Utopian Empire.
Licia, the maid, waited outside the palace. During the waiting time, she quietly watched the live broadcast of the entire Killing Show Finale, and she is still excited. At this time of year, even servants are not qualified to enter the palace, let alone idlers.
Licia just became a servant today, and her predecessor—a lady from the Titan family—resigned not long ago for the dream-killing show. Licia passed the triple exam and stood out and got this high-tech and leisurely job.
Not far from Lycia, there are groups of interstellar media carrying instruments. Photographers and reporters from "Zeus" to "Global Universe" all wore special raincoats and held umbrellas.
The area around the Utopian Capital Palace is raining today.
Miniature automatic rain shelters in this era are very developed. Antiques such as umbrellas and raincoats have not had a chance to appear for a long time...but this time is different.
The rain around the Utopia Palace is continuous all year round, and it is extremely corrosive.
There is still half an hour before the start of the crownless match. Every year, His Majesty will not show up early, but some media reporters can't wait, and quietly pulled the railing to ask Licia:
"I heard that the reason why it rains highly corrosive rain year after year is because the imperial palace was built on the former site of the legendary X901 laboratory..."
Licia was most afraid of the media asking similar questions. Just as she was about to say that she had "no comment", the reporter who was chattering just now suddenly stopped talking.
The reporter looked behind Licia, his expression became a little guilty, and he retreated into the crowd silently.
Licia seemed to sense something, turned around—
A black shadow was standing quietly behind her.
Licia couldn't help but shudder.
That's the steward of the palace. The manager looked to be in his fifties or sixties, his complexion was extremely pale, and his whole body was as thin as a piece of paper.
The manager was wearing a solid-color uniform, standing under the eaves of the rainy palace, with an aura of a horror movie. He stood there quietly, turned his head and said to Licia: "It's time, come with me."
This is the chief steward who has served the monarch for nearly thirty years, and looks like a weak, ordinary middle-aged man. Until many years ago, a certain gang of star thieves made trouble on Carlier, and even tried to invade the palace in vain.
At that time, this ordinary manager was standing under the eaves, holding a black umbrella upside down like this, piercing the throat of the leader of the Star Bandits without changing his expression...
"… yes!"
After waking up from the short memory, Licia didn't dare to be distracted. She quickly raised the hem of her skirt to salute, not daring to delay for a moment, and followed the steward into the hall.
The heavy temple door opened and closed again.
This is an empty and deserted palace.
It is completely different from the Muses Palace carefully designed by the parents of the Muses, and the internal structure of the Utopia Palace is also extremely simple.
Dark red thick velvet blanket, people walking on it hardly make a sound, there is no resplendent overhead light, only illuminated by cool-colored wall lamps, it looks more like a deserted laboratory than a palace.
"No matter what you see later, don't be surprised, and don't tell the outside world." The manager said.
Of course Licia nodded wildly.
The manager paused, and then continued to speak in a calm tone: "Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and you have only had three servants in total, and the servants have not retired, do you know why?"
Lycia asked cautiously: "Why?"
The manager warned meaningfully: "For a servant like you who earns 100,000 star coins a month and only needs to work four days a month, there is no such thing as 'resignation' or 'retirement'."
"The only way for you to leave your post is to die."
Licia's back was sweating coldly.
Her calves began to shake.
The manager was very satisfied with the effect of this sentence, nodded and continued to move forward.
"...But," not long after walking out, the manager heard Licia's cautious voice, "but Ms. Taina is still alive and well, and she participated in the semi-finals of the Killing Show a few days ago?"
Tina is Lycia's previous servant, a bright and cheerful Titan woman with long red hair. She even made it to the semi-finals of this year's Killing Show, and is one of the highly anticipated seed contestants. There are also posters of the Killing Show finals that she shot on the street.
Coupled with her career in the past ten years, some fans enthusiastically call her 'Gun Maid' or something.
Steward: "..."
Manager: "... ... ... ... "
"You know too much." The manager was silent for a moment, and then warned her with a certain tone from a movie, "Young man, too much curiosity is not a good thing."
Lycia: "Oh oh."
So the topic of dying in the line of duty has been muddled like this
Obviously so.
Because after that, the manager kept a cold face and didn't say anything to Licia.
The two of them took the exclusive suspension ladder and went down tens of thousands of meters underground. It only took less than half a minute to go from the ground to the ground. After a beep, the two walked out of the suspended ladder.
