Chapter 175

Chapter 175

He is not an idiot. The hint in Zazbarum's words just now... no, it should be an explicit statement. He understood it immediately - "Don't mess around! Have you forgotten the oath you once swore? We are here to the emperor." The knight who swore allegiance to His Majesty, do you want to be a rebel? "But if you don't do this, will you watch the empire being overtaken, defeated, and even completely annexed by the increasingly powerful Earth?" , we have to do some things that violate the rules, and even seem to be rebellious, but for the survival of the empire, I will not look back!" Yes, Zazbarum's meaning is very clear, he wants to rebel - no, that's correct! I think it should be a military remonstrance! "Then, my friend Kuruteu, will you join?" Zazbarum, who also stood up, stretched out his right hand to his close ally, waiting for the other party's reply.

Kuruteo looked at his friend's outstretched hand and did not step forward to hold it. Instead, he involuntarily took a few steps back.

"No... things shouldn't be like this! Zazibarum, I advise you to stop now before it's too late. I will treat it as if nothing happened..." Looking at Kurt'o's performance, Zaziba Lum shook his head in disappointment.

He put down his hand, lowered his head, and said in a helpless tone: "It seems that you are not willing to join us..." "Wait! Did you say 'we'?" Kuruteo paid keen attention When he heard the words from Zazbarum's mouth, he immediately reacted and turned his head to look in the direction of Warein, only to find that she had already disappeared from her seat! not good! This thought flashed through Kurute's mind, and he understood that today's meeting was actually a trap! As a noble, he still persisted in fighting instincts that he had trained for a long time. Kruuteo felt the wind coming from behind at the first moment. However, before the young earl could turn around and fight back, an unexpected attack came. Already present.

Crackling——The thunderbolt sound of bursts of electric arcs penetrating the air sounded from behind, and Kuruteo's consciousness was instantly overwhelmed by the sting and numbness caused by the electric shock.

Plop——Looking at his former friend who was stunned by the Taser and fell to the ground, Zazbarum had no discernable expression on his face.

On the other side, Warein, who personally stabbed her ally in the back, took a few steps forward and used the handcuffs and ropes she had prepared to restrain Kuruteu.

"What should we do? Are we going to imprison him like this?" She looked at her fiancé, feeling quite uneasy.

After all, this was a violent attack on someone who was also a noble, and the other party was an earl whose title was one level higher than hers. It was impossible not to be nervous.

But when she saw her fiancé's still calm face, her heart also calmed down.

“Kuruto is our ally after all, we can’t really kill him.

But since he cannot participate in our plan, we must not let him go and ruin our affairs! I will send someone to disguise himself as him in optical camouflage and return to his territory. I should be able to cope with it for a few days.

After our operation is completed, it will not matter if we let him go free. "

Obviously, the two husband-and-wife teams, Zazbarum and Woleyin, had already secretly colluded. Today's routine meeting with Kuruteu was actually a test for him.

It's a pity that Kuruteu and the two of them are not really on the same page. His loyalty to the royal family is still too stubborn.

Therefore, in order to prevent this overly loyal Earl from doing bad things at critical moments, let him be "quiet" for a while first! ... Half a day later, the intact "Count Kuruteu" returned to his mansion. As usual, he nodded to his subordinates slightly reservedly, met his wife and children, and then got acquainted with each other. Familiarly, he entered the study room where he spent most of his time, and handled the daily affairs of the territory like a real lord and count.

No one noticed anything strange at all, as if this Earl was really Kuruteu himself.

In fact, it was not wrong for Kuruteu to be afraid of his allies. Zazbarum had already sent people to observe and monitor him for a long time, and had an in-depth understanding of every little habit and habit of his life and work. details, and used this as a model to train a "Shadow Earl" who could imitate him so vividly that with the optical camouflage, no flaws could be seen at all.

It can be seen that his friends and allies have been plotting against him for more than a day or two.

——I have to say that Kuruteu is really not good at looking at people! ')139'\u003eChapter 138 Suspicion and Mutation

Mars, the Palace of the Weiser Empire.

"Really? The reason why Reinhard went to Earth was because he found out that my son's illegitimate daughter was taken away by the people on Earth?" Just when Zazbarum gave his ally a backstab, When the Shadow Earl was confusing the truth with lies, the old emperor finally found out the cause and effect of Reinhardt's fall to the earth.

