Chapter 1 The Problem

The "Izhaks" on the throne didn't show any abnormalities, but the fact that he ended the meeting so quickly made Hao Ren realize that there was definitely a problem.

The group left the throne room and, led by a high-ranking demon, headed to their lodgings. The demon commander who had led the way earlier had already returned to his post. No one spoke on the way until they reached the rooms prepared for the guests. The high-ranking demon nodded politely to Hao Ren, "This is a lounge designed for the human race. I hope you find it to your liking."

Then, the high-ranking demon craned his neck to look at Lily's chin: "Also, this mastiff… we have kennels specifically for hellhounds. Should we provide it with fresh meat or something else? And this appearance… doesn't look like a hellhound either, does it? Does it fight with hellhounds?"

Lily immediately bared her teeth and growled threateningly at the high-ranking demon – who didn't understand her anyway.

Hao Ren pushed Lily's mouth back in: "No need to trouble yourself. Just prepare an open space where no one's around. She can turn into a human form—don't worry about the principle. She can turn into a human. In this day and age, even Demon King’s Castle can charge out of a space storm, what's impossible!"

The high-ranking demon stared blankly at the mastiff Lily, then looked at Lanina with a slightly dizzy expression: "Then, Great Sage, you should stay in your original room…"

"No, I'll stay with them for now," Lanina waved her hand. "We have some things to discuss. You can go about your own business."

After the high-ranking demon led Lily and Vivian (who was responsible for taking care of Lily during her transformation) away, Hao Ren and the others hurried into the room. The group was surprised to find that the lounge was indeed different from the architectural style of the rest of Demon King’s Castle. It had bright, gray-white walls and floors, human-style wooden furniture, and even a bookshelf filled with human books. The fairly spacious rectangular room was designed entirely according to the human style of this world, which made Hao Ren marvel: "This city really has everything… When I saw this city looking like Icecrown Citadel from below, I was really worried that there wouldn't be a place to 'live'!"

Izhaks grinned: "What are you talking about? My city has humans, dwarves, elves, and beastmen. Each race has its own district. Did you think that my talk about uniting the people of the world was just a slogan?"

"To be honest, your city is quite impressive. It can even fly," Hao Ren sincerely admired the domineering aura of Demon King’s Castle. The power and style—mainly the style—of this city far exceeded his imagination. "No wonder the whole world ganged up on you back then and barely managed to win. You're using alien technology to bulldoze Earth!"

Hearing this, a puzzled expression suddenly appeared on Izhaks' face: "Now that you mention it, I'm wondering too: when did the royal city's levitation system become usable?"

"Hmm?" Nangong Wuyue raised an eyebrow: "The levitation system of this city wasn't supposed to be usable?"

"It wasn't. Although I designed and modified the city base according to the information left by the old man many years ago, because the key power source couldn't be solved, the flying city plan was just an empty shell in the end," Izhaks scratched his bald head. "Until Demon King’s Castle fell, the power source for the levitation system was still empty… Where did they find the energy?"

"Also, that fake Izhaks…" Hao Ren looked up at Lanina. "Did you see anything wrong?"

"I can't tell on the surface, but I didn't dare to probe too much," Lanina frowned. "Even if he only has one-tenth of the king's power, my rash probing wouldn't escape that fake's eyes, so I was very careful just now."

Hao Ren nodded, suddenly revealing a mysterious expression: "It's okay, maybe the Data Terminal will send back some information."

"Data Terminal?" Nangong Wuyue was very surprised, and only then did she notice that the Data Terminal, which had been lying on Hao Ren's shoulder pretending to be a shoulder pad until they left the throne hall, had disappeared at some point. "Wait… you left it in the throne hall?!"

Hao Ren snapped his fingers: "Of course. I am wise and resourceful—I've been planning how to monitor that fake since I entered the city. After thinking about it, I don't feel bad about sacrificing the Data Terminal."

Nangong Wuyue: "…"

"Ahem, just kidding," Hao Ren coughed twice and took out a small holographic projector from his dimensional storage and placed it on the table. The projection flickered a few times, and what appeared on it was the scene of the throne hall. The picture was taken from an inconspicuous corner on the side of the throne. The "Mad Demon King" of unknown origin was sitting on the huge throne in the center of the hall, tilting his head slightly as if in contemplation, motionless like a stone statue. "The Data Terminal has no aura. After entering silent mode, it's like a piece of iron. No matter how careful you are, you wouldn't turn your head and notice that there's a piece of trashy iron in the corner of the two-hundred-meter-long hall, right? Terminal, what's the situation over there?"

