Chapter 173: The Thirty-Sixth Treasure Vault
"That's enough!" Aoki wiped his hands.
When experimenting with the Four Demon Rakshasa, he could do whatever he wanted without worrying about breaking them.
However, he couldn't be so unrestrained with Leone. Fortunately, Leone's Imperial Arms, Lion King, possessed superhuman regenerative abilities. Otherwise, this experiment simply couldn't have been performed.
Leone sat up, clutching her stomach. "That thing of yours is moving around inside me; it feels so weird."
Aoki glanced at her. "Make yourself clear—it's a scalpel, not 'that thing'!"
"Hehehe!" Leone burst out laughing, hooking her arms around his neck. "How was it? Any findings?"
Aoki nodded. "Your body is already showing signs of assimilation."
"Really? I don't feel anything." Leone patted her flat stomach, looking curious. "How much longer can I live?"
Aoki said, "At the current level of assimilation, it won't affect your life for now."
"Hehehe, then don't worry!"
"However, you'd better try to avoid getting injured. If you are injured, the assimilation process will accelerate rapidly; the more severe the injury, the greater the increase in the assimilation rate."
"Okay, okay!" Leone grinned and moved closer to Aoki, her breath as sweet as orchids. "You've worked hard. Should I reward you?"
Aoki ignored her, focusing on organizing the experimental data.
"Hahaha, I'm off!" Leone laughed, leaving with a triumphant air.
Aoki watched her retreating figure for a moment before looking away. Although she was always flirting, Leone was actually a master of verbal sparring; she only teased those she knew wouldn't actually attack her.
"The changes in the body after assimilation with an Imperial Arms are not entirely the same as the changes after consuming the flesh and blood of Dangerous Species. There are some aspects here that can be utilized." Aoki lowered his head in thought, occasionally writing and drawing in his notebook.
...
The Imperial Palace.
A heavy, oppressive silence hung in the air. The Imperial Guards, clad in full armor, stood like iron towers on either side of the road.
Palace maids hurried along, their faces showing hints of panic. Yet, despite the tension, the palace maintained a semblance of order.
Following the death of Minister Ernest, a brief period of chaos had erupted in the capital, including the palace. However, General Bud had quickly and ruthlessly suppressed all troublemakers. Within a single day, heads rolled.
Although many were deeply dissatisfied, they all fell silent when faced with the overwhelmi
ng power of Bud and the Imperial Guards.
In a corner unnoticed by anyone, a figure silently emerged.
Aoki quickly glanced left and right, relaxing only after confirming no one was around. He had left several spatial imprints during his last visit, so he didn't need to enter from the sky this time.
Aoki determined his direction and headed out. "The guards are much tighter now!"
However, having learned from his previous experience, he had a basic grasp of the palace's layout. Adding more guards wouldn't affect him much.
Aoki moved like a ghost, his figure flashing rapidly. Under the cover of night, even at close range, the guards failed to notice him.
Soon, Aoki arrived at a palace in the central area. The guards here had been reinforced to an even higher level.
This was one of the suspicious locations he had discovered last time. After reviewing Ernest's memories, he discovered that this wasn't the residence of an important figure, but rather the Empire's treasury.
The wealth accumulated by the royal family over thousands of years, along with various treasures, was all stored here. Of course, it had essentially become Ernest's private treasury before his death.
Ernest's sudden passing didn't seem to have affected the vault's security. The building was extremely well-guarded, with virtually no blind spots from the sky to the ground, making it impossible to sneak in.
However, this didn't stop Aoki.
Aoki's appearance rapidly shifted, transforming into a bespectacled, cold-looking middle-aged man: Nishimiya, the founder of the assassination squad, a close confidant of the Minister, and one of the very few people with access to the treasury.
Aoki walked straight towards the palace. Tap, tap, tap. The steady sound of his footsteps echoed in the silent night. All the guards tensed up instantly.
"Who? Who's there?"
"It's me!" Aoki emerged from the shadows.
"Lord Nishimiya!" the guard leader said respectfully.
"I've come to retrieve a few things!" Aoki walked straight ahead.
The guard leader, however, didn't move aside, looking troubled. "Lord Nishimiya, you know about the assassin, I..."
Aoki took out a token and tossed it over, interrupting him. "Take it!"
The guard leader caught it, then took out another token and pressed them together. The uneven edges of the two tokens fit together perfectly. He returned the token to Aoki. "The token is correct."
Aoki didn't take it, saying impatiently, "The other one!"
The guard leader finally relaxed. He exchanged the tokens, handing his own to Aoki, and made way. "Lord Nishimiya, please come in!"
Aoki ignored him, took the token, and walked directly inside. He had read Ernest's memories and knew the process of entering and exiting the treasure vault perfectly. Very few people were qualified to enter; each person had a unique token that had to be combined with the guards' tokens.
After verification, the tokens had to be exchanged. Any mistake in this process would mark one as an intruder.
It was an extremely cautious and rigorous process. Unfortunately for them, they encountered Aoki, who had extracted every secret from Ernest's mind. Of course, the secret wouldn't stay hidden for long—the guard leader would eventually report the visit—but Aoki only needed to buy himself a little time.
He entered the treasure vault. The main hall was filled with numerous chests.
Aoki casually opened one, and a dazzling golden light immediately filled his vision. Gold! The second chest was also filled with gold. The third chest was full of top-grade gemstones. It contained not only the royal family's accumulation but also the bulk of the wealth Ernest had amassed.
Aoki didn't hesitate; he transferred all the chests into his alternate dimension. After emptying the main hall, he didn't leave. These were just worldly riches; the truly valuable items weren't kept here.
Walking to a pillar, Aoki grabbed a dragon decoration and gently twisted it. Crack! Crack! Crack! The innermost wall split open, revealing a pitch-black passage. Aoki walked through. It was normal for a treasure vault to have a secret room; in fact, it would be strange if it didn't.
Passing through the passage, he entered a completely airtight room, much smaller than the outer hall. It contained very few items, and they were all strange: oddly shaped rocks, metals emitting a bizarre luster, and more.
Black Stone, Ohara Steel... these were the materials used to forge Imperial Arms. They were relics from a thousand years ago that no longer existed in the world.
There were also books recording ancient secret techniques, though most were incomplete. Aoki didn't know if these things were useful yet, but he figured he might as well take them all. His alternate dimension was large enough, after all.
The Imperial Arms themselves used to be stored here, but they had all been distributed, preventing him from grabbing any completed weapons. After ransacking the hidden chamber, Aoki found a mechanism in a corner. Pressing it revealed a passageway leading downwards, seemingly into a bottomless abyss.
"Well hidden," Aoki thought, stepping inside without hesitation.
There were chambers within chambers. Without access to Ernest's memories, it would have been virtually impossible to find this place.
End of the chapter..