WEAPON SELLER IN THE WORLD OF MAGIC

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486 Shang Wei seeks guidance

Sometime later, in Song Yue's room;

Song Yue slowly opened her eyes, coming out of her sleep, and saw Mark sitting on the chair beside her bed.

"Markie…" She abruptly got up as if she found newfound strength in her body.

Mark, who was taking a light nap while stroking the kitten's back, opened his eyes right away. "My schatz…" He hugged her as she leaned to his chest while tearing up, "I missed you… where were you all this time? You disappeared suddenly without leaving a note or anything. Do you know how worried I was? If not for Anan and Baltrow's constant reminder, I would have lost my mind. And… and… *sniff* sniff* my father… I… I…"

"Shhh… I know. Calm down…" Mark caressed the back of her head while keeping his tone as soft as possible. "I know… I swear to you. Whoever is behind the incident will pay it dearly." After a brief pause, he grabbed her face and looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry for everything. If only I was here, this wouldn't have happened. And I also wanted to tell you the truth but seeing your hatred for your father, I couldn't bring myself to speak of it."

*sniff*

She wiped her tears as she moved back, speaking in a hoarse tone, "I can understand. But, he is no more, Markie. All because of me… If only that sword pierced my neck and ended my life, he would have been alive… Waah." As she started crying at the top of her lungs once again, Mark took her hands into his and said, "Your father sacrificed his life for you, redeeming himself from every sin he has ever committed in his life. Don't belittle his sacrifice by saying such things. You cannot blame yourself. The best thing you can do for him is to live happily. As for giving him the justice, leave it to me."

She nodded a few times, letting him wipe out her tears.

For the next ten minutes, he explained everything that happened from how he accidentally stranded in the world of elves to his involvement in saving the population. Of course, he left out several important details like the storyline in the cursed diamond, the real identities of Steve and James, or meeting with immortal level demon Xalazar.

Meanwhile, Shen Ling was busy conversing with Sylvandria and the two teenagers. While the two of them were engaged in conversation, Steve looked quite restless.

Shen Ling spotted his behavior and asked whether he was uncomfortable or needed something.

Steve immediately used the excuse of needing fresh air and escaped from the room, leaving James to listen to Shen Ling's deep explanation about everything that they need to know about the powers in this world.

After asking around, Steve went to one of the guest rooms where Song Yue and Mark were currently staying.

By the time he knocked on the door and entered the room after getting permission, Song Yue was already drawn into sleep. He asked, "Is she still unconscious?"

"No, she woke up and just fell asleep." Mark shook his head, explaining to him that she was too tired at the moment.

"Actually, she is…" Steve is about to speak of relation with Song Yue, but Mark interrupts him before he gets to finish the sentence, "I know. Just act as if you don't know her. Don't complicate things for me and stay here while trying your best to not interfere in anything. I'll start working on your return once I am done with a couple of things that occupied my mind at the moment." "Ah, nothing to worry about. You can take your time, Da… Mr. Lu," replied Steve while almost blurting out 'Dad'.

Mark continued, "Tell the same thing to your brother too. He looks like someone who unnecessarily pokes his finger into someone's business when he sees something wrong. This isn't the Ixitus Empire. A wrong step from either of you might inflict damage on my plans here."

"Leave it to me," Steve assured him that he would take care of James.

Mark nodded with a smile, "good." 𝗳r𝚎e𝘄𝐞b𝚗𝗼ve𝚕.co𝗺

***

Imperial City, Phoenix Empire;

In the outer sector of the Imperial city, just a few km away from Genesis Weapon Store's HQ which was currently out of business due to the lack of stock, two lengthy and wide asphalt roads were built adjacent to each other with a couple of hundred meters distance between them.

Thousands of citizens gathered around the perimeter to look at the two majestic aircraft parked at the end of these roads. Since Mark forgot to inform the imperial family of the term airstrip or runway in his manual guide, the new emperor termed it the stairway to the sky.

