Chapter 402
Chapter 402
The Dietrich family's warehouse was in the basement. It was heavily guarded, with hidden traps along the way in.
While walking down the stairs, Solorel explained to Jonathan, “Your Majesty, this warehouse is our treasure vault. Only treasured items are stored inside.” After some hesitation, he added, “Next to this is Fog City, where our revered ancestor cultivated her powers. Now that she's no longer around, you can head there if you want to cultivate your powers. She granted you permission before she left.”
That instantly piqued Jonathan's interest. He reckoned the place where the primogenitor cultivated would be full of benefits. And that was much more precious than anything else.
“Great, that's fantastic!” Jonathan exclaimed.
Solorel responded with a smile.
Following that, the group arrived before the warehouse.
There was a white sliding door right in front of the warehouse. A door like that was so sturdy that even a rocket launcher could not crack it open.
The front door was tightly shut at the moment.
Solorel walked up to the scanner by the entrance and did a retinal scan. The door slowly slid open.
What came within Jonathan's sight was a passageway before him. Inside, it was as bright as day, with snow-white marble walls and gold-threaded carpet on the floor.
Well-known paintings that were worth a fortune were hung along the passageway.
Solorel stepped in front to lead the way while Jonathan and the rest followed behind.
As they walked through the passageway, they arrived in front of another entrance.
This time, it was still a sliding door, but before the door sat an elderly man dressed in black.
He sat upright at a desk, and there was a booklet on it.
That elderly man was none other than Titus.
Titus was in charge of that treasure vault. He had always been a fair and impartial man who was blunt with his words.
The group halted in their tracks right before Titus, yet the latter ignored them and instead closed his eyes and leaned back on his chair, pretending to be asleep.
Evidently, he was unwelcoming toward Jonathan and the others.
With a grim expression, Solorel let out a dry cough and uttered, “Mr. Langston, His Majesty is here. Aren't you going to get up and greet him?”
Titus, however, stayed still, almost as if he was sound asleep.
Jonathan remained silent. He was waiting for Solorel to resolve that situation.
Anger simmered in the depths of Solorel's eyes. He inhaled deeply and voiced, “Let me repeat myself, Mr. Langston. His Majesty is here. You should get up and greet him now.”
Nonetheless, Titus remained motionless. Neither did he open his eyes.
At that, Solorel roared, “Walrion!”
“Yes!” Walrion responded respectfully.
Solorel snapped, “Mr. Langston has disrespected His Majesty and that is a severe act of rebellion. He will be dismissed and no longer manage the treasure vault, which'll be effective immediately.”
As those words fell, Titus suddenly opened his eyes. A terrifying gleam emitted from his gaze as he sneered at those words. “Solorel, what an arrogant man you are!”
Solorel gave Titus an indifferent look.
Titus swept his gaze toward Jonathan, then said, “A brat like him deserves to be King?”
Solorel expressed, “His Majesty was specially appointed by our revered ancestor. She has done it before everyone's eyes. What, do you not take our revered ancestor's words seriously now?”
Titus fumed, “Solorel, stop using the revered ancestor to scare me. Now that she's no longer around, I will never allow this brat to become the King.”
“It's a pity that it is not up to you to decide,” Solorel coldly replied.
Right then, Jonathan broke his silence. He smiled and remarked, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Langston. Do you mind if I say a few words?”
“Spit it out,” said Titus.
Unperturbed, Jonathan uttered, “First of all, I didn't ask to be King. If the revered ancestor didn't appoint me, even if I begged on my knees till my legs were bruised, Prince Solorel would still not crown me. You have to be clear that you guys are the ones who asked me to come here. If Prince Solorel tells me to, I will leave. I'll leave this place right away. Secondly, I'm not interested in the position of the King. It may seem like everyone here refers to me as 'Your Majesty' when they see me, but in truth, everyone is adhering to Prince Solorel's commands. And that is just a portion of the people here. There's another group of people who doesn't acknowledge me as the King, just like you. But I don't really care about that. Third, I have no idea why you're so hostile toward me. Do you perhaps think I'm not suited to be King and the revered ancestor's words are nonsense? Do you think you'll only be satisfied if you become King? If that is so, I'm more than willing to let you take over this spot.”
Jonathan criticized Titus both indirectly and directly.
He was reasonable and polite with his words, yet the meaning behind them was sharp and nasty.
In other words, these were the three points he made: one, the vampires had begged him to come over; two, he could not care less about the position appointed to him; and lastly, Titus was a bad*ss and a rebel for going against Leahra's words.
Well, Jonathan was never a good-tempered man, to begin with. He sure was a headache.
