In the moving carriage, Lumba lowered his head and fiddled with his sword absently, with a subtle expression, but did not answer.
"King Nuen is dead, but Longxiao City is still powerful. There are still four very important Grand Dukes in the Palace of Heroes. I don't think they are all fools," Thales observed the Grand Duke's expression and said cautiously: "And
Prince of Stars assassinated King Gongju - this result will definitely not satisfy everyone, especially when the army from the Black Sand Territory suddenly appears."
Thales stared closely at Lumba's face and whispered: "How are you going to explain to them? Or just don't explain to them and kill them all?"
Lumba said nothing and his expression was wooden.
Thales clenched his fists slightly.
The carriage is still moving, and I don't know how far it is from the Palace of Heroes.
I don’t know how far away I am from the end of my life.
no solution anymore.
Strong medicine is needed.
"If nothing unexpected happens, once the news of Nunn's death spreads, the King Selection will be held soon." Thales took a deep breath and spoke lightly: "Do you think you still have a chance?"
Sure enough, Lumba's eyes moved and he looked at him.
Thales suppressed his inner nervousness and responded to him with the calmest expression.
"Not to mention that you are Nunn's enemy and you have a terrible reputation for killing your brothers," Thales said carefully: "The grand dukes will not let you become the king."
Lumba's eyes were fixed on his sword.
"King?" The Grand Duke raised his voice and pronounced the word in a questioning tone. Then he snorted softly and repeated it sarcastically:
"king!"
"You were born in the Bright Star royal family, a descendant of the emperor, the natural, orthodox, and legal ruling family of the entire Star Kingdom," Lumba said quietly: "Of course you don't have such concerns, right?"
Thales's heart moved. At that moment, he seemed to have caught something.
"Concerns?" he asked naturally.
Lumba ignored him, his sharp eyes still focused on his old sword: "Since Nun's grandfather, they have regarded the Black Sand Territory as a thorn in their side. At that time, Walton had already begun Longxiao City's monopoly on the throne.
."
The little slippery one blinked.
"When Nun's father arrived, the Walton family began to try to control the Black Sand Territory," Lombard continued, his eyes a little lost:
"For example, calling the young son of the Grand Duke of Black Sand into the White Blade Guards, or marrying his daughter, the noble Princess Exter, to his father, the heir of the Grand Duke of Black Sand, in the name of the king."
Thales frowned slightly.
During the duel between King Nun and Perfit, he seemed to have heard similar stories.
"This is how my parents were married," Lumba sighed, and then a rare smile appeared on the face of the Grand Duke of Heisha: "Unexpectedly, this marriage that was purely based on the king's will turned out to be pretty good - I heard the old man
Servants said that my mother tried every means to make my father fall in love with her and gave birth to two sons and three daughters for him. This love lasted until my father became a grand duke."
The carriage entered a narrow alley, seemed to be taking a shortcut, or taking a long detour?
Rumba's words continued:
"In this way, my father single-handedly resisted the erosion of Longxiao City, even though this erosion originated from the woman he loved most on his bed - his family and power. He has been wandering on this balance all his life."
Thales and Little Huitou listened quietly.
Such a Black Sand Duke is rare.
"Since we were very young, Harold and I have been taken between Longxiao City and Black Sand Territory by our mother," Grand Duke Lumba exhaled, his eyes full of nostalgia: "Until we grew up, until we
Harold began to take over the governance of the Black Sand Territory."
"Harold?" Thales's heart moved. The name seemed a bit unfamiliar: "He is..."
Lombard paused.
"Harold Lombard, my eldest brother," the archduke's eyes flashed with darkness and sarcasm: "a ridiculous fool."
"There is no fool in the world than him."
He said quietly.
Little Huantou seemed to have remembered something, her face turned pale slightly when she looked at Lumba.
From Lumba's tone, Thales felt a different emotion.
"You don't have a brother, do you?" Lumba's eyes still stayed on the sword. After a few seconds, he said lonelyly:
"How lucky."
Thales raised his eyebrows: he thought of the two small stone urns in the tomb of Bright Star, his nominal sister and brother.
Lydia and Luther Brightstar.
Rumba gently drew out his sword.
The Grand Duke had a complicated expression, and his fingers gently brushed the sharp sword blade.
"Until twelve years ago," Lumba raised his head slightly, looked at Thales, and his tone turned cold:
"Everything has changed."
His actions made the prince feel cold in his heart.
etc.
