In Sauron’s eyes, whether it was archives and records, ledgers, or gold certificates, although the consequences of them being burned were serious, they were not fatal.
The most important thing was that the gold coin reserves were safe.
Therefore, the top priority of the Royal City Gold House was the vault. If it did not exceed Sauron’s expectations, the gold coin inventory at the Royal City Gold House headquarters at this moment should exceed ten million gold coins.
Because this was not merely the savings of the royal city’s nobles, but also the savings of the kingdom’s wealthy class and ordinary commoners. Not only were the savings of the royal city here, but the gold coins from other branches would also be transported here for storage.
Indeed, nearly thirty percent of this money had been misappropriated by Zili, but the remaining over seventy percent was still an astronomical figure.
“Will you take me to the vault, or shall I kill you and go myself?” Sauron asked.
Fang Zeming said in a trembling voice, “I, I will take you.”
Then, Fang Zeming led Sauron and the others into the largest castle in the center and opened a series of complex mechanisms.
“Rumble rumble…” A hidden door appeared in the wall.
“You go in first.” Hei Ningqi said to the imperial guard warriors.
“Yes.”
Instantly, several dozen imperial guard warriors entered the hidden door and began searching the secret passages inside, eliminating the possibility of assassins.
After a full quarter of an hour, several dozen imperial guard warriors stepped forward and bowed, saying, “Reporting to the regent duke, we went all the way down until we reached the vault’s main gate. There were no ambushes anywhere.”
Sauron nodded. Then, under the close protection of Hei Ningqi and Zhuang Zhixuan, and surrounded by several dozen Shadow Pavilion experts, he entered this vault’s secret passage.
This was a set of stairs with no visible bottom!
This underground passage went down, down, down.
After going over twenty meters deep, they finally reached the end of the passage. Here it was brightly lit, and there was also a rumbling sound.
Over twenty meters underground, it was difficult to guarantee air circulation. So there were many ventilation holes outside this secret passage, and there were specialized water wheels turning to ensure the air flowed inside.
However, with so many people pouring in at once, it still felt somewhat difficult to breathe.
“Go up and open the door.” Sauron said.
The chief manager of the Royal City Gold House, Fang Zeming, took out an extremely exquisite key.
This key was divided into three sections. The first section was crystal, the second was gold, and the third was silver.
He stepped forward, inserted the key into the keyhole on the left, turned it three circles to the left, then four circles to the right, then pulled it halfway back, and turned it two and a half circles to the right.
“Rumble rumble…” A loud sound came from the vault’s gate.
“Li Ruofei, when you first surrounded the Royal City Gold House castle, did the Hidden Continent young lord Fang Qingyi appear?” Sauron asked.
“He did not.” Li Ruofei said.
Sauron said, “Since he did not appear, then why did Fang Zeming just say that Fang Qingyi is waiting for me at the Hidden Yuan Association to negotiate, and that I should bring three things?”
Li Ruofei said, “It should have been by flying hawk messenger. We shot down over a dozen flying hawks, but there should have been some that got through.”
Immediately after, Fang Zeming took out another key, came to the right side of the vault’s gate, inserted it into the keyhole on the right, and began another series of complex operations.
Instantly, the vault’s gate made another sound.
The gate still did not open, but a circular rotating ring appeared, with a series of corresponding passwords on it.
“Master, be careful.” Zhuang Zhixuan said from the side.
Sauron nodded.
The gate of this vault was extremely complex. The method of opening it was probably known only to Fang Zeming and Fang Qingyi.
In other words, if Fang Zeming did not speak, Sauron simply could not open this vault’s gate.
Facing such a terrifying gate, explosives could not blow it open, and a dragon gold sword could not cut it open.
Even using violent methods, it would take at least ten days to half a month to completely open it.
Then why was Fang Zeming so obediently opening the vault gate? Was it because he feared death? Or was it because there was a trap?
Fang Zeming was a direct subordinate of Hidden Continent. Logically, he should not so easily betray Hidden Continent and open the vault gate.
