Volume Six: To Steal is to Rob Chapter Sixteen: A Family-Wiping Business (Part Two)

Clearly worried that her imperial father would go back on his word, Kuang Chi thought to himself. Indeed, giving away even one such treasure would make anyone's heart ache, let alone five.

The Emperor of the Piaofeng Empire let out a smiling, humming chuckle before speaking. "Given your personality of stripping the wool off every passing wild goose, it is already quite fortunate that Young Master Kuang managed to secure three items."

Hearing this, Jing'er refused to let the matter rest and began to act coquettishly at his side. Yet, no matter how hard Kuang Chi looked, he could not catch a single trace of genuine shyness on Jing'er's face. Instead, she looked more like a mischievous daughter sharing a heartwarming family moment with an affectionate father.

Shortly after, the Emperor of the Piaofeng Empire smiled and said, "Alright, stop making a fuss. Look, Young Master Kuang is already laughing at you over there."

Jing'er finally stopped, though she secretly made a funny face behind Kuang Chi's back.

The Emperor then smiled and said, "Let me see what kind of treasures you two managed to take away."

Kuang Chi was so exasperated he nearly passed out. Those trash-like items in the warehouse had suddenly been elevated to the status of treasures here. While these objects certainly deserved to be called treasures, they had certainly never received the treatment treasures deserved.

Still, Kuang Chi honestly placed the three boxes he was holding onto the floor in front of him.

Jing'er also pouted as she took out the box she was holding, along with the small box hidden inside her garments, placing them together with Kuang Chi's three boxes.

The Emperor merely glanced at them before smiling and saying, "Not bad. I have always had confidence in Jingjing's taste. These two items truly make my heart ache quite a bit. As for the three items brought by Young Master Kuang, although they cannot be considered exceptionally rare, they are indeed practical. That long dress, for instance, was a two-hundredth birthday gift given by the God of War of Blazing Sun to his first love back in the day."

Upon hearing this, Jing'er could not help but glance at the crystal box containing the pink long dress, her eyes filled with longing.

The Emperor smiled and continued, "This long dress, named the Radiant Sun, has never been worn by anyone. It is truly the finest gift to bestow upon a beloved beauty."

With that, the Emperor chuckled softly. Jing'er, meanwhile, looked at Kuang Chi with glowing eyes.

Kuang Chi pretended not to notice and boldly chimed in, "Thank you for the guidance, Your Majesty. I actually intended to present this to my second wife as a compensatory gift for her twentieth birthday."

Jing'er, casting all decorum aside, fiercely pinched Kuang Chi's chubby stomach.

After a meal filled with lighthearted banter among everyone, the Emperor had Kuang Chi escorted into a private reception room situated next to the main hall.

This reception room was clearly not meant for receiving foreign guests; it was likely a cozy spot where the family casually chatted on ordinary days. The furnishings inside were remarkably warm and simple. A small purple tea table made from an unknown wood was surrounded by four rustic rattan chairs of the same material. On the tea table sat a set of ancient tea utensils currently very fashionable among the upper echelons of human society, and the set itself clearly did not look like ordinary merchandise.

The Emperor sat down first, then pointed to a seat nearby and smiled, saying, "Sit."

Kuang Chi repeatedly declined, saying he wouldn't dare.

With a smile, the Emperor said, "There is no need for such formalities here. Given your friendship with Jing'er, I do not treat you as an outsider."

While these words sounded sincere, their underlying implication caused Kuang Chi to blush slightly, though he quickly recovered his composure. After offering a respectful bow, he obediently sat down.

Once Kuang Chi was seated, the Emperor smiled and suddenly asked, "Young Master Kuang has been unable to return to your homeland all these years. I wonder what plans you might have?"

Kuang Chi thought for a moment before replying, "I haven't thought of any concrete plans yet, but I suppose I will wander outside for a while longer." To be cautious, Kuang Chi revealed nothing of his bottom line. He had no idea whether Jing'er had reported his affairs to her imperial father.

The Emperor smiled and suddenly remarked, "How is it I heard from Jing'er that you intend to take her away to become space pirates? Is there any truth to this?"

Without a second thought, Kuang Chi shook his head directly and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I have no such intentions. Jing'er is a member of the imperial family, and as for these matters, I—!"

The Emperor let out a sigh, waved his hand, and said, "Young Master Kuang, I believe you have misunderstood my meaning. I never intended to stop you from taking Jing'er to become a pirate."