The X901 laboratory, which was famous in the universe many years ago, has passed more than 20 years. The instruments here are old and worn out, and the furnishings have become mottled and ugly. Only the cooling fan at the entrance is still humming tirelessly.
There is a smell of rust mixed with dampness in the air, and the entire laboratory is an old object that has been stored in the deep, deep ground for decades.
Licia didn't dare to raise her head to look around at all, she walked inward following the manager closely.
Soon, they walked into a certain laboratory.
As an attendant of the palace, Licia has experienced a lot in these years. But what happened next was still beyond all her common sense, and it was the most unforgettable scene in her long career.
— This is a very common sense-defying space.
Ten thousand meters underground, the gravity here seems to have failed. Newspapers, stained glass candy, beer bottles, broken bellows, heart rate with only a straight line... All kinds of weird things are suspended in the air, The underground is a hillside where all kinds of abandoned large instruments are piled up.
The very old gramophone played Western music, and the cold light of the incandescent lamp made people feel almost trembling.
Their lord, is right above the 'hillside'.
The man's figure was extremely tall and straight, he was dressed in a military uniform, his deep eyes were not covered with black silk as usual, and his thin lips were flattened wearily. The man has an aura that is sharper than the tip of a knife, but his expression is extremely dull, like a man-made inorganic life form.
But he was covered in blood and had a black tattoo on the side of his waist that looked like a factory number.
From the right shoulder to the waist and abdomen, there are large areas of gunshot wounds and burns, with new and old scars intertwined.
The robot suspended in the sky lowered the cables and arms, as if performing surgery on him, but in fact the silver blade simply cut open the man's skin. For seventy-two hours, it just repeated this action mechanically.
There is blood, flowing through the exposed metal surface of the abandoned equipment, flowing through the wires emitting blue sparks, and has spread and soaked the entire room.
A nameless draft blew through the hall.
Licia was startled, and tried her best to suppress a scream in her throat. She quickly lowered her head, panicked and didn't know what to do.
She finally knew why the servant was so idle and paid so much, the risk was too great!
No one knows what kind of race the king of Utopia is, because of his foul-like combat power, but his appearance does not have any characteristics of powerful races such as dragons, titans, and blood races. Many mainstream interstellar media even speculate that he is the legendary "god" Descendants'.
... ... Yes, in the universally accepted legend, 'God' is real. The shadows of gods are left in the history books of many races, such as the mermaids of the mermaids singing hymns for the gods, the Titans as the guards of the gods, and so on.
God has abandoned this universe, so it is plunged into endless war, poverty, disease.
Until the founding of the Muse and Utopia.
Licia once also secretly guessed whether His Majesty would be the God Empress Shang... Unexpectedly, His Majesty turned out to be a bionic person.
The manager was right. If this gets out, she won't just be 'died in line'!
Licia's head was covered in cold sweat, and she only dared to stare at her toes.
Your majesty is actually a bionic person? Your majesty disappears every year at this time, so is it in this laboratory? Why do you let the robot repeatedly... hurt yourself
No leaks, no inquiries, no curiosity. These are the three working principles of a servant.
Moreover, Licia didn't dare to ask anything.
The manager was obviously used to this scene, and Licia heard him say: "Your Majesty, the time is up."
no respond.
About two minutes later, the steward repeated again: "Your Majesty, the time is up, there are still 20 minutes to start the championship match."
This time, there was finally a response.
The man looked at them, and after a moment, he stretched his long legs and stood up. Immediately afterwards, there was a sound like metal colliding and collapsing.
He walked towards the exit, and every time he took a step, the horrible, bloody wound on his body miraculously healed quickly and became smooth, leaving only a very pale white scar in the end.
And those newspapers, glass bottles, discarded instruments floating in the sky like fish... also ignited spontaneously without fire, and finally an explosion swept everything, and it was completely silent.
"Your Majesty, your clothes." Licia looked at her nose, nose and heart carefully, and hurried forward to hand the changed clothes to the man—Your Majesty doesn't like people getting too close to him, and the steward and Licia kept a polite distance of more than half a meter .
The monarch hummed lightly.
The shirt concealed the clear eight-pack abs and scars, and he quickly buttoned it up, followed by the military jacket. The manager bowed his head respectfully and stepped forward to fasten the obsidian cufflinks for him.
“…….!”
Licia caught a glimpse of a plain ring on the root of the monarch's left middle finger.
It was a hand with two distinct joints, with a cold and white complexion, and the light silver ring refracted the faint light.
