Chapter 116: Chains of Power

"Don't worry, the rest of the team will not be back tonight because of various things."

Kuaisheng lay carelessly on the bed, shaking his sore wrist from the violent struggle, and said:

"I guess it was Dean who deliberately led them away, and the target was you."

A broken animal oil lamp illuminated the mercenaries' hut. Dean's body had long been covered with coarse cloth and lay quietly on the ground, while Thales sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning against the corner, vigilantly Looking at the comfortable fast rope on the bed.

After a while, Thales, who had finally figured it out, said softly:

"What's going on? Why, why are you in..."

"What's going on?" Kuaisheng put his hands on the back of his head and looked at the mottled ceiling: "That's what you see."

"I always thought that, except for some old people in Dragon Clouds City, no one would know the news that I was alive."

Quick Rope pouted at the body covered with coarse cloth:

"Until this guy shows up."

His tone was still relaxed, like a sunny day without haze.

"Darkrooms are always everywhere, right?"

"My father and Suriel didn't like Ms. Kashan, so I kept her at arm's length."

Thales glanced at Dean on the ground.

He clenched his fist subconsciously.

"I don't understand," he turned to the fast rope and asked the biggest doubt: "your hair color, your commas accent, and your age..."

Quick Rope laughed out loud.

"Do you know that Kangmasi is a magical place, with different city-states, diverse races, and strange customs," the former prince sighed:

"And on the route they opened up, the Zante Islands in the southwest of the mainland produced a magical dye. The local tribes used it to dye their hair and even put on makeup. It wouldn't fall off for a month. I only need to worry about the roots of the hair. ..."

Thales frowned as he watched the fast rope rubbing his red hair.

"As for the accent and age..."

"Maybe you didn't realize it yourself, Prince Star." Kuaisheng turned his head sideways and smiled at Thales, "But from what I hear, you who have been in the north for six years now have a full northern accent, and you You also look far from a simple fourteen-year-old boy."

He arched his shoulders.

Thales bowed his head in silence.

"Is it all fake?"

Prince Xingchen asked in a sad mood: "From the beginning of the Great Desert, the fast rope that tells jokes, the fast rope that fights with everyone, the fast rope that fights for the rights and interests of dead comrades, and even the fast rope that 'can't write'... you Have you been acting?"

Kuaisheng's face darkened.

"No," he pillowed his hands expressionlessly, "it's not all fake."

"You know, when a pampered and disheartened prince walks out of the castle, the first thing he sees is that the world outside is not so rosy."

The low-quality lights slowly dimmed, and the room became dark again.

Thales remained motionless.

"So much so that, on the first afternoon when that idiot prince arrived in Comas and the 'capital of a thousand sails' Varier, he was cheated out of his little savings. By the way, the three hundred dollars spent on the Black Path The gold coins were so expensive that he had to sell himself to a long-distance ship to embark on a maiden voyage that he never dreamed of, and to open an unprecedented chapter in his life."

Kuaisheng said blankly: "In the past six years, he has abandoned a lot and also learned a lot."

Having said that, Kuaisheng snorted lightly.

"When I first went out to sea, the boatswain was a grumpy one, and he was always pointing at the sail lines that weren't fastened or that should have been loosened, and yelling at me: 'Come on! Rope!'"

His tone was full of emotion: "In this way, I got my first nickname in my life."

Thales still leaned solemnly against the corner.

Until the next sentence of Kuaisheng came with a slight depression:

"It's not some bullshit 'born king'."

Thales frowned.

He suddenly thought of King Nun, but found that no matter what,

It is difficult to connect him with the optimistic, open-minded, but equally complicated fast rope in front of him.

"What kind of nickname will you get, Thales, have you thought about it?"

Quick Rope suddenly asked with interest: "Adventure King? Hostage King?"

Thales came back to his senses and sighed slightly: "Morral..."

"Ah, I see."

In the darkness, Kuaisheng's voice fluctuated slightly, with a little pride: "The bad luck king."

Quick Rope's giggles sounded again.

Thales didn't respond.

Until Kuaisheng's laughter slowly faded away.

"Why."

"Six years ago," Thales asked hoarsely, "Why did you leave?"

This time, there was a long silence in the room.

Kuaisheng sighed softly, like a prisoner who is on trial and ready to face his fate

"This question, in the first few years, I asked myself countless times."

Kuaisheng's voice sounded faintly: "The answer is different every time."

"But in the past two or three years, the answer has gradually become clear."

In the darkness, he slowly sat up, his clear eyes flickered slightly in the moonlight:

"Because it's my choice."

Thales' breathing became faster.

