Abyssal Chronicles

Chapter 185 - 186: Xue Tianao’s Strategy

In the Imperial Palace in SkyDome City,

After several days of recuperation, Crown Prince - Xue Tianao’s injuries had largely recovered. Now dressed in his usual office attire, he sat quietly at his desk, deep in thought as he stared at the documents in his hands.

The entire office was eerily quiet.

The silent atmosphere, coupled with the chill emanating from Xue Tianao, made his aide Toma, who was standing beside him, shivering involuntarily. Toma glanced at the blond man next to him, extremely curious about what information could cause the Crown Prince to look so serious and displeased.

After a moment of internal struggle,

Toma couldn’t help but ask:

"Your Highness, what happened?"

In response to his subordinate’s question, Xue Tianao coldly smiled and threw a document directly into Toma’s arms,

"You’ll know when you see it."

"Hmm?"

Following Xue Tianao’s instructions, Toma began to read the intelligence report that had been sent to him. As he took in the content, his eyes began to twitch involuntarily,

"His Majesty, how could he do this?! Does he want to strip you of your title as Crown Prince on the grounds that you can’t have children?! It’s just one testicle that’s gone! It’s not completely destroyed!"

Xue Tianao:’ Can we not talk about my testicle, please?!’

"It’s just an excuse. That old man simply wants to take advantage of my serious injury to weaken my power."

Saying this,

Xue Tianao’s expression grew even colder,

"Apparently, my victory over Inferno and the subsequent surge in my stature within the Empire have posed a threat to the Emperor himself. This has provoked the old man into such precipitous action. Sending a delegation of ministers to petition for a change in the Crown Prince’s position? Quite amusing..."

"Then, what should we do, Your Highness?! No matter how high your reputation is, the people probably won’t support an emperor who can’t have children, right? We should refute the rumor! I’ll go find Dr. Victor right away!"

"No need to rush."

"Your Highness?"

"Since that old man wants to make a move, I might as well take care of him and the other opposing forces all at once. Inferno? In some ways, she actually did me a huge favor. If it weren’t for her attacking and burning the southern Duke Kelo who supported the Emperor, would be in a more vulnerable position right now~"

A cruel smile slowly appeared on Xue Tianao’s face.

’Old man,’

’Since you’re seeking death, don’t blame me for being ruthless.’

"It’s time for this empire to have a new ruler."

"Your Highness, are you going to?"

"Yes, start planning ahead of time and inform the Grand General to prepare."

Hearing Xue Tianao’s words, Toma was taken aback for a moment but soon revealed an extremely excited smile. His initial goal of following the Crown Prince was to establish meritorious service and bring glory to his family. Now, it seemed that the opportunity had finally arrived!

He would become a key contributor to the new emperor!

"Understood, Your Highness, I shall depart immediately!"

After finishing his speech and bowing respectfully to Xue Tianao, Toma immediately left the office and hurriedly headed toward the residence of the Grand General outside the palace. With Toma’s departure, Xue Tianao was left alone in the room.

After negotiating with the Archbishop of the Asumos Church, he would now fearlessly seize the highest power of the empire!

It’s true that the old Emperor’s influence was vast, but a well-prepared Xue Tianao still had full confidence in sending his ’father’ to meet the King of Hell...

’Stupid old man, you don’t really think the Grand General is on your side, do you? After curing and winning over the General’s daughter, that old man chose to help me long ago, hahaha!’

From a despised child, he had risen to become the Crown Prince,

And now, he was about to rise again, becoming the Emperor of the Snow Night Empire!

However,

After becoming the emperor, he would have to consider the stability of the empire. With his current strength and the help of the Eighth Rank Grand General, it would be incredibly easy to eliminate the opposition within the capital.

The problem was,

’The Marquis family in the north...’

Thinking of this,

Xue Tianao slowly picked up a black tablet and began to browse through the various pieces of information previously sent by Pelochi. As the information entered his view, the smile on Xue Tianao’s face grew even brighter.

The previous attack by the Snow Devourer,

And the invasion of the Divine Punishment Sect?

