The leader of the Khufu family is a white-haired old woman who hides half of her face under oblique bangs. From the beginning of the meeting to the present, she has always hidden her body in the shadow of the backlight, as still as if she were a corpse.

After hearing Ibudu's words, she slowly opened her eyes, her green eyes revealing a cold pupil, and her voice sounded much younger than her actual age:

"The Ark of the Sun and the Ships of Ten Thousand Years exist in myths and legends, and even if the accounts about them are true, they are still strategic-level weapons, and I am afraid that they will not be able to make up for the gap in the strength of King Evan and His Majesty the Queen. ”

"Mrs. Taylor, the situation has reached this point, and there is a bottomless abyss in the future, and you can't be stingy. The leader of the Carter family suddenly stood up from his seat and warned in an eager tone.

"Madame Taylor is right, not to mention whether the Khufu family really has these two treasures, even if they do, they must be very large. How can we escape the eyes and ears of the Corona Knights and deliver them to the Queen? "The leader of the Montmark family has a short temper, but his mind is not confused.

“......”

Ibudu ignored what others had said, and his gaze was like a sharp arrow ready to strike, and he stayed on Mrs. Taylor throughout: "It seems that you still seem to be jealous of me, and in that case, I should also say something." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the secretary beside him, then extended his right hand. The latter bent down in understanding, took out a wooden stick from his waist, wrapped it tightly in strips of cloth, held it in his hand above his head, and handed it to his master.

"You must have all heard the rumors of the Tomb of the Gods, in the most ancient times, when the whole world was still one, the first king Amun founded the Menes Empire, giving this world of Hongmeng ignorance spirituality.

After a long period of time, when King Amun's long reign came to an end, he ordered the Giants of Light to build a golden palace in the midst of time. There is no dry season and rainy season, no cycle of day and night, and no birth, old age, sickness and death, and there is eternal peace and happiness. Later, King Amun slept in that beautiful pure land...... Until now. ”

Like the most refined bard, Ibudu recited the epic passage of King Amun from the Radiant Earth in a sonorous tone, while quickly untying the strip of cloth wrapped around the stick:

"Everyone believed that King Amun's golden palace was independent of Hades, and there was a group of blasphemers who insisted that the palace was not untraceable, and that the doors of the golden palace could be opened by collecting the seven sacred artifacts used by King Ziamun during his lifetime. ”

With that, the strips of cloth were all torn apart, and a golden scepter with wings spread appeared in Ibudu's hand.

At the top of the scepter are two golden wings about 30 centimeters long, and the texture of the feathers is clearly visible. The shape is very simple, without too many decorations, only the diamond-shaped pattern and the corners of the arc, and you can vaguely see that many of the symbols of the past seem to have been worn a lot.

"This is the true scepter of one of the Seven Hallows. ”

Ibudu raised the scepter in disbelief as the crowd watched, and the eagle-eye ornament at the tip of the scepter and between the wings quickly moved downward, quickly aiming at Lady Taylor at the end of the long conference table.

"You!"

Mrs. Taylor's face was as pale as a dead man's face suddenly became angry, and the wrinkles crowded and swirled into a hideous color, and a sickly flush. The eyeball, hidden under the diagonal bangs, revealed a brilliant golden light, and soon became a constant line, forming an eyeball-like pattern—no different from the eagle-eye carving at the top of the scepter.

“...... It turned out that it was not the secret key of the Holy Palace, but the Eye of Ugarte!"

Ibudo's eyes narrowed, and his thin lips grinned to the sides, forming a scimitar-like arc.

In the eyes of Menes, the Eye of Ugarth has a sacred meaning, which protects the dead from harm on the way to eternal life underground, and also represents the repair and protection of the body in the underground world after death. Symbolizing the protection of the gods and the supreme monarchy, the Menes also believed that the Eye of Ugarth would play a role in their resurrection and rebirth.

