Secret: The undead do not die in the fire

Chapter 179 Hot Potato
Although it was short, it gave Klein, who had been lonely for a long time, a little comfort. The long-lost warm life even made him want to stay here. Being with his family was more important than anything else.

But in the end, his reason overcame this naive idea.

This world is far from being as safe as it seems, even if he stays with Benson and the others. But what can he do? Can he really protect them? The Sequence 6 Faceless Man is very strong, and he even has a record of ambushing and killing Sequence 5. But in front of the real high-sequence extraordinary people, those saints and angels, he is nothing!

Moreover, he had a threat close at hand—Ins Zangwill and '0-08'. If he didn't deal with this threat, he would always be in danger. If he stayed with Benson and the others, he would only put them in danger.

Moreover, above that mysterious gray fog—

Although he didn't know what the nature of the gray fog was, under the influence of the Beyonder Characteristics Aggregation Law, this gray fog would sooner or later bring him huge trouble. Unless this gray fog, like the embers, did not belong to this world and did not need to follow the Beyonder Characteristics Aggregation Law, but this possibility was not high.

For example, Amon's last invasion might have been under the influence of the Beyonder characteristic aggregation law. Otherwise, it would not make sense for the other party to reach into the gray fog so accurately, as if he knew this place long ago.

What's more, the gray fog was related to his time travel. The depths of the light staircase seemed to hold a secret that could lead him home! As a Sequence 6, he could reach the fourth floor. As a Sequence 5, he might be able to reach the top directly and see what was at the end of the staircase!
The night was so peaceful, and the red moon was so dreamy. Klein walked forward alone, his thoughts scattering endlessly like a horse that had broken free from its reins. Sometimes he thought about a revenge plan, sometimes he recalled the captain's unreliable memory, the sadness hidden under old Neil's humor, the poet classmate who had no talent but insisted on pretending to be a poet, Benson's curly-haired baboon, Melissa's "stinginess"...

Unconsciously, Klein walked into the nearest street like a wandering soul, turning one fork after another.

It was two hours later when he finally got rid of that state and regained full control of his own attention.

He returned to the rented safe house in the guise of Zhou Mingrui, stood in front of the window, stared at the huge red moon in the sky, and suddenly laughed at himself:
"Klein, Klein, you are so selfish."

"You already have Benson and Melissa, but you still don't want to go home. If you really find a way home one day, what about Benson and Melissa? Will they be ruthlessly abandoned by you?"

"You knew that this road was extremely dangerous, and that you could die at any time, but you still chose to meet Benson and the others. Why? Why couldn't you just watch from afar like before? What could a meeting bring to them? What else could it bring except danger and despair?"

"Do you want them to hear the news of Klein's death again? Or do you want them to be plunged into the haze again after finally getting rid of their grief?"

Klein's expression became more mocking and bitter.

"I'm sorry, I'm just... lonely."

In this era, in this world.

He is always alone.

He once hoped that Yu Jin was a fellow traveler, but his experience was far more bizarre and far lonelier than his own. Klein couldn't understand Yu Jin, and Yu Jin, who had lost his memory, couldn't understand him even more.

They were like two people walking alone in the darkness, wrapped in coldness and despair, instinctively seeking the comfort of fire.

That's it.
-
The Hall family's luxurious villa.

At the request of Earl Hall, Ember has stayed here most of the past two days to protect Audrey and her family.

Earl Hall, as one of the most trusted nobles of the eldest prince, and Prime Minister Aguished have been busy assisting George IV recently, and have spent most of their time at Sodrak Palace.

Earl Hall not only had no home to return to, but Prime Minister Agushide didn't even have time to go to the Royal Parliament or the Prime Minister's residence. He could only ask other nobles and ministers to send the documents that needed approval to the palace.

Fortunately, after two days of continuous work, they finally completed the preliminary statistics, and Earl Hall was finally able to get rid of the endless work and go home that night.