’It seemed they had done me quite a few favors, weakening the strength of the northern army and severely injuring the Marquis couple and their Eighth Rank Guardian Beast. Hahaha, heaven really was on my side!’

Moreover,

Most importantly, a justified reason for taking action had been resolved~

The Marquis family’s young lady, who had transformed into a humanoid abyss demon, wasn’t this a reason sent from heaven?! It was well known that almost all countries on the Ancita Continent had strict regulations against touching the power of Shadow! Although he didn’t know the exact reason for Miss Yuan’er’s transformation into an abyss demon,

Since she had become an abyss demon, it gave him a reason to pin the blame.

If his judgment was correct, he might even be able to draw out an abyssal Demon King ~

By eliminating it, he would gain another wave of points.

’This is indeed good news.’

Thinking of this, Xue Tianao’s blue eyes were filled with joy.

However,

In the next moment, as if he had thought of something, the Crown Prince suddenly raised his eyebrows,

Looking again at the photograph that had caught his attention before Zhang and Pelochi lost contact,

"Blood Butterfly, a humanoid abyss demon with wisdom..."

If i could talk with her...

After a moment of hesitation, Xue Tianao used a communication magic stone nearby to try and contact an acquaintance.

"Mo Xiao, could you come over, please?"

...

...

About an hour later, an unremarkable black-haired man, who would be hard to find in a crowd, entered Xue Tianao’s office with some trepidation. His timid appearance displeased the two guards outside.

However, upon seeing this weak-looking black-haired man, Xue Tianao unexpectedly revealed a smile.

After all,

This unimpressive-looking man was actually an A-ranked valuable asset~

He was a unique information dealer and an extremely skilled investigator.

Since he hadn’t yet brought this man under his command, Xue Tianao felt a hint of joy upon seeing him accept his invitation and come to the Crown Prince’s palace.

"It’s been a while, Mo Xiao. Are you used to living in the capital?"

"Th-thank you for your concern, Your Highness. Everything is fine."

Mo Xiao spoke respectfully, but his tone still carried a hint of fear.

Seeing this, Xue Tianao reined in the subtle aura of pressure surrounding him, deliberately putting on a friendly and approachable demeanor.

"Don’t worry, just treat me as a drinking buddy like before. Besides, you’re still in the capital and willing to meet with me, which is quite an honor."

"It’s my pleasure, Your Highness. You repelled the Infernal Prison and saved my family in the South. I naturally need to repay your kindness. Since you have urgent matters and need my help, I’ve come back."

"Oh, I see."

Xue Tianao nodded with a smile.

"Then I won’t beat around the bush with you."

With that, Xue Tianao stepped down from his seat and handed a portrait of a woman to the black-haired man nearby.

As Mo Xiao took the portrait and saw the woman depicted on it, his entire body trembled. His eyes widened in shock, and his heart rate involuntarily sped up.

"This girl, she’s so beautiful! Who is she?"

"An abyss demon."

"Huh? Your Highness, are you joking?"

"No, I’m not joking. She’s the recently rumored ’Blood Butterfly,’ a new Demon King existence on the continent."

"Wh-what?!"

Upon receiving Xue Tianao’s confirmation, Mo Xiao couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. He then stared intently at the woman in the portrait.

"So this is Blood Butterfly’s true appearance? Such a beautiful girl is actually a cruel abyss demon? What a pity..."

"Hehe, that might not be the case."

"Huh? Your Highness, what do you mean?"

"Ah, never mind, don’t worry about it."

"Oh, alright."

After staring at the portrait for a while, Mo Xiao managed to recover from his shock. He then looked at Xue Tianao with confusion, "So, Your Highness, why did you give me this portrait? What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to help me investigate the relationship between these two people, or rather, whether they are the same person,"

As he spoke, Xue Tianao handed Mo Xiao another portrait.

And this portrait was an image Xue Tianao had found after sorting through Pelochi’s information in the past few days.

"What’s this?"

"This is the young lady from the Black Rose family who has recently caused quite a stir."

"Huh?! Wait a moment?! They, how are they?..."

The moment Mo Xiao saw the other portrait, he froze in place.

Because,

The girls in the two portraits, apart from the color of their eyes, looked far too similar...