Volume 3, Chapter 75 – Surging

Moreover, knowing both yourself and your enemy is the only way to emerge victorious from a hundred battles.

Even though his own strength was already formidable, Lockephy still wanted to better understand his opponent before he was forced to make a move. Consequently, after entering Dragondance Plaza, this Great Guardian General’s attention focused on the Blackrose Family, just like Mengxi’s had.

The result was predictable as he failed to find any sign of the Blackrose eldest miss. Like Mengxi, Lockephy’s attention was quickly drawn to the figure in black robes surrounded by black-armored knights. Although the person released no power, Lockephy could vaguely sense a surging, overwhelming strength within them.

‘This guy… is dangerous…’

After only a few seconds of observation, Lockephy reached this conclusion in his heart. A look of solemnity appeared within his ice-blue eyes.

‘Who is this person, and when did they arrive at the imperial capital? Was there such a person before?’

Right then, a captain of the Imperial Guard clad in black-and-white armor suddenly rushed to Lockephy’s side amidst a surge of black battle aura. “General, your subordinate has… has important matters to report.”

The captain’s words caused Lockephy to temporarily withdraw his attention as he glanced back at the sixth tier warrior with confusion. “Hmm? What happened?”

“General, there are two matters. First, the Fourth Army Group stationed in the Northern Frontier was supposed to make their regular contact with us this morning, but even now, there has been no news from them.”

“Hmm? No news? Have you tried contacting them?”

“Yes, we tried to establish contact, but we still came up empty-handed. I don’t know if it’s because of the influence of the recent Catherine Storm…”

“This… how strange…”

Hearing this, the solemnity in Lockephy’s eyes intensified, and an ominous premonition surfaced in his mind. An entire army in the Northern Frontier couldn’t be contacted? What kind of joke was that? Even if a storm interfered with communications, it shouldn’t be to this extent.

Something was wrong…

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‘Did something happen over there?’

After a moment of silence, Lockephy spoke calmly. “Keep trying to contact them; additionally, arrange for the troops near the Northern Frontier to go there and investigate.”

“Yes, General.”

“Right. Didn’t you say there was another matter? What is it?”

“Reporting to the General, a suspicious individual was caught in the East Gate area attempting to flee Sky Dome during the lockdown.”

“Oh?”

Lockephy frowned upon hearing this. To prevent people with ill intentions such as those from the Divine Punishment Holy Church from sneaking into the city, the capital had been under a strict lockdown for the past few days. However, the garrison’s task was primarily to prevent unverified people from outside the city from sneaking in. After all, with the Coronation Ceremony imminent, people of the Snownight Empire were scrambling for any way to enter Sky Dome.

To want to flee this city was indeed rare.

However, Lockephy said, “If he wants to run, let him run. Just lock him up according to the emergency laws. Why bother coming to me?”

“General, it’s because this person’s situation is a bit special. He is a guest of His Majesty, and we didn’t know if we should lock him up. Since His Majesty is currently preparing for the coronation, we felt it inappropriate to ask him…”

“A guest?”

“Yes, it’s that intelligence dealer named ‘Moxiao’…”

“Hmm? It’s him? Hmm…”

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Lockephy raised a hand to his chin. After considering for a moment, the General spoke slowly. “In that case, take me to see him. There is still some time before the ceremony officially begins.”

“Yes, General,” the captain replied respectfully.

…

A moment later, Lockephy, having temporarily left Dragondance Plaza, arrived at the Imperial Guard camp in the royal city to see this guest who had tried to flee Sky Dome. At his first look at Moxiao, Lockephy’s brow furrowed involuntarily.

Watching the black-haired man cowering and shivering in a corner of the barracks under the watch of the Imperial Guard, Lockephy’s ice-blue eyes realized something was wrong. Though this intelligence dealer was usually cowardly, he shouldn’t be behaving as if his soul had been scared out of him.

At this time? Trying to sneak out of the city? And acting so flustered and guilty?

Could this fellow have stolen some confidential information and wanted to take it out of the city?