"The True Scepter has the power to see through all falsehood, in other words, any illusion or disguise is meaningless in front of it. ”

The leader of the Mars family turned his head and looked at Lady Taylor, who looked pained: "It turns out that you claim to have an eye disease just to cover up the eyes of Ugart...... And then deceived us all. ”

"The ability of the Eye of Ugarte is to transfer and amplify power, and it is a waste to put it on you. ”

Ibudu gently flicked the scepter in his hand, his eyes became cold, and he suddenly changed his words:

"If you replace the holder with a queen, it's completely different...... Mrs. Taylor, for the sake of the family's continuation, please cut your love. Relatively speaking, each of our families will compensate the Khufu family, and gold, power, or even this scepter in my hand can be given to you. ”

"Are you serious!?" Mrs. Taylor covered her right eye, staring at the golden scepter in his hand, a look of emotion.

"Of course!"

Ibudu raised his head proudly, revealing an undoubted look, and his cold gaze looked around at the same time: "The road to killing gods is not easy, and there is no room for betrayal! I have gambled everything I have and my family, and I want all of you to swear to the true scepter, and the souls of those who break the oath will surely fall into hell forever and will not rest in peace! Otherwise, no one will want to get out of here!"

One by one, one by one

On a starless and moonless night, outside the palace walls of the royal court.

The black chocobo drove straight in, and as soon as it stopped in front of the arrow tower, a coronal knight greeted it:

"Commander, what's the urgency at this late hour?"

"It's none of your business!"

Ignoring his men, Delru jumped off the back of the bird and handed the reins to him, and ran alone through the palace gate to the depths of the night-shrouded royal court.

"I'm Delru, get out of the way!"

He chanted his name and ran non-stop through the checkpoints before scurrying to the door of the lounge near the training ground. Knowing that Ivan never rested at night, and usually stayed in the lounge all night to practice the Holy Scriptures, he came here to try his luck.

"I have something urgent to report to Your Majesty!"

The head of the Corona Knights looked shocked when he saw the fire in the lounge, and hurriedly ran to the door and shouted at the guards on both sides of the stairs.

"I heard the yelling all the way, and came in to speak. ”

The door to the lounge slowly opened, and Ivan's voice followed, and Delru shivered for no reason, took a deep breath, and walked in quickly.

Rows of candles were lit in the empty lounge, and in the candlelight sat the young king whose eyes turned from gold to black. The air was filled with the smell of burnt wicks after they had been lit, and the candles showed no signs of melting, apparently for the sake of a visitor.

"See Your Majesty!"

Derru took a step forward, clasped his right hand on his chest, bowed respectfully, and then said quickly:

"Your Majesty, according to the secret report of the secret guard, the leaders of the six major families gathered in the Storm Temple tonight, and held the so-called senatorial meeting! Your Majesty just welcomed the arrival of the royal family this morning, and they secretly assembled at night, and your majesty felt very suspicious...... They must be plotting against His Majesty!"

"Which Storm Temple?"

"The Storm Temple of the Inner Lake District!"

“......”

Hearing this, Evan closed his eyes, and his spiritual power radiated out, instantly spanning a distance of more than ten kilometers, enveloping the Storm Temple in the Inner Lake District. Under the gaze of the 'Divine Eye', the dimly lit inner hall was suddenly visible, and the figures and appearances of the leaders of the six major families and the secretaries were directly exposed to his gaze.

Three minutes later, he closed his eyes.

"It turned out to be six old guys...... I really don't know whether to live or die. ”

Ivan reopened his eyes, his expression did not change, looked at Delru's nervous face and closed his head gently:

"You did a great job and reported in a timely manner, I almost missed a good show. ”

In the square in front of the mirror corridor during the day, when he said those words, he knew that the six major families must have reflected. It's just that I didn't expect them to assemble so quickly, and they want to join forces to overthrow themselves...... What do you mean by that?

There are always people who want to harm me!

"Please give the order, what are we going to do next?" asked Delru, impatiently.

"Don't do anything. ”

As Ivan spoke, he stared into the other party's eyes: "Continue to observe secretly, don't expose your people, and don't do anything superfluous." Let these traitors toss, and when the time comes, I will naturally kill them. ”

"Your Majesty, forgive me for being rude!"

Seeing that he had no preemptive plan, Delru's eyes immediately reddened: "Since they are willing to join forces, there must be a way to challenge Your Majesty, and they can't let it go on like this!"

