Chapter 1 Trouble

Hao Ren noticed that Kaim's negotiation with the city gate guards seemed to have run into a problem. The broken sword knight, who had seemed so confident all along, returned looking slightly dejected, which made him ask, "Did you run into some trouble?"

"A bit of an unexpected situation," Kaim said, shaking his head as he relayed the information the soldiers had told him, "...This isn't the same as the plan I knew when I set out. Princess Constance and the Grand Duke of the North have moved the offensive forward, and by quite a bit—this means the broken sword knights coming from other parts of the empire and the rebels answering the call may become separated from the frontline assault."

Kaim wore a puzzled expression, clearly not knowing why Princess Constance had launched the attack so urgently.

"It seems that princess isn't in a very optimistic situation," Vivian immediately sensed something ominous from this turn of events. "Launching an attack ahead of schedule without adequate preparation is a major taboo in warfare. There's only one possibility: she's been forced into it..."

"Aren't we going into the city?" Lily blinked, looking from Hao Ren to Frostwind City. "Are we turning around to chase after that princess?"

"We'll go into the city and rest for a night first." Hao Ren patted Lily on the head, dissuading the husky girl from running off into the snowy wilderness for hundreds of miles to reach the front lines—though he understood her excitement as a sled dog seeing the icy landscape. But not everyone in the group was a snow-loving maniac like her. Charlemagne and the others were ordinary mortals who had traveled with the group from the southern border of the empire, enduring gate crashing, the Black Pine Forest, and bombardment by ancient weapons all the way. They were already exhausted. Making them run hundreds of miles across the snowfields to the front lines would leave even a strongman on his knees...

Besides, Hao Ren himself wanted to rest in the city. Not only was he a bit tired from the journey, but he also needed to quietly sort out the newly collected information. And being in the place closest to the Gorgon Abyss, he was curious if he could find any clues in Frostwind City.

Kaim nodded as well, "That's for the best. I heard there's a blizzard tonight. Although our vehicle is protected, there may be wandering monsters from the north in the blizzard. Continuing on the road isn't a good idea."

Vivian asked curiously, "Do we have a place to stay in the city?"

Kaim said with knightly grace, "Broken Sword Knights have a station in Frostwind City, but if Charlemagne and Princess Avenna wish, I can arrange for everyone to go to the post house prepared for important envoys—it will be more comfortable there."

Charlemagne nodded, "Then we'll trouble you—we have arrived in Princess Constance's territory, and I believe my sister and I are safe here."

Thus, led by Kaim, a present-day Broken Sword Knight, Hao Ren and his party finally entered the largest fortress in the Northern Territory: Frostwind City.

After passing through the extremely thick fortress entrance, composed of a large number of enchanted stone bricks and defensive mechanisms, the true face of Frostwind City was revealed to everyone. The layers upon layers of thick walls covered the outside of this "mountain city" like a protective shell, but the fortress interior was not dimmed by being surrounded by walls. On the multiple layers of walls, a large number of crystal clusters, like ice crystals, were arranged in ingenious arrays, guiding the sunlight into the first layer of the city. And on the first layer of the mountain, more crystal clusters could be seen growing along the buildings—those crystal clusters extended into the hollowed-out interior of the mountain, guiding the light from the outside again...

And the entire Frostwind City shone brightly in this miracle of light outlined by ice crystals.

Due to Frostwind City's special "living by the mountain, built by digging the mountain" structure, the city could be said to be arranged vertically. The post house prepared for important envoys was located near the lord's castle, close to the summit, with a difference of thousands of meters in altitude from the lower residential areas—but visitors did not need to climb up the winding stone stairs between the buildings, because there were as many as one hundred and twenty-two elevators operating day and night in the mountain, providing convenience for the people living in the city like a public transportation system.

Hao Ren and his party once again stored the vehicle. Accompanied by Kaim and several northern soldiers, they passed through the transportation area at the bottom of the city and entered the elevator hidden in the mountain, which circulated along a sloping ramp. With a slight mechanical friction sound, the large-scale elevator platform began to accelerate smoothly, moving towards the summit.

"This platform is specially prepared for guests who need to visit the summit. It doesn't stop midway, and it's twice as fast as other platforms," a northern soldier responsible for receiving them proudly introduced the city. "You can see a transparent passage in the middle. It's built with ice that's been enchanted with a perpetual freeze effect. Don't worry about falling down, and you can see the inner city inside the mountain through it."

