Apocalypse Circular-Chapter 526 - 524: They Are All Dead

Wu Yi's team strength, intelligence network, information, and large number of personnel were all she had dreamed of.

Originally, Wu Ye Ji's idea was to use her beauty to set up a competition. Then, from this competition, she would choose the most suitable candidate to join forces with. But after Lu Luo inexplicably slept with her, this idea gradually faded. Although she was reluctant to admit it, Wu Ye Ji knew Lu Luo's influence on her was indeed tremendous.

"This can indeed work. I can provide her with a plethora of political channels," Wu Ye Ji mused, "and she can provide me with manpower and resources. But have you ever thought what the final distribution of power will look like?"

Lu Luo had already considered Wu Ye Ji's question.

"There's more than one Prince."

"But there's a guarantee of only one female Prince."

Wu Ye Ji sounded somewhat confrontational; she understood Lu Luo's meaning. There could be two female Princes, but so what? The strength of a Prince is often greater than that of a Princess, whether in terms of personal strength or talent. Princes are far more competitive than Princesses; this is a common phenomenon, not something one person can change. So, how easy would it be to secure two seats among the four great Princes?

"I know it's not easy to secure the seats of two Princes," Lu Luo said, "but if it's one Prince, plus an Emperor, wouldn't that solve everything perfectly?"

"PFFT! Haha! You really do have some wild ideas." Wu Ye Ji's expression changed. She knew Lu Luo had hinted at her thoughts, but she was still unwilling to voice them openly. Voicing them meant danger.

"If possible, you should talk with her properly. As for specific cooperation projects, communication between you two will definitely be more meaningful than me being stuck in the middle."

After speaking, Lu Luo picked up an apple from the table and walked out.

Watching his retreating figure, Wu Ye Ji scoffed, "That brat really took the apple."

Shortly after Lu Luo left, Wu Yi arrived in the room. A genuine "two-monarchs plan" was officially initiated through their conversation.

...

Dressed in the uniform of an Inspection Department member, Lu Luo left the Inspection Department base. Wu Yi had given him freedom and had taken him to witness two or three major events. Now, most prominent young people in the Imperial Capital knew Lu Luo had become a member of the Inspection Department. However, no one mentioned the crisis of the intelligent machines anymore. Zhang Changming had also been mysteriously transferred, his whereabouts unknown.

Lu Luo always felt something was amiss. He sensed he might have fallen into some large web but didn't know its source.

Sigh, I'll just take it one step at a time.

Wandering the Imperial Capital, Lu Luo began to familiarize himself with this unfamiliar city. Due to the city's massive scale, it was nearly impossible for Lu Luo to memorize its advantageous terrain in a short time. Moreover, there were too many experts in the Imperial Capital, so Lu Luo couldn't make any conspicuous moves, like using the Observer to scan. Thus, he could only rely on walking...

In front of a very luxurious yet somewhat antiquated manor, Lu Luo stopped.

The White Residence! Could this be...?

The luxury was evident in its decor and exterior walls, but many of its fixtures and equipment were old. For instance, the light fittings, signboards, and iron gates were all very worn. A top-tier clan has actually fallen to such a state, Lu Luo found it somewhat unbelievable.

However, even with the thought of meeting the Bai Family, Lu Luo didn't intend to act at this time. His movements were constantly monitored by members of the Inspection Department, as well as by some unknown observers. Lu Luo knew this was the Imperial Capital's surveillance on him, and he didn't want to cause trouble for himself. He currently had no roots in the Imperial Capital and had far too many matters to face. And the Bai Family was the biggest trouble right now.

Sigh, that's about enough.

Just as Lu Luo was preparing to leave, a young woman suddenly walked out from the Bai Family's estate towards him. Her face struck him as oddly familiar. She looks so much like Bai Yuetong! Except, the young woman before him seemed younger than Bai Yuetong and had a more slender figure.

She was holding two trash bags, apparently on her way to take out the garbage. The bags weren't light, judging by her gait and the way her arms hung.

CREAK!

The rusty iron gate made a rather grating noise. If only someone would put a little sewing machine oil on this gate, it wouldn't make such a sound, Lu Luo mused. But the young woman seemed thoroughly accustomed to the noise.

She skillfully walked to the curb, opened the trash can, and tossed the garbage inside, then turned to go back.

