Six years ago, the current Count York was still the Duke of York, and the Duke of York's territory was one of the kingdom's three major eastern provinces.
At that time, a war broke out between the Kingdom of Gambis and the Lant Empire Territory over territorial disputes.
To people's surprise, His Majesty Emperor Neovist of the Lant Empire turned out to be a Golden Knight who had stepped into the legendary realm.
Under his leadership, the long-weakened Unicorn Knights of the Lant Empire won battle after battle, ultimately defeating the Swift Dragon Knight Order of King Ryan.
Although King Ryan was also a Golden Knight and wounded Neovist in the knightly duel, he was ultimately defeated and died in battle.
Two of the three major provinces were breached, and two marquises were ordered to be hanged by the Emperor of the Lant Empire.
The Duke of York at that time was frightened out of his wits, and when Her Highness Princess Roland August led the Glory Knights to intercept the Unicorn Knights, he fled without a fight.
However, he did not expect that although Her Highness Roland was only 23 years old, she had already advanced to a Golden Knight. While the Lant Emperor returned to the rear to heal his injuries, she used an extraordinary water-style swordsmanship to severely injure the commander of the Unicorn Knights, the Golden Knight Adrian, thereby reversing the war situation for Gambis.
Eventually, under the mediation of the Radiant Church and the Kingdom of Naville, the Kingdom of Gambis ceded the three eastern provinces, including the York territory, to the Lant Empire Territory, and the two sides signed an armistice agreement.
After the war, Her Highness Roland loathed the Duke of York for fleeing without a fight and wanted to strip him of his noble status.
However, the York Family defected to King Ryan's younger brother, Grand Duke Williams.
Under the Grand Duke's protection, the York Family paid a large sum of atonement money, the Duke of York was demoted to a count, and he was arranged by the Grand Duke to be the governor of the Centaur Hills.
"Although Count York lost his ducal territory and ducal title, his strength suffered no real loss."
"He still has at least five Silver-grade Great Knights under his command, and his hidden strength is even more unfathomable."
Lord Abel took out a sheepskin map, pointed at it, and said, "Right now, what the York Family is most eager for is not the ducal title, but restoring the territory under its jurisdiction to the size of a ducal fief in order to accommodate the vassal families of the York Family."
"Only in this way can his strength remain intact."
"Victor, look, your barony is located in the northern part of Count York's territory, which happens to separate Count York from the other lords of the York Family."
"So, Count York orchestrated this attack wanting to seize my territory?"
"It is just that I do not understand one thing: since Count York is so powerful, why would he still have my territory arranged in this uncomfortable position for him?" Victor raised his own question.
"Since King Ryan died in battle, the kingdom has yet to have a new king."
"Within the kingdom now, there are three Lords capable of inheriting the throne," Abel explained to Victor.
"The first is Prince Edward, the bloodline of King Ryan and Queen Catherine, except the prince is only 8 years old this year, and he was only 2 years old when the late king passed away."
"According to the kingdom's laws, he can only inherit the throne when he turns 12."
"The second is Her Highness Roland, the only offspring of King Ryan and the late Queen Irene."
"However, the late Queen Irene was the daughter of a lord with a lowly status, and she passed away early from illness. Her Highness Roland's origins have always been criticized by the nobles of the royal capital."
"However, Her Highness Roland has the support of the two major knight orders, the Velociraptor and the Glory. The Minister of Military Affairs, Marquis Gorong, is also a core figure of Her Highness Roland's faction. It can be said that Her Highness Roland controls more than half of the kingdom's military power."
"Yet the eldest princess has no intention of becoming queen; she only wants to assist Prince Edward in ascending the throne," Abel shook his head with regret.
If the eldest princess had any intention toward the throne, she would have long since ascended and claimed kingship, and the political situation in Gambis would not be as turbulent as it is now.
"The last one is Grand Duke Williams, King Ryan's younger brother."
"The Grand Duke is modest in character and has won the support of many local nobles, so he enjoys a high prestige in the House of Lords and has considerable influence in the Senate."
"It is said that the Grand Duke has a very close relationship with the Radiant Church, and this armistice is the result of the Grand Duke lobbying the church and moving three cardinals to pressure Emperor Lant."
Abel sneered and continued, "The York Family supports Grand Duke Williams."
"Victor, our Marchioness is a close friend of Queen Catherine and naturally a supporter of Prince Edward."
"We cannot sit back and watch Williams's strength surge."
"Splitting Count York's territory is a matter of course. Not only is your barony placed in a separating position, but several other families supporting the prince are also doing the same thing."
"It is just that I did not expect the York Family to make a move against us first." Lord Abel shook his head and got up to pace back and forth inside the room.
"Then what should I do?" Victor asked Abel with a solemn expression.
"Over the past two days, Count York has consistently refused my request for an audience under the pretext of being busy with official business."
"It seems he will not see me. He must have already dispatched a special envoy to the royal capital's Senate to maneuver this matter…"
"No, I must return to the royal capital immediately to see Lady Sophia. The key to victory or defeat lies in the Senate's judgment."
