Chapter 923 - King Lutheran Geyser

After Lina and Neron realized all the envoys had been killed before they could return to the Geyser Kingdom, their first wasn't to investigate the culprit.

"Whoever killed the envoys has a clear motive. They want the relationship between the Crawford Kingdom and the Geyser Kingdom to deteriorate. We are in danger by staying here, Junior Sister. Let us make haste back to the kingdom!" Neron stressed.

"Yes, Senior Brother!" Lina nodded solemnly.

Nevertheless, they did not ignore the corpses of the envoys. They quickly collected all of the corpses into their interspatial storage before they went on their way.

The envoys were all Preliminary Accession-stage Transcendents at the very least, while the strongest envoy among the bodies was even at the Seeking Insight-stage Transcendent.

They weren't just nobodies in the Geyser Kingdom.

While Neron and Lina felt a compelling reason to return the bodies to their families, their wounds could also serve as some form of clues in their investigation.

…

…

…

Geyser Kingdom

In the Capital of Geyser, a giant blackwater dome hung over the large city. Within its bubble, countless buildings thoroughly occupied the coastal line that divides the land and sea.

Nevertheless, the city on land wasn't the only home to the people of Geyser. There was also the sea. In fact, the heart of the Geyser Kingdom lies beyond the eastern coast.

Thousands of floating homes and unique infrastructures stretched across the water surface, all interconnected like one enormous net.

At the same time, they form the bridge that links the eastern land of the Human Domain to the Starlight Archipelago.

If the water city region and the Starlight Archipelago were all included in the Geyser Kingdom's territory, its size would not be inferior to the current Crawford Empire. No, if the Geyser Kingdom successfully reclaimed all thousand islands of the Starlight Archipelago, their territory size would even surpass the Crawford Empire!

Nevertheless, from the water city off the coast of the Geyser Capital to the first forty islands of the Starlight Archipelago, day-to-day life was never peaceful.

Sea monster attacks frequently occur.

Even so, the daily combat experience, resources, and food gained from the sea monsters are what made the Geyser Kingdom the strong country it is today.

The entire population of 50-thousand people living in Water City was all Awakeners, thanks to the widespread Redstones gained from sea monsters. Everyone had the chance to become Awakeners.

Nevertheless, the situation inside the Geyser Kingdom was rather special.

It didn't have one central pillar of power that governed the entirety of the Geyser Kingdom's territories.

Instead, it was divided into three central powers led by three people: King Lutheran, who governs the land, the Sea Emperor, who reclaims the Starlight Archipelago, and the High Priest, who spreads the faith of Sea God.

Although the Geyser Kingdom wasn't united, these three figures do not usually interfere with each others' businesses.

…

At that moment, King Lutheran was holding a meeting with the nobles in the Geyser Palace's great hall, found within the Capital of Geyser's central district.

"Who else is willing to make a trip to the Crawford Kingdom?" King Lutheran Geyser swept the gathered nobles in the great hall with his powerful gaze.

There were Barons, Counts, Earls, and even Marquises in attendance.

The weakest of the gathered nobles, the Barons, was no weaker than Early Seeking Insight-stage Transcendent. On the other hand, the Marquises, the strongest among the group, were all Peak Seeking Insight-stage Transcendents.

Nevertheless, their powers were all overshadowed by King Lutheran Geyser, a true Paragon, and one of the very few Acknowledged Paragon-stage Transcendents in the entire Geyser Kingdom.

After King Lutheran raised his questions, the Barons quickly averted their eyes to avoid meeting his gaze.

The last envoy sent to the Crawford Kingdom was also a Baron at the Early Seeking Insight-stage Transcendent.

However, the person never returned despite the estimated three-day return trip.

"Your Majesty, we can't keep sending envoys to re-establish communications with the Crawford Kingdom like this. We've already sent out four groups in the past few weeks, but none of them had returned so far," said a Count at the Mid Seeking Insight-stage Transcendent Realm.

"Right, Your Majesty," another Count at the Mid Seeking Insight-stage Transcendent Realm agreed.

"It's true that the fault lies with us for allowing Baron Cortez to run amok in the Crawford Kingdom and massacre so many innocent lives. However, we shouldn't keep sending people to apologize if they don't have the will to listen."

"After all, we are a powerful kingdom. We don't have to lower our heads to the Crawford Kingdom," the Count stated.

Many of the Barons and Counts were uneasy and afraid of being chosen as the next envoy.

Considering none of the previous envoys returned from the Crawford Kingdom, being chosen as the next envoy was no different from a death sentence.

Nevertheless, King Lutheran wasn't in a hurry to respond to the Counts' opinions. Instead, he calmly studied the nobles' various expressions before pausing on Marquis Wauter's slight snickering expression.

"Marquis Wauter, you seem to have something to say?" King Lutheran directed the attention to the Peak Seeking Insight-stage Transcendent.

"Yes, Your Majesty," Marquis Wauter answered.

"According to the report from Lord Quinten Saville, who was in charge of the Law-Punishing Force tasked to capture Baron Cortez, King Heinrich and Queen Elizabeth were rather understanding regarding Baron Cortez's incident. Thus, it wouldn't make sense for them to kill our envoys."

"No matter how big the grievance is, it's an unwritten rule that countries do not kill the envoys sent by other countries. So unless the envoys actively courted death, they wouldn't be killed without reason."

"Although I am not close to Baron Saerus, but I know he was a reasonable man. Thus, he shouldn't have done anything during his visit that would offend the Crawford Kingdom," Marquis Wauter stated.

"In other words?" King Lutheran pressed with an intrigued look.

"In other words, I am more inclined to believe the envoys' disappearances had something to do with the Demon Worshippers.. For example, they could be trying to instigate a war between the two countries," Marquis Wauter assumed.