As this suspicion sprouted, a cold glint flashed in Lockephy’s eyes. Lockephy, who was already wary and suspicious of people like Moxiao who lived in the shadows, instantly transformed into a streak of ice-blue light and flashed in front of Moxiao.

Without another word, he grabbed the man’s collar and forced him up from the ground. “Lord Moxiao, what exactly are you trying to do? Why attempt to leave Sky Dome at a time like this, and so sneakily at that?! Have you forgotten that His Majesty invited you to attend the ceremony?”

Feeling the terrifying pressure that accompanied Lockephy’s words, Moxiao broke into a cold sweat and shook his head frantically. “No, no, no! General, you misunderstand! It’s just that there’s something wrong with the children at home, and I must hurry back to care for them! It was definitely, definitely not a deliberate attempt to skip the ceremony!”

“If something is wrong with your children, you only needed to report it. Why try to sneak out of the city?”

“That… because… because I didn’t want to disturb His Majesty! Isn’t His Majesty… isn’t he very busy right now?”

“Hmm?”

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Lockephy’s expression turned suspicious at those words. As Moxiao’s subsequent explanations reached his ears, Lockephy’s expression gradually grew cold. At this moment, Lockephy’s ice-blue magic power already enveloped Moxiao’s body, and relying on his powerful perception, Lockephy could detect every subtle change in Moxiao’s expression.

The heart of the man before him was filled with terror! His words were even full of holes because of that fear.

He wanted to leave the city now for a reason that definitely wasn’t about his children. This intelligence dealer was hiding something…

“You’re lying!”

Lockephy unceremoniously grabbed Moxiao by the throat and pinned him firmly against the wall. “Speak! Did you take advantage of His Majesty’s trust to obtain numerous state secrets, intending to sell them to enemy forces?!”

Even though the man before him was Xue Tian’ao’s guest, Lockephy showed no mercy toward someone who might bring danger to the country.

Feeling the pressure of Lockephy’s fingers and the increasing difficulty in breathing, Moxiao’s face began to turn purple. Driven by the instinct for survival, he shook his head desperately. “No… no… I… I haven’t… I didn’t want to do that…”

“Then why were you trying to flee Sky Dome so sneakily?”

However, when he heard this question, Moxiao shook his head even more frantically. His black eyes were full of terror as if he were remembering a nightmare.

“Hmm?”

Seeing Moxiao struggle so wildly, Lockephy increased the strength in his fingers. That terrifying ice-blue magic power, like ten thousand frozen blades, continuously pierced into Moxiao’s body to torment him, bringing even greater agony to the black-haired man. “No? Then why do you want to leave?”

“No… I can’t say…”

“You can’t say? It seems your mouth is quite stubborn.”

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With a cold laugh, Lockephy applied more pressure. The pain of suffocation turned Moxiao’s face deep purple; his once handsome face was now ugly and distorted by the swelling and his expression of agony.

Nevertheless, Moxiao still refused to speak, causing a look of surprise to flicker across Lockephy’s face.

‘This kid has some backbone?’

However, after that look of approval, Lockephy’s gaze grew even colder. “You won’t talk? In that case, don’t blame me for being unkind to your family. Your wife and children are in Weituoli Town ¹ 委托理镇 (wěi tuō lǐ zhèn). wěi tuō = commission, entrustment, lǐ = manage/reason. not really sure how to translate this so I’ll leave it as is , aren’t they?”

“You?!”

Hearing the specific name of the town where his family lived, Moxiao’s expression changed drastically. The determination in his eyes was instantly replaced by turmoil. From the coldness in Lockephy’s gaze, it was clear the man was serious. If he didn’t speak, this Great Guardian General truly would send people after his wife and children.

Noticing the subtle change in Moxiao’s gaze, Lockephy smiled slightly and added, “If you don’t want anything to happen to your family, then confess honestly. Why do you want to run?”

…

Facing Lockephy’s coercion and on the verge of suffocating, Moxiao finally spoke in desperation. “If we don’t run… we’ll all die…”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

“Blood Butterfly… is inside Sky Dome…”

Lockephy froze. “You… what did you say?! Blood Butterfly?!”