What Lumbard had said to him, and his evaluation of Moral, came to mind one by one.

Everything that happened six years ago flashed back as if it was yesterday.

"But you just left so irresponsibly?"

Thales gritted his teeth unknowingly: "Leave your country, your people, your relatives..."

The silhouette of the fast rope under the moonlight trembled slightly.

"Do you know how much damage your disappearance has caused the entire Dragon Clouds City? You know that your willfulness almost caused the two countries to fight each other, causing countless casualties? You know, your decision made me, Rumba, and I Selma, what kind of fate did your father, King Nun, face?"

At that moment, Thales seemed to be returning to the underground tomb of the Fuxing Palace, and the heavy and majestic voice with faint power sounded in his ears.

In the past six years, blood, death, betrayal, murder, politics, helplessness and powerlessness, helplessness and remorse, if this is the fate of the prince...

Thales' mood became more and more chaotic.

But in the face of fate, the person in front of him...

"how is he?"

"My father." Kuaisheng said hoarsely, interrupting Thales' thoughts whether it was jealousy or unwillingness: "Six years ago, when he was dying...how was it?"

Thales was slightly taken aback.

Nun VII.

born king.

The indifferent old man rubbing the ring.

"Over the years, all I've heard are rumors, but you're there, Thales," Kuaisheng said flatly, with an imperceptible tremor in his voice:

"where are you."

For a moment, only the breath of the two people remained in the house.

Thales was silent for a while.

dragon blood.

That night six years ago was too memorable.

"I don't know how to describe it, but at that time..."

Finally, Thales sighed and suppressed the sudden surge of resentment.

"He's not bad. Nunn still maintains the arrogance and majesty of a born king."

He told Kuaisheng about the past, just like telling a story about his family to a son who doesn’t go home all the year round:

"At that time, he had just punished Fengzhao City and unified the power of the other Grand Dukes, and the Heisha leader was no problem."

Thales mused: "And he has passed the crisis of the disaster, witnessed the return of the queen of the sky, and is thinking about teaching the disaster that smashed his toys some lessons."

The prince lost his mind and said: "He has even made a plan and has planned the future of Walton and Dragon Clouds City."

And... the future of the Star Prince.

Quick Rope laughed.

"Heh, it's still the same." His tone was quite nostalgic, but there was almost overflowing melancholy.

"Keep everything...in your hands."

Thales nodded.

"This is him before his death, the last King Nuen," the prince said with difficulty, "until..."

He didn't say any more.

"Is it."

Kuai Rope took over his words with an unclear tone.

Thales sighed: "Don't worry, everything happened very quickly. In an instant, he didn't feel any pain and passed away."

Two seconds of silence.

"Is it."

Quick Rope leaned against the wall and hugged his knees tightly: "What about Longxiao City?"

Thales' breathing was stagnant.

"Really?" The prince asked with a touch of resentment, "You ask me?"

"Disasters have come to the shield area, fighting fiercely with the queen of the sky until the morning, with many casualties... After the death of the king, rumors spread, and the order was chaotic. The army led by Heisha entered the city at night and met Lisbon swordsmen," Thales said with a deep breath. , as if listening to a stranger telling a strange story: "The White Blade Guard suffered heavy losses, and Nikolai fought back desperately with the last manpower."

Thales' tone became more and more urgent.

"Rumba once occupied the Palace of Heroes, and the five princes held each other's future and life in the Hall of Heroes, pressing their sword hilts, and seeing each other's life and death. Grand Duke Ronny and Olsio have even unsheathed their weapons, planning to fight Rumba to the death. .”

"Caslan, Michael... Countless people died in that damn tug of war."

Every time he said a word, Kuai Rope's shadow trembled.

"In the end, Selma, I mean Alex Walton, under heavy pressure, under their malicious eyes, struggled to succeed."

In the end, Thales stared at the figure on the bed with his eyes wide open:

"Under countless pairs of eyes that hated each other, Charmain Rumba wore a bloody crown, stepped on countless corpses in the rain of swords, and was crowned king."

Quick Rope exhaled heavily.

"In the past six years, Longxiao City has been precarious and turbulent. The qualifications of the Grand Duchess have been deeply questioned. The vassals are full of conflicts. The king has malicious intentions. The princes are eyeing me. As for me, I was trapped there as a hostage and pawn. until now."

"That's the answer you want."

"Are you satisfied?"

Thales said coldly: "Avoid responsibility and provoke Moral Walton who caused all this."

Kuaisheng remained silent for a long time.

Until a full ten seconds later.

"So that's the answer, thank you." Kuaisheng replied feebly.