However, as she turned, the white-haired young woman glanced at Lu Luo, whether intentionally or not. It wasn't for any particular reason, mainly because Lu Luo had been staring at her the entire time, which seemed rather impolite.

"Excuse me, sir, do we know each other?" she asked.

"Uh, perhaps," Lu Luo replied, then turned and walked away.

The white-haired young woman was left somewhat perplexed. If we know each other, then we do; if not, we don't. What on earth does 'perhaps' mean? He's not bad-looking... pity he's a psycho, she thought, shrugging as she walked back into the estate.

Lu Luo hadn't gone far. He'd stopped watching her mainly because he sensed someone else observing him.

The Bai Family... once one of the four great Royal Family Clans, to think they've fallen into such decay. This situation is truly lamentable. Sigh, I should just head back.

Feeling constantly watched, Lu Luo felt this kind of reconnaissance had lost its meaning. He couldn't just keep pretending to be eating or sightseeing. After wandering around for a bit longer and feeling bored, Lu Luo returned to the base.

The following days saw the merging of Wu Ye Ji's and Wu Yi's interest-aligned teams. Their cooperation wasn't particularly smooth, as their personalities clashed. However, with Lu Luo acting as a mediator between them, the partnership managed to continue relatively normally.

...

In the period that followed, everything in the Imperial Capital seemed to return to a state of calm. Those who had been secretly watching Lu Luo still hadn't made a move. Lu Luo couldn't guess their intentions, nor could he grasp the true current situation in the Imperial Capital. The Emperor had been absent for far too long.

This made Lu Luo somewhat concerned! Concerned for the future of the Imperial Capital.

「Late one night, a week later.」

Lu Luo rolled off Wu Ye Ji, picked up a woman's cigarette from the table, and lit it for himself. He blew a smoke ring and brought up something he had mentioned before.

"That person I asked you to investigate, did you find anything?"

"I did."

"And?" Lu Luo disliked it when people spoke cryptically. Even if the woman before him was just a casual partner.

"You seem to care a great deal about this?"

"Yes, very much."

"The person is dead."

"Dead?" Lu Luo narrowed his eyes slightly.

If he had only been suspicious before, now he was almost certain. The person who provided Wu Ye Ji with intelligence was definitely problematic.

"That's right, dead," Wu Ye Ji continued. "But an informant dying in the Imperial Capital is actually quite normal, there's no need to—"

"It seems your Imperial Family has been thoroughly infiltrated!" Lu Luo suddenly interrupted.

"What are you talking about, Lu Luo? How could the Imperial Family be infiltrated?"

"Don't you understand by now? Those hidden in the darkness simply wish for your Imperial to die."

The sudden shift in Lu Luo's attitude made it somewhat difficult for Wu Ye Ji to adapt.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"If I'm not mistaken, there's an Angel Envoy within the Imperial Palace!"

"An Angel Envoy?" Wu Ye Ji glanced around slightly. Lu Luo had mentioned Angel Envoys to her before, but she had always felt the matter was very distant from her. Moreover, the strength of the Imperial was not something a single Angel Envoy could challenge. Honestly, even if all the Angel Envoys united, the Imperial wouldn't be particularly afraid. An Eighth Order human's strength was already formidable, and coupled with the Imperial's tools and resources, the Imperial was confident it could handle them, even if the Angel Envoys were powerful.

Lu Luo naturally saw Wu Ye Ji's thoughts. This arrogant attitude stemmed from the Imperial Family's confidence in its own strength. That was normal. However, Lu Luo knew the Angel Envoys' schemes weren't hatched overnight; they had been plotting for a millennium. If not confronted seriously, even the Imperial wouldn't be able to withstand it. Setting other things aside, a crisis of intelligent machines or a powerful plague alone would be more than enough for the Imperial to handle. Just because these things hadn't happened yet didn't mean they wouldn't in the future.

Moreover, creatures like Angel Envoys fully possessed the ability to manipulate such series of events. They had the power; they just hadn't used it yet. It wasn't that they lacked strength and were merely bluffing; they genuinely possessed it. That was the true threat of the Angel Envoys.

"Yes," Lu Luo affirmed. "There's likely an Angel Envoy in the Imperial Palace of the Imperial Capital."