Thales' brain started to work.
Twelve years ago...twelve years ago again?
That means……
"Unprecedented civil strife broke out in the Kingdom of Stars, and the chaos was overwhelming," Lombard's voice sounded in the carriage, narrating the history that Thales was all too familiar with: "Since the Fourth Continental War, Exeter has been waiting for a rare opportunity in a century.
:Reunify the Northland, and completely eliminate the threat from Broken Dragon Fortress."
Thales stared blankly at the sword in Lumba's hand.
"Nun is ready to send troops south. He contacted almost every archduke. In response, Harold, as the heir of the Black Sand Territory, was sent to attend the meeting of the leaders in Dragon Sky City," Lumba breathed in slowly
He took a breath of cold air and continued:
"An accident happened."
Thales's heart moved.
"A follower in Harold's team suddenly rose up and assassinated Nunn's eldest son," Lombard's rough voice was low and majestic, as if there was a hidden power. He snorted coldly: "That self-righteous and cruel man
Kill, Prince Suriel, who was exactly the same as his father, died in Harold's team."
At that moment, Thales' heart skipped a beat.
The second prince digested Lumba's story motionlessly, while his hand was held firmly by the little slipper, getting tighter and tighter.
He has heard this story.
Just last night.
"The news has reached the Black Sand Territory," Lumba pressed the hilt of his sword, his face turned cold, "Father is even ready for Nun to make a big fuss and start a war with Longxiao City."
"Unexpectedly, Harold, who should have been responsible for this, did not receive even a trace of condemnation, let alone imprisonment or detention."
"Nunn comforted him with soft words, personally spoke to him to excuse him, and even continued to let him participate in the meeting, and sent him back to the Black Sand Territory with great courtesy," Lomba sneered, "Even though Nunn lost the most important thing
The eldest son, Harold, was not spared - my father sensed something was wrong at that time."
Lumba looked at his sword, but his eyes began to lose focus, as if he was looking at something else: "I still remember the day Harold came back, he reciprocated Nunn's opinions at the dinner table, and persuaded his father to support Longxiao City.
Even in preparation for the war, the king’s officials must be admitted.”
"My father and he had a heated argument."
"I had to stand in the middle so that they would not draw their swords at each other," the Grand Duke said slowly:
"It was also that day that my father suddenly realized that Harold Lombard, the eldest son and heir he had high hopes for, just like his youngest brother Caslan, had already turned into a dragon in the past thirty years.
Xiaocheng and Gongju are the king’s strongest supporters and obedients.”
Thales frowned deeply: "Like Fengzhao City?"
Perfit's desperate face appeared before his eyes.
Rumba turned to him expressionlessly.
Thales's heart tightened.
"It's like Fengzhao City," he affirmed Thales's words lightly: "Father can't bear this fact."
"Father feels that if this continues, when Harold inherits the Black Sand Territory, it will only be a matter of time before we become vassals of the king." Lomba's face was filled with chills, "Even the position of the Grand Duke of Black Sand is very important.
It will soon become a vassal matter that can be decided by Longxiao City."
"Talking, threatening, scolding, teaching, and even asking me to persuade him from the side, my father tried to use all means to change Harold's mind."
"But it was all in vain."
The little slippery man shrank behind Thales with a pale face.
The terrifying Grand Duke of Black Sand lowered his head, his face rather gloomy: "Finally, my father made up his mind to take back Harold's inheritance rights."
"Things went haywire at that time," Lombard slowly shook his head: "My father briefly mentioned this idea in front of the vassals, and he immediately encountered fierce opposition and admonishment."
"Not only that, from the day my father insisted on depriving Harold of his inheritance, the harvests were reduced, financial difficulties were encountered, and trade routes were blocked: the troubles in the Black Sand Territory were also strangely increasing. What happened in Fengzhao City
, now it’s happening in the Black Sand Territory.”
Lumba sneered, with deep irony in his tone:
"When the entire Black Sand Territory was boiling, my father woke up. In the past thirty years, Longxiao City had not only infiltrated the blood of the Lomba family, but Nunn had also done more than just win over Harold.
."
"Harold refused to give in, and his father refused to compromise. The situation in the territory was getting worse and worse: the forces supporting Harold, both internal and external, were beyond the scope of his father's handling. He became more and more desperate, and more and more
Haggard," Lomba's tone became lower and lower, and the emotion in his words became increasingly pale: "The Black Sand Territory is no match for Longxiao City."