Shang Jun, the new Emperor of the south, was standing with Supreme Commander Bai, Northern General Hua, the new prime minister Shang Wei (3rd prince), and a few other important ministers. The once important Patriarchs of major clans were nowhere to be seen for such an event as they lost their power.

"Your Majesty, it is time," said an old monk named Cao Wen, an Oracle with mysterious origins. No one knows where Shang Jun found him but ever since he came to the Imperial Palace, good things started happening to the Empire. Cao Wen was one of the two prime advisors to the Emperor, the other being Shang Wei. His ability is to look into Shang Jun's fortune and advise whether it could be good, bad, or either.

Shang Jun listens to his advice rather well and will only depend on Shang Wei's judgment when the fortune is said to be neither good nor bad. Because of the current Emperor's blind trust in Cao Wen, Shang Wei was lately struggling with his current identity. Anyways, back to the present, two soldiers of captain rank with cultivations of 5-circle boarded the two light aircraft (Yak-130). Soon, a signal was given in the form of a firecracker in the sky and both of the vehicles started moving. Their speed started increasing as time passed. Eventually, they successfully flew into the sky, earning applause from the spectators.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty." "Congratulations, Your Majesty. You did what your predecessor couldn't do it." "We lost 10 soldiers and 6 aircraft, but after seeing the results, I think everyone would agree that it is worth the risk." "Not 6 aircraft Minister Li. Three of them could be repaired as long as we got hold of Lu Zhen." "Yeah, speaking of which, we haven't heard of him lately. There are rumors that he was assassinated." "That bastard deserves it." "If he dies, then, we would have to depend on the dwarves. So far, there appeared to be no progress from them." "I still don't understand how a fine noble woman like Lady Song chose him" "I heard that he violated her when he abducted her. As a result, she was forced to be with him"

The ministers started congratulating Shang Jun while slightly criticizing the previous emperor for not pushing the soldiers to finish the training quickly. Some ministers also took this opportunity to slander Mark and Song Yue as the Emperor didn't stop them from murmuring among themselves.

Shang Wei felt bad upon listening to those comments but he couldn't do anything and was forced to stay silent.

Later on, as the two pilots returned to the ground and even managed to have a perfect touchdown, Emperor Shang Jun ordered the third prince to present the two soldiers with hefty rewards in order to push the other pilots in training to master their aircraft as quickly as possible.

Once the event was over, Shang Jun and Shang Wei alongside the Supreme Commander made a visit to the newly constructed Firearms division HQ, where the soldiers were doing a training exercise that involved firearms and the battle tanks.

The three of them returned to the palace. Shang Wei excused himself and left for the section of the imperial palace that was set apart from the active administrative and ceremonial areas of the palace. It usually houses the former Emperor and his wives and concubines.

Unlike the royal palace in the Western Moon kingdom which is nothing but a huge residence, the imperial palace at Phoenix Empire and other empires won't be one residence. According to the sections, there are several residences within the compound and collectively, it is called the palace.

Hence, one can say the former emperor and his wives were living in a separate residence from the Emperor. The only unfortunate thing is that except for Lan Jingyi, his other two wives refused to move in with him and continued to stay in the Inner Quarters reserved for the ladies of the imperial family as they continued to run politics from behind the scenes.

Shang Wei visited his parents and then sat alone with his father in a private chamber upon his request.

Taking a sip of wine, Shang Fu asked, "Xiao Wei, tell me, what's troubling you lately?"

Letting out a deep sigh, Shang Wei answered, "I don't know, father. So much has happened lately. First, you stepped down from the throne. Brother Wen left for high realms for training. Xiao Jiao was also on the same route. Brother Zexi is hiding. Ever since Brother Bo's organization was acknowledged by his majesty, he was engrossed in his work and I have only seen him once. Lately, His Majesty has been depending too much on Cao Wen, and he was also working hard enough to lessen my tasks to a lot of extent. I just no longer feel the same as when I took up this job even though not much time has passed. I feel so lost without any vision of the future."

"Hmm…" Shang Fu took his son's words seriously and thought for a bit before he replied, "I have a suggestion for you. Why don't you marry a girl you like and start a family of your own?"

"Huh?"