Chapter 1 A Situation Beyond Expectations

Charlemagne and his sister exchanged a subtle glance.

The situation… was somewhat beyond expectations.

He hadn't expected that even after Iwenna's careful investigation, they were still being monitored. This put them at a great disadvantage. Their identities might or might not be exposed, but that was no longer important. What mattered was what these mysterious people wanted and whether they were connected to the pirates.

This was a warship—the word "warship" made Charlemagne uneasy.

There were some mysterious things in this world with unknown origins, such as ancient wizards who had lived in seclusion for hundreds or thousands of years suddenly riding mechanical dragons through the streets, or uncontrolled magical soldiers suddenly appearing from some ruins, or the strange creations held by some reclusive organizations. Charlemagne had thought this silvery-white giant ship was one of these things, but it turned out to be a warship.

Hao Ren saw the changes in the expression of the man named Charlemagne, so he didn't give him much time to think. "I don't know what you're imagining, but I want to state one thing first—we have no hostility. Our encounter with you and our intervention in this attack was purely accidental. We did rescue you from the pirates by chance, at least that's something we can't hide."

Charlemagne's eyebrows twitched. So, these people had no connection with the pirates? Was this really a coincidence?

But how credible were they…

Just as Charlemagne was weighing the pros and cons, Iwenna took a step forward. "We are from the Ys royal family. Emperor Berentin is our father."

Charlemagne immediately called out in a low voice, somewhat displeased, "Iwenna!"

Iwenna's expression was calm as water. "Brother, we are on their ship, everyone is on their ship."

These words immediately woke Charlemagne up. He realized he had overlooked some things, and Iwenna actually saw things more clearly than he did.

He and his sister were on someone else's ship, and the ship was still hovering above the World Rift. In this situation, if the owners of this ship found out that they two were "suspicious," they would have no initiative. As for the phrase "everyone is on their ship," it wasn't just a concern that the other crew members would be used as hostages to threaten them, but also a reminder to Charlemagne that the crew and passengers might leak information—even unintentionally.

Rather than that, it would be better to cooperate. After all, compared to the real secret, their identities were not a big deal.

After hearing Iwenna's words, Hao Ren was indeed a little surprised. He hadn't expected that he would accidentally save two such special people before he even started his mission on this planet. But after thinking about his own ability to attract trouble, he instantly calmed down. As for the identities of the two princes and princesses, he didn't think it was a big deal—a princess was still a princess. They still had to read, do homework, and go to bed on time at night, read comics, play games, and get spanked after accidentally breaking household appliances. He was still the Sun King of Irim, and he still had to fight wits and courage with a husky for two ribs every day?

However, he was still quite interested in these two special people. "The princess and prince of the ancient kingdom of Ys? How could such special people be on a passenger ship traveling alone? And they were attacked by pirates…"

"This was originally a secret mission," Charlemagne said with some indignation. Now that their identities had been exposed, there was no harm in revealing some less important things. "Iwenna and I were traveling as secret envoys from Ys to the Dragon Empire, and those pirates…"

Before he could finish speaking, Vivian suddenly realized and finished the second half of the sentence, "Then it seems those pirates weren't real 'pirates' either."

Charlemagne gave the woman who interrupted a deep look. "...There are some discrepancies, but those pirates were indeed not pure."

Hao Ren looked at Vivian in surprise. The latter waved her hand indifferently. "I've seen similar messes before. Back when several European countries were fighting for maritime supremacy, half the pirates running around in international waters were on the government payroll. I almost thought about becoming a pirate myself, but the ship sank, so I didn't make it…"

Hao Ren was shocked. The Countess actually had such a history? He had been too hasty when he went back ten thousand years in time. He had missed a lot of details!

"Cough, cough," Hao Ren coughed twice, noticing the curious looks on Charlemagne and Iwenna's faces, and quickly brought the topic back. "I understand. So, the two of you were secretly traveling from the Ys Kingdom to the Dragon Empire as special envoys, but the operation was not only exposed, but someone was also planning to attack you in the dark, so you were attacked by pirates, right? No wonder the two of you gave me the feeling that you had a bit of a persecution complex."

Iwenna looked curious. "What is a persecution complex?"

"It's being suspicious, suspecting that people are sending secret signals even when they sneeze, and worrying that people will smash their cups and summon five hundred axe-wielding men even when they're just eating a meal," Hao Ren waved his hand. "To be honest, it's especially tiring to deal with people in this state. You can imagine two hundred thousand words of swords and shadows from just one sentence. Tsk… let's not talk about this. Were you worried that we were connected to those pirates?"

