Seven days later, the carriage finally arrived at the destination, the capital.
The capitals of the three empires were directly named after the country. The prosperity of the Dark Shadow's capital was far beyond Chen Rui's expectation. The carriage stopped at a post station in the suburbs, but he could already see residents and well-proportioned houses. The wide roads were paved with good white stones mixed with corresponding materials. It was smoother and stronger than the cement roads in the other world. It looked extraordinary.
The long-distance carriage at the post station couldn't enter the city gate. There was another lighter carriage drawn by camels that could travel in the capital.
Fini stretched out, "I'm exhausted these few days. I'll have a good sleep when I get home."
Chen Rui smiled and said, "Sir Rummenigge, thank you for your gift and guidance along the way. I have to go to a relative's house first, so I'll leave now. "
Rummenigge nodded, "I hope you can pass the mechanic certification as soon as possible. Here is a badge. Take it. If you want to participate in the mechanic contest, you can participate directly even if you haven't signed up in advance. Just take it as a thank you gift for our tower's free ride and drinking your fine wine."
Chen Rui took the badge and bowed to Rummenigge to express his gratitude. Since he was practicing mechanics in the forging room, his chats with Fini decreased significantly in the next few days. Fini just waved to Chen Rui to say goodbye. Monroe still ignored him. He called a light carriage and left with Rummenigge and Fini.
Chen Rui was interested in seeing the Dark Shadow's capital. He walked all the way. The more he walked, the more prosperous the feeling of the capital became. The Dark Shadow's capital was a flat city. Judging from the scale alone, even the Dark Moon City during the heyday of the Fallen Angel Empire was much inferior. As for the degree of prosperity, the current Dark Moon could barely be regarded as a desolate small town in front of the Dark Shadow's capital.
The tall and thick city wall had a majestic momentum. The black phoenix flame flag representing the Asmodeus Royal Family was fluttering in the wind. The guards on the city wall were lined up neatly with spears in their hands. They were all equipped with shiny silver armor. The checks at the city gate were very standard and strict. There were very few cases of extortion. Due to the approaching mechanic contest, there were constantly mechanics rushing to the capital from all over the country. Chen Rui easily passed the inspection as a mechanic apprentice.
Due to the vastness of the area, in addition to the main road, the large and small streets in the imperial capital were as intricate as a spider web. The numerous shops and residences were dazzling. Chen Rui had to take out the magic compass to assist him. When some of the locals saw this behavior, they couldn't help but show a contemptuous smile of "look at this country bumpkin". The sense of superiority that came from the metropolis was undoubtedly evident.
However, it was the same everywhere. When there was brightness, there was rot. Prosperity could not cover up darkness and danger. Chen Rui knew this very well.
The capital city was divided into the inner city and the outer city. The shops and residential residences were distributed in the outer city. The inner city was mainly the residences of the nobles. The tallest building, the palace, was located on the high mountain in the center that overlooked all directions.
The Custer Family was known as the top business family in the Shadow Empire. Their base camp was in the inner city. However, according to the news sent by Kia, the young master, Dior, who was rescued by General George, disliked the "home" in the inner city very much. He was now living in a separate courtyard in the most prosperous south of the outer city.
When he finally found that courtyard, he saw a large number of guards at the door. It seemed that Young Master Dior had become much more cautious after he almost lost his life.
As soon as Chen Rui entered the gate, he was stopped by the guard.
"Please tell Mr. Dior that Kia's friend has come to see him."
The guard looked at him for a while and sneered, "Just you? A lowly apprentice wants to see Mr. Dior? "
Another guard then ridiculed, "He even said that he knows the beautiful Miss Kia!"
"I am indeed Miss Kia's friend. How about this …" Chen Rui took out a handful of black crystal coins, "Whoever invites Miss Kia to meet me at the gate will get these black crystal coins."
The guards' eyes lit up. There were about 10 black crystal coins. It was definitely a windfall. Besides, it was just to invite Kia to the gate. With so many guards around, they were not afraid of this person playing tricks.
Soon, Kia's figure appeared at the gate. Chen Rui did not break his promise. He gave the black crystal coins to the guard who reacted the fastest, John. The rest of the people's eyes turned red.
She was still that familiar charming seductress. Her usual maid attire had already been changed into a long dress made of expensive material. The slightly tight-fitting clothes made her ample upper body even more prominent. Although she was very naturally swaying her waist slightly, her movements were full of temptation. It was as if a single gaze could make the blood vessels of any male boil.