Of course, he also knew the reason why Reinhard went to great lengths to search for so-called "Earth spies" in the lunar city.

Actually for the illegitimate daughter of the second generation emperor? ! To be honest, the old emperor was skeptical about the news.

After all, it all seems too coincidental.

Reinhardt's attempt to control the second emperor's illegitimate daughter but was intercepted by someone was full of doubts.

Originally, if Reinhardt had not been captured, the old emperor would still think that it was done by his own people in the empire, or perhaps by another noble family with other intentions.

But now that the earthlings have shown their outstanding individual combat power, he is not sure whether this was done by the earthlings.

But regardless of whether it was the earthlings or the Martians who intercepted his granddaughter, the subsequent developments were a bit too weird.

Reinhardt's intelligence personnel actually found them on Earth? ! 　　Through the interrogation and investigation of Reinhardt's intelligence chief, the old emperor found that Reinhardt actually believed this matter based on a single photo.

Did he not consider at all that the people or forces who were able to bring two living people from the moon to the earth silently would make such a simple mistake and let the mother and daughter be photographed so easily on the street? Not to mention, the old emperor had the royal technicians check it, and the photo that "proved" that it was indeed the earthlings who took away the royal illegitimate daughter and her mother was actually forged.

And Reinhardt, he didn't even confirm it, and rushed to the earth alone? ! 　　Well, maybe this is because he trusts his intelligence department very much, but it also shows that Reinhardt is actually very unqualified as a noble. He didn't even realize that his own intelligence system had betrayed him, and he was so impulsive, he deserved to be deceived! 　　For the first time, the old emperor suspected whether there was something wrong with the aristocratic system he established, which relied on Aldnoah technology and bloodline theory. Why is the IQ of a dignified earl so worrying? This little trick would not be a trap for anyone with a slightly calm and suspicious personality! 　　Let's put aside the discussion of whether Reinhardt's IQ is problematic for the time being. The old emperor found that something was wrong here.

Who infiltrated Reinhardt's intelligence department? 　　Who forged this photo? Who on earth led Reinhard to Earth? What was the purpose of this person or this force? Thinking of the collective abdication of the nobles, a word flashed in the old emperor's mind - war! Yes, the mastermind behind the scenes wanted war, a war against the earthlings, and a total war! The old emperor immediately connected a series of recent events.

Indeed, the old emperor also knew that within the empire, especially among the aristocracy, there were not just one or two people who were dissatisfied with the armistice agreement between the Weiser Empire and the Earth Union.

After all, in the last war, the Martians had always had an absolute advantage from the beginning to the end of the war. If it weren't for the assassination of the emperor, they might have been able to defeat the entire Earth Union in one go.

But unfortunately, the internal conflict caused by the assassination of the emperor made the Weiser Empire miss the best opportunity to completely defeat the Earth Union, giving the earthlings precious time to regroup, and in the end there was a tendency to drag the war into a protracted war.

At that time, the old emperor made a prompt decision and immediately decided to sign a ceasefire agreement with the Earth, because he knew that if this continued, the first to collapse would definitely be the Martians - after all, compared with the Earthlings, the size and economic conditions of the Martian Empire were too poor, and it really couldn't afford to delay! 　　In particular, after several years of development, the technological development of the Earthlings was just like the Martians who inherited alien technology, and it was accelerated. Both the war strength and war potential were no longer the same as before. If Mars wanted to go to war with the Earth again, the chances of winning would be even lower.

However, it was such a simple truth, why didn't those damn nobles understand it!!! 　　War, war, war - thinking about war all day long! 　　Doesn't he want to defeat the Earth Union with a crushing attitude, and then let all mankind completely submit to the rule of him and his descendants? 　　I dream about it! 　　But it can't be done, it really can't be done! He, Dr. Relegaria, the only heir of the super-ancient alien technological civilization, the emperor of the Weiser Empire, the holder of "divine power" in the eyes of the Martians, has so many titles on his head, but in the end he is just an ordinary mortal.

Some things can be done if you work hard.

For example, the huge size gap between the Martian Empire and the Earthlings could be barely narrowed by relying on unilateral technological advantages in the past, and even in the war, they could have a great advantage in terms of record and exchange ratio.