So, there might be a trap inside. Perhaps assassins were hiding inside, waiting for Sauron to walk into the trap.
And just at this moment, Fang Zeming stepped forward and turned that password dial.
The entire process was extremely careful and meticulous, extremely complex.
Sauron roughly noted that the circular password of this vault’s gate exceeded thirteen digits in total. There were four circular rings in total, and each ring had to be turned three or four times in sequence.
After the password dial was turned.
“Rumble rumble…”
Finally, with a loud sound, the entire vault’s gate slowly opened!
When the gate opened, Sauron felt the entire ground trembling. He could not even imagine what kind of power was driving the mechanisms to open these gates.
Was it the water wheels outside, or the gravity of massive stones?
The thickness of the entire vault’s gate actually exceeded three chi, and it was an alloy of a color Sauron had never seen before.
Zhuang Zhixuan stepped forward and struck it with her black gold sword. There was only a tiny mark, and instead, the black gold sword’s edge was directly rolled.
Perhaps only the four secret continents could forge such an alloy. The Kingdom of Fury Waves did not possess such techniques.
After the vault gate opened, it was pitch black inside.
Fang Zeming said, “Lord Sauron, please enter.”
“Light the torches.” Sauron said.
Instantly, several Shadow Pavilion warriors lit torches and entered the vault, lighting the candlesticks inside.
At the same time, Sauron and Zhuang Zhixuan both released powerful mental power, probing every corner inside the vault, checking whether any assassins were hiding.
There was no mental fluctuation. There were no assassins inside the vault.
But Sauron still would not go in, because if the vault gate suddenly closed, he would be completely unable to call for help from heaven or earth.
However, a cry of alarm suddenly came from inside.
“What is it?” Sauron asked.
The Shadow Pavilion warrior inside the vault said in shock, “Your Grace the Duke, the vault is empty. There is no money!”
At this time, all the candlesticks inside the vault were lit.
The vault of over several thousand cubic meters was indeed completely empty. Not a single gold coin.
The only things that could be seen were a sparse few gold coins left on the ground, and some silver coins, totaling roughly a few hundred or so.
The vault was actually empty? How was this possible?
Every hair on Sauron’s body stood on end. Waves of horror ran through him.
The ledgers had been burned, the archives had been burned, the gold certificates had been burned. Sauron could put all of these out of his mind.
As long as the gold coins were there, there was no problem.
But now, even the gold coins were gone. The consequences were completely fatal!
According to Sauron’s plan, first thoroughly seize the Royal City Gold House and take control of the gold coin reserves. In this way, the foundation would be stabilized.
The remaining deficit would then be addressed according to Finance Minister Sof’s ledger, by confiscating the property of corrupt nobles and feudal lords.
Thus, they could smoothly weather the impending run on the bank, make up for the deficit caused by Zili’s misappropriation of the gold house’s savings, and maintain the operation of the entire country, pay all the armies their wages, pay all the officials their salaries, and maintain the post stations, armories, and so on.
As for the debt owed to the Hidden Yuan Association, Sauron had never intended to repay it.
And now, the gold coins from confiscating property had not yet been obtained.
The vault reserves used to stabilize the foundation had actually disappeared!
The massive vault was actually empty. The over ten million gold coin reserves inside had vanished without a trace.
Sauron only felt waves of dizziness in his brain. Cold sweat continuously burst out all over his body. His vision went black again and again.
Once the money supply was cut off, he was afraid he could not even pay the imperial guards’ wages. Transporting gold coins from Tianshui City would already be too late.
Once the state apparatus stopped functioning, even if Sauron had heaven-defying ability, it would be difficult to salvage the situation.
Next, countless people would come with certificates to withdraw money from the Royal City Gold House, causing an unprecedented run on the bank. Thus, the already fragile order of the kingdom would instantly collapse.
No wonder Fang Zeming had been so cooperative in coming to open the vault’s gate.