As soon as Kia appeared, she immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding guards. They were even more jealous of John who rushed to pass the message. He was so lucky to be able to talk to Miss Kia and get black crystal coins.
Kia looked at the Great Demon who claimed to be her friend with a puzzled look. As she was about to ask, the other party had already said, "Miss Kia, don't you remember me? I'm Arthur, a friend of Old Gauss. "
When Kia heard the name of Old Gauss, she looked like she had a sudden realization. She looked at Chen Rui a few times and nodded, "Yes, come with me."
Chen Rui followed Kia into the courtyard. Although it was called a courtyard, the degree of luxury was far better than the Dark Moon's palace. Kia took him to a relatively secluded corner and said, "Who are you? Why haven't I seen you before? "
"You don't have to care who I am. My current name is Arthur. I'm ordered by Princess Royal to take over Old Gauss's work and investigate Old Gauss's whereabouts. " Chen Rui gave Kia a magic letter signed by Jía, which ordered Kia to obey all the arrangements of "Arthur".
After Kia finished reading, she handed the magic letter back with both hands and bowed respectfully to Chen Rui, "Sir Arthur."
Chen Rui nodded and took the magic letter. With a little exertion of power, the letter turned into ashes and dissipated. Kia's eyes moved slightly. Although her power was restrained by the anti-magic ring, her eyesight was still there. This seemingly casual power wasn't something that a Higher Demon could exert.
There were many people with the same name in the Demon Realm. There were many people named Arthur. The question was, when did Princess Royal have such a character?
"I got some information from Princess Royal, but I want to hear your report first." Chen Rui frowned, "Also, how did Old Gauss disappear?"
Kia calmed herself down and said.
The founder of the Custer Family, Sacramento Custer, was a celebrity in the Shadow Empire. He was originally a mechanic with ordinary qualifications. With a flexible mind and bold strategy, he started from a small magic shop and developed into the huge Custer Family. The current patriarch, Croz, was also an amazing figure. During the "King's Rebellion" in the Shadow Empire, he decisively chose Princess Catherine, who was not favored at the time, and provided a lot of money and material support. Finally, Catherine wiped out the rebellion and ascended to the throne. The Custer Family with the "merit of ascending the throne" was more stable and firmly occupied the position of the top business family.
Croz was seriously injured in his early years. Now that he was in his twilight years, he was weak and sick, so he naturally had the idea of handing the family's heavy responsibility to the next generation. Croz had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son died in the turmoil of the capital in his early years. The second son, Dior, became the eldest. The third son was called Falamo and the youngest daughter was called Celine.
According to age, Dior was the first heir, Falamo was the second, and Celine was the third. In fact, Croz was not satisfied with these children. Dior was mediocre, fond of beauty, and reckless. He almost turned against the family for a political marriage. For many years, he had a bad relationship with the daughter of the main financial minister, Anna; Falamo was cowardly and married Marianne, the sister of the second general of the Shadow Empire, Warren. Marianne was from the royal family of the Shadow Empire, so his wife was stronger than his husband; the remaining youngest daughter, Celine, was only born in his later years. Although she was smart and loved, she was not yet 20 years old. She had too little experience and experience to inherit the family business.
Dior went out to play in the name of inspection, but he disappeared for a few months. Croz had been worried. After explaining the assassination after his return, Croz's biggest suspect fell on Falamo because if Dior died, the biggest beneficiary would be Falamo.
Croz himself also went through a fierce family inheritance struggle. Originally, he didn't expect these children to respect and love each other and live in peace. The Demon Realm advocated survival of the fittest, and those who were capable would rule. It was just that Falamo had always been controlled by his wife, Marianne. Behind Marianne was the second general who represented the royal family. If he really inherited the family, then the huge family business was likely to fall into the hands of the "relatives" in the future, so Croz always had a knot in his heart.
Old Gauss, who was aware of all this, used a targeted strategy to make Croz more suspicious of Falamo. The balance gradually tilted to Dior's side. Of course, the pressure from General Warren was still great and couldn't be ignored.
The Custer Family started as a magic store and was currently the official designated provider of armaments and magic supplies. For many years, they had maintained a good relationship with the Dark Shadow Empire's Mechanic Alliance. This mechanic contest was also sponsored by the Custer Family.
