The morning sun is rising, and the brilliant morning light is shining all over the land.

Pompeii, a city inhabited by millions of people, is like a giant ant nest, waking up from its slumber and starting a new day.

It was an ordinary morning.

Everyone thinks so.

Until, the golden bell on the golden bell tower was struck.

- Bell!

"What's going on here?"

Due to the all-out war mobilization order issued half a month ago, the residents of the imperial capital are no strangers to the bells, and many people have put down their work and looked in the east direction of the city where the golden bell tower is located.

The golden bell tower is as high as fifteen zhang, second only to the imperial palace in height, and people in half of the city can faintly see the golden pavilion reflecting in the morning light.

- Bell!

The golden bell cast in pure gold is not as penetrating as the bronze bell, but it is clearer and condensed.

Whether it is celebration or combat readiness vigilance, the bells in the past are usually relatively hurried, like the beat of drums on the battlefield, but this time the bells are extraordinarily long, long and heavy.

- Bell!

Sound is able to convey feelings, and the slow ringing of the bell pierces the air, carrying the low and pathos, and transmits in all directions.

- Bell!

This bell is too slow and too unfamiliar!

Such a slow, solemn bell has not been rung for thirty-eight years.

- Bell!

The old man, who was more than half a hundred years old, stood up tremblingly with a cane.

From the distant memories of their youth, they seem to find some familiarity faintly.

- Bell!

The old people waved away the support of their children and grandchildren, and stumbled from the houses to the streets.

Led by their elders, thousands of residents came out of their houses.

- Bell!

Naughty and laughing children are scolded by adults.

They watched in amazement as the expressions on the faces of the adults changed from surprise to solemnity, and the emotions gradually became contagious, and the whole street fell silent.

- Bell!

- Bell!

- Bell!

……

One after another.

Like a hammer striking the atrium.

Thirty-two sounds.

The bell was not far away, and in the crowd that froze on the ground, the old man with his sideburns and wrinkled face suddenly threw away his crutches and howled on the ground.

"Your Majesty! Our majesty! ……”

They beat their hearts, their faces full of sorrow, as if they did not do so, and could no longer relieve the grief in their hearts.

People are in a trance.

A sob.

Two sobs.

……

In the midst of weeping and sobbing, the people finally accepted the fact that Abraham the Great, who had been on the throne for thirty-eight years and had led the Merlin Empire to the pinnacle of prosperity, died suddenly and without warning.

The whole city mourns.

All lanes are empty.

From the slums to the aristocracy, countless people took to the streets, crying and wailing.

They are not only grieving the collapse of a great emperor, but also venting their frustration at the loss of their most credible leader.

It's like an army has lost its flag.

It's like a ship that has lost its rudder.

It's like a migratory bird that has lost its leader.

30,000 Royal Guards arrived in the imperial capital.

The deputy regiment commander who went out of the city overnight to transfer troops immediately ordered the replacement of the city defense army.

But whether it was the soldiers who handed over the city defense, or the elite army who took over the defense, listening to the cries from the city, the young soldiers all had a similar blankness in their eyes, as if they had lost their backbone.

"Your Majesty has died?"

"Your Majesty has died?"

……

"Your Majesty has died......"

A soft female voice sounded in the ears of the Saxons, and Lin An said softly, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, please mourn." ”

Saxon raised his bloodshot eyes.

He always knew that Lin An had entered the palace, but he didn't have time to think about how she entered the palace.

His mind was completely occupied by sadness, his chest was hollow, his eyes were dry, and before he knew it, he had stood all night in the side hall where the emperor's body was kept.

Outside the door of the side hall, there were sobbing pains from Princess Victoria and other court wives.

As for the empress, as soon as she learned of the emperor's death, she fainted, then woke up, cried again until she fainted, and the cycle repeated.

The Saxons did not shed tears.

In fact, he had been in a state of distraction, and had not yet accepted the fact that the old man, who had closed his eyes peacefully, had completely lost his vitality.

Raising his hand to cover his eyes, he put it down after a while, and Saxon's voice was hoarse:

"Is there anything wrong with you?"

"I returned to the mansion last night and saw the emperor star falling, so I hurriedly entered the palace, but I didn't expect it to be a step too late."

Although he didn't ask, Lin An had to give a reasonable explanation for the sudden entry into the palace, as for the prophecy, since it was too late, there was no need to say it again, it was useless to regret and be unwilling.

Abraham the Great had a great life and was a great ruler for a generation, and Saxon had no doubt that his grandfather's demise would be a celestial sign.

He nodded and said calmly:

"It's a shame you didn't get to see your grandfather one last time."

"What about when you leave? Are there any last words left? ”

Hiding his eyes thoughtfully, Lin An asked as usual.

"Nope."

Saxon said calmly, "Grandfather must have left in his sleep, and when I went to see him before going to bed, I found that he was not breathing, and his body was cold. ”

No, what about Master Antonio?

Lin An knew that since his health deteriorated, the emperor had slept in a separate room with the empress.