Even though she had seen it before, every time she saw that ring again, Licia's heart would still be filled with turmoil. Their Utopian custom is that if two people get engaged, they will both wear rings on their left middle fingers—the plain ring ring on the left hand is different.
Plain circle ring means 'unilateral heart belongs to', it can also be said to be a unilateral engagement.
The gifted ring is rejected by the other party and is still unwilling to give up. It is a hopeless wish.
Monarchs generally don't wear rings in public places that will be photographed by star media. It is said that they are "worried about a child's misunderstanding", but they are often worn in private or social occasions.
There are rumors that His Majesty once gave a ring to a favorite object of the Muse, but was rejected by the other party, and then he wore the ring... But everyone agreed that this rumor was not very credible. After all, the relationship between Muse and Utopia is so complicated.
The greater possibility should be that this is just that the monarch is very disturbed by the rotten peach blossoms that keep coming together, so he wears a ring as a default rejection to reduce trouble.
"... Don't look around." The manager coughed and reminded Licia in a low voice.
Licia hurriedly took a break and stood at attention.
Fortunately, the monarch did not care about the small actions of the two. He was a little distracted, his long eyes were half closed, and he buttoned the button casually.
The tailored pure black imperial uniform has a thick and deep texture, giving him a very oppressive aura. Then the monarch finally took out the pure black eye mask from the silk storage box handed over by the steward, and put it on carefully.
After the monarch came out, besides wearing the blindfold, the first thing he did was to open his personal terminal, as if he had entered some kind of software—there was a display of 'light tower' on it. Suffering from rest ~' words.
Seeing this line of writing, the air pressure around the monarch dropped significantly by a few degrees, and he even showed a little irritability on a rare occasion.
... And this has laid the most serious hidden danger for the disaster that will happen next.
Licia was extremely curious, but kept the rules in mind, and didn't ask a word.
The steward began to talk about the killing show: "The finalists are the Titans and... "
They walked into the suspended ladder, and the monarch stopped the steward with a gesture. This year's time is a bit late, and the competition is about to start. He has no time to listen to the detailed process, so it is more efficient to fast forward directly.
"Conclusion." The monarch said succinctly.
"Uh.....the result of the game was—"
This is the first time for the manager to do this kind of thing, after all, it is not someone else who won this time, His Majesty the king who is the official muse!
No matter how you look at it, this is too exciting, and others don't know it. The general manager who has worked for the monarch for so many years will know that the person His Majesty has had a crush on for nearly thirty years is...
Therefore, before saying that name, the over-stretched manager couldn't help but make an earth-shattering voice:
"belch!!!"
Lycia: "…"
"Hic, hiccup-hiccup!"
For the next three full minutes, until they stepped onto the starship, the boss couldn't say anything else, his face was flushed, and he kept belching repeatedly with uneven pitches and ups and downs.
It's like a rooster being chased around, and it sounds like a symphony at first glance.
There were still nearly ten minutes before the start of the crownless match, and the starship sailed steadily towards its destination.
Licia tried her best not to laugh out loud.
Monarch's terminal is still connected to the game with a black screen, so he can't search by himself.
As if a little impatient, the monarch pinched the knuckles of his index finger with his thumb a few times... Licia took a closer look and found that he seemed to be beating the time of the chief manager out of boredom to make it more rhythmic.
Steward and Lycia: "... "
Licia called him a good guy in her heart.
Is Your Majesty this kind of persona?! I feel much more cheerful than before, like falling in love with a particularly lively child and being subtly changed... …
The manager wanted to cry, but this was the biggest blemish in his career. In the end, he finally gave up on verbal expression, and instead projected his personal terminal screen in mid-air, which was a screenshot taken from the live broadcast of Killing Show.
The monarch and Lycia looked at the photo and fell into a long silence.
On this screenshot, there is no one.
Gunpowder smoke, ruins, wires glowing with blue light and sparks. If Licia remembers correctly, 'that person' came out two or three seconds after this scene.
The manager danced and danced, pointing at the screen excitedly: "Hi... ..Hi......Hi!!"
"..." Master Jian lost his order, "Translate."
The manager also looked at Licia eagerly with anticipation.
Licia wanted to cry, she couldn't understand it herself! But there was nothing she could do now, so she had to bite the bullet. She guessed what the manager meant, and tentatively said: "The winner of this killing show is the In this photo, the ruins are his destruction."
The steward nodded eagerly.
Be sure to tell His Majesty before arriving at the arena that the winner this time is the one he has loved for decades...
Monarch: "Yes."
