81: Chapter 81 The Neon Lights Sink, the King Reaches the Sea
At the dining table, Su Yao finished reading the encrypted bulletin.
No one spoke.
On the TV, the Queen's diplomatic briefing was still scrolling.
"The Great Britain delegation is expected to arrive in Great Xia within 48 hours, with Linhai City as the first stop."
Su Jianguo held his bowl, his whole body stiffening.
He really wanted to ask a question right now.
"Why are you coming, Queen?"
"Isn't protecting me enough? Do you have to come here personally to add more charges against me?"
Lin Wanqing slowly picked up a piece of spare rib and put it into Su Jianguo's bowl.
"Old Su."
"Huh?"
"Eat more."
Su Jianguo looked at the spare rib in the bowl, a chill running down his back.
This wasn't a spare rib.
This was a last meal.
Su Qing blinked, suddenly getting excited.
"The Queen of Great Britain is coming to Linhai?"
"Doesn't that mean martial law for the whole city?"
"Does that mean I don't have to go to school lately?"
Su Yao glanced at her.
"You're overthinking it."
Su Qing's face fell.
Su Yun took a sip of soup.
"Xiao Qing, aren't you a loyal fan of The Watchers?"
"With the Queen visiting, The Watchers will definitely have to assist in security."
"You can go to the scene to chase stars."
Su Qing's chopsticks trembled.
Chase stars?
Chase who?
Chase that foreign Queen who is suspected of wanting to whitewash Night Owl?
She couldn't hide fast enough.
Su Qing gave a dry laugh.
"As an ordinary student like me, studying is still the priority."
Su Jianguo immediately seized the opportunity.
"Right! Students should study!"
"Stop researching wanted criminals and The Watchers every day."
"Especially that netizen Dark Blade; the name alone doesn't sound like a decent person."
Su Qing: "..."
She lowered her head to shovel rice.
Old thing, you just wait.
Su Chen didn't participate in this father-daughter stabbing match.
He stared at the TV, his eyes sinking.
Queen Elizabeth was coming to Linhai.
She wasn't traveling casually.
For the Queen to personally leave the White Gold Palace was a signal in itself.
Who did she want to see?
Night Owl?
Bai Cang?
Or little Yun?
Su Chen looked at Su Yun.
Su Yun was earnestly picking out the scallions.
His expression was so calm, he didn't look like the person involved.
Su Chen's heart tightened.
Little Yun is really still holding on.
With such a huge international storm pressing down on his head, his first reaction is actually still not to let his family worry.
Su Yun looked up, saw Su Chen's reddened eyes, and his hand paused.
What is Big Brother overthinking again?
Lin Wanqing suddenly spoke.
"Yao Yao, did High Command mention the specifications of the delegation?"
Su Yao looked at her communicator.
"The Queen herself."
"The Royal Guard."
"Special representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
"And a princess, heard she's in high school."
Su Qing looked up.
"The princess is coming too?"
Su Yun raised an eyebrow.
In high school?
Don't tell me she's going to transfer to our school too!?
Su Yun shook his head; how was that possible.
They were here for diplomacy; they couldn't stay for too long.
Su Chen's face grew colder.
Princess Evelyn is coming too?
That girl has a loose tongue.
If she says the wrong thing in Linhai...
Su Chen lowered his head to look at his bowl.
For the first time, he felt he might not be able to finish this bowl of rice tonight.
Su Jianguo didn't think that much.
His mind was full of one thing.
The Queen was coming.
Night Owl's name would be even harder to clear.
If, when they met, the Queen said, "Long time no see, my dear Night Owl, Your Excellency," then he, Su Jianguo, could change his nationality immediately.
No.
Changing planets wouldn't help.
Su Yao stood up.
"I need to go to the branch."
Lin Wanqing also put down her chopsticks.
"I have an old classmates' reunion tonight."
Su Qing was immediately alert.
"Mom, haven't you had too many class reunions lately?"
Lin Wanqing looked at her.
"Has your math been too poor lately?"
Su Qing lowered her head.
"Mom, be careful on the road."
Su Jianguo also wanted to stand up.
Lin Wanqing looked at him.
"Where are you going?"
Su Jianguo sat back down.
"I'll wash the dishes."
Su Yun watched this scene, feeling pretty good.
Very good.
The whole family was busy with their own things.
No one was bothering him about memorizing foreign languages.
He was just about to return to his room when his phone vibrated.
Chu Youwei sent a message.
[The Queen of Great Britain is visiting Linhai suddenly; this matter is definitely not as simple as it looks. Student Su, give me the inside scoop. With your family's hidden background, didn't you receive any internal rumors early on?]
Su Yun replied very quickly.
[Did receive the latest instructions.]
Chu Youwei replied in seconds, obviously guarding the screen, full of anticipation for some shocking news.
[Tell me more?]
Su Yun typed expressionlessly.
[The neighborhood office notified that there will be traffic control on the main road tomorrow. My mom told me to leave 20 minutes early to squeeze onto the subway, otherwise I'll be late and lose participation points.]
Chu Youwei fell into a dead silence for a full ten seconds.
[...I wasted my heart trying to probe for international secrets. Can you please respect my probing a little bit?]
Su Yun replied earnestly.
[I already respect it a lot. This is a core secret regarding whether I can pass English.]
...
At the same time.
Linhai City, eastern suburbs.
