Chapter 1 South End, Cactro Port

Old John dragged his weary body out of the dock warehouse.

He looked with extreme remorse at the pool of bright red blood on his chest, cursing himself, "You're really useless. Why did you have to fall?"

He used to be able to easily carry two sacks of goods, but just now, after carrying one sack, his legs went weak and he stumbled.

Then he spat out this mouthful of blood, which happened to be seen by the foreman.

Despite his best efforts to explain, Old John still lost his dockworker job, which he valued as his life.

He squeezed his trouser pocket. Inside was a wad of old banknotes of various denominations.

Eight hundred and seventy-six Lisos, his wages for the last half month.

He had only just started working, and now that he had no work, he didn't know where to go.

If he went back now, his family would definitely be even more worried.

His whole family was counting on this job to fill their stomachs. If he really lost it, what would they do?

Old John sat on the roadside with a look of despair, smoking one cigarette after another, his expression as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

He was already fifty-three years old. A few years ago, he had finally saved enough money to marry a widow who was a seamstress, and had two teenage boys who were growing up.

Although life was a little hard, he still had some hope.

He thought that when his two children grew up a little more, he could rely on his decades of experience at the dock to get them a stable job there.

But now, all hope was gone.

"It's all because of this damned strange disease..."

Old John sighed.

His eyes were empty and lifeless as he looked at the dock where he had worked all his life, smoking one cigarette after another.

Just then, there were sounds of celebratory cannons booming from the north side of town.

"Boom", "Boom", "Boom".

Old John's pupils finally regained a little focus.

He heard from his workmates that today was the wedding of a certain princess and prince.

Oh, it sounded like the bedtime stories his mother used to tell him when he was a child.

Old John looked at the fireworks blooming in the sky and thought of his mother, who had been dead for many years.

At this moment, there was no light left in his eyes.

How despairing it was to have no future.

Who could save this sinking world...

In a daze, he seemed to see a god descending.

......

The golden carriage traveled all the way from the Frederick Palace to the Zosimos Alchemical Cathedral two blocks away.

This was a classical Baroque building, a solemn sanctuary for alchemists.

When the two got out of the carriage, cannons fired in unison. This was the venue for the ceremony, and friends and relatives were already waiting here.

Suren looked at the thousands of unfamiliar people on the lawn all staring at him, feeling quite uncomfortable.

Yekaterina, on the other hand, always had a smile on her face. She took Suren's arm and walked forward with a pure and confident smile.

At this moment, the outside of the Alchemical Cathedral had been surrounded by flowers, a sea of flowers, with various festive blooms competing for beauty.

And just as Suren and Yekaterina walked across the lawn, it was as if the lawn had been enchanted, with more flowers blooming in the sunlight. With each step they took, more flowers blossomed at their feet.

Dark red, pink, golden, purple...

In addition to the expensive flowers symbolizing wealth and joy, there were also small white chrysanthemums in his vision.

These wildflowers, which should have been on the hillside, were everywhere in the green grass.

They bloomed brilliantly, facing the sun.

It was the embellishment of these elegant wild chrysanthemums that immediately enriched the color layering of the dense colors, making them colorful and radiant.

A light breeze carried a faint floral fragrance into his nostrils.

It truly felt like stepping into a wedding hall from a poem or fairytale.

Suren's eyes also lit up, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "It's beautifully decorated."

Hearing the praise, Yekaterina, who was next to him, gave a bright smile and whispered intimately, "Because I designed it myself."

She smiled with her eyebrows curved and said happily, "You only have one wedding in your life, so of course I want it to be the most beautiful memory of my life."

Suren smiled slightly as he listened.

In front of outsiders, she really was a naive and innocent princess.

He also straightened his suit and strode forward.

......

Not long after, inside the Zosimos Alchemical Cathedral.

"Groom, do you take..."

"I do."

"Bride, do you take..."

"I do."

"You may kiss your bride."

"..."

The process of the ceremony was very simple.