But now that the situation has suddenly changed, unless they re-explore and develop and utilize alien civilizations to a new level, otherwise this gap cannot be made up at all. At least within a few generations, the strategic disadvantage of the Martians to the Earthlings will always exist.

But the mastermind behind this series of events seems to be completely blind to all this, and is determined to push Mars into the quagmire of war.

Sure enough, this must have been done by some young and hot-headed noble who doesn't take Earthlings seriously... I have to interrogate Reinhard's stubborn intelligence chief again to find out the real mastermind... Just as the old emperor was thinking this, suddenly, outside the study where his real body was, there were noisy footsteps and shouts of people.

What happened? 　　Just as the doubts arose, there were several barely detectable airflow explosions outside the door, followed by the sound of a human body falling to the ground.

——It was the sound of a gun with a silencer! 　　Oh no, someone has betrayed!!! 　　The old emperor immediately realized that something was wrong, and immediately stood up and rushed to the huge bookshelf standing on one wall - that was the entrance to the escape secret passage.

Although it was a backup plan left in case of an emergency when the palace was designed, the old emperor never thought that he would actually use it this day! ')140'\u003eChapter 139 Waiting for a long time

When the rebels outside the door broke through the door of the study, the last thing they saw was the almost completely closed secret door of the bookshelf.

"Damn! There is a secret passage!" The leading captain did not hesitate and immediately ordered: "Quick, break the door!" 　　Several soldiers behind him immediately stepped forward, put on special perspective lenses to confirm the structure of the secret door, and then placed special melting devices at several key points of the secret door.

With the sound of "sizzling" metal melting, a few seconds later, several locking structures of the secret door were destroyed. The captain of the action team ignored the flames on the bookshelf that had not yet been extinguished, went straight forward, and pulled it open with force, revealing a deep tunnel behind it.

Through the infrared tracker in the goggles, he could even see the traces left in the air by the human body temperature, so he immediately knew that the emperor himself had not gone far.

"Hurry, keep up!" Time waits for no one, not to mention this kind of rebellion. As Zazbarum's loyal confidant, everyone present knew that every second at this time was critical.

Therefore, no one delayed at all, and all followed the captain into the dark tunnel, following the temperature difference trace shown in the tracker, and followed closely all the way.

"I see it!" After all, these soldiers were strong young people, running much faster than the old emperor who was old and weak. In less than five minutes, they had already vaguely seen the figure staggering forward in front of the tunnel.

"Your Majesty, please stop! We will not harm your life!" The action captain, who had already received the order from his lord, immediately shouted loudly, intending to let the old emperor surrender - after all, the essence of their action this time was military remonstration, not really trying to usurp the throne, so they couldn't really hurt the old emperor.

However, when the figure in front heard the voice of persuasion from behind, he did not intend to stop, but immediately quickened his pace, as if he had squeezed out the last bit of strength and staggered forward.

"Tsk!" The captain took a tranquilizer gun from his subordinates behind him in anger, intending to knock the old emperor down directly.

Ding-Ding-It is not known whether the old emperor was too lucky or the captain's shooting skills were too bad. After two consecutive shots, the tranquilizer bullets did not hit the target in front, and only made two crisp sounds on the wall of the secret passage. The pursuers could only watch the old emperor turn into another corner in front and had to run to catch up again.

"Hurry up!" Following the old emperor's footsteps, everyone turned the corner in front, but what they saw next was not the expected figure, but an axe coming straight at them! Swish--The sharp axe, shining with cold light, chopped the human body like a knife chopping rotten wood, and in an instant, the captain who led the team was split diagonally in half.

"...Ah——————!!!" The captain who was cut diagonally in half from the shoulder did not die immediately. After more than half a second of silence, his still clear will drove him to make an unprecedented scream, which kept echoing in this narrow secret passage, making people feel particularly creepy.

However, nowadays, no one cares about this little problem.

When the action team members in the back who were lucky enough not to be killed together because they were half a step slower saw the murderer with an axe, they all took a breath of cold air, and their whole bodies were frozen by a chill from the heart.

Is... is it the armored cavalry? ! ! 　　Looking at the tall figure in front of them wearing heavy metal armor and with a humanoid body, the surviving team members were in doubt.

