Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance
The Golden Pearl Plane was far more than important to the Charlotte Family. It was a mineral plane where half of the veins were directly exposed to the surface and could be considered the pillar of the Charlotte Family.
Fully occupying the plane was enough to ensure that the Family would never fall. Even during times of decline, they would only need to hold on and survive until a suitable person appeared and led the Family to rise again.
The coordinates of the Golden Pearl Plane were a classified secret of the Charlotte Family. None of the guards guarding the Golden Pearl Plane knew the coordinates. The miners and the slaves could never think of leaving that plane.
Although the Golden Pearl Plane wasn’t a suitable place to live and the environment was very nasty, losing the natural resources would be enough to hobble the Charlotte Family for years.
This was why the Raging Flame Plane was so important, why their Kingdom and the Odin Kingdom yearned for that place: Not only was that plane huge, but it was also rich in natural resources and even more suitable for human lives. The value produced by that plane was worth more than what the Kingdom produced annually.
To manage to silently storm and seize the Golden Pearl Plane, the other side must have done all the necessary preparations. It simply wasn’t possible that they inadvertently discovered the Golden Pearl Plane.
This meant that the coordinates of the Golden Pearl Plane had been leaked and that there was a traitor in the Charlotte Family.
After all, there were few people in the Family that knew of the coordinates.
That night, all those who knew of the coordinates were summoned back.
The Great Devil Magic Tool Incarnation was also invited to check people one by one, and as long as someone let down the Charlotte Family, they would immediately be killed by it.
Kans Charlotte was naturally one of the people summoned back. When he saw the family making such a huge fuss and heard that the Golden Pearl Plane had been thoroughly captured, Kans almost fainted.
‘Damn Gaugass Battlemages! Didn’t that group of barbarians say they would take it easy? Didn’t they say they would find some remote area to extract ore?
‘And how could the Golden Pearl Plane be seized in one day with all of our guards killed?
‘Over… It’s over…’
When he heard a scream coming from the Ancestral Land in front of him, Kans Charlotte’s face turned pale. He would definitely die if he entered.
Kans immediately made the decision to confess.
He quietly looked for his father and fell to his knees in front of him.
“Father, I was the one that leaked the coordinates of the Golden Pearl Plane…”
When he heard this, Novi Charlotte slapped Kans and sent him flying.
“Go on, tell me how that came about.”
After being slapped, Kans felt his heart tighten. He then pounced on Novi’s feet and held his legs, weeping endlessly as he told everything.
“Father, you don’t know, but that Mafa Merlin was too heavy-handed, I had no other recourse, so I hired Gaugass Battlemages to deal with him…
“I originally wanted to let the Gaugass Battlemages kill Mafa Merlin, and we would have made proper preparations, so the coordinates would have been no use to them, but I didn’t expect that group of barbarians to actually act like this.”
By the time Kans was done talking, Novi’s expression had already turned dark. He glared at Kans with a face full of anger, as well as helplessness.
“You fool, you actually made a deal with the Gaugass Battlemages, and used the coordinates of the Golden Pearl Plane as the fee? Is your brain rotten?
“Hell, is that group of stupid, greedy, and powerful Battlemages easy to deal with? Do you think they are that easy to double-cross?
“You held a piece of fat in front of their mouths, how could they not gulp it down first? Damnit, don’t you know how powerful those barbarians are? You think we still have the chance to take back the Golden Pearl Plane after it was snatched by them?
“Idiot! Fool! When they were at their peak, the entire Kingdom couldn’t stop them! Even if they have declined, the Charlotte Family can’t meet them head-on. Do you think we can talk about justifications with those barbarians?”
Novi sat in his chair, feeling discouraged. They could only use force if they wanted to take back the Golden Pearl Plane, but the Planar Coordinates had already been leaked, so retrieving it had no real meaning. That group of barbarians could just keep disturbing them. Even if they managed to get it back, it would be meaningless.
Novi thought about it from different angles, but there was only defeat. He felt like strangling his son when he saw his face.
Kans cried with snot and tears all over his face, but when he saw his father’s current state, he suddenly panicked.
“Father, everything is because of that Mafa Merlin! He completely looked down upon our Charlotte Family and kept setting himself against us. If we don’t kill him, wouldn’t the Merlin Family ride above our Charlotte Family?