Abandoned freight station.
This place was close to the old coastline; trucks passed by during the day, and only rails and wind remained at night.
A black cold-chain truck with no license plates was parked at the warehouse entrance.
The cargo compartment opened.
Cold air poured out.
There was no cargo inside.
Only six black coffins.
The coffin lids slid open one by one.
In the first coffin, a woman wearing a kimono sat up.
She had no skin on her face, only a white Noh mask.
There was a smile painted on the mask.
But below her neck, it was all stitched wounds.
In the second coffin, a short old man opened his eyes.
His eyes were two copper coins.
In the third coffin, a teenager wearing a student uniform crawled out.
He was carrying a school bag.
The sound of a child crying came from the bag.
In the fourth coffin was a Headless Samurai.
His head was held in his arms.
In the fifth coffin, a monk sat up, palms pressed together.
What he was chanting wasn't Buddhist scriptures.
It was Strange Talk Sequence numbers.
"Sequence 041, Hundred Ghosts Parade."
"Sequence 026, Faceless Lady."
"Sequence 019, Yomi Boy."
"Sequence 017, Headless Samurai."
"Sequence 012, Inverse Buddha."
Five auras pressed down simultaneously.
The iron walls in the warehouse made sounds.
All were S-Class.
The last coffin didn't move.
The other five lowered their heads simultaneously.
Not out of politeness.
But out of fear.
A long time later.
A cough came from the sixth coffin.
"Arrived in Linhai?"
The voice was very young.
And very light.
But the five S-Class Strange Tales simultaneously knelt down.
"Yes, Lord Tsukuyomi."
The coffin lid opened completely.
A man in a black suit sat up.
He looked twenty-seven or twenty-eight.
His skin was very white.
His left eye was normal.
But his right eye was a pitch-black moon.
The highest taboo experiment of Neon's former Ministry of Services.
Strange Talk Sequence 007.
Tsukuyomi.
He was also the leader who walked out alive from countless abyss rifts after Neon sank.
He picked up a map of Great Xia.
Linhai City was circled in red.
Northern Reservoir, Linhai No. 2 High School, the old city area where the Su family lived, and the port were all marked.
Faceless Lady said in a low voice: "The news from the abyss has been confirmed."
"That existence appeared in Linhai."
"He devours Half-step King Level."
"He seals the rifts."
"He uses the abyss passage as a feeding port."
Yomi Boy grinned.
The crying in the school bag grew louder.
"Truly amazing."
"Even those Kings from Neon haven't eaten like that."
Headless Samurai held his own head.
The head spoke: "He is not a King."
Everyone looked at him.
Headless Samurai's head continued to say: "Kings rule."
"He devours Kings."
The warehouse went quiet.
Tsukuyomi raised his hand.
The five immediately lowered their heads.
"What is the title transmitted back from the abyss?"
Inverse Buddha said in a low voice: "Lord of Blind Idiot God."
As these six words fell.
The lights in the warehouse exploded simultaneously.
In the darkness, the bodies of the five S-Class Strange Tales trembled.
Not out of fear.
It was excitement.
Tsukuyomi slowly smiled.
"Neon has already sunk."
"Tokyo has seventy-two abyss gates."
"The Kyoto Imperial Palace has become a nest of Strange Tales."
"Osaka's coastline retreats three kilometers every day."
"We have no country."
He stood up and adjusted his suit cuffs.
"But we have found the King."
Faceless Lady bowed.
"Lord Tsukuyomi, shall we proceed directly to the Northern Reservoir?"
Tsukuyomi shook his head.
"One can only smell the Lord's scent there."
Yomi Boy asked: "Then go to Linhai No. 2 High School?"
Tsukuyomi glanced at him.
Yomi Boy immediately shut his mouth.
Tsukuyomi's tone was calm.
"If the King is disguised in the human world, we must not disturb him rashly."
"Otherwise, what difference is there between us and those low-level Strange Tales?"
Everyone lowered their heads.
Elder of the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade's voice was hoarse.
"The Queen of Great Britain is about to arrive in Linhai."
"She is S-Class."
"She holds the secret of the holy rose essence."
"If we kill her, the world will see us."
Faceless Lady continued.
"And will also see the King."
"The remnants of Neon will offer the first gift to the King with the Queen's blood."
Tsukuyomi didn't speak immediately.
He walked to the warehouse entrance.
In the distance, the lights of Linhai City were very bright.
That was a city not yet submerged by the abyss.
Clean.
Lively.
Noisy.
And fragile.
Tsukuyomi reached out.
A black paper crane landed in his palm.
The paper crane unfolded.
On it was a photo.
In the photo, Su Yun was wearing a school uniform, sitting by the window in the classroom.
He was looking down at a book.
On the page, the first line of words was—
abandon.
Tsukuyomi looked at the photo, his eyes changing bit by bit.
"Is this the King's posture in the human world?"
Yomi Boy leaned over to take a look.
"He is studying a foreign language?"
Headless Samurai's head was silent for a moment.
"The King's disguise is very deep."
Inverse Buddha pressed his palms together.
"Perhaps, this is an oracle."
Faceless Lady asked: "What oracle?"
Inverse Buddha said in a low voice: "Abandon, to forsake."
"The King is telling us."
"Forsake the old country."
"Forsake the human body."
"Forsake everything."
"Welcome the abyss."