suddenly. I don't know who released them," said Old Du.

I was about to extend my shield over to Old Du before retreating when I saw a massive silhouette come behind me out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and saw a massive fero canine that was 10 times larger than the canines I had encountered. It suddenly jumped out of a side room and pounced at me.

"Canyue, careful!" Old Du exclaimed in alarm.

The massive fero canine pounced on me and pushed me to the ground. Fortunately, my morph-capable shield protected me from its fangs and claws. Both my hands were pressed down by the canine's two paws, so I couldn't even shoot at it. Old Du raised his gun upon seeing my predicament.

"Old Du, don't use the fatal mode. Use the tranquilizer," I shouted.

I saw Old Du change the mode of his gun before firing at the massive fero canine. Surprisingly, the fero canine's skin was impressively tough and blocked the shot. The massive beast had my arms and legs pressed on the ground with its four paws while drops of liquid flame constantly dripped out of its mouth. Although the liquid flame couldn't break through my shield, it was still a disgusting experience.

Old Du fired his gun continuously when three smaller fero canines suddenly rushed out of the corridor. They ran over and pounced on Old Du.

"Shit, Old Du doesn't have a shield," I recalled anxiously.

With all four of my limbs pressed against the ground, I couldn't extend my shield to also cover Old Du. I could only watch helplessly as danger arrived for him.

I was on the verge of activating my emergency thrusters when I heard the sound of cluster bombs exploding. I raised my head and saw that a big hole had appeared on the stomachs of each of the three canines jumping toward Old Du. At the same time, the giant beast on top of me also suddenly collapsed with a big hole in its stomach. Its tongue remained hanging outside of its mouth even until the moment of its death. When I looked up, I saw Zhang Bao'er and his smoking muzzle.

"If I hadn't appeared in time, both of us would be in deep shit. What did you claim earlier? You can handle this alone?" said Zhang Bao'er smugly.

"You're crazy! You killed all of them!" I said reproachfully.

"You're too conservative. They were threatening Old Du's life. I wouldn't have been able to save you in time if I didn't use cluster bombs," said Zhang Bao'er.

"It's fine, Canyue. It might not be a good thing to leave a beast like this alive. Also, the other canines outside are still alive. I don't know where these beasts had come from. Who reared them? And what's that person's goal?" said Old Du.

Of course, Old Du's well-being was much more important than some beasts. After I extended my shield to cover Old Du, the three of us ran toward the window.

During our retreat, the fero canines didn't stop us, and we were able to smoothly jump through the window and board our fighters. Both Old Du and Domo were squeezed into the back seat behind me.

"Old Du, do we go to the underground palace for Zhang Xingxing and the others now?" I asked.

"They're at the underground palace, which is safe, so there is no rush. We still have one more mission to complete before we can pick them up," said Old Du.

"What missions are you guys doing exactly?" I asked.

"Not long after you left, Prince Toruse returned. He was able to see that you guys had escaped with one glance," Old Du started.

"Did he make things hard for you?" I asked.

"No. Instead, he asked for our help," said Old Du.

"Help? What help does he need?" I asked.

"Prince Toruse wants us to retrieve two items for him. First, he wanted us to go to his royal father's room and get the scepter symbolizing royal power before handing it to King Xido. Secondly, he wants us to go to the queen's room to retrieve the edict of throne inheritance," said Old Du.

"Royal scepter and edict of throne inheritance?" I muttered.

"Yes. War had erupted suddenly. The prince and the king need to command the war efforts, and the prince does not trust anyone else to carry out the mission. Thus, he hopes that we will help," said Old Du.

Something did not feel right to me, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Zhang Xingxing and I agreed to help the prince. We first went to King Xido's room to get the scepter before returning to the war command room to hand the scepter to the prince," said Old Du.

"You retrieved the royal scepter from the king's room. You make it sound so easy. Did you not encounter the fero canine there?" I asked.

"No. I feel doubtful as well. The room was completely unguarded," said Old Du.

"That doesn't make any sense," I said.

"Yes. That was what I thought as well. When I asked the prince, he said that the palace walls are covered by an electromagnetic system. They believe the walls can't be penetrated. Thus, they rarely need guards inside the palace itself. That makes sense, somewhat," said Old Du.

"Why did you separate with Zhang Xingxing after handing the royal scepter over?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"At the time, the league's fleet had been defeated by the empire. Fighter drones might come at any time, so the prince had us and those in the command center enter the underground palace. The entrance to the underground palace is at the corner of the main palace. I was worried that we would make for a conspicuous target if we retreated together due to our large numbers. Since it is much easier for me to move around alone, I decided to go after the edict before meeting up with them. Since there are no guards in the palace, I even gave her my shield," said Old Du.

"So did you get the edict?" I asked.

"Yes. I notified Prince Toruse and Zhang Xingxing the moment I got the edict. The prince immediately asked me about the contents of the edict," said Old Du.

"Who did the king design as the successor?" I asked.

Old Du took a delicate scroll from his suit and handed it to me as he said, "See for yourself."

I carefully unfurled the scroll and saw the contents clearly: After the 21st king of the Kingdom of Akko retires, the first in line to the throne will be Prince Arude. The second in line to the throne will be Prince Toruse.

"Prince Arude is first in line to the throne," I said.

"Yes. I was also surprised. I thought Arude was imprisoned by the king?" said Old Du.

"Did you tell Prince Toruse about the contents?" I asked.

Find the original at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"Yes, I told the prince and the team leader immediately. At the time, they were in the process of entering the underground palace. After entering, all communications will be cut off. The prince had me head to the underground palace with the edict," said Old Du.

"How did you end up trapped here by the fero canines?" I asked.

"When I was about to head to the underground palace, a large number of fero canines appeared out of nowhere, trapping me here," said Old Du.

"This is so weird. Who's trying to kill Old Du? Who released these beasts?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"While I was trapped, I had a new idea, so I assigned a new mission to myself," said Old Du.

"What mission?" I asked.

"I intend to go meet Prince Arude first instead of going straight to the underground palace," said Old Du.