“This matter happened and I’m also unwilling, but our losses shouldn’t be borne by us! Right, it’s because of the Merlin Family, because of that Mafa Merlin, maybe, no… Mafa Merlin definitely acted jointly with those barbarians!
“Father, we might have no way to handle the Gaugass Battlemages, but do we have no way to handle the Merlin Family and that damned Mafa Merlin?
“We can make the Merlin Family pay back double. That way, not only would we be able to make up for our losses, but we’d also earn some profit and suppress the Merlin Family. Wouldn’t that be the best outcome?”
Cold sweat was dripping down Kans’ forehead as he explained his plan before restlessly looking at his father.
Novi pondered it a bit and felt like it was feasible.
‘Right, the Gaugass Battlemages aren’t to be trifled with. Those barbarians simply don’t listen to reason. Trying to get them to spit out what’s in their mouth would only result in a war. But the Merlin Family is different.
‘This matter started because of the Merlin Family. Now that we have a reason, they’ll have to compensate us unless they want to start a war against us.
‘How could the Merlin Family have the guts to war against our Charlotte Family? If we pressure them just a little bit, they’ll definitely be well-behaved and compensate us with a plane.
‘I heard that the Merlin Family discovered a new plane with an environment similar to the Golden Pearl Plane. Although the resources there shouldn’t be as abundant as in the Golden Pearl Plane, it was said to have many valuable magic plants.
‘If we can snatch it, we should be able to make up for our losses while suppressing the Merlin Family. We can even take advantage of the situation to take over some of their main businesses.’
As he thought of this, Novi felt that this method was workable. Although the Charlotte Family couldn’t compare with the Cloud Tower and the Black Tower, it was also one of the major forces. How could the Merlin Family dare to resist?
Although Novi approved of this plan, he didn’t have a good expression as he looked at Kans. Instead, he sealed Kans’ mana with a wave of his hand.
“Come! Take Kans to the Black Prison to reflect for a while,” he shouted towards the guards outside the room.
Kans shook, his lips pale white, but he resisted the urge to beg for forgiveness. The Charlotte Family’s Black Prison was a place that would make all Charlottes shiver when hearing about it.
This was a place where the enemies and traitors of the Charlotte Family were locked up. One shouldn’t even think of coming out alive after entering, and most of those who entered the Black Prison would go insane.
Dying there was difficult. All the jailers were mentally insane and experts at torture. If they couldn’t get the information they wanted even when using drugs, they simply wouldn’t let the person die. This was most frightening.
Kans shook weakly on the ground. He opened his mouth like a dying fish, but he also understood that compared to leaking the Family’s planar coordinates, not killing him was already settling the matter privately. And he wouldn’t suffer too much torture by staying in the Black Prison for some time. This was already the lightest possible conclusion.
Kans was dragged away without fighting back. The next day, a rumor started spreading in the Storm Fort.
The coordinates of the Charlotte Family’s Golden Pearl Plane had been lost, and it had been captured overnight.
Mafa Merlin of the Merlin Family had used some unknown plot to swindle the Golden Pearl Plane’s coordinates.
As the rumors spread, everyone’s first impressions were the strongest. The Charlotte Family had fallen headfirst after the Merlin Family used a good trick and easily snatched a plane rich in mineral resources.
Early in the morning, many people were wandering around outside the camp of the Merlin Family. There were even many people coming to discuss business regarding mineral resources.
After sending off someone who came wanting to work together at the expense of others, Lin Yun felt somewhat confused. He had been busy in the alchemy laboratory, yet he kept being interrupted by people who wanted to work together with the Merlin Family for some mineral business.
‘Has the Merlin Family found a new magic ore vein? Or perhaps some excessively large ore vein?’
While Lin Yun was puzzling over this, someone else came.
“Mafa Merlin, get the f*ck out here!” A loud roar echoed outside the camp of the Merlin Family.
Lin Yun went out to take a look, and an 8th Rank Archmage of the Charlotte Family wearing a mage robe swaggered up to the camp.
He was followed by a group of mages from the Charlotte Family, all of them High Mages emitting rich mana fluctuations. Lin Yun could see with one glance that they weren’t there for a nice discussion.