The screen flickered, and the Data Terminal's voice came from the projector: "This unit is continuously monitoring—hey, you're finally letting me do something useful! Espionage, infiltration, intelligence gathering, high-tech mission! That's what a Data Terminal should be doing, you know, you know, you know…"

"Okay, okay, you continue, you continue." Hao Ren quickly perfunctorily told the Data Terminal to shut up, while also feeling a bit emotional in his heart: this brick's life goals have also been lowered. Back then, it was clamoring to command a fleet to sweep across the stars. Now, it's satisfied to be a camera in the corner. As expected, being a brick for a long time easily lowers your pursuits. If I hit someone with it a couple more times, I guess it would feel like it lived a full life even if it just went off as an alarm clock every morning…

At this time, the Data Terminal, which had finally done something a high-tech product should do, was still earnestly monitoring the situation of the imposter Mad Demon King. At the same time, Lily and Vivian also returned. Vivian recognized what Hao Ren was doing at a glance: "Monitoring that fake demon king?"

"Yeah, if he's fake, he'll eventually reveal something," Hao Ren nodded. "Especially since he just met with Lanina. He must know that Lanina will soon be able to figure out his authenticity through other channels, so he should take action at this time…"

The Data Terminal suddenly interrupted Hao Ren: "But in fact, this unit has been watching here for more than ten minutes: I've been staring here ever since you left, and the imposter on the chair hasn't moved an inch."

"Eh?" Although Lily was in human form, the expression on her face still made people couldn't help but think of her ears perking up. "Didn't move at all?"

"Yeah, he's just been sitting there, looking like he's petrified," the Data Terminal muttered. "And the most amazing thing is that he hasn't even blinked…"

Nangong Wuyue glanced at Izhaks with a strange expression: "That's a bit too engrossed in thought."

Izhaks was speechless, but at this moment, the monitoring screen from the Data Terminal suddenly changed!

The door to the throne hall was pushed open, and an old demon with one eye missing and grayish-blue skin walked in. The first thing this old demon did after entering the room was to carefully check the surroundings, then he closed the door behind him and locked it carefully before walking towards the throne. He was also holding a plate in his hand. The things on the plate were strange, but they should be food.

"That's my butler, Gadamo," Izhaks suddenly frowned. "What is he doing here?"

At this moment, the demon butler on the monitoring screen had arrived in front of the throne. He coughed lightly while holding the plate, and then a scene that made people dumbfounded appeared:

The "Izhaks" on the throne finally moved. He slightly propped up his upper body and sat up straight, then the armor and skin on his chest opened at the same time, revealing a layer of alloy hatch underneath. After the hatch opened, a folding ladder popped out from inside, and a small figure climbed out of "Izhaks'" chest along the ladder!

The small figure had striking long golden hair, wore a beautiful black dress, and looked like a human eight or nine years old. She was probably less than 1.3 meters tall. She jumped off the ladder and turned around, revealing a pretty and lovely face. There was also a pair of demon horns on both sides of her head that were more decorative than imposing—which could prove that she did indeed have demon blood.

The little demon girl who jumped out of "Izhaks'" body quickly ran to Gadamo, grabbed the food on the plate, and stuffed it into her mouth as if she hadn't eaten all day. While stuffing, she muttered vaguely, "Uncle Gadamo, Sister Lanina is back! She's safe and sound!"

"This subordinate knows, this subordinate knows. It seems that things are developing in a good direction," Gadamo hunched over, with an old and weak look from the inside out that was rarely seen on ordinary demons. "Princess, you performed very well today. If you keep it up like this, you shouldn't be exposed."

The little girl nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, of course there won't be any problems with what I personally adjusted. But Dad Number Three is still a bit troublesome to operate. It's too complicated to control, and it can only do some simple movements and poses. Problems will always arise if we can't fight for too long. I wonder when Dad Number Four's mental connector will be adjusted."

"Please rest assured, Princess. With the data you provided, plus the skills of the dwarven masters, it shouldn't be a problem."

Hao Ren, who had witnessed the whole process, said: "... What?"

Izhaks slammed his hand on the table, his facial muscles twitching: "Elizabeth… Elizabeth!"