"Finally, on the day when the king's messenger arrives again."
"My father, who was exhausted mentally and physically, called me to his room."
Thales only felt a chill on his back.
He couldn't help but think of Charmaine Lombard's famous, or rather notorious, or even infamous deeds.
Lumba raised his head and looked out the window at the streets of Longxiao City: "I still remember my father's eyes, which were full of determination and gloom."
Thales couldn't help but tighten his grip on the little slipper behind his back.
"He talked to me for a long, long time," Grand Duke Heisha's eyes became colder and colder, and his tone became calmer and calmer. "I held his lap and cried, begging him with all the words I could think of."
"I even pulled back my sleeves to show him the wound I had when I was fourteen years old when I was hunting - Harold had dragged me out of the mouth of a snow leopard."
The Grand Duke's words became increasingly plain.
But Thales's heart became tighter and tighter.
Just listen to the Grand Duke of Lombard narrating as if nothing happened: "'Child, we are Lumba, the blood of the revolting king,' my father said: 'Our clan language is 'never_yield' (never_yield), no matter externally, or
Internally.'"
"'No matter to the emperor or to the king.'"
The Grand Duke exhaled, the darkness in his eyes was extremely deep, and his tone was tough and decisive: "'We will never surrender.'"
Thales listened to Rumba's words blankly.
The little slippery man's eyes widened.
Lumba snorted lightly, lowered his head and looked at the weapon in his hand: "In the end, he gave me this sword."
The scabbard was bald and the hilt was frayed. It was an old weapon.
As if it was his most important treasure.
"A week later, I challenged Harold to a duel in public, and my father approved it."
Thales held his breath, not even daring to take a breath.
"My mother knelt in front of the study and cried all night. My father sat in the study and the lights were on all night." Lombard slowly turned his sword and stroked the Iron Fist logo on the hilt: "Until my mother fainted and was
Servants send you away."
There was silence in the carriage for a while.
For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of wheels scraping the ground.
"This is..." Thales struggled to open his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Rumba.
"On the day of the duel, Harold had at least three chances to take my life and take his brother's life." The Grand Duke said calmly, but his voice was hollow and trembling:
"At least three times."
Lumba's hand stroking the hilt of the sword stopped moving.
His voice became disembodied, as if he was speaking from a far, far away place.
"Finally, when I stabbed his heart, I saw his face clearly," the Grand Duke said lightly, "He was smiling."
Lumba took a deep breath, and his expression was hard to distinguish as he lowered his head: "It was the same smile as the day he dragged me out of the snow leopard's mouth."
Thales sighed.
This is simply...
"Harold pulled me by the collar and said the last words in my ear," Rumba hummed softly, as if telling a story about someone else's dinner: "'Remember, Charmaine.'"
"'We will never surrender.'"
Lumba chuckled without knowing his emotions.
Thales raised his head and stared at his sword blankly.
Belonging to the Grand Duke of Black Sand, the sword that killed his brother.
"The next day," Rumba's voice came slowly to my ears:
"Mother jumped from the highest lookout post in the castle."
"On the third day, Nunn ordered me to go to Eternal Star City and declare war on the entire star."
Tails and Little Slippery were motionless.
Silent sadness filled the carriage.
This story about the Lombard family gave him mixed feelings.
"One month later, at the Lyman Pass, when the Fury of the Kingdom broke out in front of my father with the last remaining courage, my father did not dodge or raise his sword, and allowed Mu to break his neck," Lumba laughed lowly.
He shouted: "It was only later that I suddenly realized that my father was probably seeking death."
"Maybe under the prison river, he can be reunited with his mother and Harold."
Lumba stopped talking.
Thales exhaled slowly.
"So, what you did was out of revenge?" He frowned and asked in confusion: "Do you want Nuen to pay the price, or do you want Longxiao City to be destroyed?"
Lumba sneered mockingly. He slowly leaned back and exposed his face to the light again: "Hate? That ridiculous thing?"
"Don't compare me to a coward like Perfit."
Thales frowned.
"Then why did you tell me this story?" The prince asked doubtfully: "Don't tell me, you just want to find someone who is dying to talk to you about your true feelings."
Grand Duke Heisha's eyes slowly darkened.
Lumba looked at him condescendingly and shook his head slowly. His tone was low and cold, and his words were chilling: "You are indeed special, child, but your vision is still at the level of that group of ordinary people."
