Chapter 444: Change
The abnormal condition of Teris’ advancement aroused Chen Rui’s doubts. Even the devil fruit should not have such a strange effect.
Suddenly, he thought of Town Lupin’s bone towers and blood sacrifice in the Blue Lava Estate inexplicably. He felt a little more vigilant in his heart, but on the surface, he was calm and respectful. Under Nate’s introduction, he bowed and saluted to Teris.
“It turns out that you are the incredible appraiser with the talent of the magic eyes.” Teris’ smile still made people feel comfortable. He said to Tiffany aside, “Tiffany, this is Richard. He has quite a wonderful talent that can appraise the attributes and materials of any item or equipment at a glance. He is likely to become the top appraisal master of the Demon Realm in the future.”
“Any item?” Tiffany still had her face covered. She appeared inattentive initially. Upon hearing this, her eyes suddenly brightened. She looked at Chen Rui a few times, “Hey, have we met before?”
Chen Rui was taken aback and shook his head quickly, “This… honorable lady, it should be the first time we meet. Maybe it’s because my appearance is very common, so it’s easy to make people feel familiar.”
Tiffany didn’t think much. She nodded and took out something, “Since you have such a strange ability, then help me appraise this magic item.”
Chen Rui didn’t agree to it on his own. He deliberately showed hesitation and glanced at Master Nate. This hesitation made Nate very satisfied. Nate turned his attention to Teris. Teris smiled and said, “Ms. Tiffany is the noble lady with the highest status in the royal family. Since the lady has ordered, let us take this opportunity to witness Richard’s magic eyes.”
Chen Rui could guess what Tiffany had taken out with his eyes closed. After taking over the “philosophical” magic item where “the mistakes made will accumulate while the successes gained will disappear”, he used his “talent ability” to take a look. “The main body of this item is made of extremely pure gold crystal. There are also crystal scales, purple obsidian, and liquid mithril inside which are all extremely pure and valuable. I’m just puzzled about its function. It seems to be a particularly mysterious combination of rhythms. This arrangement is very complicated and can release strange effects, but I don’t know what kind of item it is? Is it a deduction or a test?”
“Wow! You are really amazing! You can actually see its attributes and materials at a glance!” Tiffany exclaimed, then she grinned, “But you guessed this function wrongly. It is not a deduction item, but a very interesting game item.”
“Game item?”
Chen Rui was still pretending to be clueless. Teris who was at the side nodded and praised, “You are the top appraiser in the future indeed. Can you imitate or make new similar items?”
Chen Rui knew that Teris was best at “copying culture.” The Bloody Empire had plagiarized many of the Dark Moon’s successful experiences. The night markets, hot pot restaurants, and battle ball venues were all available. It was very likely that they aimed at the game console business opportunities now.
Chen Rui thought about it and said “frankly”, “Your Highness, to be honest, my eyes are a little talented, but my mechanic skill has barely passed the threshold of apprenticeship. I can only provide certain appraisal results. In terms of imitation, it depends on the real masters like my teacher.”
This game console was not so easy to imitate. It not only had the profound mystery of Dragon Inscriptions and magic circles, but it also contained the knowledge of ancient runes. Even Nate couldn’t imitate it.
What’s more, the most important thing was the creativity of the game itself. In this regard, Chen Rui had an unparalleled “innate” advantage.
Nate took a look at the “game console” and frowned. This thing is really not simple. Not only is the level of mechanics extremely high, but it also contains magic circles and more mysterious knowledge. I’m afraid I can’t imitate it. However, if I say that I can’t do it, doesn’t it mean I have failed the title of the top mechanic master?
When he was in trouble, a tall and thin figure walked over. Chen Rui took a look, and it was actually the old acquaintance, First General Gustav. When Gustav saw Chen Rui, he felt a little familiar and frowned, “It’s you?”
Chen Rui quickly saluted and smiled bitterly, “General, you really have a good memory. You still remember the little apprentice being thrown out of Town Essidor.”
Tiffany had snatched the game console from Nate for fear that it would be taken away. Nate just used this to change the subject and asked, “Richard, you and General Gustav are old acquaintances?”
“It’s just a small misunderstanding.” Chen Rui quickly explained.
When Gustav learned from Teris that Chen Rui was the “magic eyes” Richard, an upstart in the mechanics world, he was slightly surprised. Gustav’s didn’t expect that the “mechanic apprentice” whom he thought was a spy at that time in Town Essidor was actually real. However, with Gustav’s identity, he naturally didn’t need to be entangled in such trivial matters. He nodded and whispered a few words to Teris.
