Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 112: The Search for Prince Arude

"Prince Arude? Do you know where he is?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"No, I only know that he was imprisoned by the king," said Old Du.

"Where should we look for him, then? This is not a small planet," said Domo.

"I think Old Du makes sense. Things are getting too odd, especially things concerning King Xido. He wrote the edict himself, and if he is aware that Prince Toruse isn't the first in line to the throne, why did he have Prince Toruse get the edict? There are so many people he can order around in the palace. It is impossible for the king to not have a single person he can trust," I said.

"I think so as well. I even suspect that getting the edict was Prince Toruse's personal idea," said Old Du.

"In other words, Prince Toruse wants to be the king?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Duh? Fatty, I reckon that if you were the prince, you would have rebelled for the throne long ago," said Domo.

"You bastard. If Canyue isn't here, I would have put a bullet in your head already," said Zhang Bao'er.

Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted from far away. When we looked up, we saw some imperial shuttles rushing through the atmosphere.

"This is bad. The imperial foot soldiers are coming. They'll probably be the Imperial Police Force. They are going to take control over the ground level as well," said Domo.

"Those damn drones are probably coming as well," complained Zhang Bao'er.

"Alright. Our top priority is to look for Prince Arude and learn more from him. This is a mysterious prince we have yet to meet. Perhaps we can figure out the truth after meeting him, which will certainly make it easier for us to decide the position we should take for this conflict," said Old Du.

"Canyue, Old Du, I have a few questions," Zhang Bao'er suddenly said.

"Just say what you have in mind. Now isn't the time to be beating around the bush," I said.

"Old Du, you said that Zhang Xingxing and the others also have an important mission in the underground palace. What is it?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"According to Prince Toruse, the situation is urgent. According to Planet Akko's traditions, a successor to the throne must be appointed during wartime to prevent internal chaos in case a mishap happens to the king. That is why we were sent to retrieve the royal scepter and the royal edict," said Old Du.

"Was Prince Toruse the one who requested for Zhang Xingxing and the others to go to the underground palace?" I asked.

"Yes. The prince was afraid of mutiny, so he had us help him stabilize the situation," said Old Du.

"That's reasonable from the prince's point of view. My second question is, 'Do you think Prince Toruse was the one who released the fero canines?' " asked Zhang Bao'er.

'Damn, Zhang Bao'er. He finally voiced the same question everyone had but was unwilling to say,' I thought inwardly.

After hearing the question, Old Du sank into several seconds of silence before saying, "Initially, I suspected the same. Prince Toruse is the most suspicious since he stands to gain the most. However, he is also our brother-in-arms and had once battled alongside us. Deep inside, I don't believe that's the case. Thus, I still believe Prince Toruse isn't the culprit," said Old Du.

"Old Du, you shouldn't let emotions cloud your judgment," said Zhang Bao'er.

The sounds of shuttles outside became louder as they approached the ground. However, we didn't even have a new destination in mind.

"Emotional nerds, if you keep talking, it will be too late for you to do anything. Let me bestow upon you some of my wisdom," Domo suddenly said.

"What do you know, dwarf?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Think about it. Who would the inheritance affect most? Without a doubt, it would be Toruse and Arude," said Domo, ignoring Zhang Bao'er's provocation.

"Duh? Isn't that obvious?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Stop, Bao'er. Let Domo finish," I said.

"It's clear. Prince Toruse would definitely need to stay beside the king at this time to show his loyalty. If he goes after the edict himself and the king learns about it, what would the king think about him? You're still too young. You don't understand the deeper implications behind things," said Domo.

What Domo said was reasonable, so Zhang Bao'er did not say anything.

"If Prince Toruse has the ability to stick with the king and release those fero canines before entering the underground palace, he can always retrieve the edict behind the king's back as well. Thus, your suspicion is ill-founded," Domo continued.

"Domo makes sense," Old Du said.

"Who else would care so much about the edict?" Domo asked.

"Prince Arude," replied Zhang Bao'er, even if he hated to agree with Domo.

"Fatty, you've finally learned to use your brain. Yes, it's Prince Arude. He did not know who we were, but he must have been observing us from the dark and protecting the edict. Thus, I believe the fero canines were released by Prince Arude. It is very likely that he is hiding in the palace under us," said Domo smugly.