The manager began to wink at Licia crazily, she had to figure out the manager's intention again, and then said:
"Oh, yes, the winner this time is from the Muse Empire."
The monarch's eyes stopped.
The manager was even more moved and nodded.
... Not only that," Licia breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the manager's affirmation, and at the same time spoke more and more vigorously, "This is your absolute
For people who wouldn't want to meet!"
monarch:"
Steward "... ??"
Licia thinks that her ability to adapt to changes is too strong. As the saying goes, the king does not see the king.
No one could have imagined that - among other things, the Star Network has been blown up for several rounds now, and almost all the media in the universe are squatting around the arena.
The whole universe is like a storm.
Moreover, isn't the person His Majesty has a crush on the legend in the Muse? Licia thought about it and said:
"Besides, he might hinder your marriage!" After all, no king would agree with his own people and an unknown neighboring monarch.
Lord get married
Manager: "?"
Monarch: "..."
The brain circuits of the three people present had obvious differences again, and the three chatted out three channels.
She is really a maid with strong adaptability—Licia thought.
It's all over now—the chief steward who has served the royal family for decades thought.
Very destructive, muse of people, will hinder his marriage. Speaking of those who meet these three conditions, many faces suddenly appeared in my mind, such as a certain dragon clan, a certain blood clan, a certain mermaid, etc., the ruler of Utopia thought.
... It's really tricky.
The monarch closes his eyes.
"Hi, hiccup!!" The manager knew something was wrong and there was a big misunderstanding. He wanted to explain but still couldn't make a sound. And at this moment, the starship arrived at its destination!
Outside is the arena of the untitled match, with flying red silk flags, mountains and seas of spectators, and countless media.
And... .. heh ahh!!!
Five minutes before the start of the crownless match, the starship finally arrived at its destination.
The silver-gray hatch was unscrewed upwards, and the hot and noisy sound waves like boiling water, accompanied by the wind of gunpowder smoke and salute gunpowder, poured in in an instant.
Licia and the manager couldn't speak any more, they bowed respectfully, and everyone inside and outside the cabin door did the same.
The monarch walked into the arena and was filmed by countless cameras. The curvature of his jaw and lip line appeared indifferent and extremely cold.
The dark red carpet was surrounded by reporters from all over the universe, and the two columns were separated by military soldiers in explosion-proof suits.
The reporters were fiercely pushing and fucking the officer just now, vying to be the first media to interview His Majesty, but now they are suddenly like ducks stuck in their necks, speechless.
... ..[Your Majesty. "I don't know who said this dryly.
The top clock lighted up the countdown, and there were still three and a half minutes before the start of the championship match. The virtual arena has been built from the sand table, but the two protagonists have not yet arrived on the scene.
No reporter dared to go forward to interview, and finally, just as the monarch was about to reach the end of the long carpet, the star media of the Universal News couldn't help it—God knows their reporter received the news an hour ago and spent hundreds of thousands of stars The Bizu instrument and the ticket to the direct levitation device rushed to the scene as soon as possible, how could this opportunity slip away for nothing!
As soon as they moved, the other media couldn't help becoming restless.
The audience in the stands were also staring at the broadcast.
"Your Majesty!" The reporters scrambled to lift their microphones over the soldiers' shoulders and asked loudly, "What do you think of the ending of this killing show?"
Are you satisfied with the result? Is the final result of this killing show in dispute?"
"Is the result of the championship match politically charged, and will it affect the future relationship between Muse and Utopia? Your Majesty—"
"Your Majesty, what do you think of the winner who will face you in the championship match?"
It can only be said that the reporter is worthy of being a reporter, and the questions raised are very sharp and hit the point directly. Driven by them, the atmosphere of the whole venue became lively.
And the monarch is the most emotional person in it. He has a feeling of being dissociated from everything and lacking in interest, as if he is distracted.
Just when the reporters were disappointed that they would not get an answer, until the last second before entering the arena, the monarch suddenly stopped and looked at a camera that was about to be attached to his face.
That was the reporter from the Universal News. They projected the terminal screen in mid-air. They originally wanted to show the scene of the Killing Show finals not long ago, and the "Water Spirit" appeared to save the game in the limit of ten seconds (God knows this short video was uploaded to Starnet , has already exceeded one billion views in half an hour), who knows-accidentally put another video.
It was taken by a traveler in the Muse Empire in fear. The picture of the dragon roaring and flying across the sky covered the sky and the sun.
It was this video that gave Monarch pause:
"The winner this time?"