"As for what I really want, it's more than self-preservation, more than revenge, more than the death of a king, more than the destruction of a territory," Lomba took a slow breath and said firmly, "a little more."
Thales stared at Lumba's face seriously, trying to figure out his thoughts quickly.
"Of course," Lumba snorted softly: "You were born in the Bright Star royal family and lived in the era after the 'Wise Lord'. You will not understand this kind of sadness."
The Grand Duke's words ended here, Lumba closed his sword and said no more.
Thales was slightly startled.
Xianjun.
This wasn't the first time he heard this name from the people in the North.
The last time I heard him was from the mouth of King Nunn, Thales didn't react at that time.
But this time, Thales remembered.
He subconsciously touched his chest.
Xianjun, Mindis·Bright Star III.
One of the Three Kings of the Stars.
The king is not honored by blood, but the blood is honored by the king.
Why? Why do King Nun and the Grand Duke of Lomba both mention this High King of the Stars more than a hundred years ago?
What did he do?
And what exactly does Lumba want?
Thales lowered his head deeply.
"I don't understand," Thales gasped sharply, trying to sort out everything that was confusing: "I thought everything last night was just a desperate counterattack on your part to protect yourself, a quick chess move to fight back to the death.
…”
"If the Black Sand Territory doesn't do this, then Longxiao City will..."
Lumba turned his eyes and looked at him intriguingly.
Thales bit his lower lip.
"Winning over other forces like Shles, mobilizing so many troops into the city, subjugating them under the eyes of the 'dark room', and buying assassins to assassinate the king," the second prince raised his head and said hurriedly: "You
This plan is not thorough at all."
"If it hadn't been for a coincidence like the invasion of disaster, which kept the king away from the protection of the White Blade Guards, you wouldn't even have succeeded at all..."
At this moment, Lomba snorted coldly and severely interrupted Thales' words.
"coincide?"
Duke Heisha's eyes became sharp again.
"Indeed, in normal times, my plan, which is full of mistakes, would have no chance at all," Lombard said calmly:
"The King of Gongju, who was heavily surrounded by the White Blade Guards, sat in the tallest Palace of Heroes in the city, sitting on the indestructible Dragon Sky City, commanding the most powerful and powerful soldiers, enjoying the most abundant and sophisticated supplies and weapons, and also controlling the darkroom.
eyes and ears.”
"Even if these two thousand of us are extreme warriors, we still can't kill him in this situation."
Thales was slightly startled.
so……
"You are right. If there were no accidents caused by the disaster, it would bring chaos to Longxiao City, bring about the oversight of the city gates and gates, bring about the king's recruitment ban, bring about the mistakes of the White Blade Guards, bring about the Palace of Heroes
The emptiness brought about the martial law in the shield area," Lumba said softly:
"It's simply impossible to accomplish this just by relying on my cooperation with Shres, Ulad or other allies."
Thales' eyes were frozen.
He heard another hint from Rumba.
Thales's expression slowly changed.
"You, what do you mean?" The second prince asked slowly and hard in his most cautious, careful and light tone.
No.
impossible.
Lumba sneered lightly.
"They didn't tell you anything, did they?"
The tone of Grand Duke Heisha was like mocking an ignorant child: "Whether it's the disaster or the assassination."
"Disaster? Assassination?"
Little Huitou instinctively sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere in front of him.
Sure enough, the next moment, with unbelievable suspicion, Thales leaned forward suddenly, instantly raised his voice, and asked almost in a roar:
"'who are they?"
"Who else is working with you?"
Lumba shook his head slowly, his eyes full of contempt and sneer.
"Guess what," Grand Duke Heisha's voice was very steady, as if this was an easy chat:
"What kind of allies and forces can cover everything up for me, open up joints, make plans, and even create an almost impossible 'coincidence' like a disaster for me to support me in accomplishing such a feat?"
"What kind of existence can cause such a storm in Longxiao City?"
Thales was stunned.
He didn't dare to think about the answer in his heart.
No way.
Will not.
At this moment, the carriage stopped.
Thales came back to his senses and looked outside the car.
"This is not the Palace of Heroes," the second prince was stunned for a moment: "What are you going to do?"
Lumba exhaled slowly: "One of my collaborators wants you to live."
Thales' eyes widened.
"We might as well take a look," Heisha Grand Duke opened the car door and said coldly: "What price can you sell it for?"
————
Star Kingdom, Yongxing City, unknown underground.
