Invasion - Chapter 71
Chapter 71
"It's such a great honor, you're actually getting an audience with Her Majesty," Roy said.
He happily led Lin Yuan, all the way into the White Tower.
"Xiao Yuan, are you nervous? Excited?"
Lin Yuan: "…"
"Her Majesty has rarely appeared in public these years, and rarely grants audiences, I can’t believe she actually summoned you," Roy, mentioning the Queen, had a look of sincere admiration on his face, he even seemed envious of Lin Yuan. "My god, I really hope I also have such an opportunity, to see Her Majesty up close, if there were such a day, I would definitely faint from nervousness."
"You’ve never seen Her Majesty either?" Lin Yuan found it a little strange.
Roy was the head of the Special Research Department, although the Special Research Department was a retirement department, those with "special" in their name were at least directly under the Queen’s command, Roy had actually never seen the Queen in person?
"Of course, how can Her Majesty be so easily seen?" Roy looked at Lin Yuan with some resentment.
"Even royal family members with royal blood have a hard time getting an audience with Her Majesty, for an official at my level, I’ve only seen Her Majesty from very far away."
The White Tower was a large building. The area of its lowest levels almost as big as a small town.
Lin Yuan grew up inside the White Tower, but she had only ever been to the first few levels.
This time, she followed Roy, using his ID card as head of a department directly under the Queen, riding a private elevator all the way up.
Looking out through the transparent elevator car, the scenery on each level of the White Tower was different.
Lin Yuan saw the Guide Academy she had grown up in, the busy scientific research institute with people in white coats coming and going, the arms factory filled with large military equipment, the Royal Guard’s training base, and even a farm with large sheds, growing various crops.
There was no sunlight inside the White Tower. Artificial sunlamps mimicking sunlight shone from the ceilings of each floor, making every level as bright as day. There were even internal air circulation and water purification systems.
As the elevator ascended, floor by floor, the entire White Tower looked like a miniature human society, containing all the functions needed for human survival.
The higher they went, the more refined and luxurious the scenery became.
On the upper levels of the White Tower, at the center of the empire's power, the offices of ministers and the living quarters of the royal family were all concentrated there.
The environment became even more luxurious and exquisite, with delicate gardens and clear pools everywhere, adorned with magnificent decorations, sculptures of the Queen’s head, and majestic imperial symbols.
The elevator, having ascended for a long time, finally stopped. Commander Luther of the Royal Guard was waiting there. He replaced Roy, leading Lin Yuan upwards on foot.
There were no more elevators from here on. To show respect for the empire's highest ruler, visitors had to proceed on foot.
Pure white stairs spiraled upwards along the inside of the White Tower.
The steps were white, uniform, solemn, seemingly endless.
Lin Yuan, lifting her skirt, followed behind Luther, walking upwards.
"How is it, still able to walk?" The sentinel commander turned to ask.
Lin Yuan nodded slightly.
Having lived in the White Tower, where the academy advocated docility and pampering, she, like most Guides, had a frail constitution and slender limbs.
Having been in and out of battlefields this past year, and with regular exercise, her physical fitness had improved considerably.
Climbing these stairs wasn't a big deal for her now. In the contaminated zones, she had even run up such long staircases.
Luther, seeing the young Guide following behind him, having walked up so many stairs, her appearance still neat, her demeanor calm, much better than he had expected, even better than those nobles he usually brought up, smiled slightly at Lin Yuan. “We’ll be seeing Her Majesty soon, Her Majesty is a kind and generous person, there’s no need to be too nervous, just be respectful.”
Lin Yuan had met the highest-ranking officer of the Royal Guard once before, on the night of the murder at the Count's mansion.
Lin Yuan still remembered that at that time, this Sentinel Commander had been full of disgust and impatience towards the nobles present. She had clearly felt the killing intent and majesty of this top sentinel of the empire.
But at this moment, at the top of this White Tower, close to where Her Majesty resided, the commander’s aura had become very gentle.
Docile, peaceful, filled with admiration and reverence for Her Majesty.