No, it's not the armored cavalry! 　　The size is wrong! 　　Although its shape and appearance do look like the armored cavalry that the Martian knights are proud of, its body of only two meters is too small, far less than the 17 or 18 meters tall body of the armored cavalry.

"What is this...?" 　　Seeing this humanoid weapon that looks like a miniature armored cavalry put away the bloody axe and slowly approached step by step, some soldiers with weaker psychological endurance were already trembling and almost unable to stand.

"Don't be dazed, attack, attack quickly!" 　　In the end, it was the deputy captain who woke up the fastest, immediately raised the gun in his hand, and poured firepower on the slowly approaching armored humanoid.

For a while, the sound of gunfire continued in the secret passage, but after a few minutes, accompanied by screams, the gunfire finally stopped - all the operators died under the sharp axe of this humanoid machine.

"Have they been wiped out?" The old emperor, who was still stumbling forward in the secret passage, heard the movement from behind him. He knew that the rebels who had just tried to hold him hostage had been killed and he was safe for the time being.

But he did not choose to turn back, but continued forward, as if he was going to the end of this secret passage.

Because he knew that since the rebels had decided to take action, they would definitely not send out such a small number of people. The mechanical guard that looked like a miniature armored cavalry could stop them for a while, but it would definitely not be able to stop the continuous attacks.

After all, this human-sized mechanical guard was just a byproduct of his research team in the process of developing armored cavalry.

Although the Aldnoah core was also used as energy, it was impossible to fit a driver in it due to the limited size. It only used artificial intelligence AI. Not only were the tactics very rigid, but the actions were also very mechanical. It had almost no combat power on the front battlefield. At most, it could only be used in terrains such as secret passages where one man could block a pass and ten thousand men could not open it.

And because this mechanical guard had been placed in the secret passage for a long time, the AI ​​level and armed system installed in it were still very primitive. Although it could easily kill the squad's light-armed infantry, it would not be able to stop for long once it encountered heavy weapons.

He also needed more powerful weapons, the strongest armored cavalry that truly belonged to him and the emperor of the empire! 　　… 　　Closer, closer! Just in front of him, as long as he pushed open the door, he could sit on the strongest weapon that belonged to him alone, enough to suppress all rebellions... Creak - Pushing open the heavy iron door that was rusted due to disrepair, the old emperor took a breath with some fatigue, and then raised his head to look at the killer that he had high hopes for... An unexpected figure stood in front of the old emperor, just blocking him and the armored cavalry hidden in the shadows.

"Your Majesty, we have been waiting here for a long time!" "... Lord Zazi Barum, is it you?!!"')141'\u003eChapter 140 The Emperor Who Surrendered and the Missing Princess

The old emperor saw Zazi Barum standing in front of him leisurely, and the shadowy figures in the darkness around him, and he knew that the situation was over.

"I didn't expect it to be you... I thought you and Lord Kurutou would be my right-hand man..." The old emperor did not ask how the other party found this place. This question is now meaningless.

It was nothing more than various spy intelligence infiltration methods. After all, the existence of this secret passage and this secret room was not without any traces. If someone wanted to find it, they could indeed find it with a lot of time and resources.

As for the group of people who broke into the palace and killed it head-on, the old emperor also understood that they were just abandoned pawns and cannon fodder, used to test the old emperor's backhands.

In the end, these pawns also successfully accomplished their mission. Not only did they test his backhands, but they also forced him into a dead end.

"Your Majesty, my loyalty to the empire and the royal family remains the same as before, but you did make a mistake this time. We are doing this helpless move to ask your majesty to take back your order. You must not compromise with the earthlings. You must send troops to the earth as soon as possible to interrupt their upward momentum!" Although facing the emperor's face-to-face questioning, Zazbarum still did not feel guilty at all. His tone was firm and his words were firm, as if he was saying "I am doing this for the empire and for your majesty's good."

"Hmph! It's still rebellion after all!" The old emperor ignored Zazibarum's words and scolded him directly.

Zazibarum did not get angry or anything like that, but continued to say to the old emperor in a well-mannered manner: "...It seems that Your Majesty does not agree with our loyalty to the country... But please rest assured, Your Majesty, we will prove with practical actions that what we do is correct."

