Capital of the Shilius Empire, Santa Cruz, Dome Palace.
A luxurious gold-plated coffin with the emblem of the national bird, the egret, had been placed in the grand meeting hall for a whole week.
Although Prince Manolo had been assassinated, with the help of runes to freeze the body and the high quality of the coffin, there was no strange smell coming out.
However, the atmosphere in the hall was still cold and solemn.
A group of officials, including the prime minister, the field marshal, and the navy marshal, as well as the head of the think tank, the grand wizard Andon, had their heads lowered in tacit understanding. They did not dare to look at the emperor sitting on the throne.
"They … haven't been found yet?"
Philip II's face was expressionless, but those who knew him well knew that this emotionless state was actually the most terrifying. It was like a powder keg that had been ignited and could explode at any time.
Andon had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward.
"Your Majesty, we can confirm that they are still alive, but we can't find any traces of them. Even if we cast a curse through a medium, it would be like throwing a stone into the sea.
We speculate that it should be a high-level Transcendent or an extremely powerful diviner who made a move. "
On the flagship "Saint Cruz Pearl", which had been inexplicably wiped out in a short period of time, the bodies of most of the crew members could be found. The whole ship was also sent back to Shilius by two starships that were panicking.
However, among the main members of the diplomatic mission, only the two most powerful members were missing: Master Swordsman Pedro and the official wizard 'Spider'.
Only by finding the two of them could the truth of the entire incident be truly revealed. However, the grand wizard Andon, who was in charge of this matter, had spent an entire week without finding anything. Obviously, the matter was far from as simple as it seemed on the surface.
As soon as he finished speaking, the hall immediately became as quiet as the calm before the storm. Even the air was about to freeze.
Although many of the elites here were stronger than Philip II, even a peak grand Knight could not breathe under the inexplicable pressure. This was the power of the secular imperial power.
Before having the strength of a level 4 Transcendent, no one could ignore this power.
At this moment, the Emperor had a reason to be furious.
While the power of a Titled Knight was passed down through the bloodline and continuously blessed the later generations, the direct descendants of the royal families of various countries were not very prosperous.
In Philip II's generation, there were only three males in the entire Shilius Kingdom, including his cousin, Prince Manolo. And for some indescribable reason, this art-loving prince did not have any children.
This was a major event related to the continuation of the royal family. No matter what the ministers were thinking, Philip II definitely didn't want this to happen.
For the royal family, the assassination of a prince was already a heavy loss.
It took a little longer.
In such a heavy atmosphere, some of the elderly and weak subjects were already sweating profusely. Some of them were even on the verge of collapsing.
Suddenly.
Tap … tap … tap …
The crisp sound of high-heeled shoes could be heard. A slightly thin and beautiful figure wearing a luxurious, low-cut palace dress appeared at the entrance of the palace, accompanied by a female official.
"Theresa, why are you here?"
Seeing the person who came, Philip II's originally expressionless face couldn't help but relax a little. He hurriedly stood up and carefully helped his queen to sit on the wide throne together.
She looked like she was protecting a fragile and precious porcelain. In fact, this queen's current state was similar to that of porcelain. Although her limbs were still slender, from the slight bulge in her lower abdomen, it was easy to tell that she was about to usher in a new identity.
"Your Majesty, don't worry about me. I just want to sit with you for a while when you're unhappy."
The young queen who had just turned 23 years old looked as thin as paper. Coupled with her pitiful eyes, she was very much in line with the current aesthetic standards of the nobles. She stretched out her delicate hand like a little girl and gently smoothed the deep wrinkles between Philip II's eyebrows. It was easy to feel pity for her.
The almost frozen atmosphere in the hall instantly relaxed. The ministers could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Although Theresa came here and did not do or say anything, the ministers couldn't help but look at her with gratitude.
"Good, good, good. It's good to come out and meet people and get some fresh air."
In the beginning, Philip II only cared about the identity of this Hapsburg princess in order to obtain the throne. After more than three years of getting along with her, his attitude had changed very obviously.
He already loved this wife who was almost half his age from the bottom of his heart.
He didn't know if it was because of Princess Theresa's deep wisdom and charm, the Kingdom of Frisia that had the financial resources to support half of the Empire's tax revenue, or the fact that he had only gotten his first son after two marriages — Crown Prince Aldrich.
That's right. This lucky child who was confirmed as the male heir by divine spells had been given a name before he was born. He was even directly conferred as the crown prince of the Shilius Empire and was destined to inherit the throne of the empire.
He received the blessing of the former Archbishop of the 'Eternal Fire' and the current Pope of the 'Tinder Church' — Level 4 Clergyman Wycliffe — in advance. There was almost no need to worry about dying halfway like the commoners.