Croz knew that he didn't have much time left, so he had to be decisive. Finally, he made a decision. That was, each of his three children would choose one of the participating mechanics as a supporter. The one who chose the person with the highest ranking in this mechanic contest would become the real first successor. If he could win the final victory of the contest, then he would undoubtedly be the real successor!
This support was two-sided. It must be agreed by the mechanic himself. It not only tested the vision of the successor, but also the comprehensive ability of various aspects such as means and strategies.
As soon as Croz's decision was announced, Dior and Falamo immediately began to prepare intensively. Celine, who was the least likely to inherit the family business, seemed to be unhurried.
Old Gauss knew the principle of knowing one's enemy as well as oneself. Under his suggestion, Dior used the internal relationship of the Mechanic Alliance to obtain the first-hand information of the mechanics who signed up for the contest. After layers of screening and evaluation, the candidates were finally narrowed to two people.
One of them was the direct disciple of Master Leo of the capital's Mechanic Alliance, Savice, a famous genius mechanic who had risen in recent years.
The other was a senior mechanic, the champion of the previous mechanic contest, Robert, who was most likely to be promoted to master.
Of course, this mechanic contest would also attract the mechanics of the Fallen Angel Empire and the Bloody Empire. In addition to these two people, there were also powerful people or unknown people. However, since they could only choose one supporter, they must choose the candidate who had the greatest chance of winning. At the very least, the candidate's ranking must be higher than the other two competitors as much as possible.
Old Gauss was most optimistic about the previous champion, Robert. He catered to Robert's preference and launched a series of coaxing attacks. Admittedly, Old Gauss had been Jía's most trusted aide for so many years. His means were quite commendable. However, just as he was about to succeed, Old Gauss suddenly disappeared. After this incident, Robert suddenly changed his original plan and switched to Falamo's side. It could be seen that the biggest suspect for Old Gauss' "evaporation" was Falamo.
Dior had sent many people to search and send people to follow and monitor Falamo, but he had never found anything.
At present, the mechanic contest was imminent. Dior could only place the target of coaxing on Savice according to Old Gauss' original analysis. Savice became famous at a young age, and he had a senior master like Leo behind him. He had always been arrogant, extremely arrogant, and unscrupulous. Dior had tried many ways to get closer to Savice with great difficulty. He planned to set up a banquet at the courtyard tonight to entertain Savice and discuss the final cooperation.
After Chen Rui learned about the situation from Kia, he pondered for a while and asked Kia to take him to see Dior.
Dior was a thin and tall mutated Great Demon. His power was Higher Demon. He looked like he was only in his twenties, but he was actually more than 200 years old. He looked a little haggard. Not sure if it was due to the recent stress or his daily indulgence in alcohol and women.
Without Old Gauss's planning, Dior felt that everything was difficult. Now that he heard from Kia that the Dark Moon had a new supporter, he was excited. When he saw Chen Rui dressed as a mechanic apprentice, he couldn't help but frown.
However, Dior finally had some knowledge. He knew that the person who was sent by Princess Royal of the Dark Moon to support was by no means mediocre. This set of clothes was just a cover. He immediately smiled and said, "Sir Arthur came from afar. You must be tired!"
Chen Rui nodded. After the two sides exchanged polite greetings for a while, Dior ordered the maid to leave.
"I've heard from Kia about your family and the mechanic contest." Chen Rui pondered, "Are you planning to invite Savice tonight? How confident are you? "
"I don't know. Savice accepted all the benefits I sent, but he refused to formally agree. He's much more difficult to deal with than Robert." When Robert was mentioned, Dior gritted his teeth. "Robert isn't a good guy either. He actually sided with Falamo in the end!"
"It's all based on our own means." Chen Rui shook his head. If this was a test for Croz's three children, then it had just begun. "However, Old Gauss's foresight has always been good. Robert's hope should be slightly greater than Savice's. Even if you successfully invite Savice, you may not have the confidence to win."
"What should I do?" Dior looked anxious. In fact, it wasn't a problem who won the mechanic contest in the end. As long as the contestant he supported could surpass his brother and sister, it would be fine. Of course, it would be better if he could directly become the heir.
Chen Rui smiled slightly, "Don't worry, I have my own way."
The rewards of this mechanic contest were very generous, especially some rare materials which were the key to making "Thunderous Sound". As he had reached the master level, he naturally wouldn't let go of such a good opportunity.
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