Watching Lu Luo, Wu Ye Ji felt a growing irritation. All she wanted was power. But Lu Luo's current demeanor made it clear his mind was preoccupied with other matters, which annoyed her greatly.

"Is the impact really that significant?"

"Heh, just wait and see," Lu Luo replied. "Since it dared to make a move against you and Wu Yi, it likely won't let matters rest so easily."

Their conversation was soon validated.

In the following month, the Imperial Family of the Imperial encountered one accident after another. The Fifteenth Prince was caught soliciting prostitutes and got into a brawl with local guards. The Twenty-first Princess was kidnapped, during which many unspeakable things occurred. The Second Prince and the Fourth Princess had a violent confrontation. The Fourth Princess personally took action, severed one of the Second Prince's thighs, and fed it to dogs.

This incident was an internal conflict within the Imperial Family, which in itself wasn't extraordinary; similar things had happened before. The problem was that such matters were now being blatantly exposed, and no one knew who had leaked the information. Another point was that the fate of these Princes and Princesses was generally not good. Most would commit suicide out of shame, kill themselves out of fear of punishment, or be inexplicably murdered.

The occurrence of so many incidents in such a short time, far from making the other Princes and Princesses sense that something was wrong, instead ignited the underlying ambitions of many. After all, with so many people eliminated, their own chances of advancement had increased. This was a natural reaction; even Wu Yi and Wu Ye Ji harbored similar thoughts.

However, that night, Lu Luo went directly to find both of them, prepared to discuss in detail the recent deaths among Imperial Family members.

...

"Lu Luo!"

"Hmph."

The two women arrived one after the other. Lu Luo was seated at his desk, organizing a large stack of documents. He didn't speak immediately but instead placed two sets of documents in front of them.

"You two, take a look first. We have more time today. I'll give you half an hour to go through these."

Lu Luo's tone at this moment wasn't that of a subordinate, but rather of a superior. Wu Ye Ji was relatively unfazed; she was used to Lu Luo dominating her nightly, so she had grown accustomed to this tone. Wu Yi, on the other hand, had always cooperated with Lu Luo as an equal. His current tone felt somewhat off to her.

"Lu Luo, you...?" Wu Yi began.

"Just read them first. After you're done, perhaps you'll have some different thoughts."

Lu Luo's words managed to somewhat dispel Wu Yi's doubts, and the two began to examine the documents Lu Luo had prepared. The documents were voluminous, but Lu Luo had organized the content very clearly, making it easy to understand at a glance. They quickly finished reading.

Although they often heard news about the deaths of Imperial Family members, it was only when they saw Lu Luo's detailed statistics that they realized that in just over a month, members of the Imperial Family of the Imperial had been involved in 113 incidents of various scales and natures. Among these, 39 incidents had resulted in casualties among members of the Imperial Family of the Imperial. In total, 21 Princes and Princesses had died.

The sheer number of deaths alone, setting everything else aside, was beyond what many could have imagined.

"So, we've finished reading. What are you trying to say? Is it the same old story you mentioned before?" Wu Ye Ji spoke directly, her words also catching Wu Yi's attention. Wu Yi knew there was some connection between Wu Ye Ji and Lu Luo, but she had never let her thoughts stray in that particular direction. There must be some hidden cooperation between them, she believed. But I'm not particularly concerned, as long as it doesn't go too far.

"Yes, Lu Luo, we're actually aware of these issues," Wu Yi interjected. "After all, our intelligence network isn't just for show. But so what? More deaths are, in fact, good for us. Especially after what happened to Number Four's faction, it created a lot of space and openings for us. Isn't something like this beneficial?"

Lu Luo shook his head slightly, unsure how to explain it to these two women. Saying too much would sound like nonsense, while saying too little wouldn't convince them. Therefore, Lu Luo decided today was the day to drop some bombshells. He had to at least get these two Princesses firmly tied to his war chariot.

"Have you noticed the common thread in these incidents?" he asked.

"Common thread? That they're all Princes and Princesses?"

Lu Luo's mouth twitched. Alright, that *is* a common thread, but hardly worth pointing out, is it?

At this point, he no longer held back and stated directly, "They are all dead."

Wu Ye Ji: ??

Wu Yi: ??

"Are you spouting nonsense?"

Lu Luo: ...