Chapter 268: Emptying the Vault

"But it's a good thing I made some preparations before coming."

While speaking, Leon took out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, along with a silver coin he had retrieved from Nacho.

The disguise was secondary; the real key was the silver coin that represented royal identity and status.

Back when Leon served in the dragon-slaying army, the imperial royal family had issued him one of these as well.

It looked nice, but he never had much interest in such things.

So, he simply went home, tinkered and clanged it around, and turned it into a bell for livestock, which he hung around the neck of his donkey.

Now, whenever the donkey turned the mill, the pleasant sound of the bell rang non-stop, adding a bit of fun to the donkey's boring life.

Leon put on his sunglasses, played with the silver coin in his hand, then raised his chin at the four guards, deliberately adopting an official's tone,

"Let's go, Miss Noah."

'Hiss—'

'What is this feeling of being extremely annoyed but still especially wanting to cooperate?'

'Was my mom like this too when she was dating him back then?'

'Already twenty-three, old guy, can't you be a little more mature?'

Though she was complaining inwardly, Noah still cooperated with him very well.

"Yes, Lord Leon."

The father and daughter remained calm and composed as they stepped toward the entrance of the underground facility.

The four guards heard footsteps and immediately became alert.

"Who goes there? Coming to the imperial royal tribute storage from the Western Regions in the middle of the night?", The leading guard questioned sternly.

Leon didn't answer, still fiddling with the silver coin in his hand.

The coin flipped and flowed smoothly through his fingers.

Noah stepped forward and replied in a low voice,

"Western Region culture is famous throughout the world, and there are too many people during the day, so we chose to come at night for observation."

The guard lowered his alertness, glanced at the silver coin in Leon's hand again, and realized the other party was quite a high-ranking official. His attitude flipped instantly, "My lord, please forgive us. The codeword was arranged by the royals above; no matter who comes, we must verify the codeword first."

The codeword was cleverly embedded in a Q&A format. Though this place stored Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales, it was disguised as a "Western Region tribute" storage. Anyone unaware of the codeword would be 100% trapped by this trick.

Leon secretly let out a breath of relief but still had no intention of speaking.

Communication continued through "Miss Noah."

"It's fine, understandable. Everyone's just doing their job. We're here now to inspect the items, it's a routine check. Please temporarily disable the barrier."

"Yes."

The guard nodded respectfully and immediately disabled the underground facility's barrier.

Noah half-turned her head, "Lord, we may enter now."

"Ladies first."

'Yuck!'

'Old guy's actually a drama king.'

'Oh, Mom is kind of a drama queen sometimes too.'

'Then it's fine.'

Can't sleep in the same bed and not turn out the same.

The father and daughter entered the underground facility one after the other, walking down the stairs.

Torches lit up one by one. Passing through layers of stairs, they finally reached the underground room storing the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales.

The basement was spacious and empty, with dozens of stone platforms neatly arranged inside. Above each platform floated a Dragon Scale glowing with different colors.

The moment she stepped into the basement, Noah felt a heavy pressure.

She frowned slightly, scanning the room filled with Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales.

She knew this pressure came from the Dragon Scales themselves. Though the Dragon King's body might have already perished, the power residing in the scales still remained.

However, Noah didn't know much about this kind of thing. After all, Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales only started to form after dragons turned a hundred years old.

And she was only twenty-two this year.

"There aren't that many Dragon Scales..."

Leon said slowly, "Many of the stone platforms are empty."

"Mm, maybe they've already been used, or perhaps they're reserved for newly collected Dragon Scales."

Noah said, "But having fewer also proves that the empire doesn't want just any Dragon Scale, right?"

Leon nodded, "Mm, centenarian dragons are quite common. If the empire was simply collecting Dragon Scales, the number wouldn't be this low. Unless they're targeting some special Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales, like..."

"The Dragon King's Heart-Protecting Dragon Scale," Noah completed the sentence.

"And Little Light's reversal magic just so happens to require Dragon King–level Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales to activate," Leon said.

Noah clicked her tongue, "But how can we tell which scale has the same magical nature as Ravi's?"

If they picked the wrong one and the reversal magic couldn't be activated, then this trip into the empire would've been a total loss.

However, General Leon simply said calmly,

"Isn't that simple?"

Noah glanced sideways at him.