Kuang Chi froze in astonishment, feeling somewhat bewildered. For an emperor and a father not to oppose a princess running off to become a pirate was truly rather strange.

The Emperor let out another long sigh before continuing, "I imagine Jingjing has told you more than a few of our royal secrets. Between my two daughters, which one do you think is better suited to inherit the throne?"

Kuang Chi pondered for a moment. Matters of the imperial family were truly difficult to answer properly.

Fortunately, the Emperor clearly understood this and did not wait for Kuang Chi to reply, pressing on, "I cherish both of my daughters equally, but there is only one throne, and the path to it is far from easy. Jing'er is lively, while Jing'er's sister, Jing'er... wait, Jing'er is lively, and Jing'er is steady. Therefore, I have hoped since she was young to cultivate Jing'er as the heir to the throne—ah, wait, to cultivate Jing'er's elder sister as the heir."

Kuang Chi knew these things, and he knew that the less he knew, the better; knowing too much would do him no good. He quickly interrupted and asked directly, "Your Majesty, what do you mean by saying all this?"

The Emperor smiled, gazed deeply at Kuang Chi for a moment, and said, "I hope you will support Jing'er's sister in inheriting my throne, just as I do."

Hearing this, Kuang Chi finally understood. The other party was clearly worried that he would incite Jing'er to fight her sister for the throne. In truth, Kuang Chi had indeed entertained such a thought; any fool knew that as long as Jing'er became the Empress of the Piaofeng Empire, it would be a tremendous blessing not only for himself but for the entire Kuang family.

He could also be certain that the old foxes from the Kuang family currently aboard the spaceship shared this exact thought. Otherwise, those old foxes would never have feigned ignorance and agreed to go to Planet Cook, an action strictly prohibited by the Kuang family rules. They were simply looking for a pretext, and everyone was tacitly playing dumb.

Any fool could see that this was a domestic affair of the Piaofeng imperial household, rather than some personal matter concerning Jing'er alone.

Kuang Chi did not reply immediately. Instead, he sat quietly in meditation. What he was pondering was not Jing'er's affair, but whether he should lay his cards on the table and have a deep, candid conversation with this shrewd and formidable emperor.

The Emperor, too, possessed immense patience and did not disturb Kuang Chi's contemplation. Instead, he quietly sipped his tea and smilingly poured a cup for Kuang Chi.

After a long while, Kuang Chi finally decided to be completely open and honest with the Emperor.

Looking at the smiling Emperor, Kuang Chi spoke up, "Your Majesty, I believe you must be well aware of our Kuang family rules."

The Emperor smiled and interjected, "Rules are made by people, and naturally they can be changed by people. A solution can always be found within them."

Kuang Chi did not object; instead, he smiled and said, "As for myself personally, helping Jing'er is out of our personal friendship. But the current situation is clearly not something I alone can help her with."

The Emperor nodded and stated directly, "I never expected this matter to involve the Zhenwu Sect, whose status in the empire is transcendent. That rendered much of the preparation I had previously made ineffective."

Kuang Chi smiled and continued, "Now, we have no choice but to ask the martial venerables of our family for assistance. With minor matters, those martial venerables will likely still lend a hand. However, regarding anything involving the Zhenwu Sect, I doubt those seniors would be willing to stick their necks out for Jing'er, and my own influence is truly far too insignificant."

The Emperor smiled and remarked casually, "Martial venerables are human too. As long as there are sufficient benefits, they will certainly be willing to help us with this favor." By the end, he heightened his tone by a fraction.

Kuang Chi smiled and suddenly asked, "I wonder how Your Majesty's discussions with the Demonic Sect are going?"

The Emperor's expression grew somewhat solemn. After studying Kuang Chi for a moment, he said, "They stated that they are willing to fight the Zhenwu Sect for Jing'er's sake."

Kuang Chi finally understood. The Demonic Sect was undoubtedly trying to drag him into the muddy waters. If anything happened to Jing'er, he would not stand idly by no matter what. Once he helped Jing'er, even if he still did not fully understand what use he was to the Kuang family, the Demonic Sect seemingly could not possibly be unaware of it.

Any fool could tell that merely being the family heir was absolutely not enough to make those martial venerables treat him with such courtesy. Another heir could always be chosen, and the Kuang family would keep running just fine without him. As for that lofty title of future God of War, if he had actually believed in that nonsense, all the playing the fool he had done over the years would have been for nothing.