"To be honest, we're still worried," Iwenna said frankly. "But judging by your attitude… I'm starting to think otherwise."

"...I'll take that as a compliment," Hao Ren sighed. "So, the so-called White Pearl passenger ship and the people on it were just a disguised envoy group?"

"Not entirely," Charlemagne said. "The White Pearl is indeed a passenger ship, and there are indeed ordinary passengers on it. The envoy group was just mixed in among them."

Hao Ren's mind conjured up an image of an old captain with a white beard and a pipe in his mouth. "If I'm not mistaken, at least Captain Boken knew about it, right?"

"It seems you've already been in contact with him," Charlemagne didn't hide anything. "Captain Boken has always been the captain of the White Pearl. He's been running that passenger ship for over twenty years, but he's been serving the Ys royal family for thirty years."

"Cultivated for a long time… it's a pity about that ship and that captain," Vivian shook her head with some regret. "After this incident, his career and future are basically over."

"What is the purpose of your mission?" Lily blinked her eyes, having listened for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask.

Charlemagne's expression suddenly became extremely vigilant. This was the most crucial secret, and it was something only he and Iwenna knew, so it was no longer within the scope of what he could "cooperate" with. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

Lily nodded. "Oh, then never mind. I was just curious and asked casually."

Then she turned around, took a cup of drink from the side, stuck a straw in it, and started blowing bubbles.

Charlemagne: "…"

The prince's inner turmoil was extremely complex: That's it… you're not asking anymore? You really were just asking casually! This isn't how things are supposed to go!

"Cough, cough, don't think too much about it, she really was just curious and asked casually," Hao Ren felt the atmosphere was a little awkward and quickly spoke up. "So, you're going to the Dragon Empire… to see that Emperor with the Dragon Soul?"

"Does this have anything to do with you?" The cautious and guarded expression on Charlemagne's face didn't weaken at all, and was even more obvious than before. "I still don't know your identities—if we're going to talk 'openly and honestly,' I think you should at least introduce yourselves at this point."

After several conversations, he finally decided not to answer the next question and instead wanted to figure out where these people came from—whether it was their real origin or not, he at least wanted to find out.

"Oh, that was our oversight," Hao Ren gave a dry laugh, then pointed at himself. "We're from the World Tree Shrine. You can call me Hao Ren, and these people next to me are…"

He didn't bring up the complicated system about the Celestial System and the Inspectors because it wasn't necessary, and he would have to explain a lot of background information, so he simply arranged for these people to have a background in the "World Tree Shrine." And in some ways, it wasn't really lying: they really did start from the World Tree Shrine…

"World Tree Shrine?" Charlemagne frowned. "I've never heard of this sect or organization…"

"We're isolated from the world and have never interfered in the affairs of this world. Not to mention you, even your royal father probably doesn't know of the existence of the World Tree Shrine," Hao Ren said with particular sincerity. "So, you don't need to be so wary of us: we're not interested in worldly affairs."

Charlemagne didn't completely believe this, but a reclusive organization that didn't interfere in worldly affairs and was named "Shrine" wasn't entirely impossible. Although their possession of a "warship" was surprising, it might just prove the foundation and wealth of this reclusive organization, and the ship's peculiarity also proved their claim of being "isolated from the world."

At least for a civilization that hadn't yet entered the space age, a reclusive organization in the world was easier to understand than extraterrestrial visitors from the universe.

He chose to be half-believing, but he was still very serious when he spoke. "A reclusive sect? You're isolated from the world, so why are you suddenly appearing now?"

Hao Ren secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he could finally say the key point. "It's a coincidence, but we're also going to the Dragon Empire, to find that Emperor with the Dragon Soul—but we didn't expect to encounter the White Pearl when crossing the World Rift, and even more unexpectedly, the White Pearl had two 'secret envoys' like you who were also going to the Empire. It's hard to believe, but this might be fate."

At this time, Iwenna couldn't help but speak. "You're also going to the Dragon Empire? What are you going to do there?"

"It's also a mission," Vivian imitated Charlemagne's tone from just now. "But the specific purpose… I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

"In short, we have a common goal," Hao Ren clapped his hands. "If you don't mind, maybe we can go together?"