Perhaps because the Ruen nobles had no concept of loyalty, there were no lifetime commitments in the vows, just a few simple questions.

Under the alchemical bas-relief of the "Ouroboros and Scales", Fick and Yekaterina completed the wedding ceremony on behalf of the two families.

The bouquet was tossed, and Anna caught it.

With the wedding ceremony completed, next was the banquet.

With the procedures completed for the two newlyweds, there seemed to be nothing more for them to do.

The highlight of a luxurious wedding banquet was actually the family elders discussing various cooperation matters.

After all, in the eyes of almost everyone, this was just the marriage of the second son of the Regardie family and the fourth daughter of the Lance family, and the newlyweds, who had no inheritance rights, were not worth much attention.

With the ceremony completed, Suren also felt a sense of relief, as if he had completed half of his task.

The elders of both families exited, and Suren and Yekaterina began to greet their respective friends and take photos together.

"Fick" had previously been an illegitimate prince of the Regardie family, a small transparent figure who had not even awakened his talent and had never even attended school in Lunden. Suren didn't recognize anyone and had no friends to greet.

But Yekaterina, on the other hand, had far too many friends.

Family and friends, classmates from the Royal Academy, aristocratic friends, people seeking to curry favor...

And the most numerous were various suitors.

When Suren was kissing the bride during the ceremony, he felt at least dozens of jealous gazes stabbing him repeatedly like sharp spears.

If looks could kill, he would probably be riddled with holes by now.

Looking at the dejected appearance of those handsome aristocratic youths, Suren also found it quite amusing.

The former "Number One Beauty of the Royal Academy" was married, and the groom was him?

Perhaps it was because they had become more familiar with each other after the reintroduction at the manor. Taking advantage of the break between one group of people finishing taking photos and another group coming over, Suren joked, "Miss Yekaterina, you really have a lot of suitors. If I hadn't shown up today, I'm afraid I would be receiving duel invitations every day."

Yekaterina smiled sweetly as she listened, "Indeed."

She held Suren's arm intimately, as if whispering, and asked back with a playful and teasing tone, "Would Mr. Suren duel for me?"

In front of outsiders, there was not a trace of depth on her face.

Suren raised his eyebrows and smiled, replying decisively, "No."

Yekaterina didn't get angry when she heard this, and pretended to be disappointed for a moment, "Oh, what a heartbreaking answer."

A look of contemplation flashed in her crystal eyes, and she asked again, "Then what if it were Katyusha?"

Suren shrugged, "Katyusha doesn't have so many suitors asking people to duel."

The topic suddenly became interesting.

Yekaterina blinked her eyes and said, "Ah...are you saying Katyusha isn't pretty enough?"

Suren corrected, "Quite the opposite."

Yekaterina didn't know what she was thinking when she heard this, and smiled without saying a word.

Anyway, they were all praising her.

This pleasant chat didn't last long. Before long, Suren saw an old man in a tailcoat walking over. "Young Master Fick, the master and madam have asked me to inform you to go over."

Suren knew that he couldn't avoid it after all.

Others didn't know that he was the "God of Death", but the Regardie family did.

Although he didn't know why those guys wanted to see him, it was nothing more than something related to their interests.

Suren had no interest in talking to a group of schemers, and who knew what kind of tricks those guys would come up with? Out of sight, out of mind.

But... the Desecration Crown?

Should he go and see if it really had the legendary effect?

In an instant, many thoughts popped into his head.

Yekaterina, who was next to him, noticed the strange expression on Suren's face. Her eyes turned, and she said lightly, "I'll go with you."

The marriage was an agreement between the two of them, and she had an obligation to do something.

Suren raised his eyebrows and said, "Alright."

......

The banquet hall was filled with nobles in formal attire chatting in small groups.

The marriage of the two families was actually a carnival for a group of beneficiaries.

Suren and Yekaterina walked over, and even without getting close, he could hear the topics being discussed.

The most talked about, besides today's wedding, was the [Scarlet Potion].