Teris seemed surprised and turned to look at a position behind. Chen Rui and others also looked over. There were several people there headed by Great Prince Aleus and Second Prince Edmund. Their expressions seemed quite hostile as they were arguing about something.
The competition between the princes was originally fierce, almost horrifying. They fought openly as well as secretly, and they were completely unscrupulous. Edmund’s volume was getting higher and higher while Aleus just sneered. This scene had attracted many people’s attention. Even Raizen’s attention had turned to them.
“Do you think that there will really be no trace after you kill the assassin? Don’t forget, the Demon Realm has an old saying: Don’t do it if you don’t want people to know it!” From Edmund’s words, one could easily tell that they were talking about the assassination that happened some time ago.
Aleus said coldly, “If you want to frame me, you have to show the evidence. Otherwise, I can find someone to stab myself twice and put the blame on you.”
“If I show the evidence, are you willing to admit this assassination?”
Aleus still looked unmoved, “Then it depends on whether your evidence is persuasive. I really want to see what other tricks you can play in this painstakingly designed drama in order to frame me! You deliberately talk so loudly just to draw the attention of our father and everyone here. If you can’t satisfy me, father, and everyone with the evidence, I don’t mind asking our father to hold the Ranking Martial Battle in advance!”
The Ranking Martial Battle was held to arrange the ranking among the princes by martial battle. It was held every 10 years. This was the biggest advantage of Aleus. Although Edmund also advanced to the Demon Overlord level, the time was too short to compete with Aleus after all. In contrast, this was his weakness, and Aleus knew this very well.
Since you want to take advantage of the situation to make a fuss, then be prepared to pay the greatest price.
“Do you think you can use this to scare me?” Edmund laughed, turned around, and saluted Raizen, “Father, please uphold the justice for me.”
Looking at his demeanour, he actually came prepared.
Adelaide on the side seemed awkward. Although he was the host of the reception and Edmund was his immediate boss, he had no prior knowledge of the dispute. Seeing Edmund using his birthday reception to publicly attack Aleus, he was of course very uncomfortable in his heart.
However, Adelaide couldn’t afford to provoke neither the great prince nor the second prince, so he had to be silent.
Raizen was still indifferent and calm. He did not reprimand Edmund for disrupting the party, but only said a word, “Evidence.”
“Father, please wait a moment.” Edmund bowed and gestured at his confidant on the side. The confidant immediately went down and pulled out a person from the royal family followers. This person changed his appearance as he walked. Aleus’ gaze suddenly became surprised.
Someone had recognized that this was Aegru, Aleus’ most trusted confidant, who had saved Aleus’ life twice. Just a few months ago, he died of accidental poisoning. At that time, Aleus even sadly presided over his memorial ceremony.
However, this person was “resurrected”.
“Aren’t you dead?” When the always stern Aleus saw that this Aegru was not disguised by magic such as transformation, he showed a shocked expression.
“Even though some people want me to die, I am lucky that I didn’t end up as that person’s wish.” Aegru looked at Aleus without fear as he said with hatred.
Everyone around was whispering in surprise. Although Aegru’s answer did not name him, the matter seemed to be obvious that it involved some kind of assasination. The words from a confidant, who was once willing to be used by Aleus, was even more convincing than Second Prince Edmund in certain situations.
Power struggle had its “unwritten rule”. The great prince had openly sent someone to assassinate the second prince, and he was caught with strong evidence. It was obviously quite detrimental to Aleus. The empire had its laws. Once this matter was proved to be true, then in order to convince the public, Aleus would definitely be severely punished by Raizen. It might even affect his position as the great prince.
Aleus’ gaze became cold, and his face became more gloomy, “It turns out that I had been underestimating you. I never thought that the person who I trusted the most would fake death and stab my back at the most critical moment.
These words could be understood as Aegru was a deliberate undercover, but to some people with preconceived notions, it had another meaning.
Edmund stepped forward and stood in front of Aegru, “Just tell us everything you know in front of your majesty and all the noble officials present, Aegru. With his majesty and I here, no one will dare to harm you.”
Aegru looked at Aleus with a bitter expression on his face, and he was about to speak. Suddenly, there was a disbelief expression on his face. A blade suddenly protruded from his chest. The blade was black in color. Aegru’s throat made a “ugh” sound as though he wanted to say something, but finally he couldn’t continue it and collapsed to the ground. The black blood stain spread quickly on the ground. His breath was gone in the blink of an eye.
No matter how Aegru faked his death previously, he really died this time.
The blade was held in a person’s hand. This person was Teris.
This change was too sudden.
For a time, almost everyone showed unbelievable expressions. RS
What? Was he trying to cover Aleus?