Chapter 276 Ouyang Zen, The King Of Eastern Sun

*Bang* bang* bang* bang*

Continuous gunshots reverberated across the hills located outside of Helius city and people who were kneeling on the ground started collapsing with all of their skulls pierced by a 12.7mm round, killing them instantly.

After the last kneeling guy died, the flying horse slowly descended onto the ground and the 12-year-old kid, who was the shooter, jumped from the back of the horse with the sniper rifle.

*Clap* Clap* Clap*

A middle-aged-looking fellow landed behind him and started clapping, "Bravo, Your Majesty. You are indeed a once-in-a-century genius. Without any formal training, you have not only struck the target without fail but even managed to put a hole in their skulls precisely."

Meanwhile, the soldiers, who were nervous as hell as they stood behind the prisoners as the kid fired the bullets, couldn't help but wipe out their sweat and let out a series of sighs of relief as the mass execution is finished.

And this 12-year-old kid is none other than Ouyang Zhen, the current King of Eastern Sun. He is a 2-circle Spirit Warrior of Fighter path. However, he likes bows and arrows instead.

But, ever since Lan Jing returned with a wide variety of guns, he fell in love with them, especially the M99, the single-shot sniper rifle that shoots a 12.7x99mm round. With its range going as far as 1800 meters, he picked it as his principal weapon, carrying it with him all the time. However, the only problem is that Lan Jing had only brought 100 bullets of 12.7mm caliber with him and Phoenix Empire is thousands of kilometers away from the Eastern Sun kingdom. So, he wasn't recklessly shooting the bullets, atleast, not from this sniper.

At present, 8 death row prisoners of the Eastern Sun were executed for the first time without using the guillotine, and that too, away from the public. One can say that Ouyang Zen has the style but neither Lan Jing nor other soldiers appreciate their king's methods.

Reasons?

Lan Jing wanted the king to execute them publicly so that the citizens will get to fear and respect his authority.

On the other hand, the soldiers were dead scared about getting struck by those bullets. They preferred a much safer Guillotine. After all, guns and bullets were pretty much a new concept to them and people always feared or be wary of the unknown. So, their worries were reasonable.

After finishing with the mass execution, Ouyang Zen returns to the palace alongside Lan Jing, his personal advisor as well as a guard.

Considering how the kid trusts him and always listens to his opinion, the ministers and even the civilians pretty much think that Ouyang Zen is just a puppet of Lan Jing. But, what can they do? Lan Jing isn't just a royal guard of the king but he is practically the guardian of the entire Eastern Sun kingdom.

Because of his peak-8-circle cultivation, neither the bordering empires of Leon and Kun nor the politicians dare to dethrone Ouyang Zen in any way even if he was perfectly not qualified to sit on the throne if one just considers his age and other qualified heirs.

? It's been more than two years since Ouyang Zen has been the king and the administration was good so far. There's been less crime rate, rebellious groups were being dealt with swiftly, and the economy is doing very well.

Anyway, no one is complaining and every problem is being handled, so, Ouyang Zen was at peace while taking decisions, although, in the process, he might have traded his childhood innocence in exchange for the supreme authority.

Now, there was one more person who could potentially influence him and ruin all the policies indirectly introduced by Lan Jing. She is the most important person to Ouyang Zen.

Her name is Zan Rong and she appeared to be at the palace when the King returned to his home.

One of the rooms of the royal palace was dedicated to a number of small and big aquariums where exotic aquatic creatures, mostly fishes, were being looked after daily. Of course, none of them are high-ranking spirit beasts. They were either normal ones or the ones below 2-circle. So, generally, they are harmless for someone like Zan Rong, who is a 5-circle healer.

A couple of soldiers were currently transferring a jellyfish from a bucket full of water to a clean aquarium tank. At the moment, this 2-circle aquatic beast appeared to be immobile due to the seal placed on it.

After it was transferred into a fresh tank, the seal was removed and the jellyfish started moving again. It didn't show any signs of struggling and started to swim around.

A smile appeared on Zan Rong as she touches the glass, "that transparent glowing body and tentacles, it is so beautiful."

