With the faint chime of the dashboard knob clicking into the slot, above the Crocodile Kingdom airport’s docking area, twelve pairs of huge panels swiftly slid open left and right, revealing the densely packed docking platforms below.
Moments later, the airship with a gasbag over four hundred meters long and a suspended passenger area more than one hundred fifty meters in length, guided by one of the docking platforms, slowly moored at Dock 7.
Finally, we’ve arrived.
When the VIP cabin lid opened and a fresh breeze blew in, Prince Leon glanced at the steel-laden airport before stepping out of the cabin door with a stooped posture, emotionlessly treading onto the escalator lined with red plush carpet.
“Welcome, Your Royal Highness!”
Despite the rush, since the kingdom’s envoy delegation wasn’t aboard a secret port dedicated airship but rather the nearest public airship, the reception from the Crocodile Kingdom seemed to have been given due surface-level respect.
Even before Leon had fully descended from the airship, two teams were already waiting on either side of the escalator. The moment he appeared, they greeted him in unison.
At the forefront of the honor guard stood a youth dressed in elaborate attire, with a mechanical clock embroidered on his chest, who strode forward with a smile, extending his right hand toward Leon.
“Lord Leon, I am Andre, the Third Prince of the Crocodile Kingdom, representing the entire Crocodile Royal Family, welcoming you.”
Without even touching the tiger’s mouth part of Leon’s palm, just lightly gripping half of it, the self-proclaimed Third Prince politely yet somewhat assertively began arranging things:
“Because of the tight schedule and your probable eagerness to handle important matters, I’ve skipped all the overly complicated welcome ceremonies. Please allow the members of your delegation to board the vehicles; the Diplomatic Minister is already waiting for you in Administrative Zone 3.”
If this were a real diplomatic envoy, such an impolite “informative” reception would likely result in an unpleasant expression, if not an immediate outburst. However, Leon said nothing, merely nodding slightly before leading the other members of the envoy delegation towards the arranged vehicles.
It seems Prince Leon might be easy to manipulate, quite soft-natured.
Judging his character briefly from Leon’s reaction, the smile that was originally somewhat friendly on the young man’s face immediately became tinged with insincerity. Without even bothering to introduce himself further, he simply gestured toward the open floating car door as a polite invitation.
It appears this Third Prince might have a rather proud personality?
Similarly assessing the young man’s character, Leon didn’t care about the increasingly perfunctory reception and was happy to avoid unnecessary formalities. He simply glanced at the prince and boarded the vehicle, closing his eyes to rest.
However, after both had taken their seats, the floating car remained stationary for some time.
Then, a steward carrying a thick notebook ran over from where the other members of the delegation were undergoing identity verification. First bowing respectfully to the young man who was meditating with closed eyes, the steward frowned slightly and asked Leon: “Your Royal Highness, why does your country’s delegation have two more people than reported?”
In response to the steward’s question, which used respectful language but lacked genuine politeness, Leon’s eyebrows twitched slightly before he replied: “They are the maid taking care of my living arrangements and my personal bodyguard. These two are not official members of the delegation, so they weren’t included in the report… Is there any problem?”
“There indeed is a problem.”
The steward, seemingly respectful but actually quite blunt, said: “The Crocodile Kingdom differs from your country; everything here is meticulously recorded and requires identity cards for travel. With two fewer identity cards prepared for your delegation due to the underreported numbers, it may cause inconvenience for you.”
“I see.”
Hearing this, Leon turned his head and calmly stated: “Use my identification card first for them. I can use Prince Andre’s ID card, and you can also provide yours. This way, the oversight won’t inconvenience us.”
“???”
“Do you have any other issues?”
Nonsense! Of course, there are! Watching how Leon quickly “resolved” the issue and shifted the blame, the steward blushed furiously and argued indignantly: “Prince, it was your side that failed to report the correct number of people first…”
Glancing at the distant disguised bandit siblings, Leon interrupted the steward, his face tinged with coldness: “That’s enough. Don’t make me hit you.”
?!!!! Faced with Leon’s utterly undignified, brutally straightforward reminder, the steward’s already flushed face turned redder instantly, his complexion turning slightly purple: “You…”
“Slap!”
Seeing he wouldn’t listen, after hearing the plight of the bandit siblings, Leon’s mood had reached its nadir. He cleanly slapped the steward across the face, knocking him to the ground, then turned to look at the young man sitting across from him in the carriage.
“Prince Andre, is there a problem with how I handled this?”
“Perfectly fine.”
Glancing at the steward on the ground, clearly stunned from the slap, the well-dressed young man ordered impatiently:
“Don’t waste time; do what the prince said immediately! The minister is waiting!”
“Y-yes… yes…”
Realizing the Third Prince had no intention of seeking justice for him, the steward picked up his dropped notebook, holding his face as he returned to his duties. Meanwhile, the two inside the carriage resumed meditating, reassessing each other mentally.
This Prince Leon doesn’t seem soft at all; in fact, he might be surprisingly hard-headed…
Since the steward didn’t get angry after being slapped, this Third Prince isn’t prideful but rather… just lazy to deal with trouble?
“Everyone, I’ve invited you here because I’ve discovered two very dangerous pieces of intelligence.”
As Leon and the Third Prince sat quietly facing each other, silently advancing toward Administrative Zone 3, at a long table made from the bones of unknown creatures, a group of masked individuals gazed solemnly at the person seated at the head, listening intently.
“The first piece of intelligence is that following the failure of the last operation against ‘Pride,’ the Clearing Bureau’s 12 Yellow Path divisions have begun self-inspections. Our Execution King Assembly’s existence has likely been completely exposed.”
What?!?!
After hearing the leader’s announcement, the masked figures erupted in chaos. The Dawkya mask, who had previously conflicted with the Aquarius Director, angrily remarked: “I told you that Aquarius Director can’t be trusted!”
And the woman wearing the Black Cat Mask opposite her hesitated slightly before saying: “I find her suspicious too. Shouldn’t we reconsider our cooperation with the Aquarius Director?”
“But this opportunity is really good; it would be a pity to let it pass.”
“The opportunity is great, but the cost of failure is also high!”
“Alright, we’ll discuss our cooperation with the Aquarius Director later. Now, I have something even more important to share.”
Knocking firmly on the table to quiet everyone down, the figure at the head turned to the girl beside him wearing a white Snow Owl mask, calmly announcing: “Snow Owl, while others’ situations remain unclear, the ‘Sloth’ under your supervision has been completely exposed. It’s likely the Clearing Bureau’s investigators targeting you have already arrived.”
(End of Chapter)
