"..." After reading the letter, everyone fell into an unusual silence.

After a long while, Benis muttered reluctantly, "I knew I shouldn't have had expectations for that Fourth Prince—thinking about the places he frequented and his reputation in the Royal Capital, I thought ascending the throne would change him..."

"Hush," Agge pulled at her arm. "Be careful what you say. The nobles who come here are all supporters of His Majesty the King. Even if they're not, they'll pretend to be. If someone hears you say that, it could bring trouble."

Roentgen sighed. "We probably won't set foot in the new Royal Capital for the rest of our lives."

"That's not so bad. We're quite popular here, aren't we?" Agge comforted him. "Or rather, apart from Neverwinter, the Karkin Troupe is considered a first-class theater group wherever we go. Supporting ourselves won't be a problem."

"The Shadow Play will come to the old Royal Capital sooner or later," Karkin suddenly said. "In recent days, I've been repeatedly watching the scripts Mei has acted in, and I've discovered that they all have one thing in common, which is the subtle and gradual influence on viewers within a fictional setting, and that setting is the future His Majesty is planning. Since it's a tool for spreading the King's ideas and will, how could it only be shown in Neverwinter? When that time comes, can you still be so confident in your plays?"

Agge was stunned. "We... we can go to other places, like Dawn. Teacher, as long as you say the word, the theaters there would be happy to have us as permanent residents—"

Karkin shook his head. "I will not go to Dawn."

"Then..."

The theater master raised his head. "I want to go to Neverwinter again."

"What?"

"Teacher?"

The three were greatly shocked.

"It takes the troupe at least a month to travel to and from Neverwinter, and during that time everyone has almost no income," Agge quickly dissuaded him. "We're fine, but the new recruits and apprentices below will probably have more expenses than income, which will affect the stability of the troupe."

Karkin certainly knew this. Performing in other places was fine if there was a fixed theater to stay in, otherwise all the props and supplies had to be self-prepared, which was not an easy task.

But his meaning was not what everyone thought. "I will not take the troupe."

This time the disciples were stunned for even longer. "Then... what are you going to do?"

"Go and compete for Shadow Play performance opportunities," Karkin said slowly. "Although His Majesty said that Shadow Play would be popularized sooner or later, he did not mention the specific time... ten years, or twenty years? In any case, I can't wait that long. Even if it's only five years, the Starflower Troupe will reach an unprecedented height. It will be too late for us to catch up and start from scratch with Shadow Play at that time."

The best time to chase a wave is before it rises and leaps out of the sea.

"The problem is, His Majesty already has the Starflower Troupe..." Benis murmured.

"The Starflower Troupe initially only had Star and Flower." Karkin glanced at his disciples. "Moreover, my idea has not changed—an outstanding performance must go through constant behind-the-scenes polishing to reach its best level. Since the plays arranged by His Majesty cannot be fully taken care of by Starflower alone, then our participation may not be a solution. If we can surpass them in variety shows, maybe we can win the opportunity to perform Shadow Play."

"You want to perform those... variety shows?" Agge said in disbelief.

"If you want to get one part, you often have to give up another part." He nodded. "But even if it's a variety show, it cannot become an excuse for laxity. Do your best."

Karkin paused. "Of course, His Majesty may still reject this request, in which case I'll join the Starflower Troupe in my personal capacity. Do any of you want to come with me?"

No one answered.

It was unclear whether they hadn't recovered yet, or whether they were unwilling to leave the old Royal Capital.

Perhaps both were true.

Karkin was not surprised. In fact, when this idea first occurred to him, even he was taken aback—as Agge said, even if he went to Dawn, he could get a high status with his reputation. Now, however, he has to give up all this, which is definitely not an easy choice.

What's more, he was already old... his memory was not as good as before, and even his legs and feet were not flexible enough. What kind of roles could he play on the stage? Generally, they would be unimportant supporting roles. Even if he performed well, it would probably be a joke in the eyes of others.

It could be said that from the moment he achieved fame and retreated from the stage to behind the scenes, he never thought that he would have a comeback day—since His Majesty could not accept his script, and he could not write stories like "New City" or "Dawn," then the only way was to try as an actor.

Too incredible?

Karkin looked at the expressions of his disciples, as if he saw the thoughts in their hearts.

That's right, it was indeed incredible—after making this decision, he felt a long-lost sense of ease.

He was indeed old, but strangely, his heart seemed to have returned to more than thirty years ago, when he first entered the theater with his family and saw the play.

The irrepressible excitement and impulse at this moment were almost the same as when he was young.

He had countless reasons to stop himself, but in the face of that possibly existing opportunity, all reasons vanished.

"Agge has followed me for the longest time and has enough understanding of the operation of the troupe. When I'm not here, he will temporarily take over the management." Karkin calmly instructed. "Recently, many talented newcomers have joined the troupe. Let them show themselves more. As long as the plays are rehearsed normally, I believe there will be no problems."

"Teacher..." The three still wanted to say something, but he stopped them.

He followed the voice of his young heart.

That voice was telling him.

He wanted to perform Shadow Play.

*******************

Graycastle, Western Region, Neverwinter.

As Roland expected, after finding suitable materials, the weaponization of napalm was surprisingly fast.

In just one week, the Ministry of Chemical Industry presented the prototypes to him.

There were a dozen iron buckets with a diameter of 30 centimeters and a height of about one meter. The center of the iron buckets was equipped with detonating explosives and connected with wires.

"Your Majesty, this is the 'City-Burning Heavenly Fire Thunder' designed by me," Lightning excitedly introduced. "It has three layers: a special effects snow powder layer, a combustion-supporting layer, and a fuel layer. In order to make the burning area spread wider, these three layers are not simply a wrapping structure, but like an inverted mushroom. The snow powder fire will spread to the combustion-supporting layer and the fuel layer, like an erupting volcano! Also..."

Perhaps he had finally gotten a chance to replace Kaimo Strale, the chief alchemist originally from the Royal Capital's Alchemist Association, eloquently expounded on his proud work, and many of his designs did catch Roland's eye. In addition to the directional ignition configuration and combustion-supporting considerations, he also mentioned the idea of delayed ignition for the first time, using the precise and controllable characteristics of electric detonators to detonate multiple explosives in sequence, reducing the mutual influence while increasing the killing effect. It must be said that this group of people standing at the top of the industry does have extraordinary talents.

For example, Lightning seemed particularly enthusiastic about using chemical products to make explosives.

The only thing Roland questioned was the other party's style and taste in naming things.

But these were not big problems. Anyway, after they were officially equipped by the army, he was the only one with the right to name them.

"Then let's test your so-called City-Burning Heavenly Fire." Roland smiled slightly.