Rain fell over the royal palace in Londinium at night.
Hundreds of soldiers stood guard at every entrance and exit of the palace.
Among them were dragon-blood warhorses bred by the Twin Moons Khanate.
The nearly two-meter-tall war beasts occasionally exhaled white steam into the night sky.
The black iron gates rumbled open.
Carriages drove one after another into the palace courtyard.
All kinds of visitors stepped down from the carriages—white-robed elves, black-robed vampires, beastkin with cat-like ears, and elderly humans supported by attendants.
The soldiers at the gates half-knelt on the ground.
They knew exactly what kind of people were entering the palace tonight.
They all shared the same honorable title—Standing Parliamentarian.
Tonight, the meeting of the Upper House would be held inside the royal palace.
Although the Lower House was nominally the highest authority in the United Kingdom, in reality the policies and bills passed by elected parliamentarians were all drafted in advance by the Standing Parliamentarians of the Upper House.
The elected members only voted to choose between options or make yes-or-no decisions.
The Upper House had no fixed office.
The Standing Parliamentarians had several locations for meetings.
Depending on the confidentiality level of the meeting content, they rotated among these locations.
The Standing Parliamentarians entered the conference room in the palace one by one.
Some knew each other.
They nodded slightly in greeting as they passed, then took their seats.
The conference room was shaped like a semi-circular stage.
The center was for speakers.
The surrounding seats rose tier by tier.
From the highest seat, the Supreme King shook the golden bell in his hand.
The soldiers immediately withdrew from the conference room and closed the doors completely. The entire room fell silent.
Dragon King His—his dragon name was His Boreas, meaning Dragon of Dragons, King of Kings.
During the great war seventy years ago, the late Fire Dragon King had become Christine’s adopted son. Now he had inherited the crown of the United Kingdom.
After Christine’s death, the Lucis Empire believed the United Kingdom’s glory had faded.
The southern army, armed with machinery and gunpowder, would soon reclaim its hegemonic position.
However, the people of the Southern Continent never expected that Christine would pass the crown to a dragon.
After ascending the throne, this Dragon King suppressed the ambitions of the entire south.
Unlike the arrogant and conservative stereotype of long-lived species, His claimed to be Christine’s only student and successor.
Domestically he suppressed factions.
Externally he introduced mechanical technology and trained a new-style army.
Both southerners and northerners held Dragon King His in awe.
In people’s minds, this iron-fisted Dragon King was either powerfully built or overwhelmingly domineering.
Yet the boy seated in the highest chair looked only seventeen or eighteen.
His hair was jet black.
His eyelids were lowered. His expression was indifferent.
The crown that embodied the authority of the three great kingdoms had been casually tossed onto the table in front of him.
“I am very concerned,” the Dragon King said slowly. “Our scholars spent a full thirty years failing to crack the secrets of steam armor. Yet in Kent it was activated by those demonkin rebels who call themselves the Mutual Aid Society.”
The Kent incident was the topic of tonight’s hearing. The hall was completely silent.
The history of steam armor was not long. It had originated only thirty years ago.
At that time, the Lucis imperial family was in a precarious situation.
Years of locust plagues and severe droughts had left the empire’s people suffering from famine.
The imperial capital’s granaries were empty. The emperor was powerless to help the four directions.
Under the United Kingdom’s secret planning, the feudal lords of the royal domain rose in revolt against the imperial family.
History called it the “Locust Plague Coup.”
Tens of thousands of rebel troops advanced across the misty Heartland Plain.
The imperial capital beneath the Platinum Tower was close at hand.
Iron hooves kicked up clouds of dust that obscured the imperial banners embroidered with the black sun emblem.
Suddenly, fear appeared in the warhorses’ eyes. Dull footsteps echoed through the fog, as if steel were pounding the earth.
Terrifying black shadows burst through the mist. Steel giants wielding serrated greatswords reaped through the rebel formations like death gods swinging scythes.
That day the rebel army was almost completely annihilated.
This was the first time steam armor appeared before the world.
News of the rebel defeat spread rapidly throughout the empire.
Those traitors who now regretted their actions either shot themselves with flintlocks or knelt with their families before the throne under the Platinum Tower, begging for the emperor’s mercy.
The United Kingdom was also shocked.
A piece of steam armor wreckage was sent to the Muni Institute of Orfa University.
Scholars disassembled and reassembled it countless times, yet they still could not figure out how the steel giant operated.
Some elven scholars claimed that the power provided by the steam core was fundamentally insufficient to drive such a colossal machine.
The thing was essentially some kind of magical creation.
However, the Orfa University research continued fruitlessly until thirty years later.
Instead, demonkin terrorists were the first to uncover the secret of steam armor.
This was undoubtedly a humiliation for the United Kingdom.
Dragon King His’s golden eyes slowly swept across the entire conference room.
The Standing Parliamentarians remained deathly silent.
They knew he was looking for someone to hold accountable.