The torches have gradually gone out.
The first ray of sunlight freely passed through the iron window smaller than a palm, casting a "#" shaped shadow on the ground.
At this moment, a rough voice came from the closed cell:
"Sunrise."
Outside the cell, the sturdy figure sitting on the chair slowed down for a moment, then slowly raised his head.
"Yes," the strong figure wearing a crown said calmly: "Sunrise."
"I guess you are not the kind of person who can sit across the cell door from a traitor for half a night." The Duke of the North in the cell asked mockingly through the gate on the cell door: "What happened?"
what?"
The figure on the chair made a heavy and majestic voice: "Did you see it?"
"Whenever you have something on your mind, you will sit alone and be in a daze," Val Allende sneered, "I still remember when you were sent to the West City Police Department as an intern because you caused a scene in Red Square Street.
"
"On your first day on the job, you came back with a bruised nose and a swollen face. This is what you looked like."
The strong figure trembled slightly, and at that moment, there was a hint of agility and smile in his voice: "You know, Jinnie is very strong."
What answered him was the Duke of the North's disdainful snort.
silence.
After a while, the strong figure rubbed a bright star badge on his hand and asked lightly:
"Wah, will you miss them?"
The prisoner behind the small gate seemed slightly stunned.
"Who?" the Duke asked in a low tone.
The strong figure revealed a pair of tired blue eyes, which were full of unknown emotions.
"Family," he said calmly, his voice still low: "Those people we take for granted in daily life, but only think of them after losing them."
The people in the cell didn't speak.
Then the strong figure continued:
"For example, the old Duke Arend, and your brothers, Rohan, Kull, Nuranor, your sister, your wife, your eldest son and your second son..."
"Boom!"
There was a violent thumping sound from behind the cell.
"That's enough," the Duke gasped, speaking with long-repressed anger, "What's the point of talking about this now?"
A few seconds of silence.
"No, it makes sense."
The strong figure stood up slowly.
"Almost." He said calmly.
The prisoner behind the cell did not answer.
"I came here to tell you," the visitor outside the cell said slowly: "Twelve years ago, the culprit behind the river of blood in the north..."
"The King of Exeter who gathered his army and invaded south."
The Duke of the North paused slightly behind the cell door.
His face appeared again at the gate.
His breathing became heavier and heavier.
There, he looked outside the cell, at the Supreme King of the Star Kingdom, Kessel V, with a tall and strong figure, and said in a deep voice in the most indifferent and terrifying tone:
"The guy who massacred the city for three days after conquering the Broken Dragon Fortress, and then marched his troops into the north in the spring."
"The sinner who hung your father from the city gate, chopped your brothers into pieces, caused your sister and wife to disappear, your two sons to die, and your little daughter to be paralyzed."
"That tyrant in the north, who burned, killed, looted, raped and robbed your family's land, and committed many crimes."
"The hateful enemy who made the Star Kingdom's disaster worse..."
"Boom!"
The Duke of the North's hands suddenly grasped the iron fence next to the gate.
The knuckles are pale and the fingertips are slightly trembling.
"What did you say?" The Duke's voice was trembling.
"Nun Walton VII died unexpectedly last night," Kessel V said in an unmistakable cold voice.
"The so-called born king has already paid the price for his atrocities."
Dead silence.
It seemed like a century had passed before the Duke's heavy breathing calmed down.
"What did you do?" Val raised his head and looked at his former close friend, now the king, with his most unbelievable eyes:
"Kay!"
"How did you do it?"
"What exactly did you do?"
Kessel did not answer, but looked at the Duke coldly and said slowly:
"Last night, dragon's blood flowed in the north."
"The chaos of Exeter will begin from here, and the kingdom of dragons will decline from now on," the king's voice said with a terrible chill, "with bloody light, the stars that have been dimmed for a long time will rise again."
"Brilliant."
"Better than before."
As soon as Kessel finished speaking, he turned around and left the cubicle without hesitation.
Ignoring the hysterical and crazy questioning of the Duke of the North behind him.
The High King pushed open an iron door expressionlessly and walked out of the corridor.
There, an old figure wearing a black cloak and holding a cane bowed slightly to the king.
"Is everything going well?" the king asked coldly.
"Of course," the kingdom's intelligence chief and the master of the secret department, the 'Black Prophet' Morat, smiled slightly. He raised his body and said in a relaxed and calm tone: "My Majesty."