"I regret."

Thales frowned tightly.

"Are you sorry?"

Prince Xingchen sneered: "That is your country, your city, and your hometown."

"And you're sorry"?"

Quick Rope shook his head.

"Thales."

His tone was a little low.

"When you said to Dean that you don't want to ask so many questions and just want me to disappear forever, I thought you would at least understand a little bit."

Kuaisheng seemed to have lost something, his tone was listless, but there was an unspeakable sorrow.

Thales took a deep breath: "If you were still alive six years ago, I mean, if you at least chose to return to Dragon Clouds City after evading the assassination..."

Quick Rope suddenly raised his head!

"That won't change anything either!"

He said coldly.

Thales was stunned.

"It's still the same. Conspiracies, tricks, politics, interests..." Kuaisheng almost gnashed his teeth and said: "No matter whether it is Dragon Clouds City or Exeter, whether it is Luba or Walton, nothing has changed."

Thales looked at him blankly.

"Of course I know, the casualties are heavy and the price is high."

Kuai Rope said sadly: "This is a struggle for power."

"You accuse me of disaster by escaping."

"But how do you know that if I stay in the position of Grand Duke of Dragon Clouds City or even King Exeter, fewer people will be killed than now? The troubles caused will be smaller than now? The crimes committed will be smaller than now. Is it lighter now? Will Dragon Clouds City be luckier and more secure than it is now?"

Thales gritted his teeth.

"You don't know, Thales."

Kuaisheng said coldly:

"Do you think that the calamity and calamity of Dragon Clouds City and the turmoil and upheaval of Exeter are really just caused by Luba's conspiracy, or my willfulness, or my father's bewilderment?"

He straightened his back from the wall.

"My father, the King Born, was powerful in the Western Continent when he was alive, subduing the princes, resorting to military force, pushing the majesty of Dragon Clouds City to the highest level in three generations, planting fear and obedience throughout the country, and the next thing is to unify Egypt Kester."

Kuaisheng's tone was cold:

"However, it is doomed that he has already become someone's enemy, the enemy of the princes of all walks of life, the enemy of the feudal nobles, the enemy of the western countries, and even the enemy of the common people under his rule, even if there is no Lumba, no dark room, no scarlet Even without Suriel's accident, without... without my departure, one day, these enemies will have different faces and roles, such as Ronnie, Lecco, Trudida, and even his most trusted His subordinates will be played by another group of people who are dissatisfied with him, and they will come back in time until they flood the throne of Dragon Clouds City."

Enemies of King Nun...

Thales pondered, and those who should be responsible for the night of dragon blood six years ago appeared in front of his eyes: the Duke of Heisha who was driven to a desperate situation, the fickle Marquis of Commas, the deepest dark room, the gutter The power of the black market, and even... even the supreme king of the stars.

Even a humble man like Griveau scorned and dismissed his king.

And King Nuen's side...only his half of Dragon Clouds City.

"Father's death was not due to the failure of a certain plan, some unexpected event, or someone's stupid behavior," Kuaisheng said with deep pain in his tone, "but because in this era, he climbed too high , too many people want him dead."

"There is only a thin line between the peak and the extreme decline."

"This is the general trend, Thales," Kuaisheng's tone became more and more urgent: "After returning from the sea and surviving a near death, I always have this feeling: History is not made by individuals who seem to be noble and powerful like us. Controlled, but determined by the countless unstoppable waves of the world, the unfathomable eddies, the tides and trade winds that shake thousands of miles."

"If you block the tide, no matter how strong a warship is, it will be smashed to pieces. If you ride the wind, no matter how fragile a sampan is, you can travel thousands of miles in front of it. Even if you are as big as a hero, you will not be able to recover. Climb."

"Too many people only see conspiracies and tricks, open and secret fights, heroes and gangsters."

"But before the raging tide, the individual is too small. There are very few things we can do. No one can go against the tide. Turning the tide is just our illusion of those who surface at the end of the tide. "

"I can see very clearly that no matter who sits on that throne, Dragon Clouds City is doomed to prosper and decline, and no matter who leads the dragon kingdom, Exit will also have its ebb and flow."

"It's like the blood of the kingdom passed down in you, like the once mighty empire."

"Do you think that now that Longxiao City is in turmoil because of a female archduke, it must be a bad thing?"

"How do you know that if Dragon Clouds City is still inherited by an orthodox male descendant with dreadful strength and military strength, then the new king and the old princes will not be a hundred times more terrifying than they are now? To deal with Dragon Clouds City with such heavy pressure and skill, is it like ants eating away at insect corpses, until we are only left with wreckage?"