Lady Catelyn stood at the door, looking at her husband who had just got off the carriage, and asked softly:
"You haven't been home for two days. Is the matter at the palace really that urgent?"

Earl Hall smiled bitterly and said:
"It's more than urgent. In fact, if I can, I really don't want to care about these things."

Earl Hall shook his head helplessly and sighed, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. At least there is good news. Come down."

Earl Hall called out to the carriage behind him, and under the puzzled gazes of Lady Catelyn and Audrey, another person got off the carriage. He was a young man in a black windbreaker, about 23 or 24 years old, with brilliant blond hair and blue eyes, and he looked quite good.

He smiled and waved to the others:
"Mom, Audrey, and Hibbert, long time no see, I'm back."

"Alfred!" Lady Catelyn covered her mouth, tears glistening in her eyes.

"You're finally back."

Hibbert walked up to his brother and gave him a hug, saying softly, "We have been worried about you for a long time. But fortunately, you are back safely."

"Feel sorry."

Alfred had a trace of guilt in his eyes, and he sighed helplessly, "Actually, I didn't want to."

Earl Hall glanced at the two brothers hugging each other, coughed, and said:

"Let's talk after we go inside."

At Earl Hall's order, the servants around quietly retreated, and the Earl and his family went to the small reception room on the second floor.

Before entering the room, Yu Jin took the initiative to say:

"I'll wait for you outside."

"Need not."

Lord Hall shook his head and said with a smile, "Ash, you are not a stranger either, come in."

"Let's go." Audrey winked at him, pulled him into the house, and closed the door.

Alfred's eyes were somewhat teasing, and he said jokingly:

"Audrey, won't you introduce me to her?"

Although he was a soldier, his ability to read people's expressions was not weak. It was obvious that his family had a good impression of this young man, otherwise they would not have allowed him to be present at this time. And looking at his close contact with Audrey, their relationship was even more obvious.

"Ash Black."

Ember smiled and offered her hand.

"Alfred Hall."

Alfred also extended his hand and shook his, smiling in return.

"Let's talk business first."

Earl Hall watched this scene with a smile in his eyes, but soon his face turned serious and he said solemnly, "Frankly speaking, the current situation of the kingdom is not optimistic. If the Feysac Empire launches an attack on the kingdom at this time, the kingdom will definitely not be able to stop it!" Hibbert was a little unbelievable and couldn't help asking:
"How could this happen? Wasn't the situation very good before? The navy even launched an ironclad ship in June, which was a groundbreaking product! Even if the army is slightly inferior to the Feysac Empire, we have an advantage in the navy!"

"Ironclad?"

Earl Hall laughed at himself and sighed, "I had the same idea as you before. I thought that with the groundbreaking ironclad ships, the kingdom would be able to completely overwhelm the Feysac Empire in terms of navy, and even retaking Sonia Island would not be a problem."

"But now it seems that the ironclad ship itself is just a cover to hide the problems in the kingdom!"

Yu Jin suddenly asked:

"Is there a financial problem?"

"Correct."

Earl Hall nodded solemnly and said, "Last year, one-fifth of the kingdom's fiscal expenditure was unaccounted for, and we originally estimated that this figure was only one-tenth. Moreover, this is not the first time this has happened. It has happened frequently in the past ten years. The accumulated deficits of the past ten years have made the fiscal deficit so large that we can no longer bear it!"

Hibbert held it in for a long time and couldn't help asking:
"Why is this happening? The Kingdom's finances have always been the strongest among the four nations. Why is there a financial problem? Where did the money go?"

Earl Hall looked at his eldest son and sighed:

"I'm afraid this question will never have an answer, because only the king knows the answer."

Hibbert's face slightly changed, and he immediately realized that this was referring to George III.

After all, George IV had just come to the throne, and the information he knew was very limited, even less than him.

But the question is, what did the previous king do to need to spend so much money? And even if you spend money, you have to have a destination, right? Is it impossible to investigate where the money went? What is the royal family doing?
"Is that really the case?"