Such illusory matters—let alone others, even he himself harbored doubts about ever becoming a God of War. If becoming a God of War were as simple as saying it could happen, humanity would not have produced only twenty-or-so Gods of War over tens of thousands of years.

Consequently, the Kuang family would inevitably be dragged into this muddy pool of the Piaofeng Empire.

Kuang Chi lowered his head, stroking the dragon-head ring Jing'er had helped put on his finger, and pondered for a long time before raising his head again. He looked at the Emperor, who still wore a full smile, and asked, "What method does Your Majesty have to persuade the old codgers in our family?"

Pausing for a moment, he added, "Moreover, our Kuang family rules cannot be changed simply because someone wishes it."

The Emperor smiled and suddenly said, "That Netherworld Divine Boat is a wonderful artifact. With Young Master Kuang's abilities, securing it firmly in your hands should present no problem at all, right?"

Kuang Chi was not surprised that the Emperor knew about the Netherworld Divine Boat. Given the father-daughter relationship between Jing'er and the Emperor, any fool could guess that Jing'er would certainly have told her imperial father about this.

Yet, this time Kuang Chi actually wronged Jing'er. She had not revealed a single thing about the Netherworld Divine Boat, not even any of the important matters concerning Forgotten Star, and not even her most revered father had managed to extract half a word about the Netherworld Divine Boat from her lips.

Kuang Chi looked at the Emperor with a puzzled expression. A trace of a grim smile surfaced on the Emperor's face before he spoke: "The longer people live and the older they get, the more afraid of death they become. If there is anyone in this world who fears death the most, it is undoubtedly those old fellows who have become martial venerables."

After a brief pause, the grim smile on the Emperor's face slowly vanished, yet a chill involuntarily crept into Kuang Chi's heart. This served as a fresh reminder that the person before him was an exceptional monarch who had occupied the throne of the Piaofeng Empire for over a century.

The Emperor's expression returned to normal, and wearing a smile with immense infectious power, he said to Kuang Chi, "The Netherworld Divine Boat is the only tool humanity has found in tens of thousands of years that can be used to enter and exit the Netherworld Soul Sea. The disappearance of the Netherworld Divine Boat for over three hundred years has caused the number of human martial venerables today to be nearly half of what it was three centuries ago."

Hearing this news, Kuang Chi could not help crying out in surprise. The Emperor then continued, "As long as the Netherworld Divine Boat remains in your hands, those old geezers at the martial venerable level must dance to your tune. Because they fear death; they are terrified of losing the Netherworld Divine Boat once again. That is precisely why your Kuang family immediately dispatched nearly seventy martial venerables upon receiving the news."

A jolt ran through Kuang Chi's heart. The number of martial venerables Kuang Chi knew of was fewer than forty, yet the Emperor claimed there were nearly seventy. Without a second thought, Kuang Chi believed the Emperor's words, as the other party had no reason whatsoever to deceive him about such matters under the current circumstances. It was obvious that the old men in his own family had kept things hidden from him.

The Emperor let out a few strange chuckles before saying, "Young Master Kuang, there is one thing I cannot help but admire about you. If I had your scheming nature at your age back then, I would certainly not have turned out the way I am today."

Kuang Chi remained unresponsive. After chuckling a few times more, the Emperor continued, "You actually dared to forbid the martial venerables of your own family from approaching the Netherworld Crystal. I truly have to admire you for that."

Kuang Chi was startled. Jing'er knew nothing of this; it was an order he had secretly given to Ah San. Afterward, the martial venerables of his family seemed to have accepted it without anyone questioning him. How did this Emperor find out? It was genuinely perplexing.

The Emperor went on, "You are also quite ruthless. You actually placed the Purifying Flame given to you by the Ghost Immortal right on top of the Netherworld Crystal. Aren't you worried that someone with ulterior motives might exploit this to destroy your hard-earned Netherworld Divine Boat?"

Kuang Chi could no longer care about that and asked in a deep voice, "How does Your Majesty know about these things? Although Jing'er knows about the Purifying Flame, she has no idea that I installed it on the Netherworld Crystal."

The Emperor smiled and said, "Naturally, I have my own methods. Rest assured, even if this matter were to be leaked, the one who should be nervous is not you, but those martial venerables. Such a massive piece of Netherworld Crystal exists only in this one place throughout human society; none of the others are even half its size."