Chapter 188: Second World: The Marshal's Most Important Person

This was obviously not up for negotiation so Emperor Lin called out to his servants to carry his son before scurrying out of the main hall like his pants were on fire.

Emperor Zhao watched with bloodshot eyes as his only support ran off leaving him to deal with the aftermath. It was then that he realised he had made a miscalculation. It never crossed his mind that his plan would fail and not only fail but fail miserably. What made it worse was that he held back his escape thinking Prince Yao kidnapping the Qie Family would successfully twist the Marshal's arm and he would finally concede but the emperor was too naive.

At least he still had the cloaked man waiting on standby to rescue him and with that thought in mind he pushed away his fear and sent out a distress signal. To stall for time he decided to converse with the Marshal and delay the envitable.

"Marshal Qie, I truly underestimated you. If I had known things would end up this way I wouldn't have bothered proceeding with such a dreadful plan and enjoyed my throne in peace. But even so you still would have taken my throne away from me as you are after all the most powerful man in the empire. Who in this entire universe could have the power to stop you?" said the emperor lesuirely pacing to his throne. Though his actions were natural Qie Ranzhe knew this man was trying to create some distance between them so he wouldn't get attacked but why would the Marshal want to give this man a peace of mind.

Qie Ranzhe moved a couple of steps closer his arms folded across his chest all nonchalant saying, "Actually, you are right. No one in this entire universe can stop me from taking over your throne but there was something that could. I am surprised you never watched the late emperor's last recorded testimonial. My father personally recorded that session and sent it to you after the late emperor passed away."

In that testimonial the late emperor had signed a contract with the retired Marshal not to seize the throne from his son unless he endangers the empire of Valim and its citizens by either starting a war or colluding with the enemy. In the video, the late emperor stored his copy of the contract along with the empire's important documents but who knew his son wouldn't even bother to open those documents or watch his father's last testimonial.

Emperor Zhao's face turned ashen, his lips trembling. The moment he brought in the zerg that contract became null and void but he could still get away with it as this couldn't be traced back to him but now that he had publicly stirred up trouble and brought in Nibiru into Valim affairs it meant he was finished. A flicker of regret flashed through his eyes but it was too late for that.

Qie Ranzhe was justified to take the throne from him as he was unfit for service. "Even now you are still underestimating me."

The emperor was confused with his brows knitted together asking, "What?" The door was suddenly opened with the usually cloaked man flung onto the follow his scarred face finally revealed to the world.

"Emperor Zhao your last means of escape has been cut off. You even dared to collude with this nafarious character?" said Qie Ranzhe as the army officers apprehended the both of them. The nafarious character Qie Ranzhe was referring to was the cloaked man aka Pantu the last of three grandmasters well versed in martial arts but was labeled a traitor when he sold out UPSF fleet secrets to anyone who was willing to pay for it. This led to the fleet losing a lot of their Xianore and weapons to space pirates. This man disappeared without a trace after the transporter carrying him to prison suddenly exploded which explained the unsighty scars on his face. Who would have thought the traitor was now Emperor Zhao's henchman.

Emperor Zhao's face drained out more of its color leaving behind an ashen pale face. He then realized that everything was over but he didn't think things would turn for the worst when he heard the Marshal say, "He started to chirp as soon as we caught him giving up all your secrets just to save himself from the death penalty. Do you want to know what he said?"

Qie Ranzhe didn't wait for Emperor Zhao to respond as the man fell limply to the floor in shock. "He gave me evidence that you killed Gu Xiejie so you could keep her wealth and marry your high-school sweetheart."

Emperor Zhao immediately shook his head denying the accusation. "I didn't, I didn't, I didn't," he kept on repeating the same words but Qie Ranzhe didn't spare him a glance calling Zhao Xieshu on his communicator while saying, "There is a lot of secrets I would love to divulge but you would have to wait for your first born son to arrive first so he can personally deal with you."

Emperor Zhao was on all fours having a panic attack but Qie Ranzhe didn't pay attention scowling when he heard an automated response, "This device is out of range. Please try again later."

It was at this moment that the Marshal pieced everything together. This explained Lin Yao's out of character behavior earlier on. Lin Yao knew he was fighting a losing battle but if he could take away the Marshal's important person then it would count as win. "Fuck!" swore Qie Ranzhe smashing his communicator on the ground, "Go find him!"

***

A couple of light years away Lin Yao finally arrived to his accomplish's spaceship and silently approached the sleeping beauty who was lying there soundlessly completely unaware of his surroundings. "I bet he's going crazy right now. Don't worry even if he turns the entire universe upside down he will never find you," said Lin Yao with a light chuckle as his fingers gently pushed away Zhao Xieshu's stray blonde strands and lowered himself to kiss the man's forehead.