"Ah?... The reporter who was questioned didn't realize what happened. Soon, he was overwhelmed by the joy of His Majesty's initiative to answer. He didn't realize that his video was misplaced at all, and a sound Say, "Yes! Yes! Your Majesty, what do you think of the winners this time, are you looking forward to the championship?"
This question has been raised in the past, and out of respect for the game and the opponent, the usual answer is always 'hmm'.
But this time, the monarch did not answer immediately.
Freedom is the principle of the Killing Show, and it is not uncommon for strange people to win the Killing Show all these years, but... in the days when you can't see your lover, you have to fight with one of those arrogant jealous parents without a crown The confrontation in the game really makes people feel a little tired.
His relationship with the giant dragon Leiqi, or the entire dragon clan, can be barely described as 'ordinary'. Of course, he didn't mean to target the Dragon Clan, it's just that they put the same person on the top of their hearts, and trust is very difficult for both parties.
And in the video, Lei Qi also said harshly: "Utopia is a group of barbarians with simple minds and strong limbs who advocate violence! Barbarians! Cubs will never like it there!!"
... No one can take him away. "The dragons clasped the ground with their sharp claws, roaring anxiously for some reason.
Monarch: "..."
'snatch'
He rubbed his thumb over the band on his knuckles.
After a pause of about two seconds, the monarch suddenly looked at the camera closest to him.
The flag was blown up by the wind.
... He said a word lightly.
The extremely low, cool-toned voice passed through the radio, swirled gently in the current, and quickly disappeared into the wind.
"what… ?"
And the reporter holding the microphone was stunned.
The slight silence quickly grew and spread like tentacles, and finally covered the entire arena, like a net that made people unable to breathe.
The brain processed the information slowly, and it took several seconds before they were sure that their usual calm and calm ruler had indeed said this sentence.
—'I won't show mercy'.
It was extremely blunt, and could even be interpreted as a provocative sentence.
... And this time in the untitled match, the opponent is none other than the young king, His Majesty the Muse. The kings of the two countries confronted each other for the first time in this wonderful way. Due to the situation and reason, even out of diplomatic considerations, there should be some leeway, or simply cancel the duel with dignity.
But the monarch did not.
Not only did he not, but for the first time in history, he uttered such a tense sentence.
The star network exploded almost instantly, and countless speculations about the relationship between the two countries rolled up in turn, and the only thing that convinced the people of the whole Utopia was...
The Muses and the ruler of Utopia are at odds.
[? Grass, this is not even the etiquette on the surface can be maintained, will we start fighting directly??]
[Everyone calm down, the two countries have a tacit agreement on the prohibition of hot war]
[Personal grievances, it won't rise to the national level, don't worry everyone, just eat melons calmly]
[... Hehehe, I can’t calm down!! Your majesty the king is so handsome and cute, what kind of treasure is the water elf, and can he have a personal grudge with this kind of treasure?! Is it worthy of being your majesty?!]
What will happen in the next championship game
Because there is a default hot war prohibition agreement, and everything that happens in the killing show is not linked to real factors, everyone will not be too worried while nervous.
At this moment, the people of Utopia suddenly felt an indescribable feeling, worried and nervous, with a little desire to watch a movie, but
And it is the gossip of a national drama. And the barrage and the number of viewers on the live channel skyrocketed again in an instant.
And soon, the countdown displayed in the scarlet font on the top decreased little by little, and the sand table simulation field was about to be completed.
Set up a dedicated channel.
And under the eyes of everyone, the countdown was completely over. The lights went out, and the host took the microphone: "Welcome to—"
Turn back the time a little bit, five minutes before the start of the championship match, from the rest area to the preparation channel of the competition area.
Wen Xingze was still thinking about how to run.
After all, from his inexplicable airborne into the competition area, inexplicably winning the game, and inexplicably about to fight with Chi Yan under the watchful eyes of the whole universe, this whole thing is really unimaginable, bizarre, and embarrassing.
"Sorry, I'm not interested in the championship match, I want to abstain," Wen Xingze said to the host. He rarely talked to others for such a long time, and he was tired of talking, "And this killing show The champion should not be me—no, I know that there is no precedent for abstention in the championship match, and it has nothing to do with the prize money, but I will not change my mind... "
The host hesitated for a moment, then tangled up and said: "But the prize for this killing show is SpongeBob SquarePants' co-branded Cangxing Stone currency, which is limited to one piece in the whole universe. "
Before the words were finished, Wen Xingze walked into the competition channel with a snap, very quickly.