We agreed to set sail, so you'd become the ruler of the deep sea?

Chapter 337 [The Eternal Coffin] [The Rebel] [The Spark]

"The...Princess Consort of the Great Yan?"

Upon hearing this title, Xia En couldn't help but feel a strange emotion.

That's true if you think about it carefully.

As the king of the Great Yan Kingdom, who has ruled it for so long, it would be strange if Yan Yan hadn't married.

It is perfectly normal for a "princess" or "queen" to exist.

The reason why Shaen felt strange was mainly because the "King of Cinder" in his memory was only "Flame".

That innocent, kind, sunny, and cheerful boy image is how Xia En perceives him.

Therefore, the thought that he was actually much older than her and had even married a princess made Xia En feel somewhat strange.

Not only Shane, but Joey, who was standing next to him, also looked dazed.

"What? So Mr. Yan Yan was already married?"

"I wonder if he has any children..."

Joey stopped mid-sentence, because if Yan Yan had a child, after such a disaster, the child's chances of survival were already extremely slim.

Fortunately, at this moment, the [Black Flame Walker] said, "The Queen and the King have never had any children."

"Moreover, the king only married one princess."

Hearing this, Joey breathed a slight sigh of relief.

However, after learning the identity of the woman in the coffin, Xia En became even more puzzled.

Since she is the queen of the Great Yan Kingdom, why did those Black Flame Walkers attack her, and with such a resolute attitude that they wanted to kill her?
On the other hand, the purpose of this woman, the Black Flame Walker, seems to be to protect the princess of the Great Yan Kingdom.

They are both Black Flame Walkers, yet they hold two completely different attitudes. How is that possible?

Xia En simply voiced his question to the person in front of him.

"Um...this..."

This [Black Flame Walker] hesitated for a long time.

She certainly wouldn't reveal the truth to an ordinary outsider, because it's a secret within the Black Flame Walker organization.

But since he's the captain of the Black Swan, trusted by the Lord of Cinder, perhaps...

After a moment's thought, the Black Flame Walker made up his mind and spoke.

"To be honest, some discordant voices have recently emerged within the [Black Flame Walker] group."

"They deeply resent the current Seven Seas Federation, are dissatisfied with the King's decision, and even secretly defy the King's orders."

"During this period, this group of Black Flame Walkers gradually took some radical actions, one of which was the plan targeting Her Highness the Princess."

Upon hearing this, Xia En frowned and glanced at Jane not far away.

It seems that, just as Jane predicted, two opposing factions have emerged within the Black Flame Walker.

One of them is one that even the Lord of Cinder cannot fully control.

This is undoubtedly very bad news.

If those Blackflame Walkers weren't just simply looking to vent their anger, but harbored malice towards the current Lord of Cinder and the entire world...

They will clearly become an obstacle to the Far North Expeditionary Force's efforts to save the King and resolve the Second Great Flood Crisis.

Furthermore, as a subordinate of the Lord of Cinder, the Blackflame Walker is bound to know even more secrets.

Intelligence gaps can make the situation increasingly difficult to handle.

Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Shane asked earnestly.

"What exactly is the plan targeting the Princess?"

The female Blackflame Walker glanced at the frozen corpse not far away and explained, "Actually, their original goal was not to kill Her Highness the Princess, but to wake her up and kidnap her."

"They wanted to use this method to make the king hesitate to act rashly, or to make some wrong judgments, or even to blackmail the king."

Upon hearing this, Joey, who was standing to the side, couldn't help but feel indignant.

"How despicable! To resort to such a vile means!"

As the saying goes, one should not bring misfortune upon one's wife and daughters.

But in harsh reality, it is the norm for enemies with differing stances to make use of every available factor.

No matter how despicable or shameless they are, as long as they achieve their goals, that's enough.

And this is probably even more true for these [Black Flame Walkers] who have been corrupted by hatred.

Therefore, no matter what methods they use, Xia En will not be too surprised.

He continued, "Then why did their plan change from kidnapping to assassination?"

The Blackflame Walker replied, "In fact, among these rebels, there are some whose stance is not so firm and who are loyal to the Lord of Cinder."