Titus was undoubtedly startled. He slammed his palm onto the desk and bellowed, “What a sharp- tongued brat! Get out of here!”
Jonathan looked at Titus coldly and said, “I'll treat whoever treats me nicely ten times better. That's the kind of person I am. But I hold no power here. If you want me to scram, very well then. I'll scram now!” As his words fell, he turned around and left.
“Your Majesty!” Anxiousness overwhelmed Solorel, and he immediately stopped Jonathan.
Jonathan snickered. “Prince Solorel, is it that I'm not allowed to leave?”
Prince Solorel quickly stepped back and answered, “I'm sorry!” Before long, he continued, “Your Majesty, it's absurd for Titus to act that way. Tell me how to deal with him, and I'll do as told.”
Jonathan smiled and stated, “He deserves to die!”
A frosty glint crossed Solorel's gaze. “Very well. I'll kill him right away.” His murderous aura soared as he stormed toward Titus after he finished speaking.
“Prince Solorel, I'm merely kidding.” Judging by how Solorel reacted, Jonathan figured Titus would die there and then if he did not stop the former.
Of course, Titus was shocked. It was beyond his imagination that Solorel would be so unwavering.
Jonathan spoke no more of the subject. “I'm hungry. I want to eat now.”
He then left the treasure vault.
Mabel and Beatrix followed behind him too.
Walrion and Aurora, on the other hand, were a little hesitant. They were unsure if they should remain where they were or follow Jonathan out. Solorel shot them a glare. “Why are you two still standing here?”
Walrion and Aurora hastily hummed an agreement and trailed behind the rest.
After Walrion and Aurora left, only Solorel and Titus were left in the treasure vault.
“From today onward, Titus, you'll no longer be our clan elder. The treasure vault is no longer under your control, so hand over the key. Head back and wait for His Majesty's commands. If His Majesty wants you dead, no one will be able to save you, not even the immortals,” Solorel grimly uttered.
Titus glanced at Solorel with an odd look. “Solorel, are you being serious?” NôvelDrama.Org owns this text.
Solorel reasoned, “When our revered ancestor was around, I adhered to her arrangements. Now that she's no longer around, I'll follow His Majesty's orders. What I don't understand is, why are you being
so rude toward His Majesty?”
“I would be fine if you were King. But what capabilities or qualifications does Jonathan have? What gives him the right to lead us?” Titus retorted.
“Our revered ancestor gave him the right!” Solorel was seething with anger. “Everything we have now was given to us by our revered ancestor. Even if she wants us to die, we can never go against her. Besides, she must have plans for making such arrangements. What do you know?”
Titus fell silent for a long while. “Jonathan is a nobody. He just got here, and yet he's asking for ten spatial rings. That's daylight robbery. How can I believe that he'll be able to lead us well?”
“You know nothing. His Majesty was testing our sincerity. You have to remember that we are the ones who made him come here,” explained Solorel.
“The spatial rings are valuable items. He's too greedy,” Titus claimed.
Solorel went quiet before heaving a deep sigh. “Titus, I'm telling you so much because I care about our relationship. The instructions I gave you earlier were no joke either. Hand over the key now.”
Titus' expression darkened. “And if I don't?”
“Then I'll kill you right away,” Solorel answered resolutely.
“Aren't you afraid of my son?” Titus asked.
Solorel scoffed, “Finally, you spoke your mind. You beat around the bush for so long all because you
wanted your son to become King, right?”
“That's right!” admitted Titus. “My son's cultivation level was already at Level Nine of Immortal Stage ten years ago. Now that he's traveling around the world, perhaps when he returns, he'd have already condensed the divine mana and reached Void Domain. He's the perfect candidate to become the King.”
“Based on what you just said, I have every reason to kill you,” asserted Solorel.
Titus burst out laughing. “Do you dare to do that? My son has a large group of diehard followers. If you kill me, the vampires will get no peace forever.”
Solorel sniggered. “You're overestimating your son. If he dares do anything, I'll be the first to kill him.” He stilled for a moment. “Titus, I thought you were someone I'd have great respect for. But from the looks of things now, you're nothing but an immensely selfish being. It turns out that you've always perceived this clan as yours and your son's. You protecting the vampires is equivalent to protecting your son and you're protecting this treasure vault because you deemed it your son's. Now that you realize the throne has been snatched away and your son can no longer become King, you no longer care about the vampires' future and well-being.”
Titus angrily spat, “Nonsense!”
Solorel thundered, “Cut the cr*p. As long as your son isn't the King, I have the right to deal with you. Hand over the key at once!”