Audrey sighed softly in her heart and looked towards the ember subconsciously.

She was one of the people who knew best what George III was doing.

Although most of this is just speculation, one thing is certain: George III wanted to become a god!
Whether it was the 'extraordinary materials' he needed to become a god or the ceremony of becoming a god, it would require a huge amount of financial support. And this money was naturally provided by the finances of the Kingdom of Loen.

If George III succeeds in becoming a god, all this effort will be completely worth it.

With the blessing of a god, the Feysac Empire would definitely not dare to invade the territory of the Kingdom of Loen, and would even have to take the initiative to return Sonia Island.

But the problem was that George III's plan to become a god had failed, and he himself had even been killed on the throne. All the money spent by the royal family on this had naturally gone down the drain, but the price had to be paid by the entire Kingdom of Loen!
The consequence was that the finances of the Kingdom of Loen became even worse, almost to the brink of collapse.

"If George III really becomes a god, even the three major churches will not easily conflict with the royal family."

"But since the plan has failed, the royal family is also very clear that everything they did might be discovered by the three major churches. And once they are caught, they will inevitably face liquidation. In other words, the royal family will definitely be eager to destroy the evidence. That's why Dad can't find any evidence, and can't find out where the royal family's misappropriated funds went..."

Audrey quickly sorted out the whole story in her mind and immediately understood what was going on.

But even if she knew the truth, she couldn't tell it.

After all, whether it was George III trying to become a god or the royal family trying to create a god, speaking out would be enough to put her family in danger.

Because they know all these secrets, they will inevitably become part of the evidence that the royal family will destroy.

Lady Catelyn frowned and asked:
"Can't we just ask the royal family? The saints in the royal family must know the details of what the king did."

"No."

Earl Hall shook his head slightly and sighed, "Not only can we not ask, but we have to find a way to help the royal family solve this problem. The reason why the royal family allowed His Majesty George IV to succeed to the throne is precisely for this purpose."

Although the nobles and the royal family had conflicts in interests, when facing the foreign enemy of the Feysac Empire, the nobles and the royal family shared the same fate. Even though they knew that there were financial problems and that the problems were caused by the royal family, the nobles had to fill the hole.

The most they can do is force the royal family to do more, otherwise there will be no benefit even if they are forced to step down, as it will only make the financial situation worse.

Alfred pondered for a moment and slowly said:

"I might know where some of the finances are going."

Hibbert cast his gaze instantly.

Alfred knocked on the table and said in a deep voice:

"There is something you may not know. The kingdom has lost at least three demigods in the past few months!"

"Three demigods?"

Even Earl Hall's face changed slightly at this. They all knew what a demigod meant to a country!
You know, even the archbishops of the three major churches are only demigods, and the kingdom lost three demigods at once, which is a huge loss!
Audrey subconsciously glanced at Yu Jin again:
"You killed all three demigods, right?"

Yu Jin understood Audrey's look and shook his head slightly to indicate that it had nothing to do with him.

He killed two at most, and the remaining one had nothing to do with him.

Alfred then added:
"Each demigod has his or her responsibilities. Once a vacancy occurs, the kingdom will have gaps in certain aspects of defense. Therefore, the loss of any demigod is fatal to the kingdom. The loss of these three demigods has also forced the kingdom to find a way to train a few more demigods to fill the vacancies."

After a pause, he continued, "And I am one of the candidates."

"Demi god?"

Hibbert's eyes suddenly widened, and he asked incredulously, "Alfred, are you already Sequence 5?"

"Yes."

Alfred nodded slightly and apologized, "I was called back to Backlund because of this matter. Because of the confidentiality level, I can't leave, and I can't inform you."

"Then why..."

Hibbert was confused at first, but he quickly realized what was going on and his face changed slightly.

Obviously, there is something fishy here!
(End of this chapter)