While speaking, Zazibarum waved behind him, and then saw another "Emperor" walk out of the darkness. Whether in appearance, clothing, or behavior, he is exactly the same as the real emperor himself, and it is very lifelike.

"...Is this your method? Let a fake take my place?" The old emperor's tone was quite disappointed: "You don't think that this fake can deceive others forever, right?" "Of course not!" Regarding the old emperor's words, Zazi Barum was confident: "This is just a temporary buffer measure. At the right time, 'Your Majesty' will abdicate because of old age and declining energy and unable to handle state affairs, and pass the throne to Her Royal Highness the Princess. At that time, we will naturally return the power of the empire to the royal family, and will never do anything to usurp the throne!" Then, he said to the soldiers around him: "Your Majesty, please go and rest, and pay attention to protecting his safety!" "Humph!" The old emperor also knew that in the current situation, no matter what he said, it would be meaningless. Facing the muzzles of more than ten guns, he could only follow Zazi Barum's people to another exit.

But in the end, he couldn't help but ask: "Do you really think that waging war on Earth is the right choice?" "Yes, we must wage war on Earth, and we will win! I firmly believe that!" Zazbarum's answer was still as firm as at the beginning, without any hesitation.

"...You won't get what you want!" This was the last sentence of the old emperor before he was taken away.

... "My dear, is it really okay for us to do this...?" After arranging for someone to clean up the mess, there was no one else in the secret room, and Wo Lein, who was originally hidden in the darkness, also came out of the corner. He walked out and looked at his lover with some worry.

Once what the two of them have done this time is exposed, they will immediately have to face the counterattack of all the nobles - no matter whether those nobles are loyal to the royal family or not, but when someone directly breaks the rules of the game and plays "holding the emperor to order the princes" No one will tolerate this.

At that time, it will really be an imperial civil war, and no matter which side wins or loses, in fact the biggest loser is the Martian Empire itself - the people on earth will never give up this good opportunity! "No problem, there are no flaws in our plan!" In response to Warein's worries, Zazbarum responded with a confident smile.

Before taking this action, he had calculated all the factors that might cause an accident and made targeted arrangements one by one.

All palace guards who were killed will be replaced as soon as possible, their families will be dealt with secretly, all witnesses will be cleared, and the monitoring network inside the palace has been taken over long ago, and no information will be spread outside. .

Even for those nobles who may appear in the palace today, Zazbarum sent people to arrange various emergencies to drag them into their respective territories. The entire coup process will not involve any external force. interference.

Nothing will go wrong! ……Five minutes later, Zazbarum’s original confident smile had disappeared.

"What? Her Royal Highness the Princess is missing? What's going on? Didn't you confirm the Princess's whereabouts today?" He roared at the subordinates in the communication, without any trace of the previous aura of having no plans left and no wisdom at all.

"Yes... we have indeed confirmed it, and we even confirmed it again five minutes before the operation, but when we arrived at Her Royal Highness the Princess's residence, she had disappeared!" The subordinates who had taken the blame for the innocent tremblingly took them away Report the situation encountered here truthfully, with a tone full of grievances.

This is really not their fault! Who could have known that Her Royal Highness, who was still in the surveillance screen just five minutes ago, would suddenly disappear after the official operation! They used life detectors to test the entire princess mansion, but found nothing at all! "Damn it!" Zazbalum almost crushed the communicator in his hand. He gritted his teeth and gave an order to the other side: "Keep looking for me! Expand the search area and interrogate the attendants around her. We must Get Her Royal Highness back!" "Damn it, what happened..." Zazbarum felt that his action seemed to have deviated from the planned trajectory, and things were getting a little bad... … "Okay, mysterious man, what should I do next?" Outside the palace, somewhere in an uninhabited dwelling, a blond man with some signs of embarrassment was holding a sleeping little girl, facing him. There was no one around to talk.

If you look closely, you can see that he is actually talking to someone on the other end of the communication through an embedded headset in his ear.

"...Okay, I understand, I hope your method works!"')142'\u003eChapter 141 The real mastermind appears!

A few days ago, Earth.

[Ether], who has been monitoring the internal intelligence of the Visser Empire, sent Fang Yuan a message that surprised him.

"There are Martian nobles who want to stage a coup? Where did this come from?!" When Fang Yuan heard the news at first, he was just like the Earth Alliance senior officials who were convinced when they heard the Martians. They also thought it was a joke.

