Chapter 341 149: Summoning the Emperor with a Single Word

Of course, Guan Yun didn't stay long after that.

Because those mortal constables hadn't found anything at all.

With a flash, Guan Yun flew back into the white clouds in the sky.

Xu Lei continued to observe through his Telescope.

He saw Guan Yun fly high into the sky again, then disappear at roughly the same altitude as when he had first spied on her.

At this point, Xu Lei lowered his gaze.

Then, Xu Lei saw Qing Lian emerge from the city through his Telescope.

She must have heard the explosion and rushed out.

Seeing Qing Lian's worried expression, Xu Lei quickly ran down to meet her.

「A short while later.」

Xu Lei met up with Qing Lian.

He told her what had happened.

Naturally, he focused on telling her that the middle-aged male Loose Cultivator was dead, so she no longer needed to worry.

As for the matter of Bodhisattva Guan Yun, Xu Lei didn't say much to Qing Lian.

Then, Xu Lei hired another carriage and took Qing Lian home.

「Another seven days passed in a flash.」

Qing Lian's period was over, and Xu Lei had also formulated a preliminary plan to create a Shotgun.

Then, Xu Lei announced that he was taking Qing Lian with him to the Capital City!

They had previously rented the house for several months.

Now, they were leaving before the lease was up.

Xu Lei told the auntie next door that she could come live in it and use it.

He also told the landlord that when the lease expired, the security deposit should be given directly to the auntie next door.

After all, Xu Lei didn't care about such a small amount of rent money.

He wasn't about to make a special trip back just for the deposit, nor would he delay his plans simply to use up the full lease term.

During their time here, the auntie next door had been very good to him and Qing Lian.

So he just gave it all to her.

The reason for going to the Capital City was because Xu Lei had heard that a certain Vassal Prince had been accused of treason by the current Little Emperor and subsequently eliminated.

That's right, the struggle between the Royal Family and the Vassal Princes was not yet over.

It had actually been going on for quite some time.

The current Emperor was a new one.

Not the one who had crossed paths with Xu Lei and Zhou Ya back then.

That Emperor had also failed to successfully curb the power of the Vassal Princes.

He had only barely managed to keep the various Vassal Princes in check and prevent them from rebelling.

Moreover, that Emperor hadn't lived very long.

He died young, in his middle years.

It was unknown whether he was drained dry by the Consorts in the rear palace or if it was due to the immense strain of handling the realm's affairs.

Xu Lei didn't know either.

He was just repeating what he'd heard from the common people.

After all, he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

In any case, the old Emperor was dead, and a new one had ascended the throne.

In the years since, the Vassal Princes in various regions had grown increasingly powerful and seemed to have little respect for the Little Emperor.

However, the Little Emperor had recently gotten rid of a Vassal Prince whose power wasn't particularly great!

It was considered the first time he had bared his fangs since ascending the throne!

And that Vassal Prince had a group of excellent craftsmen under his command.

It was said that they were now in the high-security prison due to the charge of treason.

They were originally scheduled to be beheaded.

But because the Emperor and Empress wanted these craftsmen to build something for them, many of the death-row inmates were temporarily allowed to live.

This included the families of these condemned craftsmen, who also escaped a death sentence.

As long as the condemned craftsmen completed the project well, they could ensure their families would live.

Of course, the craftsmen themselves were definitely going to die in the end.

Now, Xu Lei was targeting this group of craftsmen.

Because Xu Lei wanted to manufacture a Shotgun, and if possible, a sniper rifle or something similar along the way.

This would involve certain technical processes.

Although Xu Lei had dabbled in this knowledge back on Earth, he was by no means an expert who knew it inside and out.

There were still many hurdles to overcome before he could actually produce something.

When it came to practical application, it would certainly require trial after trial and numerous failures before finally achieving success.

For example, how to forge better bullets?

How to create a better gun barrel?

How to make the gun fire continuously? And if there were problems during automatic fire, they would all have to be identified and solved one by one!

All of these things had to be researched step by step.

In short, all sorts of experiments were needed, and one person definitely couldn't do it alone.

The progress would be too slow with just one person; he still needed skilled craftsmen to cooperate with him.

Xu Lei could have just spent money to gather a group of craftsmen.

Similar craftsmen could be found all over the country.

But Xu Lei didn't want the gun-making techniques to be spread around afterward.

So he was prepared to get rid of them once they were no longer needed.

Once everything was developed, Xu Lei would kill all the craftsmen!

Just like the Little Emperor was planning to do.

Although he didn't know what secret the Little Emperor wanted to protect, Xu Lei, for his part, wanted to ensure that these gun-making techniques wouldn't spread in this world so soon.

If the natives of this world figured it out on their own, Xu Lei wouldn't stop them.

But Xu Lei didn't want the fruits of his research to be controlled by other natives, who might then use them to attack him.

If he hired craftsmen from all over with money and then killed them, it would seem a bit too inhumane.

Xu Lei still felt a little uneasy about it.

'I feel like I'm turning into some kind of arch-villain.'

So, after Xu Lei heard about this group of condemned prisoners, his mind started working.

He prepared to negotiate with the Little Emperor, asking him to hand over the men for his own use after the Emperor was done with them.

After he was done using them, he would kill them.

Although the Little Emperor might worry about his own secrets being exposed and refuse to hand them over to Xu Lei.

He might want to just get rid of all the craftsmen directly.

But Xu Lei guessed that the Little Emperor probably just wanted to build some secret rooms or contraptions in the Imperial Palace.

All he had to do was activate a little Magical Power and put on a display of his abilities in front of the Little Emperor.