"Therefore, after the rebels began their operation, the king quickly learned of their plans and sent us to stop them."

"Actually, I'm just one of the advance team members to stop the plan. The main force should arrive soon."

Xia En nodded knowingly.

As Jane previously stated, even after hundreds of years, the Lord of Cinder still possesses considerable control over the Blackflame Walker.

The truly extreme rebels are clearly only a small fraction of the Blackflame Walkers.

So much so that they would probably feel a strong sense of guilt and remorse when they disobeyed the Lord of Cinder's orders.

This is how Lord Cinder was able to obtain timely intelligence from the rebels.

The woman continued, "Because I was worried that my reinforcements would arrive and abduct Her Highness the Princess."

"These rebels were forced to change their plans and choose to destroy the ice coffin."

"And there's one more thing..."

[Black Flame Walker] glanced at Lewis and Nana beside him, his expression strange.

"Actually, your accidental entry into this ruin became the trigger for this assassination."

"Originally, the rebels should have prepared for a while longer, but seeing that you discovered this ruin, they had no choice but to act ahead of schedule."

"That's why I followed them and infiltrated the ruins."

Xia En's lips twitched slightly: "I see."

He had previously found it strange that even without the final secret technique of the [Black Flame Walker], the rebels' approach to the ice coffin was exceptionally difficult, resulting in heavy casualties.

It turned out that their actions forced them to take action prematurely.

But thinking about this, Xia En couldn't help but feel a little strange.

His senses were already quite sharp, and with Jane and Joey's combined scanning, they shouldn't be able to hide anything that might be lurking nearby.

How did this group of Blackflame Walkers manage to sneak into the deepest part of this ruin right under their noses?

Upon hearing Xia En's question, the woman explained frankly.

"The reason lies in... the [Black Flame Robes] we are wearing."

The woman took off her hood, revealing a beautiful face.

Despite being in such a cold environment, her complexion was quite rosy, and her body temperature remained at a level slightly above normal.

Her black robe was actually quite thin, and compared to Joey's snow-white fox fur coat, it was even thinner and somewhat shabby.

Xia En had assumed that the other person was able to move around in the cold ice field wearing such a black robe because of their special physique.

But now it seems that the black robe was the key!

next moment.

The woman put her hood back on.

To everyone's surprise, something immediately happened. Although she was still standing there, in her perception, the presence of this [Black Flame Walker] had completely disappeared, as if his aura had completely dissolved into the air.

If it weren't for the fact that her outline could still be seen with the naked eye, Xia En would have suspected that she had suddenly disappeared!
Immediately, a woman's voice came from under the hood.

"This is the exclusive equipment of our [Black Flame Walker], a robe made by the King using some special technology and materials."

"It can eliminate its own presence and withstand the cold weather; its own defensive capabilities are also quite strong."

"During the heyday of the Great Yan Kingdom, there were only a thousand Black Flame Robes."

"The rumors of the Black Flame Walker's elusive and ubiquitous presence are also inseparable from it."

Upon hearing this, Xia En couldn't help but glance at the corpses near the ice coffin.

Although most of them were frozen into ice sculptures, their [Black Flame Robes] were still intact.

With this robe, it will undoubtedly be incredibly effective in the unique environment of the Far North!

Looking into his eyes, the woman said weakly.

"Captain Shane, according to regulations, upon discovering the [Black Flame Robe], we are required to retrieve and hand it over..."

Xia En waved his hand: "It's nothing, just a few clothes. Would your king be so stingy?"

"More than that, I'm curious... what do you plan to do with this Princess?"

The woman straightened her expression and said, "According to the original plan, if the rebels do not abduct Her Highness the Princess, we will be the ones to wake her up."

"However, the key item needed to awaken Her Highness the Princess is still in the hands of others."

"Now we can only wait for them to arrive."

Xia En looked at the black-haired woman in the ice coffin: "Wake her up..."

Originally, Xia En didn't want to meddle and just wanted to leave this strange ruin as soon as possible, but since this black-haired woman was Yan Yan's queen, he naturally had to take responsibility to the end.