There was this look of intoxication on her as she watched the jellyfish swim around. She was so into it that she didn't even notice Ouyang Zen and Lan Jing entering the room.

Maybe, the Jellyfish was also happier in its new environment and is expressing its thankfulness. Upon reaching the surface of the water, it raised a couple of tentacles above the glass.

Thinking that the creature wants to show appreciation, Zang Rong raised her hand to grab it.

But, just before she does that, a slender hand caught her arm and pulled back immediately.

Zan Rong was taken aback and looked at the source to find Ouyang Zen, who looked like he was terrified, "What the hell, Zan Rong? Do you want to die?"

"Eh?" The 19-year-old didn't understand and was too shocked at his outburst. "What happened, Zhen Zhen?"

Ouyang Zen shouted at her once again, "Don't you know what beast that is?"

"Ah! You were talking about this jellyfish." Zan Rong sighed in relief upon realizing what Ouyang Zhen was talking about. She thought that she made some mistake, triggering this kid's anger. She then explained with a smile, "It's actually a 2-circle beast. Its sting won't harm me. Moreover, I think it likes this place. See how happy it is…"

However, Ouyang Zen didn't calm down from the explanation. Instead, he pointed at the jellyfish's body and continued to yell at her, "It is not an ordinary jellyfish but a box jellyfish, and that too, Verinex type. The red spots on its box-shaped body were pretty much the clue to identify it. Even if you are in the 5-circle realm, once you are stung, you will barely survive a minute.

What if we hadn't arrived in time? For God's sake, stop importing the aquatic spirit beasts. You were also bedridden the last time you decided to bring in a 4-circle electric eel of fierce beast grade and tried to pet it."

As the 12-year-old scolding at her out of concern, the latter just looked down at the floor in silence and finally apologized after he was done, "Sorry. It looks so adorable that I forgot about it."

"Forgot? You forgot about it?" Ouyang Zen's anger only rose further because of her words and just as he was about to lose control, Lan Jing handled the situation, "Okay, calm down, Your Majesty. We will take precautionary measures from now onwards."

Followed by that, he then grabbed the kid and dragged him back a bit before whispering, "You know her more than anyone. Please don't make any mess out of this matter."

As Lan Jing freed him, Ouyang Zen took a deep breath and spoke as softly as possible, "Sister Rong, please be careful from now onwards."

"You are not angry with me?" She asked in response.

"No, I'm not," replied Ouyang Zen as he forced out a smile.

Zan Rong immediately grinned, "Thank you."

She then pointed it to the jellyfish, which started to swim around once again, "If I'll be careful on touching it, then, can I keep it?"

"No" "No"

Lan Jing and Ouyang Zen replied at the same time, surprising the girl. The 12-year-old then puffed up his chest and spoke in a dignified way like a king, "Lan Jing, I need you to find out those bastards that are directly involved in bringing this fish to the palace. Even if there is no conspiracy theory, then, all of them will have to be lashed 50 times with a whip."

Before Lan Jing responded to the order, Zan Rong hurriedly asked in worry, "What about the jellyfish? Will you kill it?"

She appeared to be worried more about the life of a threatening jellyfish rather than the soldiers. Clearly, something is not right with her.

Fortunately, Ouyang Zen knows her personality very well. Hence, he tried to be careful with his words, "no, we will send it back to where it came from."

"That's awful. There are so many terrifying creatures in the sea." Zan Rong made a disappointed face before looking at Lan Jing for help but the latter avoided her gaze and just looked away.

Knowing that the kid rarely changes his mind when he decided on something, Zan Rong agreed to it, "Alright."

"Anyway, the reason I came to visit you is to tell you that I got an invitation from Phoenix Empire. It's been a while since you stepped out of the palace. If you want to, you can join me. We can also visit your mother's hometown during the trip. What do you say?"

Zan Rong hesitated quite a bit to answer as she glanced at each and every aquarium tank around. In the end, she nodded, "okay."

Ouyang Zen was a little bit worried to leave her alone at the palace when he will have to leave the kingdom alongside Lan Jing and the supreme general for atleast three days.

Now that she agreed, he finally managed to genuinely smile and reminded her, "Since it is pretty far, we should leave early in the morning."