Volume 1 Chapter 147

Volume 1 + Chapter 147: Supreme Dog Luck

“Has this piece of trash completely failed to realize that everyone already sees him as a laughingstock?”

Hiding among the crowd and watching in secret, the Dragon-Pride Protagonist’s face revealed a look of frustrated disappointment, the kind reserved for someone who truly hated that iron could not be forged into steel. He deeply regretted ever believing this fellow. He had even painted a grand blueprint for him, and sacrificed one of his own meals in the process, only to be left utterly disappointed in return.

According to the Dragon-Pride Protagonist’s original plan, this chubby brat’s loud and arrogant shouting outside should have quickly drawn the attention of the Hemera Empire’s royal family. Especially at a time like this, it ought to have triggered a chain reaction of sorts.

If the news of the imperial sovereign’s death were true, then the royal family, now as jittery as startled birds, would inevitably plunge into deep panic, their guilt weighing heavily on them. At the very least, the upper echelons of the royal family, desperate to keep the news from leaking, would certainly dispatch the Imperial Royal Knights responsible for security, immediately seizing and controlling this chubby fellow.

Yet the current situation seemed to be unfolding in a way that was completely divorced from his expectations.

In truth, the Dragon-Pride Protagonist did not care in the slightest whether this chubby man lived or died.

To him, the chubby man was nothing more than a disposable chess piece. What he truly cared about was the reaction of the imperial royal family.

If the royal family had indeed reacted violently to the chubby man’s actions, just as he had anticipated, that would have meant the sovereign’s death was already confirmed, virtually an established fact.

Once that happened, the situation would develop precisely in the direction he desired. Only then would he truly step onto the stage meant for him, taking control of everything.

In the carefully crafted plan he had devised for the chubby man, once the latter revealed a secret the royal family did not wish the outside world to know, he would inevitably be “invited” into the palace and treated exceptionally well, at the very least placed under house arrest within the palace, where he would be properly taken care of.

The Dragon-Pride Protagonist sneered inwardly. Who would actually care about the life or death of some insignificant beggar?

In reality, the one who should have been invited into the palace as a “fortunate guest” was the Dragon-Pride Protagonist himself, the one truly deserving of such an honor.

After all, compared to that useless chubby fool, the Dragon-Pride Protagonist’s mind was clearly far more agile.

Relying solely on a few shouted provocations from the chubby man to make the imperial royal family feel threatened was obviously unrealistic.

The Dragon-Pride Protagonist knew very well that to truly shake the foundations of the imperial royal family, it would take more than impulsive yelling. It required coordination with his meticulously designed schemes in order to strike decisively at the critical moment.

As for why the Dragon-Pride Protagonist used the reaction of the Imperial Royal Knights as his benchmark for judging whether the matter was real, it was because he possessed a thorough understanding of imperial law. The Imperial Royal Knights bore the heavy responsibility of protecting the core members of the royal family and the security of the entire palace.

Unless there was a direct threat to the safety of the royal family or the palace, the Royal Knights would never be mobilized lightly. Moreover, under imperial law, they were absolutely forbidden from acting against civilians without cause.

Even in the face of verbal insults or provocation from civilians, the knights could at most adopt a guarded stance, excessive action was simply not an option. The Dragon-Pride Protagonist understood this perfectly, which was why he dared to use it as a yardstick to judge whether the situation had truly changed.

The training standards, equipment, and weaponry of the Imperial Royal Knights were formidable enough to strike fear into enemies on any battlefield, an undeniably terrifying force.

Each knight was battle-hardened, clad in heavy armor, wielding sharp swords or shields imbued with magic, their combat power extraordinarily strong.

If they were to act casually against an unarmed civilian, the moment they restrained the target, even a slight lapse in control could inadvertently end that person’s life.

Such overwhelming efficiency was something no ordinary individual could hope to match.

Yet now, seeing that the imperial royal family showed no reaction at all, and that the surrounding crowd merely regarded the chubby man as a lunatic, the Dragon-Pride Protagonist could not help but let out a sigh.

“Ah… I really am an idiot, actually believing this guy. What a waste of my food.”

He shook his head, feeling that he had utterly wasted his time.

All this effort and time invested based on nothing more than a possible conjecture. The loss itself was trivial, just some wasted time and a missed meal at the shelter, but the lesson was profound. In the future, he could not so easily believe the mad ramblings of lunatics.

Just as the Dragon-Pride Protagonist was about to slip away quietly, several figures dressed in church robes suddenly rushed out from the crowd with astonishing speed, their movements sharp and utterly without warning.

Before the chubby man could even react, they pounced on him and slammed him to the ground. Thick ropes were swiftly wound around him, binding him tightly and completely robbing him of any ability to resist. That incessantly yapping, provocational mouth was also firmly gagged, cutting off all sound.

Seeing the situation brought under control, the previously gathered onlookers all let out sighs of relief, and the excitement abruptly came to an end.

Many of them chuckled inwardly, thinking: Anyone who dares to joke about the imperial sovereign, if they’re not insane, they’re probably not far from it.

But at that very moment, the Dragon-Pride Protagonist’s brow furrowed slightly, a sense of unease rising within him.

“Why didn’t the people from the Imperial Tribunal come to arrest him? Why is it the Church instead?”

His heart tightened, confusion creeping in. The Church clearly had no responsibility for maintaining imperial public order, so why had they appeared here and taken the chubby man away of their own accord? Something about this was clearly wrong…

Originally, the Dragon-Pride Protagonist had intended to leave. Yet a sudden intuition deep within him warned that this matter was not over just yet, it would be better to observe a little longer. From a purely logical standpoint, his expectations had not been flawed. If Eve had not intervened in time, his plan should have proceeded smoothly and even yielded the results he anticipated.

After all, he possessed top-tier dog luck. As long as he did not die, opportunities would continue to appear, and eventually, he would find a breakthrough.

For ordinary people, such opportunities might come only once or twice in a lifetime, if at all. But the Dragon-Pride Protagonist was different. The luck and chances he possessed were practically endless. So long as he seized just one of them, he could rise rapidly and soar to greatness.

It was precisely this abundance of opportunity that gave rise to the so-called protagonist’s halo, a force so powerful that even Eve, who wielded heaven-defying magical strength, could not help but feel envious. To her, such countless chances were not merely rare strokes of luck, but an incomparable form of power.

And now, under Eve’s intervention, the imperial royal family had made no move at all, yet the Church had acted ahead of the Imperial Tribunal, taking away the chubby man whom everyone else had already written off as a lunatic.

This development made the Dragon-Pride Protagonist, who had been ready to dismiss the chubby man as nothing more than a madman, unable to suppress his doubts.

If it were truly baseless rumor, why would the Church react like this?