Hearing the man's shouts, Luo Wei instinctively exchanged a glance with Ophelia.
"Who is that man?"
"I have a vague memory of him..." Ophelia pondered for a moment before replying, "He's a minor noble from a declining family, surnamed Taylor. He's quite capable himself, having established a massive mining operation. Now, he's a member of the Imperial Council."
As Luo Wei and his companions stepped out of the carriage, more and more royal guards began to gather at the entrance.
Many of the other guests who had arrived at the same time were also murmuring and casting glances in that direction.
Seeing the growing crowd, Taylor became even more agitated, shouting louder.
However, his efforts were in vain. In the end, he was forcibly dragged away by the royal guards, his wailing voice fading into the distance.
The expelled council member and the subject of his protest piqued the curiosity of both Luo Wei and Ophelia.
Both were quick-witted individuals, and they sensed something unusual in the situation.
"What's this 'Magic Crystal Act' all about?" Luo Wei asked, turning to her.
Ophelia immediately looked at Caroline.
Caroline promptly explained, "Your Highness, earlier today, the council passed this act, which was strongly pushed by His Majesty. It's quite extensive, but in essence, it imposes strict regulations on magic crystals."
"Regulations on magic crystals?" Ophelia raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly," Caroline glanced around and lowered her voice. "According to the act, all magic crystal deposits will be forcibly nationalized, and all mining operations will have their licenses revoked. Furthermore, every magic crystal circulating in the market must be registered, and all magic devices, regardless of size, will require rigorous approval."
"I see..." Luo Wei glanced back, now understanding why the mine owner had been so agitated. If the act were implemented, it would be tantamount to confiscating his entire livelihood.
Ophelia frowned, visibly displeased as she turned to Caroline. "Caroline, why didn't you inform me about something this important earlier?"
Caroline hesitated, glancing at Ophelia and then at Luo Wei.
"Well... Your Highness, this morning..."
"You and Mr. Luo Wei were... occupied..."
"It wasn't convenient for me to notify you..."
Seeing Caroline stammering like this, Ophelia immediately grew irritated.
Then, almost instantly, she recalled what she and Luo Wei had been doing that morning...
The memory of their passionate encounter caused her face to flush bright red.
She covered her face, taking a moment to suppress those vivid images.
Blushing and frustrated, Ophelia shot Luo Wei a sharp glare. "It's... it's all your fault!"
"Huh?" Luo Wei pointed at himself, blinking in confusion.
How is it my fault?
Weren't you the one who wanted to give me a gift??
In the end, he reluctantly nodded. "Alright, alright, it's all my fault!"
Since he had benefited from the situation, he didn't mind conceding. Luo Wei tightened his jaw and, with a deliberately serious expression, gestured for Caroline to continue.
After Caroline finished relaying all the information she had gathered, Ophelia regained her composure. She picked up on some suspicious details in the event and said with a puzzled tone:
"This matter... why hadn't I heard even a whisper about it before? Father must have kept it extremely well hidden..."
"And! How could such a far-reaching act pass so easily?"
She could almost imagine the massive upheaval that would ensue once the act was implemented.
Taking wealth away from the merchants was akin to killing them. Protests in front of the palace would be the least of the problems...
Luo Wei nodded in agreement. That was indeed the case. A significant portion of the Imperial Council members owed their rise to the magic industry. Logically, an act that cut into their profits should have been incredibly difficult to pass...
But Caroline shook her head. "Merchants are shortsighted. His Majesty promised them that once the market was unified, official pricing would drastically reduce raw material costs, and their factories would see significant cost reductions."
"They truly are shortsighted," Ophelia suddenly sneered. "After all, the only ones truly affected are mine owners like Taylor, of which there are very few in the entire country, along with some smugglers and middlemen. The vast majority of factory owners will continue to profit, perhaps even more than before."
Luo Wei interjected, "There's another reason why it passed so smoothly."
Both turned to him, and Luo Wei analyzed, "Your father must have planned this for a long time. By announcing the act at this moment, he left no room for negotiation."
"Mr. Luo Wei is absolutely right," Caroline said, giving him an approving look. "The recent explosion and the cultist incident have plunged the entire nation into panic, fueling public outrage. Since people have stopped using magic vehicles, public carriages have become popular again, and the price of bicycles has skyrocketed."
"So," she concluded, "public opinion is on His Majesty's side. In the council, the old nobility undoubtedly supports him. As for the merchants, they're divided among themselves, with some even taking advantage of the chaos. The opposition has no chance of making a dent."
After Caroline finished speaking, Luo Wei and Ophelia exchanged a glance, their eyes equally profound.
Both were struck by the emperor's cunning.
By seizing control of magic crystals, he effectively controlled the entire magic industry. Whether the merchants prospered or not now depended entirely on the emperor's whims.
But Emperor Charlton II's move wasn't driven by greed for wealth. His goal was singular: power.
Luo Wei silently gazed at the towering palace growing closer in the distance. His opinion of the ailing old emperor had shifted.
Rumors painted him as inept and idle, having neglected governance for over a decade, surrounded by sorcerers researching ways to prolong his life, while allowing his children to feud and the Imperial Council to descend into chaos, with daily brawls that turned into bloody messes...
But this incident proved that he was anything but incompetent. On the contrary...
He was like a weathered sword, its blade hidden beneath layers of rust, but when drawn, it would strike with deadly precision.
"Father..."
Ophelia silently looked at Luo Wei, her words trailing off as she gave a bitter smile.
She lowered her head, seemingly overwhelmed by a deep sense of helplessness.
Luo Wei knew she must be thinking the same thing as him.
Namely...
The explosion, the countless casualties, the heinous cultists...
What role had the emperor played in all of this?
Didn't he know that the evil god had nearly been summoned? Did he truly not care about the lives of the entire city?
Luo Wei noticed that Ophelia's hand felt cold.
She whispered softly, "Now you understand why I yearn so much for the freedom of the skies..."
Seeing her so disheartened, Luo Wei silently tightened his grip on her hand.
"I understand."
This family, these siblings, and this father had driven her to despair.
From a young age, the innocent and romantic Ophelia had felt out of place among them. Even now, having been drawn into the fray, she still despised everything around her.
Luo Wei knew he might not be able to help much. All he could do was be there for her.
Ophelia leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Only in this way could she find a rare sense of peace.
"Maybe it's not as bad as we think," Luo Wei said with a smile, trying to comfort her. "What if we're just overthinking it?"
But Ophelia didn't pursue the topic.
She murmured softly, almost inaudibly.
"Luo Wei..."
"Yes?"
"If one day my father decides to kill me, would you risk everything to take me away from here?"
Luo Wei shook his head. "No."
Ophelia abruptly looked up at him, startled.
Luo Wei chuckled. "I'd take you straight into the palace, and we'd seize the throne together!"
Ophelia burst into laughter, her smile as radiant as a field of blooming flowers.
end. Thus one must continue to cultivate, and become a saint or great emperor, in order to prolong one's life. Chen Xia, however, completely reversed this. Since his transmigration, he has gained immortality, and also a system that awards him with attribute points for every year he lives. Thus between the myriad worlds, the legend of an unparalleled senior appeared. "A gentleman takes revenge; it is never too late even after ten thousand years." "When you were at your peak I yielded, now in your old age I shall trample on you." - Chen Xia
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