"We must make preparations early and not let him succeed." Abel stopped, turned to Victor, and said,
"To prevent him from sending people to intercept and kill me halfway, I cannot leave any men with you."
"For this month, Count York may put pressure on you. You should use the excuse that your injuries have not yet healed and your mind is unclear to stall him for a month."
"He will not disregard noble decency and openly harm you."
Hearing that Abel was going to leave him alone in the Black Castle, Victor thought to himself:
"I am afraid it is you who do not care about my safety, right?"
"Count York only needs to throw me out into the wilderness, and by then, even my corpse will not be found."
"Unfortunately, I am no longer that toy at the mercy of others."
Victor put on an eagerly expectant expression and said to Lord Abel, "Teacher, I will listen to your arrangements. Please make sure to go and return quickly."
Victor stood at the room's window and looked down, seeing Lord Abel's carriage escorted by dozens of guards driving toward the direction of the city gate, gradually disappearing into the fields. A hint of coldness could not help but rise on his face.
Lord Abel did not know that the original Baron Victor's soul had long since scattered.
When Zhang Shuang sorted through the Little Baron's memories, he discovered that the moment the Little Baron died, a bizarre demon god's face appeared in his sea of consciousness. Two fiery red beams shot from the demon god's eyes, and in an instant, the Little Baron's soul was shattered.
This indicated that the Little Baron was murdered while unconscious using an extraordinary power.
Count York should not be the murderer. For a naive and inexperienced Little Baron, the York Family had plenty of ways to manipulate him. Killing a vase baron did not align with the interests of the York Family and would instead bring greater trouble.
As for the faction of Prince Edward, it was hard to say. Sacrificing an insignificant baron would allow them to seize the initiative in the new territory, providing sufficient reasons whether to blame the York Family or dispatch more military forces to the Centaur Hills.
Moreover, at that time the Little Baron's soul was shattered, but his body had not died yet, presenting a state of coma. In a few more days, he would have truly died.
Had it not been for Zhang Shuang's soul traveling across, I am afraid the very day Lord Abel arrived would have coincided with the Little Baron's death in the Black Castle.
Thinking of this, Victor shuddered slightly, and the image of a stunningly beautiful woman surfaced in his mind: Could it be her?
Sophia, Marchioness of Wimbledon?
Victor stood by the window in deep thought for a long time, then turned and walked toward a chair placed inside the room.
This was a high-backed chair crafted from hemlock wood, simple in style, heavy and sturdy, exuding a fresh, raw wood scent.
Victor extended his fair, slender palm, gently pressing against the back of the chair. With a slight exertion of his arm and a lift of his waist, his entire body sprang up and landed steadily on the back of the chair.
He twisted his waist on the chair back, beginning to adjust his body's center of gravity. The two front legs of the solid wood chair gradually lifted off the ground. He continued shifting his center of gravity to his left leg, and the rear right leg of the chair also left the ground, yet Victor still stood steadily on the chair back.
If anyone were to witness this astonishing scene, they would have the illusion that both Victor and the chair had lost all weight and were floating.
The x-3 chip's control over the body had reached this degree… Victor secretly rejoiced, leaping from the back of this chair to the back of another. When he landed on the chair back, his body naturally adjusted its center of gravity and stood steadily once again.
After leaping back and forth between the chair backs a few times, Victor did a backflip in mid-air, landed lightly on the ground, let out a breath, and slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the scenery in his eyes was different once more.
When Victor looked at the chair, sets of data appeared in his field of vision: chair back height 110 cm, chair seat width 50 cm.
Victor grabbed the chair and lifted it; weight 35.74 kg. He then pinched it with his hand; hardness 1290 lbf. These data casually arose and vanished in his eyes without any awkward feeling.
Victor closed his eyes and took a breath, and sure enough, data such as body surface temperature and air humidity that he wanted to know appeared in his mind.
Victor looked up at the candle on the wall, picked up a disc from the table, closed his eyes, and tossed it with a wave of his hand. The disc flew spinning toward the candle, extinguishing the flame with a pff sound, and as it was about to hit the wall, it flew back while spinning.
Listening to the sound of the flying disc, Victor raised his hand and pinched, firmly grasping the disc in his hand.
Opening his eyes, he discovered that besides the candle on the wall being extinguished, the disc had not touched anything else.
At this moment, Victor felt a trace of heaviness in his body compared to when he first started the test, so he exited the data mode, shook his neck, and realized there was not any major problem.
This is a world with extraordinary power, and my state should also be considered a kind of extraordinary power.
It is just that under this state, physical strength consumes faster than usual… However, now is not the time to test the x-3 chip.
I will find another opportunity later to see what other capabilities the x-3 chip has?
Right, I will just call this state of activating data mode "Overlimit"… Victor thought to himself secretly.
Regarding a bio-chip crossing over along with him, Victor was also completely baffled.
But he did not dwell on it; after all, possessing extraordinary abilities was still something to be thankful for.
Suddenly, Victor's acute hearing caught soft footsteps outside the door. After a while, an elderly male's rigid voice sounded from outside the door.
"Lord Victor, the Governor summons you. Please accompany me to pay an audience to the Governor."