Chapter 521

“You, what exactly…”

“Father.”

Before the vigorous middle-aged man could ask his question, Prince Andre called out, then stepped up onto the high platform, snatching the time scepter from his grasp, and turned to walk towards the Queen’s seat.

“Audacious!”

Seeing the time scepter, symbol of the King’s identity, being taken, not only did the middle-aged man suddenly widen his eyes, but also the crowd in the main hall erupted into an uproar, all glaring angrily and shouting rebukes.

“Hold it! Do you know what you’re doing?”

“Rogue! That thing isn’t something you have the right to touch!”

“Put down the scepter!”

“Soldiers! Where are the soldiers? Come in and grab him!”

This is such a hassle…

With the clamor hurting his ears, Prince Andre subconsciously wanted them to shut up immediately.

Unfortunately, since Phelia had been taken away, Artefact 01 wasn’t with him this time, leaving him without the ability to forcibly silence these fellows. Sighing, Prince Andre approached the Queen holding the time scepter and extended his other empty hand.

“Mother, can I have the division scepter?”

Looking at the hand presented before her, the Queen on the throne paused momentarily, then asked incredulously:

“Who exactly are you? Why do you look so much like my Andre?”

“I am Andre, Mother.”

Seeming more patient with the Queen than with the King, amidst the noisy commotion in the main hall, Prince Andre patiently explained: “Just imagine I’ve come from over a decade later. I need your scepters for something now. Can you give it to me?”

“This… probably isn’t a good idea?”

Hesitating briefly, the Queen, who appeared rather young, almost as young as Andre himself, tightened her grip on the scepter and shook her head:

“The division scepter is a very important item; it can’t just be handed over casually. Even if you really are my Andre, there needs to be a reasonable explanation. Moreover, how dare you treat your father like that? Return the scepter to him, otherwise he will…”

Sigh… What a bother, I should’ve thrown the scepter upstairs instead of leaving it here.

Sighing again helplessly, Andre ignored the Queen’s words, stood up, and went behind the seat of the vigorous middle-aged man. After feeling around for a bit, he found a clock with strange graduations and bent all the pointers to the end.

“Click.”

As the mechanism snapped into place with a crisp sound, the previously noisy main hall instantly fell silent.

When Andre reappeared in front of the middle-aged man after leaving the seat behind, the king, now ten years older in appearance though still dressed in the same robes, suddenly relaxed his expression.

“Andre, you’re here.”

Smiling at Prince Andre, the aged king said: “Today is the day of your ascension. Once you take the time scepter from my hands, you will become the next king of the Crocodile Kingdom. Come, let me… Huh? What happened to my scepter…”

“Thank you, Father. I’ll keep the item.”

Without any change in expression, Prince Andre swiftly returned to the Queen’s seat, seizing the division scepter before she could react, then walked down the high platform with both scepters in hand and headed toward the metal spiral staircase on one side of the main hall.

Seemingly stunned by the spectacle of the prince taking the scepters, the people seated in the main hall stared in shock at Prince Andre’s back shadow, no one daring to speak. Finally, the old king slapped the armrest hard and roared furiously:

“Stop! Andre! What do you intend to do?”

“…”

“Andre! Are you going to rebel against me?”

“…”

“Speak! What do you plan to do with my scepter?”

But regardless of the old king’s questioning, Prince Andre remained silent, ascending the spiral staircase with both scepters, ignoring everything and quickly heading upwards until…

“Are you going to see your so-called sister again? The real Phelia is already dead! She’s part of Artefact now! Snap out of it!”

“…”

Seemingly triggered by some keyword, hearing the old king’s roar, Andre froze mid-step, turning to glare at the old king, as if filled with resentment.

But seeing the old king unable to truly stand up despite his anger, sitting on the throne yelling at him, Andre couldn’t help but bitterly chuckle at himself, shaking his head and withdrawing his gaze, stepping onto the metal spiral staircase and leaving the main hall.

Even after he had left the main hall, the old king’s enraged roars continued to echo from below.

“Andre!”

“Beast! Get back here!”

“You… return! As my last son! If you return, I can choose to forgive all past wrongs…”

After it has come to this, what’s the point of talking about forgiveness?

Shaking his head slightly, Prince Andre continued his ascent on the metal spiral staircase, which slowly brought him to the top floor of the palace, stopping before a three-meter-high giant clock face where only the second hand was moving continuously.

Checking his pocket watch, Andre took the scepters he had seized from the king and queen, fitting them onto the exposed central axis of the clock and aligning them with the current time on the dial.

“Click.”

The crisp sound of the mechanism locking into place echoed as the two scepters touched the dial. The three-meter-high giant clock retreated backward, then rotated clockwise to the right, revealing a hidden secret room behind it.

“Andre-nii?”

Before Prince Andre could enter the room, the voice inside made him tremble all over.

Sadness, surprise, pain, disbelief… the tone was identical to that of Princess Phelia, but the emotions were completely different. A weak call abruptly rang out in the pitch-black secret room.

“Did you come this time to turn me off?”

“…”

“Don’t mimic her voice!”

Silent for a few seconds, Prince Andre said with disgust:

“Artefact, I warn you for the last time. If you don’t want to be turned off, stop playing these tricks on me!”

“Alright.”

Hearing Andre’s warning, the voice in the secret room chuckled lightly, then changed to a familiar female voice, gently saying:

“How about the Queen’s voice? Among all the voices I’ve used, hers makes you the most relaxed. At this time, your patience is the best, and you easily make concessions to me.”

“As you wish.”

Seeming too lazy to argue with “Artefact” over this issue, Andre humphed and said unpleasantly: “Take out your core. I’m taking it to Research Zone 1!”

“Oh? Why?”

Curious upon hearing this, the voice in the room asked:

“Although Artefact 01 was created by me, this imperfect prototype 0 can control only a small fraction of maximum computing power, less than one-twelfth of 01’s. Since we already have the better 01, why would you risk activating me?”

“Because Phelia has been taken, and we don’t yet know her whereabouts, but I need her to do something.”

Seemingly having little affection for this “Artefact” using his mother’s voice, Andre said expressionlessly: “So I need to restart you, mobilize Artefact 01’s computing power, temporarily dominate the entire Crocodile Kingdom, and find Phelia as soon as possible. If we can’t find her, then create another 01 for me!”

(End of Chapter)