Moreover, the emperor had developed a habit since his youth that he never let his maids keep vigil when he went to sleep, and the only person who could be in the same room with him was Master Antonio, who never left his side.

The emperor stopped breathing, how could Master Antonio not warn?

Thinking of the connection between Master Antonio and the emperor, Lin An suddenly understood.

Because there were still guards around, Lin An used the communication technique: "Your Majesty didn't break the contract with Master Antonio?" ”

"Nope."

Saxon seemed to have lost his sense of the surroundings and replied indifferently, "Master Antonio is his grandfather's 'shadow', and from the day he became an archmage, he was destined to live and die with his grandfather. ”

"I'm sorry."

Lin An understood that this was obviously another secret in the shadow of the throne of the Merlin Empire.

Perhaps in the near future, such a "shadow" will appear around Saxon.

The royal family of Merlin has the secret method to give birth to the Shadow Archmage, and of course, the price should be great.

Shadow had to live in symbiosis with the Emperor, so when the Emperor died, Master Antonio died at the same time.

Knowing this, Lin An no longer had any doubts.

It seems that the emperor did die in his sleep.

But Lin An still has a sense of unreality.

Although the emperor's lifespan has long been counted down, subconsciously, Lin An always feels that this old man cannot die so easily.

I believe that the Saxons and queens are mostly like this.

So they still can't accept the facts.

A man like Abraham the Great should have died in front of an army of thousands of horses, or on a throne guarded by his courtiers, rather than in his bed like an ordinary old man.

Lin Anxin couldn't say that he was sad, but he had a feeling of loss.

She looked at the young man in front of her.

From today onwards, in the history books of the Merlin Empire, the old page of Abraham the Great has been turned, and a new page will be written by this young emperor.

The pressure he will face is unprecedented.

He didn't have much time to grieve.

Lin An silently withdrew, returning the last time left for the young man to be quiet and contemplative.

……

The imperial palace has not yet been lifted, but the situation in the imperial capital is calm.

With five legendary crowns sitting in the imperial capital, no one would have any delusions that would make it happen in such a situation.

The move to mobilize the Imperial Guard was just a practice on the occasion of the succession of the imperial throne.

With the elite of the royal guard, who are absolutely loyal to the royal family, the succession to the throne can be carried out smoothly, and at the same time, the legitimacy of the heir is announced to the entire empire.

The emperor's burial is a state ceremony, and from the moment the death knell rings, the minister who is eligible to enter the palace to mourn has been waiting with his family in the square of the Loxena Golden Palace.

Originally, Lin An, as one of the archmages of the palace mage tower, could not leave the palace at this time.

But at the same time, she also served as the chief elder of the Royal Secret Law Order, and the elder group that had just served for a short time had not yet received a token to enter the palace, and Lin An had to come forward.

The hidden inheritance has not been born for a long time, and the secular etiquette is unfamiliar, if there is any joke in the emperor's funeral, Lin An will give up his efforts.

As soon as Master Don Quixote heard this reason, he immediately gave Lin An a pass token and asked her to leave the palace and leave the city.

Along the way, there were very few people walking outside, and the atmosphere was cold and bleak.

Wreaths were laid along the main road for carriages in the aristocratic district, weeping could be heard from the deserted streets, the few pedestrians were in a hurry, the patrol guards with guns and armor were expressionless, and the bright red tassels with the heads of their guns were replaced, and all of them wore strips of white cloth on their upper arms.

The carriage passed through the square of the Golden Palace of Loxena, where quite a few civilians had already gathered.

The well-groomed soldiers stood by the square, isolating the people from the nobles, and the citizens dressed in black and with white flowers on their chests quietly watched the aristocratic carriages drive in, and the occasional sobs were also suppressed, and everyone mourned the death of the great emperor in silence.

The whole of Pompey seemed to be mourning the loss of a man.

Lin An was silent.

For a long time, in Lin An's mind, the emperor was just an old man, an emperor who worked in the emperor's mind, but he never thought about what the emperor represented in the minds of the common people of Merlin.

And the scene in front of him gave Lin An an answer.

Although she has many different evaluations of the emperor, in terms of the position of emperor, Abraham the Great is indeed heroic.

His demise was the equivalent of losing a pillar for the empire.

This is a spiritual symbol of leadership that cannot be replaced by anyone.

Abraham the Great was an emperor, but in the minds of his subjects, his army, he was more than just an emperor.

Lin An suddenly understood Abraham the Great's concerns.

He desperately instilled in the penultimate period of his life, not because he was afraid that the Saxons would be young and could not suppress those noble ministers, nor that he was afraid that the Saxons would not have enough prestige to make the decrees impossible to implement smoothly, but because he was afraid that the young emperor would not be able to erase the influence he left behind in a short period of time, replace it, and become the backbone of the empire.

The era of Abraham the Great, with the death knell ringing, has slowly come to an end, Lin An only hopes that the twilight belonging to the human race will not come so soon......

R1152