The platform ran briskly in the inclined elevator passage. Every so often, a light source would flash from the surroundings, which were crystal clusters buried in the mountain. The sunlight from the outside was sent into the city through the crystal clusters, like natural light tubes. After a while, Hao Ren saw the "transparent passage."

It was like a glass tube specially left for tourists. Through the crystal-clear ice walls, Hao Ren saw the inner city of Frostwind City. He saw a large number of buildings arranged in an orderly manner inside the mountain, including factories and other facilities. But probably because the army had already set off, the inner city was not as lively as he had imagined, but rather a bit deserted. After all, every city in the Northern Territory existed primarily as a military fortress. After a large number of soldiers were drawn away, the operation of the city naturally slowed down.

Suddenly, Hao Ren's attention was drawn to a particularly striking building in the inner city: a large building stood in the center of the mountain cavity. It was built with black stones and had neat, spear-like towers. The main part was actually a three-story palace.

The palace was obviously out of place with the surrounding buildings. It was enclosed separately, not only with a circle of walls around it, but also with soldiers patrolling and guarding it. If he hadn't known that the Northern Grand Duke's castle was located on the summit, Hao Ren would have almost thought that this palace in the belly of the mountain was the lord's residence of Frostwind City.

"What's that?" Lily also spotted the black palace with her sharp eyes and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Ah, that's the Old Imperial Palace," Kaim replied casually. "Thousands of years ago, His Majesty the Emperor lived there."

Even though he was on the side of the "rebels," Kaim didn't show the slightest awkwardness when he mentioned "His Majesty the Emperor." His tone even carried a hint of respect. The surrounding northern soldiers didn't show any strange reactions either, which made Hao Ren take a second look at him.

"Old Imperial Palace?" Lily's curiosity grew even more. "Wait... you said that the Dragon Empire moved its capital before. The old capital was in the Northern Territory, so..."

"You don't even know that?" The northern soldier accompanying them looked at Lily with some surprise. "Frostwind City is the empire's old capital—but that was thousands of years ago."

"They don't know much about the history of the Dragon Empire," Kaim interjected and changed the subject. "In fact, most of the city has been redeveloped and rebuilt entirely in the style of a fortress, which is completely different from the old capital. Of course, the Old Imperial Palace you see still retains its original appearance. In addition, there are several places of commemorative significance that also retain the appearance of the old capital. If you are interested, I can take you to visit these places tomorrow—except for not being able to enter the Imperial Palace, many places are open to the public."

Hao Ren looked at the Old Imperial Palace, which was quickly disappearing from view, and muttered to himself, "Thousands of years of history... still standing intact, it's indeed a bit interesting."

The data terminal's voice sounded in his mind: "What's even more interesting is that there are some weak energy pulses being released from below the Old Imperial Palace. The complexity of the energy samples is quite high."

Hao Ren nodded slightly and replied in his mind, "This city is worth exploring."

Then he quickly added, "I'm talking about the kind that won't explode!"

Data Terminal: "...Hey, this unit hasn't said anything yet..."

Hao Ren: "..."

With Kaim's recommendation and Charlemagne and Avenna's own "proof of identity," the group's stay in Frostwind City went very smoothly.

In fact, Hao Ren didn't care at all about how Kaim and Charlemagne negotiated with the temporary officer in the city. He was just looking forward to settling down in the post house and starting his own exploration.

Before night fell, the group finally moved into the warm post house near the lord's castle and ate a hearty meal in the cozy fireplace hall.

It could be said that this was the first proper meal that Hao Ren and his party had eaten in a stable environment since entering this world.

If Vivian and Hao Ren hadn't worked together to hold her down, Lily would have almost eaten the table...

After dinner, the already exhausted group naturally had no interest in participating in any sightseeing activities. Hao Ren also returned to the guest room arranged for him after saying good night to the others.

The mountain platform where the post house was located was not blocked by the city walls. The cold night light poured into the room through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, and the fire-like red light of the Gorgon Abyss was also mixed in this night light, as if blood was permeating the air.

The city had quieted down, but the wind from the plains was gradually strengthening and howling across the sky and earth, and in that wind, the shadow of a blizzard could already be seen.

Hao Ren tapped the shell of the data terminal, "Synchronize vision. You keep an eye on the surroundings for me."

The data terminal flickered, and then Hao Ren felt a flash before his eyes, and his vision suddenly switched.

A world full of thunder and flames appeared before him.

The vision came from Probe No. 3, current location, the outer region of the Gorgon Abyss.

What first appeared in Hao Ren's eyes was an extremely large starship wreck, with striking words on the wreck:

*Apocalypse*.