If most royal families could give birth to two or three children, it would be enough for the entire empire to celebrate.
Although she only had her first son after three years of marriage, now in the entire Shilius Empire, no one's status could be compared to Her Majesty's.
After a short interlude, they returned to the main topic.
However, with Her Majesty here, Philip II naturally restrained his temper, and the atmosphere was obviously not as oppressive as before.
"Since the incident happened in the territorial waters of the Tulip Family, they can't absolve themselves of the blame for the assassination of the prince. Send a diplomatic note and ask them to hand over the murderer within a time limit. The time is set to be within two months! "
Without letting the ministers guess blindly, the emperor who seemed to have regained his composure directly stated his thoughts.
Those who could stand here might be greedy and cruel, but none of them were fools. The power of a country was not an ordinary man in a fit of anger. The possibility of being swayed by emotions was very small.
Even if there was some righteous indignation because of the 'marriage proposal', the people of the Tulip Family had no motive to send at least a Titled Knight to assassinate a prince who was not a threat.
However.
No matter who did it, they had to make a strong and powerful response! If they did not do anything when the prince was assassinated, the title of the world's most powerful country would soon become a joke, and the rule of the Shilius Empire around the world would be shaken.
When the ministers heard the deadline, they were all shocked. Everyone was very sensitive to this time because it happened to be the time of the voyage from the mainland to the New World!
If they were in the Old World, it might turn into a full-scale war if they were not careful. Obviously, His Majesty the Emperor was preparing to open a breakthrough in the New World where his side was the strongest.
Field Marshal Favman, who was dressed in a military uniform with glittering medals on his chest, had already understood Philip II's intention. He stepped forward like a towering city wall and bowed.
"Your Majesty, although the Church of Eternal Fire stationed in the 'Holy City' of Novigrad has not given up struggling and may have a final battle to fight, it is not a problem to mobilize a certain number of troops."
Philip II, who was sitting high on the throne, nodded slowly and turned to look at the head of the think tank who had just messed up a task.
"Well, Mr. Andon, what do you think?"
"Your Majesty, according to the intelligence, the naval base of Faletis has a quasi-legendary warship, two second-level warships, and six fourth-level and above battleships stationed all year round. Other than Faletis, the Tulip Kingdom's forces in the New World are not too strong.
In addition, the intelligence personnel have sent back a message that the new legendary warships, the Emerald Corona and the Steam Fortress, are in the Faletis mainland.
There should be another legendary warship in the New World, which also appeared in the Elia Kingdom. For the time being, we don't even know the name of the mysterious warship.
According to the inference of the witnesses, its legendary warship skill should be a super long-range bombardment ability. Send the Blazing Light, which has the strongest attack power among our five legendary warships and is immune to cannon attacks to a certain extent. It should be foolproof. "
After pausing for a moment, Andon continued.
"The most troublesome one in the Faletis colony should be the one who single-handedly established the 'Dragon Rider Pirate Crew', Rear Admiral Elvin Garriott, nicknamed the White Knight. There is also a low-key Gemstone School Grand Wizard in the Far Sail Territory.
When the time comes, the First Peak Grand Wizard of our 'School of Curses', His Excellency 'Death Messenger', will personally take action.
Peak Grand Knight Mark Lune from the 'Court of Flame', who wields the 'Holy Sword Revartin' and has made great contributions during the Reformation, can set off with the fleet.
In addition, in order to deal with the high-level totem god, 'Mother of Sea' Milo, whose stronghold is on the West Coast, His Excellency 'Fire of Thorns' has already gone to the New World.
In terms of the supernatural powers at the top, it is enough to crush them! "
Admiral cum Minister of the Navy Bancroft also stepped forward and bowed.
"Your Majesty, in terms of the conventional fleet, the Invincible Fleet has been completely purged of the church's forces. Transferring half of the main warships of the Third Squadron is more than enough to defeat the Tulip Kingdom. "
Currently, the Invincible Fleet of Shilius had more than 310 main warships of Rank 3 and above, and the total size of the fleet had already exceeded 2,200 ships. Half of the Third Squadron was still more than 50 Rank 3 warships!
"Good, it's settled then! If they can hand over the murderer of the prince and give the empire enough benefits, perhaps we can let them go this time. If they don't know what's good for them, we'll completely drive them out of the New World! "
* Bang! *
Philip II slammed the armrest of his throne and completely decided on the plan for this operation.
At this moment, Elvin and Levina, who were separated by a vast ocean, still did not know.
Two days ago, they were still planning how to scheme against others, but they did not expect that the bunch of scheming bankers had already made the first move.
Moreover, the great Shilius Empire did not make a move, but once it did, it struck like a thunderbolt.
They wanted everyone to see that the strongest country in the world was still an existence that everyone had to look up to!
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