And saw that old guy take out a black cloth bag from his pocket, "Just take them all?"

Crap!

This had the poetic charm of Sun Wukong joining the Peach Garden staff.

———

At the entrance, Leon tucked the black bag at his waist, filled to the brim with Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales.

He and Noah arrived at the entrance one after the other.

The guards saw this and reactivated the barrier, letting the two safely exit.

"My lord, how was the inspection? Not a single Dragon Scale missing, right?", the guard asked with a smile, his tone full of eagerness to curry favor.

Not a single one missing?

Incorrect.

Not a single one left.

Correct.

Though General Leon had never been a thief, he knew well the principle that a thief never leaves empty-handed.

To the guard's question, Leon gave an imperceptible nod and let out a low grunt, "Not bad. Keep it up. I'll put in a good word for you in front of the higher-ups."

"Th-thank you very much, my lord!"

Leon held his expression, sneakily glanced at Noah, exchanging looks:

'See that? He's even thanking us~'

Noah rolled her eyes speechlessly.

"My lord, it's getting late. We should head back now," Noah said.

"Mm, let's go."

Just as Leon was about to take a step, he suddenly remembered something and turned to the guards, saying, "Don't forget to reactivate the barrier. Be careful of enemies sneaking in."

"Wise words, my lord!"

The guard immediately turned and cooperated with his companions to reset the barrier to its original state.

"Take care, my lord."

"Mm."

The father and daughter exchanged glances and were just about to leave.

But after only a few steps, a young guard suddenly shouted, "My lord, what...what's in that pouch at your waist?"

Leon froze, closed his eyes helplessly, and sighed softly.

The other guards also noticed something off and grew alert.

"My lord, you didn't have that pouch when you entered earlier, right? Please allow us to inspect it."

"My lord, please comply and step back slowly, Puh!—"

Before he could finish speaking, a black shadow flashed in front of him. A lightning-fast punch, too quick for the naked eye to follow, slammed into his stomach, leaving no time to react.

Another guard reacted swiftly, "Quick, activate the barrier alarm! We've got intru—Urgh!"

Noah pushed off the ground, leaping into the air and crashing her knee into the man's face, knocking him out instantly.

The guard trying to raise the alarm was easily subdued by Leon.

Only one guard remained.

Seeing his three colleagues taken out in the blink of an eye, he immediately dropped to his knees and surrendered.

A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle; better to live and fight another day.

Leon snorted coldly, stepped forward, and chopped the man unconscious with a hand strike.

"Good thing we had them reset the barrier before acting. If it stayed open for too long, those mages would definitely notice."

Leon said, then looked at his daughter, "Let's go, Miss Noah."

Noah rolled her eyes with a teasing smile, muttering, "Tch, drama king."

The father and daughter coordinated seamlessly and left swiftly with the Dragon Scales.

Retracing their steps, they soon reached the secret tunnel of the imperial palace ahead.

As long as they passed through, and found a way out of the empire, they could use the stolen Dragon Scales to help Aurore complete the reversal magic.

And then... return to the past—

"What people over there?"

"Stop where you are, don't move!"

"The royal family has just issued an order. Due to the disappearance of an important official, no one is allowed to roam freely inside the imperial palace."

"State your name and position, then walk over slowly."

Leon's heart jumped.

But he quickly calmed down.

"As expected... things wouldn't end so smoothly."

Leon said, "Noah, jump the wall and leave. Don't worry about detection barriers anymore. After leaving the palace, go find your sisters, then figure out a way to leave the city and get back to your mom to complete the reversal magic."

Saying this, Leon handed the pouch of Dragon Scales to Noah.

The empire's reaction was too fast. Nacho had only been missing for two hours, yet they had already locked down the entire imperial palace.

Earlier, Leon had used the code he tricked out to fool those guards.

But now, little tricks like that wouldn't work anymore.

This was the empire's home turf after all. No matter how cautious Leon was, the risk was always high.

Of course, this level of risk was already anticipated before they came to the empire.

Trying to steal something as important as the Heart-Protecting Dragon Scales was never going to be smooth sailing.

So, the best solution now was for Leon to stay behind and hold off the empire's pursuers, letting the flying-capable Noah and her two sisters escape first with the scales.

Noah looked at the black pouch in her hand, her expression solemn.

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