Zhang Bao'er decided to shut his mouth because Domo's analysis seemed very logical.

"That's reasonable. Domo, what a surprise," I praised.

"Yes, what Domo said is reasonable. In that case, is Prince Arude actually hiding in the queen's palace under us? I can go in with Canyue to search the place. Bao'er, stay in the fighter and cover us," said Old Du.

The imperial shuttles had reached the outer fringe of the palace complex. They were near enough that we could see countless foot soldiers and tanks pouring out of them.

"We're running out of time. Go and return as fast as possible. Make sure you find Prince Arude," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Bao'er, give your morph-capable shield to Old Du," I said.

Dondon opened the door and flew over with Zhang Bao'er's shield device. Old Du immediately installed the device on his wrist.

I then controlled the fighter to land on the lawn of the queen's palace. With Domo staying to guard the fighter, Old Du and I hopped out.

"Old Du, be careful of your surroundings. Watch out for the fero canines. We'll enter together," I said.

We walked right through the unguarded front door. It was completely quiet inside the palace. There were no signs anywhere of any guards or fero canines. Old Du and I covered each other as he carefully searched every nook and cranny. We were trying to look for hidden passages or basements that would serve as hiding spots.

"Canyue, this is weird. All the fero canines are missing," said Old Du.

"Yes. Let's go upstairs and look at the canines we hit earlier," I said.

We had searched the first and second floors and found nothing. Thus, we decided to go to the third floor. The giant canine and the three smaller canines were still lying on the ground. Oddly, the ones that were struck unconscious and not killed were gone.

"Weird. Where are the fero canines? The tranquilizer should last 24 hours. It has only been a few minutes, yet they're already gone?" I wondered doubtfully.

"This makes it obvious that someone was here. There is someone else, the same person who had taken all the canines away," said Old Du.

"Be on guard. There must be someone else here. Looks like Bao'er was right," I said.

I could feel adrenaline being pumped all throughout my body. I did not enjoy this feeling of being spied upon from the dark.

"Canyue, Old Du, faster. The imperial foot soldiers are starting to bombard the palace walls," Zhang Bao'er's urgent voice rang out.

"Canyue, look," said Old Du as he pointed at a window after scanning the room.

I ran over and saw that on the frame of the window were signs of some red liquid that had dripped onto it.

"That's the fiery red saliva of the fero canine," I said.

"Yes, it looks like someone had climbed through this window with the canines," said Old Du.

I immediately looked out, but there was nothing when I looked down from the window. When I looked up, I saw a crystal ladder hanging from the roof.

"There is a transparent crystal ladder leading to the roof here. I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't paying close attention. Let's go up," I said.

We leaped out of the window and grabbed the ladder before climbing up toward the roof. Before long, we were on the roof. The roof was basically a square platform with a thick chimney. Once we came up, rumbling sounds rang out from afar. From the roof, we could clearly see the imperial army bombarding the palace wall with their cannons.

"Canyue, faster. The imperial army will probably break through in 10 minutes," came Zhang Bao'er's voice.

Old Du and I quickly searched the platform on the roof. The platform wasn't too big, and everything was visible at a glance. There was no place to hide on the roof. Then, our gazes landed on the massive chimney.

"Canyue, I believe this chimney is an entrance leading somewhere. Someone must have taken the ladder off the chimney," said Old Du.

"Yeah, look, there is a faint footprint on the outside of the chimney," I said.

We knew what to do as we activated our thrusters at the same time and flew right above the chimney. It was pitch-black inside it. I nodded at Old Du as we entered the chimney in a straight line.

The inner wall of the chimney was not filled with ashes. Rather, the wall was so clean that not even a speck of dust could be seen. Obviously, the wall had been painted with some unique paint.

We descended slowly. Before long, we reached the bottom. There, I saw a switch and a transparent ladder that had been withdrawn to the ground.

"This must be it. Be careful," said Old Du.

I turned on my searchlight and scanned my surroundings. The space was small, so it did not take me long to discover a well-concealed black door on the black wall.

"This must be the room," said Old Du.

I pointed at the door with my chin. Old Du immediately understood my meaning. He took two steps back and prepared to charge forth with his sturdy body to knock the door off. Just as he was about to make his move, the door opened with a creak.