"It's just bugs. ”

Evan glanced at him unexpectedly and explained in a heartfelt manner:

"They alone can't threaten me, and the only way to threaten me is to rescue Eru Lomei first, and then use her power to challenge me. Not only that, but they will definitely find ways to help her increase her strength...... Because there is no other choice. Now that I know what they do, I naturally have a way to deal with it, so you can go down. ”

"Yes!"

Derru finally relented, bowed again, and exited the candlelit lounge.

The moment he stepped back on the stone steps, his whole body relaxed, and his whole body was filled with an indescribable comfort. Judging from His Majesty's attitude towards himself today, it seems that he has begun to trust himself, so there is no need to worry about the future reckoning.

One by one, one by one

The royal court, the palace of the king.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the demon hunting war is imminent, but the Court of Auditors cannot allocate enough military spending, which is really a headache for me. Like the uninformed, Evan sat on the throne of the sun and poured out his bitterness to the nobles in the seats:

"There is always a way to raise this money, and the sooner the better, so you may wish to share your thoughts. ”

"Back to Your Majesty. ”

A nobleman from the Surveyor stood up, bowed, and said:

"Since we don't have military spending and we are in a hurry to use money, we can only send more taxes to fill the treasury. ”

"To whom?" asked Ivan with a frown.

"Of course, it is to increase the number of people to farmers on a per capita basis. He replied aloud.

"No, no, no, the peasant households only have a few dollars, and wouldn't the additional taxes be hollowed out for them? Moreover, the labor force is already small, and if the tax is collected according to the capitation, is it necessary to force the peasant households to conceal the quantity?" Evan directly vetoed.

"That'...... His Majesty had nothing to do. The nobleman was at a loss for words.

"You can't help it?"

Ivan looked around, his gaze swept over the chief officer of the Sixth Hall Courtyard one by one, and finally stopped at Lady Dinny of the Accounting Academy: "I have a solution, do you want to hear it?"

"Your Majesty, please!" the latter quickly stood up.

"From now on, salt, iron, and spices will be prohibited from being privately owned, and the Planning and Inspection Institute will set up a branch office to monopolize them. In the major waterways and passes across the country, land supervisors and water supervisors have been set up to collect vehicle and vessel taxes on passing roads. Ivan paused at this point, looked into the other party's eyes and admonished:

"I've given you the way, and you can weigh it up for yourself on how to operate it. ”

"Your Majesty...... This ......" Lady Dinny was dumbfounded, and for a moment she didn't know what to do, and she couldn't speak.

To be honest, the solution given by Evan is indeed a solution, and it is also conducive to the expansion of the family's power. But there are too many people who are offended in this way, and the salt and iron franchise alone is enough to choke, and with a vehicle and vessel tax, you may not be able to withstand it.

"What? Do you want to say you can't do it?" his gaze suddenly froze.

"Yes...... Can it be done!"

"That's good. ”

Ivan turned his anger to joy, withdrew his gaze from her, and said to everyone:

"There is also an important matter to announce to you that in order to stabilize prices, balance your payments, and subsidize your salaries, I intend to establish a royal bank, open to all subjects of the Empire. Every savings deposited in the bank will generate interest, and it also undertakes loan services...... You all know about interest, I don't believe that any of you here have let go of loan sharks. In the future, if I have a reward, I will distribute it through the channels of the Royal Bank, and you can take the reward and get it. ”

Hearing his words, the nobles and lords in the seat were a little confused, and faintly felt that something seemed wrong, but they couldn't find anything wrong.

Seeing that the people in the seat were dazed, Evan made a killer move:

"I forgot to tell you that I have already discussed with the Aliens, and the Empire's indemnity will also go through the channels of the Royal Bank. In my bank, convert from the Imperial Deben into their currency, and then exchange all sorts of resources. If you want to buy something out of the world, you have to go to the Royal Bank to exchange money. ”

This blow can be described as a bombshell, no matter how you look at the fake Royal Bank, the gold content has increased countless levels in an instant.

Why? Because you can exchange the currency of the Aliens and buy what they have!