"Baron Potter, what's making you so happy?"

"Haha, just now, I exchanged my White Cloud Mountain mine shares for a portion of [Scarlet Potion] from Earl Gunter! Oh, this is definitely the wisest decision I've ever made!"

"Ah, hasn't your Potter family's high-quality iron ore from the White Cloud Mine been in stable production for a hundred years? You're willing to exchange it for a little potion share?"

"You don't know, buying potion shares now is a sure-fire profit! In a few days, the [Scarlet Potion] will be released on the market in large quantities, and I'll immediately earn hundreds of millions! And let me tell you a secret, I heard from the Imperial Academy of Sciences that virus experts all agree that there will be no other effective drugs for the Red Death disease for at least the next few years, or even decades. In other words, the [Scarlet Potion] will continue to be profitable for many years to come, creating at least trillions in wealth..."

"Heavens! I've also heard of the Red Death disease. It's said that millions of civilians in the Southern District have been infected. Oh, Lunden has more than twenty-eight million civilians! And the entire empire has billions! Wow, I can't even imagine how much money this potion will make..."

"Damn it, I've already fallen in love with the 'Red Death disease'. It should come on even stronger, preferably infecting all those civilians."

"Haha, it definitely won't be less! And I guarantee that the Ministry of Health will definitely not intervene, because Minister Landes also has a large number of potion shares in his hands..."

"It's a pity that only Bakkechi Pharmaceuticals can produce the [Scarlet Potion] right now. And as far as I know, Councilor Lance and Councilor Raphael are holding the goods very tightly, and they don't seem to have any intention of selling them in the short term. No matter who asks, they won't sell. I estimate that they will only release the goods when the current market price doubles..."

"These councilors aren't being fair. They vigorously promoted in the newspapers that there was something wrong with the potion, telling others not to touch it, and we actively responded. Now, the Rodriguez family has lost most of its controlling stake in Bakkechi, and Councilor Lance has become the major shareholder instead..."

"..."

Suren felt both sad and amused as he listened.

A group of greedy guys were still thinking about profiting, but they didn't realize that disaster was already looming.

He glanced at Yekaterina beside him, and she also showed a helpless smile.

Being criticized for being "unfair", she had to bear the blame without being able to explain.

The Lance family had indeed made a lot of efforts to prevent the large-scale release of the [Scarlet Potion].

They released fake drugs to disrupt the market and launched a media attack.

But before long, they found that they couldn't stop it at all. Instead, because of the huge profits, it attracted more speculators to spread the potion through various channels.

Later, the Lance family personally stepped in, and in conjunction with several other councilors, directly monopolized most of the potion shares, deliberately raising the price of the potion to a very high level, making it unaffordable for the sick civilians.

They also made those with potions in hand continue to wait and see.

This caused the number of potions flowing into the market to plummet.

But the spread was stopped.

To those who didn't know the inside story, this method seemed a little "despicable".

It was completely like a malicious competitive tactic, first releasing bad news to slander competitors, and then entering the market to buy at the bottom themselves.

And the problem was that, so far, no one had found anything wrong with the [Scarlet Potion]!

This was also the confidence of this capital carnival.

Yekaterina initially believed this information because of her trust in Suren and her judgment of the future situation.

Others didn't know so much.

Even the discord between the "Giant Hermitage" and the Bonaparte royal family was just a tacit political game among the top nobles.

Small nobles were not qualified to know at all.

After walking a few steps, he heard many people talking about the potion.

At this time, Yekaterina also said, "The price of the potion is already very high. In a few days, a group of potion merchants with stockpiles will jointly release their goods. The quantity will not be small."

The phrase "the quantity will not be small" meant that many people would die.

"Oh."

Suren frowned as he listened.

Apart from raising prices, it seemed that they couldn't think of a better way.

With the Empress not speaking, no one in the vast Ruen Empire could stop the spread of the potion.

......

Suren and Yekaterina walked all the way to a small hall.