"How long until the reinforcements you mentioned arrive?"

The woman said confidently, "It'll be soon. After receiving my signal, they should arrive in less than half an hour."

……

……

after an hour.

The deepest hall in the ruins remained cold.

Due to the extremely low temperature here, Shane has sent Joey and the others back to the Black Swan to warm up.

The entire hall felt even more deserted due to its emptiness.

The Black Flame Walker named "Irina" no longer had the confidence she had shown before; instead, she appeared shaken and doubtful.

"Strange...why haven't they arrived yet?"

Xia En was quite patient: "Let's wait a little longer, maybe something unexpected happened on the way?"

"An accident...that's right! An accident!"

Upon hearing this, Irina suddenly realized something, her expression changed, and she muttered to herself.

"The number of rebels is definitely not just a few."

"But they haven't shown up yet... Oh no! The rebels must have gone to attack the reinforcements!"

That's when.

Nana hurriedly ran down from the top floor of the inverted spire.

"Captain Shane, a Black Flame Walker who calls himself Sergei has come to the Black Swan and says he wants to ask for help."

"Sergei, is he alright?"

Upon hearing the name, Irina immediately asked with concern.

Nana shook her head: "He was seriously injured, covered in blood, as if he had fought his way out of an enemy encirclement."

Is there anyone else with him?

"He's the only one."

Irina's expression suddenly turned grim: "How could this be..."

Soon, Shane brought Irina to the ice field and met Sergei next to the Black Swan.

The man in the black robe was clearly severely injured; blood seeped continuously from his robe, leaving a scarlet footprint on the pristine white ice field.

Upon seeing Irina, Sergei's previously dim eyes lit up slightly, and he murmured something.

“Irina… I’m so glad you’re alright…”

Irina's eyes were slightly red: "Where's the main group that was with you? Where are Paul and the others?"

"Cough...cough cough!"

Sergei coughed up a mouthful of dark red blood, leaving a shocking red spot on the ice field.

He said with great difficulty, "We were ambushed by the rebels. Paul was killed on the spot, and the rest of our companions either died or fled."

"I only managed to escape by sheer luck."

Irina pressed her lips tightly together: "What exactly is going on?"

Why were our movements exposed?

Sergei hesitated for a moment, then said, "I suspect... there's a traitor among us!"

"Someone has sided with the rebels!"

Irina's beautiful eyes widened slightly, revealing shock and resentment. She gritted her teeth and said, "Damn it!"

"If I find out who the traitor is, I'll make sure he..."

Sergei continued, "More importantly than that, they stole the [fire] meant to awaken Her Highness the Queen."

"The rebels are very likely to go back to the sanctuary where the princess is staying and use the [Fire Seed] to awaken her."

"We must bring the second [Fire Seed] as soon as possible, and protect Her Highness the Princess in the meantime."

As he spoke, Sergei looked at Shane, who was not far away.

"You must be Shane, the captain of the Black Swan?"

"I implore you to lend us a hand!"

Instead of giving a direct answer, Xia En asked, "What exactly is the [Fire Seed]?"

Irina explained, "Actually, the [Fire Seed] is... a vessel that holds the King's flame!"

"The King's flames contain special frequencies and bands that can break the seal of the Eternal Coffin and awaken Her Highness the Queen."

"...The Lord of Cinder's flames?"

"Frequency? Band?"

"【The Eternal Coffin】..."

Although Shane was quite interested in the new terms that Irina used, he also knew that now was not the time to delve into them.

After a moment's thought, Shane said, "If it's the flames of the Lord of Cinder, I might be able to simulate it."

"what?"

Irina's first reaction was disbelief, and she earnestly advised, "Captain Shane, I know you mean well."

"But the King's flames are absolutely different from ordinary flames; they have even transcended the realm of mortal fire."

"If we can't break the seal, it will actually harm you."

Knowing that words wouldn't convince Irina, Shane simply headed deeper into the ruins.

Whether it will work or not, we'll find out once we try!
(End of this chapter)