Chapter 291: Return And Trouble (1/2)

Xueshan’s face was gloomy. “You still haven’t found her?”

“No, she’s hidden herself very well. The Fireforge Planet’s environment is unsuitable for me to search there for prolonged periods of time.”

Xueshan smashed the table. “That idiot! She wants to drive our Auna family into the grave.”

Rocky Auna suddenly spoke up. “Brother, since things have developed in such a bizarre manner, we originally assumed that Jenny’s departure must have been related to His Imperial Majesty’s plan to invade Fireforge Planet or to King Zishan. However, His Imperial Majesty was suddenly attacked and killed, and not a single corpse from any member of the Yushan family remains. Could these two matters be related? Could this be connected to the Daynight clan?”

“The Daynight clan is a powerful family in the universe, and there is no reason for them to fight for the Yushan family’s corpses. We have also confirmed through Schutz that someone has resolved the conflict between King Zishan and the Nightking Clan, at least on the surface. The Daynight clan’s actions of taking Jenny away must be an attempt to take revenge on King Zishan and is wholly unrelated to the attack on His Imperial Majesty,” Xueshan Auna explained. After saying that, he suddenly paused and looked at Rocky Auna. “There will be others with similar opinions.”

Rocky Auna nodded in agreement. “If the attack on His Imperial Majesty has nothing to do with Jenny being captured by the Daynight clan, then that means that the Daynight clan is being used as someone else’s scapegoat. There’s somebody else making use of the grudge between the Daynight clan and King Zishan to hide their true goal of attacking His Imperial Majesty. They must also be behind the disappearance of all the Yushan family’s bodies.”

“That’s not all—even the Ross Empire was dragged into this mess. When they first attacked Captain Liuying Zishan, they injured her seriously enough that she needed half a year to recuperate. The attack at that time was very strange and came out of nowhere. The Ross Empire’s reaction when Princess Wendy attacked them was also very odd, and they acted as if they had been attacked for no reason. All these inconsistencies point to the fact that someone behind the scenes has been using the Daynight clan to attack our Great Yu Empire,” Xueshan Auna analyzed.

“Does this have anything to do with King Zishan?” Rocky Auna asked.

Xueshan Auna felt a headache coming on. “I’m not sure, but King Zishan’s connections are even more complicated than we initially believed. He has multiple connections in the Innerverse, and any one of them is strong enough to annihilate the Great Yu Empire. It’s impossible for my intelligence network to find out everything about him.”

Xueshan Auna glanced at him. “Is there something that you want to say?”

Rocky Auna reluctantly answered, “What do we say to King Zishan if he returns?”

The veins on Xueshan Auna’s forehead started throbbing as he sighed, “We need to tell him everything or else our family will be done for in the future. Even if he might not be able to do anything to the Auna family right now, he is someone with the right to inherit the throne.”

Zenyu Star had become very lively. Many officials were surrounded by tempting offers to side with various other forces, such as the finance minister, Bailey. When Sicar was still around, Bailey had held no real power, but after Sicar left with the second prince, Duke Yushan, Bailey had regained his power. He had thought that his situation had taken a turn for the better, but when Undying Yushan died, the issue of extended relatives fighting for meager power had appeared. All of them were promising Bailey an astronomical amount of benefits to the point where he was feeling dizzy. He felt very vexed; should he support Clay, Andong, or Luke—who might be backed by the Ross Empire? What a headache this was!

Within the imperial jail, a young man appeared in front of Sigmund Mathers and smiled at him. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Luke, and His Imperial Majesty, Undying Yushan, was my uncle.”

Sigmund Mathers eyed Luke silently.

Luke smiled, and someone behind him fetched him a chair. He sat down. “Untie General Mathers.”

“There’s no need for that. Get to the point, Mr. Luke. I’m a criminal, and I don’t have any right to ask anything of you,” Sigmund Mathers said in a hoarse voice.

Luke nodded. “Fine, I expected such bluntness from you, so I’ll get right to the point. I’d like you to support my ascension to the throne.”

Sigmund Mathers was shocked. “Ascension to the throne? You’re going to ascend the throne?”

Luke nodded. “All of the Yushan family members are dead, so the next successor is naturally me. I’m related to my uncle by blood, even if it’s just a tiny bit, am I not?”

Sigmund Mathers burst into laughter, chortling so hard that his old injuries opened.

Luke grew solemn. “What is the meaning of this, General Mathers?”

Sigmund Mathers eyed Luke and snickered. “A distant relative like you with no blood relations to His Imperial Majesty wants to ascend to the throne? What a joke! Isn’t it obvious why I’m laughing? Hahaha!”

A cold glint flashed through Luke’s eyes. “The Yushan family is all dead. If I don’t ascend to the throne, it’ll go to one of those two idiots, Clay or Andong. They’re distant relatives as well. If you choose me, then I can pardon you.”

The disdain in Sigmund Mathers’ eyes became even more apparent. “You’re pathetic. You don’t even know what I did, do you?”

Luke sneered and replied, “It doesn’t matter, even if you betrayed the country. As long as I ascend to the throne, I’ll have total control over the empire and will naturally be able to release you.”

Sigmund Mathers sighed despondently. “The empire is done for.” After saying this, he glanced at Luke and said, “Mr. Luke, it’s best that you go back and investigate what crime I committed. Even His Imperial Majesty, Undying Yushan, wasn’t able to pardon me, much less you.”

Luke was shocked. “Even His Imperial Majesty couldn’t pardon you? Just what kind of crime did you commit?”

Sigmund Mather grinned and slowly answered, “I betrayed… humanity.”

Luke left. He was extremely confused and had no idea what Mathers meant when he said that he had betrayed humanity. These extended relatives had only dared to show themselves after all of the Yushan family members died, which meant that they had never held any high positions in the past and were badly informed on the truly important matters. They hadn’t even heard of the Neohuman Alliance.

Even if Sigmund Mathers had been slandered, everyone already believed that he had committed the crime. The merit of Lu Yin revealing the location of a Corpse King was enough to ensure that Sigmund Mathers wouldn’t die, but it was also certain that Luke would not be able to do anything about this matter. The status of the Great Yu Empire’s emperor would only help facilitate internal matters of the empire; it meant nothing when all of humanity was involved.

Sigmund Meyers sighed. Like many others, he had no idea what would happen to the empire. Thankfully, his son, Wukai, had been lucky enough to enter the Innerverse for training before all this occurred. Even if he died, Wukai’s survival would ensure that the Mathers line would not be extinguished.

It was at this moment that Lu Yin entered his mind; the fact that he was still alive was all thanks to him. King Zishan had done too much for him, and it would be nice if he managed to ascend to the throne. At the very least, it would be better than any of those idiotic distant relatives winning the throne.

The fact that Luke had attempted to get Mathers’ support showed that the contest between the distant relatives was becoming increasingly heated. But even as they continued bickering, the residents of Zenyu Star kept leaving. They were unwilling to stay when they were surrounded by warfare.

If not for Huo Qingshan, Rocky Auna, Ban Jiu, and Liuying Zishan, the four remaining captains of the Thirteen Squadrons, then the battles would have been even worse.