When they arrived, a group of stern-looking guys were already sitting here.

The seating arrangement made it easy to distinguish their status. In the middle was a middle-aged man with a majestic face. His signature inverted mustache made Suren immediately recognize that this guy was "Kailson Regardie XI".

And the charming woman in the red dress next to him was Lady Portia.

There were also several white-bearded old men, who looked like they were elders of the Regardie family.

Sabina had collected almost all of their photos in the information she had gathered before, and Suren had recognized them one by one.

However, he had no interest in greeting these people. Instead, he glanced at the corner, at William, the eldest son, whose eyes were burning with jealousy.

This guy hadn't even attended the ceremony before, probably because he couldn't bear to see the girl he loved marry someone else.

Suren had no interest in gaining this guy's jealousy. His gaze turned to the black halo crown on William's head.

This was a three-pointed black light crown. Its material was not any metal, but a black light that exuded a strong mysterious aura.

[Desecration Crown]

Description: Mortals want to dominate everything? This is a desecration to the gods.

Curse characteristics: Wearing the crown grants the passive 'Dominator Aura', increasing the target's favorability within the range, gaining the ability to shock, convince, and persuade the target with words, and having a very strong psychological suggestion; After wearing it, you gain 'Control', which can bless the power of alchemy and actively release formulas that exceed your current understanding of the laws; Gain the passive ability of 'Insight', increasing your affinity for all laws, making it easier for you to understand the laws and fields, and discern the secrets behind the world's appearances; Cognition is heavy, and extreme intelligence will hurt you. Using the crown to bless cognition that does not belong to you will continuously reduce your lifespan and cause mental distortion;

Detailed explanation: A magical crown condensed from the power of multi-system laws, symbolizing supreme royal power; Regardie I discovered this unfinished crown in an ancient dwarven ruin, and he forged it into the family's bloodline inheritance sacred object; Put it on, and you are the king who dominates everything. It can be used as an advancement material for professionals. Fusion requires comprehending 'Overlord's Domineering Aura' or 'Dominator's Domineering Aura', a comprehension rating of 's' for the earth, wind, water, and fire elements, and a rating of 'A+' for comprehending more than sixteen laws. After fusion, it blesses the field and comprehends the abilities of [Kingship] and [Domination];

Suren looked over and immediately withdrew his gaze.

Because he knew some information beforehand, he wasn't too surprised to see this black light crown.

He also muttered in his heart, "It really has the effect of blessing the understanding of the field...The Regardie family, this fallen royal family, really has some good things."

The identified effects were similar to what Yekaterina had said before.

Crowns, shocking auras, and the like were all expected.

When he went to the palace before, Empress Charlotte's crown also had similar effects, suitable for puAing her subjects.

Most importantly, the legendary effect of assisting in the understanding of the field was real!

Although he couldn't tell how strong the effect was, cursed objects that consumed lifespan were generally quite good.

And there were some other things.

For example, this crown could be used as an advancement material.

"Tsk tsk...The fusion conditions are really harsh."

Suren looked at it. The two hard conditions of rare domineering auras directly blocked most people.

And the later requirement of having an A+ or higher rating for the comprehension of those sixteen laws could be said to be almost impossible for anyone to meet.

Even top professionals specialized in their respective fields, and few people sought to be all-encompassing.

Suren looked at himself and was still far off. Even though he had been harvesting fragments of various elemental comprehensions, the ratings for water and fire were barely s, earth and wind were only A+, and he couldn't gather enough sixteen A+ elemental understandings.

Even if he got his hands on it, it would still take a long time to digest.

Huh...

Why was he already thinking about the problem of getting his hands on it?

This crown was still on the head of the first-in-line heir.

Oh, only now did he realize that this young master William had become stronger again in the few days since they had last met.

Suren sensed something and guessed that this guy had probably turned his grief into strength, even at the cost of his lifespan, and was about to advance to the seventh rank.

And then...

He clearly still had the intention to kill!

Some thoughts popped into Suren's mind.