Completely different from the feeling he had given Lin Yuan at the Count's mansion, outside the White Tower, that night.
Lin Yuan couldn’t help but start to wonder what that mysterious Majesty, the Queen who had ruled the empire for many years, was like.
…
"What kind of person is Her Majesty?" Ji Xuan, smiling, looked at Ni Ji beside him. "How come you suddenly thought of asking me this?"
Ji Xuan, the Vice-Commander of the Royal Guard, was leading Ni Ji down a long corridor in the upper levels of the White Tower.
"To be honest, I’ve never actually met Her Majesty in person either," Ji Xuan said, "Her Majesty has rarely granted audiences these years."
Ni Ji gave a soft "hmm". "I think, Commander Luther, he is so loyal to Her Majesty, Her Majesty must be a very charismatic elder."
Ji Xuan pushed up his glasses, and after a moment, said cryptically, “Old Lu, he wasn't like this before, ever since he was promoted to Commander of the Royal Guard, since he received an audience with the Queen, he seems to have changed a lot."
Ni Ji glanced at his superior, he felt that Ji Xuan had something more to say, as if there was something he wanted to tell him.
But their relationship wasn’t that close yet, so Ji Xuan stopped there.
He had been with Ji Xuan for a while now and could sense Ji Xuan's probing and attempts to win him over.
At the same time, he also noticed that this vice-commander of the Royal Guard was a little different from others, as if there was something hidden beneath his ordinary appearance.
"We’ll be seeing the Minister of Finance later," Ji Xuan instructed Ni Ji. "He has royal blood, his status is high, he holds great power. You have to be careful, don't provoke him."
He glanced at Ni Ji, and added in a low voice, "That guy has a very bad personality, if anything happens, just endure it, follow my lead."
The two walked through a very luxurious corridor, decorated with gold foil and inlaid gemstones. At the end of the corridor was the Minister of Finance's office.
They pushed open the door. The room's decorations were incredibly gaudy, a dazzling display of gold and jade, luxurious and extravagant, not at all like an office.
Velvet drapes hung from the ceiling, and a sweet scent filled the air.
Ni Ji smelled that scent and was reminded of some unpleasant memories, he held his breath, with a sentinel’s physical fitness, he could hold his breath for a very long time. He noticed that Ji Xuan seemed to have done the same.
There was no one behind the large, gold and jade inlaid desk.
The obese Minister of Finance was lying on a jade chaise lounge, smelling the sweet fragrance from the golden censer in front of him with an expression of enjoyment.
Seeing Ji Xuan enter with a few documents, he glanced over with a look of disdain, his fat body motionless.
Ji Xuan crouched beside the chaise lounge, asking him to sign the documents.
The Minister of Finance casually glanced at them. "So much money, you’re quite generous, don't you know how to save money for the empire?”
Ji Xuan crouched there, a smile on his face, "It’s too cold this winter, many outposts can't survive, they’re waiting for this subsidy to save their lives, Your Excellency, we ask for your mercy."
"You always say that. This also needs money, that also needs money, who’s going to think about me?” The obese official, lying on the warm chaise lounge, snorted. “Did you get the thing I asked for? Without it, my incense will run out.”
Ji Xuan looked troubled. “There isn’t much Nether Stone left in the world, we can only get it by going deep into the No. 338 Contaminated Zone, every trip there costs the lives of many warriors.”
"Just a few sentinels? I’ll pay for however much compensation they need," the Minister said unhappily, "A bunch of useless people, I heard even a Guide can easily open a contaminated zone, if nothing else works, just send that Guide on another trip.”
Just a few sentinel lives, the official lying in the upper levels of the White Tower said casually with his fat lips.
Ni Ji saw that Ji Xuan still had a smile on his face, a superficial smile, his eyes cold, his fists clenched at his sides.
He could easily understand Ji Xuan's feelings right now, every captain who had led a team into a contaminated zone could.
He remembered the way every warrior looked when they died in a contaminated zone, remembered how their blood turned cold, remembered the tears that slid down their cheeks before they died.