“The Muni Institute. You should have an explanation,” the Dragon King said. His gaze, sharp as a blade, stopped on an elf.
The elven woman rose in silence.
Sallyanna Vilino—one of the elves who had followed Christine to the Northern Continent seventy years ago.
During the siege of Agate, it was she who had designed the entire battlefield’s spell layout.
The Muni Institute now led by Sallyanna was the United Kingdom’s highest technical authority. Its members were almost all elves.
They were responsible only for the most cutting-edge research in technology and magic.
“Please calm your anger, Your Majesty. Thanks to the smooth resolution of the Kent incident, we recovered the armor and its pilot that were activated during the riot in time.”
“After analysis, we have made new discoveries. Professor Miriel, who personally went to Kent to recover the items, will explain the research details to everyone.”
Professor Miriel, standing beside Sallyanna, quickly stepped onto the podium.
At the same time, a projection lamp cast photos of the armor wreckage and Azog’s corpse onto a white screen.
“Respected parliamentarians, respected Supreme King Your Majesty, thank you all for your trust.”
Miriel performed an elegant bow, then produced two sealed test tubes.
“From the orc pilot’s blood we discovered a substance never seen before. Through comparative analysis, we found that this substance also existed in the blood samples from the Cornwall case. This substance is Demon Spinal Fluid!”
Miriel’s excited voice echoed throughout the conference room.
In an instant, the Standing Parliamentarians began murmuring among themselves.
They all knew that pure-blooded demons should have died during the siege of Agate.
This had been historical common knowledge.
Only Sibyl almost jumped up to curse.
The Cornwall case had been solved by Claire.
That blood sample should have been sitting on a shelf in the Cerberus Bureau’s evidence department.
Now it had appeared in the hands of elves.
Sibyl turned her head and happened to see Alexander narrowing his eyes in a smile.
It was a mocking smile.
He must have been the one who handed the blood sample to the elves as head of the Second Agency. It seemed they were all hawks.
“Demon Spinal Fluid? What does this have to do with steam armor?”
The Dragon King’s question came from the highest seat.
“Please wait a moment, Your Majesty.”
Miriel raised a hand to signal. Two white-robed elves then carried a long table onto the podium.
On the long table lay a serpentine machine resembling a spine. Its inner side was covered with fine golden needles.
“Our previous guess was not wrong. The power source supporting the armor’s operation is not solely the steam core. There is also the endoskeleton before you. We originally thought the endoskeleton was only for neural connection between the pilot and the armor, making the Steam Knight’s movements more agile.”
Miriel paused.
Then she dripped the blood sample from the Cornwall case onto the serpentine machine.
Upon contact with the sample, the machine twisted violently as if it were alive.
“But in reality the endoskeleton functions as a filter. Only a pilot injected with Demon Spinal Fluid can activate the machine. This is the secret the Lucis imperial family has kept hidden! What blasphemy! What evil!”
Miriel shouted passionately. Her tone carried hidden incitement.
The conference room erupted in an uproar. No one had imagined that the creation touted as the essence of Lucis Empire technology would be connected to demon blood.
Sallyanna was the first to applaud. The other parliamentarians followed.
They all acknowledged that Miriel’s discovery was epoch-making.
The Northern Continent had once again seized the Southern Continent by the throat.
The Dragon King was silent for a moment, then spoke.
“Well done! I hereby announce the immediate establishment of a Steam Armor Investigation Group, with full authority given to the Muni Institute. I look forward to your results.”
“Great Supreme King Your Majesty,” Miriel knelt on one knee, her tone firm and sincere.
“This discovery is by no means the achievement of the Muni Institute alone. It was the brave resistance of the Kent police and civilians together with Dragon Guard Escreis that prevented this armor from falling into the hands of the Mutual Aid Society. We must also thank Miss Claire of the Cerberus Bureau.”
“It was this wise and valiant Enforcer who killed the armor’s pilot during the riot. We have long heard of Miss Claire’s outstanding achievements in handling cases related to the Mutual Aid Society. We therefore earnestly request that Your Majesty transfer Miss Claire into the investigation group. We believe she will bring immeasurable assistance to our work.”
The parliamentarians looked at one another.
They did not understand why Miriel would mention an obscure vampire while receiving praise.
Only Sibyl knew that this was their ultimate goal.
“Sallyanna, your responsibility is to build our own steam armor for the Northern Continent, not to come asking the Cerberus Bureau for people!”
Sibyl stood up to retort.
Her figure looked especially petite among this group of calm and dignified parliamentarians, yet her words were aggressive.
“Professor Miriel’s petition is directed at Your Majesty. What right do you have to object? Sit down.”
Sallyanna’s response was equally merciless.
The other parliamentarians were astonished that these two immortal founding heroes would clash so fiercely.
The Dragon King shook the small golden bell beside his hand, stopping the impending quarrel.
“Then we might as well hear the opinion of the person involved. Please welcome our witness—Claire Vandro!”