However, he also understood that although [Ether]'s intelligence had improved a lot, it probably hadn't reached the level where he could joke with him. This news should be true.

"Let's see who has the courage to do such a big thing... Zazbarum, Woleyin... are the masterminds behind the conspiracy to assassinate the heroine in the plot, and his dead The fiancée in the Hea_ven's fall incident?" Fang Yuan saw the two photos given by [Ether] and didn't remember their identities at first, but after carefully searching his memory, he finally identified these two The person the name refers to is unearthed from the depths of memory.

After all, when the second dimension changes to the third dimension, the appearance changes very, very much. Just looking at the photos, there is no way to match the two faces in the anime.

"According to the intelligence, the name of Zazbarum's armored cavalry is DIOSCURIA, and the name of Warein's armored cavalry is DEUCALION, which matches the description in the anime plot."

[Ether] gave evidence from another angle, and it seems that it is indeed those two characters.

"It seems that there is such a thing as plot inertia in this world... I didn't expect that I indirectly saved this woman, and this Zazbarum actually embarked on the path of rebellion..." Fang Before Yuan Yuan, he was amazed at the effect of his butterfly wings, which was comparable to that of the Moonlight Butterfly. Unexpectedly, he turned around and saw this... It seems that the nature of this Zazbalum is that he has a traitor in the back of his head. He is born to be rebellious. O Lord who wants to rebel! However, his AI gave a different opinion to Fang Yuan's statement: "According to the daily words and deeds of Zazbarum, the reason why he chose the coup this time was because he was dissatisfied with the Visser Empire's compromise on the Earth United, and advocated Immediately start a war on the earth and try your best to suppress the earth's technological progress, and all of this should be caused by you, sir."

Fang Yuan: "..." Is this my fault again? ! ! Fang Yuan briefly looked through the various monitoring data recorded by [Ether]. Well, it is right. This seems to be his fault... "Pay close attention to the progress of this matter. If there is any major If something unexpected happens, remind me immediately!" Because the rebellion plan of these two Martian nobles is just a plan at present, Fang Yuan did not take any immediate action, but asked [Ether] to keep monitoring - for such a big drama, he could not do not miss it! ……A few days later.

"...It turned out to be male thieves and female prostitutes, working together... Poor Kuruteu, he was actually plotted like this..." Fang Yuan saw the rupture and plotting that happened in the "Three Group Concerned about the Country and the People" from the beginning. At the end, I was immediately filled with sympathy for the victim whose identity had been replaced.

He was plotted from behind by a close ally, imprisoned, and replaced by a fake, and that fake returned to his own territory, exercising his power, enjoying his treatment, and pretending to be a husband in front of his wife and children. With his father... Wow, if this matter were replaced by a spy with a lower moral integrity, it would be a little drama! It's a pity that Mr. Spy does not have an activation factor in his body, so [Ether] cannot directly locate him, and there is no comprehensive monitoring network in Earl Kuruteu's mansion, so Fang Yuan cannot fully control everything about this impostor. Therefore, Fang Yuan has no idea whether certain things that the people like to hear or not have happened.

However, it seems that this poor Count Kurt'o can be used... "[Ether], I want to release this Krut'ou, what can you do?" Controlling the internal intelligence of Mars , [Ether] is still above Fang Yuan, and Fang Yuan also intends to train [Ether]'s intelligence, so many times he will let [Ether] think independently to solve some difficult problems like now.

... Mars, Earl Zazbalum's Mansion, in the underground secret room.

Kuruteu, who was imprisoned here after being stunned, was sitting alone in a seemingly spacious and comfortable cell with a decadent face. His heart was full of worries about the empire, the future, and his family.

Of course, what's more in his heart is the hatred and anger towards the stupid couple Zazbarum and Woleyin - he was really blind when he chose to become allies with these two people in the first place! Just as he was wandering in the mood of anger and worry, suddenly, he heard some unusual noises coming from outside the cell door.

Bang - Bang - This is... Kuruteu stood up and came to the locked metal door. Unexpectedly, he just stood at the door and the door that was supposed to be locked suddenly opened.

Kuruteo instinctively took a step back, only to find that there was nothing behind the door.