Those intense, tragic deaths, in the mouth of this official comfortably situated in the White Tower, became just a few coins of compensation.
Ni Ji's fingers, behind his back, quietly clenched, a burning warmth seemingly still lingering there.
He remembered, in the Golden Tree Contaminated Zone, when he held that thin Guide in his arms, how the blood flowing from her body couldn’t be stopped, how that warm blood still seemed to stain his fingers, etched into his bones.
She had laid in his arms, telling him that this contaminated zone was too dark, and she wanted to destroy it.
The thing she had risked her life to save, in this man's mouth, became a casual joke.
The Minister of Finance noticed Ni Ji, his narrowed eyes opening, his gaze falling on him.
That gaze, like a snake’s tongue, cold and sticky, unscrupulously sizing Ni Ji up from head to toe.
He wasn’t looking at a person, but just a lowly sentinel, an object they could use and discard at will.
Ni Ji lowered his eyelashes, his face expressionless.
"A new sentinel in the Royal Guard? Quite a handsome face, just a little too tall, not my type,"
In the end, the man said, with a hint of regret, reluctantly extending his fat hand, signing the funding application, telling Ji Xuan that he had to get him the ingredients for his incense.
Leaving that extravagant room, Ji Xuan and Ni Ji didn't speak, walking silently in the gold-foiled corridor for a long time.
"Do you hate these people?" Ji Xuan, walking in front, suddenly asked softly.
Ni Ji, following behind, as if he didn't hear, remained silent.
Ji Xuan didn't turn around, his voice very low, "I’ve seen your file, I know you hate this person."
After a long time, the sentinel behind him replied, "In the past, I hated one or two people, but now, I think this kind of hatred is meaningless — it’s not just individuals who are rotten."
He didn’t finish his sentence.
Ji Xuan suddenly stopped, turning around to look at him. Behind his thin lenses, his eyes were sharp and bright, a hidden spark within them.
He understood the unspoken part of Ni Ji’s sentence.
It wasn't just one or two people who were rotten, it was the entire empire.
Killing one or two imperial officials was meaningless. This entire pristine White Tower, starting from its spire, was rotten.
…
Lin Yuan, standing at the top of the White Tower, saw the empire's highest ruler, the legendary Queen.
This Majesty had ruled the empire for many years, Lin Yuan had thought she would see a white-haired elder.
But the emperor sitting on the throne, wearing a crown, her face half-covered by a veil, didn’t look as old as she had imagined.
Lin Yuan, for the first time, felt her tentacles malfunctioning.
Before her, in the bright and spacious hall, the empire’s throne stood majestic and solemn, seemingly with holy light falling from the spire, enveloping the pristine white throne.
There was clearly a person sitting on the throne, yet she couldn't feel anything.
She didn’t know whether the other person was powerful or weak, didn’t know her age or mental state, couldn’t sense her emotions, she couldn't even tell whether she was a Sentinel or a Guide, or just an ordinary person.
She couldn't be an ordinary person, at least ordinary people wouldn’t be this emotionless.
She could only be too powerful, so powerful that Lin Yuan couldn't even probe.
Luther knelt devoutly before the throne, lifted the Queen's hand, and kissed it.
"Bring that child before me," the Queen’s gentle voice came from the throne.
Lin Yuan subconsciously wanted to take a step back. A strange feeling welled up in her heart.
A feeling she had never experienced before.
Perhaps it should be called fear, and yet it also felt like longing.
She wanted to escape, yet she also wanted to approach.
The throne, bathed in holy light, pristine and pure, full of mystery, seemed to have a strange pull on her.
Making her feel both scared and wanting to go forward, to take a look, to touch it.
"Don't be nervous, come to me," the Queen on the throne extended a hand.
Her voice gentle, the tentacles sensing an emotion of warmth and affection.
At least, this emotion was sincere, without any malice.
Lin Yuan obeyed and walked forward, to the porcelain-white throne.
On the throne, the Queen's red lips, hidden behind the veil, curved into a faint smile, she reached out and held Lin Yuan’s hand.
"Such a lovely child, seeing you reminds me of your mother."
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