Apocalypse Lord-Chapter 75 - 73: Embers

The woman in Imperial uniform made Lucia’s first impression, like a black rose blooming in the extreme cold.

Cold and beautiful, sharp, and aloof.

The blond witch’s drowsy thoughts gradually became active, and then, her eyes flashed with incredulous light.

Lucia had already determined the identity of the other party.

The last remnant of the Old Empire, the avenger who swept through the Extreme Cold Sea Region with the Plumbum White, the cold-blooded and ruthless butcher, the sole offspring of the Black Emperor.

—Princess Valentina.

In the seas controlled by the New Empire, her name had long turned into a nightmare in the hearts of sailors.

Lucia stared intently at the woman’s face. It had been over two centuries since the Mad Emperor’s death, yet why did the Empire Princess still look so young?

Is she...really still human?

Lucia instinctively wanted to distance herself.

"I suggest you don’t get too far from me, little witch."

The woman with an icy expression made a reminder at that moment.

The Empire Princess’s deep eyes remained locked on the lady with the mask: "Otherwise, you’ll be tainted by the filth on the stage."

"Where exactly is this place?"

Lucia’s face tensed, and she discreetly placed her hand in her pocket: "Why did you capture me here?"

"Watch your words, witch. You immersed yourself in this dream of ideals."

The Empire Princess’s face displayed a hint of displeasure as she turned her head, her gaze full of oppressive coldness: "I hate being misunderstood."

Lucia was taken aback.

"Dream of ideals..."

She murmured out loud and straightforwardly sat beside the princess.

"And what is that?" The dread deep in Lucia’s eyes had faded, replaced by the witch’s innate curiosity.

"Since your mind is filled with questions, why not try to listen to my thoughts?"

The Empire Princess’s expression remained indifferent. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I’m not a fool..."

Lucia pouted and mumbled.

The witch’s so-called ’listening to thoughts’ wasn’t as easy as simply reading textual information, but rather projecting the images deep in the other party’s mind into one’s own.

This ability carries many risks even when used on land; the witch might be mentally damaged by those with strong willpower.

Let alone the chaotic and mysterious Gray Realm sea.

Recklessly using the listening ability would have the chaotic, maddening images from beneath the sea overwhelm the witch’s mind in an instant.

The coldness on the Empire Princess’s face eased slightly; in this world, the witch race, eager to explore the sea, was always worthy of better treatment.

"This is the network world constructed by Celestial Principle civilization."

She crossed her legs, answering the witch’s curiosity: "In the past, people addicted to the network called this the ’dream of ideals.’"

"The company leaders turned this into a Celestial Kingdom for the mind, where people indulged would never wake up."

The Empire Princess spoke softly: "To the stars, this is the perfect platter."

Lucia felt a chill in her heart.

Why did the company leaders betray their civilization?

"Want to see the true face of that ghost woman on the stage?"

A cold laugh sounded in the witch’s ear, as the Empire Princess lifted her hand covered by a black glove and snapped her fingers with a snap.

Ripples spread from her fingertips in all directions.

The hall of the interview was instantly stripped of its disguise, with the floor and walls exposing uncomfortable multicolored fungal carpets, and bits of starlight wriggling and flickering in the space.

In Lucia’s view, the face of the masked lady turned into a deep, unfathomable black hole, like an infinite empty universe containing stars.

The interviewer in front of the lady hung their head powerlessly, the rotten hollow skin swelling and contracting, with bugs growing robustly inside the shell.

At the same time, quite a bit of starlight had already surrounded, and the larvae greedily eyed the fresh flesh but were held in place by the Empire Princess’s power.

Lucia was horrified.

"The followers of Ouroboros influenced my father, and that ghost woman was one of them."

’Valentina’ stared intensely at the remnant image left in the network dream by the company leader: "Father fell into the deepest despair after witnessing the destruction of Celestial Principle civilization."

Also, it was on that day that the Black Emperor refused the offer of immortality from the Ouroboros followers, choosing to fight against the Ouroboros behind them to the end.

From then on, the solitary monarch was destined to sleep forever on the throne.

"Over two hundred years..."

The Empire Princess’s voice echoed hauntingly, her eyes buried with deep-seated hatred: "I have always been searching for traces of Ouroboros followers..."

Those scum are the apostles of Celestial Calamity leading civilization to its end, the true source of chaos.

"Ouroboros...followers..." Lucia’s expression was somewhat bewildered: "I’ve never heard of them..."

"So you all will never understand my words."

The Empire Princess said faintly: "Just like people will never understand my father."

She carried this blood feud alone.

If the young Black Emperor was likened to a fiery blaze, Princess Valentina was the embers left after the blaze was extinguished.

Silence filled the atmosphere for a moment.

After a while, Lucia asked softly: "How do I leave?"

"The dream of ideals was originally a trap woven by the Ouroboros followers, you are already trapped in the gap of the Data World, just like I am now."

The Empire Princess said coldly: "If you don’t want the insects to bore through your head, you’d better not leave my sight—"

’Valentina’s words halted, she saw the blond witch retrieve a round mechanical construct from her pocket.

The surface of that thing was painted with a wobbly red skull.

Lucia began to turn the gear on top of the mechanical construct.

"What are you planning to do?"

The Empire Princess’s face showed a rare hint of doubt.

"I’m going to try blowing this place up with the most powerful explosive bomb."

The blond witch looked up; her tone was very light: "My companions are still waiting for me; I don’t want to hold them back."

The First Mate of the Black-winged Calamity was never one for mediocrity.

"You’ll die."

The Empire Princess’s expression remained indifferent.

"It’s okay; Roland said I won’t truly die in the Gray Realm!"

The blond witch smiled and winked: "Don’t underestimate me, Valentina."

The Empire Princess nodded, stood up coldly, adjusted the brim of her hat, and turned away without hesitation.

This witch was clearly crazy.

Something even more sinister than starlight had altered her perception, and for ’Valentina’, entangling with such a person would only bring her trouble.

The next moment, the Empire Princess’s figure disappeared from the audience seats.

The swarm shrieked!

Lucia held her makeshift Gear Bomb with a fierce expression and lunged at Mrs. Martina on the podium!

Blazing firelight engulfed everything.