“Hahahaha… hahaha…”
Fang Zeming inside the vault let out a strange burst of loud laughter, incomparably gloating, incomparably excited and mocking.
“Sauron, let’s see what you do now? Let’s see what you do now?” Fang Zeming laughed while holding his stomach and said, “Do you know what you look like to me right now? A snake that swallowed a pig, and ended up being burst to death alive.”
Sauron’s face was pale. Cold sweat the size of soybeans continuously slid down.
Fang Zeming continued to laugh loudly and said, “You had a perfectly good life as the Marquis of Tianshui City, yet you insisted on entering the royal city and taking over this mess. How impressive you were in Tianshui City. You had money, you had troops, and you even had more money than you could spend. You beat Zili until he was disheveled and humiliated, you beat the feudal lords until they trembled at the mere mention of your name, victorious in a hundred battles. How impressive you were. Yet your greed knew no bounds. You insisted on entering the royal city and taking control of the Kingdom of Fury Waves’ court, and ended up being burst to death alive, hahaha!”
Sauron still paid no attention to him.
Fang Zeming laughed until he squatted on the ground and mocked, “Besides killing, killing, killing, what else can you do? The entire Kingdom of Fury Waves has already been infiltrated by us into a complete mess, yet you still eagerly took it over. Taking it over would have been fine, yet you still had to show off your power, arresting Count Fu’e, arresting Lord Sof. How impressive you were. But can you conjure gold coins out of thin air? You are so good at killing. Next, why don’t you kill all the nobles who come to withdraw money? Kill all the commoners who come to withdraw money. You can’t pay out wages anymore. The city guard mutinies, the dragon guard mutinies, the imperial guards mutiny. Kill them all too.”
“Stupid Sauron, you are not cut out for politics at all. You are not worthy of becoming the regent king of the Kingdom of Fury Waves. Go back to wherever you came from.” Fang Zeming sneered and said, “Very soon, the volcano beneath your backside is going to erupt. Hurry up and abandon everything here and flee back to your Tianshui City. Continue being your local emperor behind closed doors. The affairs of the royal city are not something you can meddle in.”
Sauron quieted down and said, “Where did the gold coins in here go?”
Fang Zeming said, “Of course they were transported back to Hidden Continent.”
Sauron said, “Over ten million gold coins, weighing several million jin. From Zili’s defeat until now, it has not exceeded half a month. And from Zili’s failed forced ascension until now, it has only been four days. How did you transport several million jin of gold coins to Hidden Continent without anyone knowing? The imperial guards’ eyes were watching you. The Shadow Pavilion was also watching you.”
Fang Zeming laughed loudly and said, “That is none of your business. Our Hidden Continent has vast supernatural powers. Of course we can accomplish this easily.”
Sauron’s body swayed. He forcefully supported himself from collapsing.
“Sauron, surrender. Surrendering to us is your only way out.” Fang Zeming sneered coldly, “The only ones who can save you now are my Hidden Yuan Association. Otherwise, those kingdom subjects you protect, those numerous bureaucrats, those countless soldiers, will all turn into hungry wolves that will bite you to death alive. If you cannot feed them, they will eat you.”
“Sauron, your deficit now exceeds twenty million gold coins. How do you fill this bottomless pit? Your Tianshui City is wealthy enough to rival a nation. Even if you have the Chaos Rock Salt Field and the Magic Mirror Secret Island, and these two trades bring you astronomical profits, it would still take you ten years to fill this deficit. By then your corpse would have rotted.”
“Be a good boy and go kneel before our young lord Fang Qingyi. That way there might still be a glimmer of hope.” Fang Zeming said with a sinister grin.
Sauron slowly closed his eyes!
Now, this should count as the sky falling, right!
He calmed himself down. He had now fallen into the worst possible situation.
Hidden Continent was no longer merely counterattacking. It had fundamentally opened its demonic maw and was about to spew forth flames of destruction.
Destroy Sauron, destroy the Kingdom of Fury Waves!
What should Sauron do next? It appeared to be a dead end.
Very soon, Sauron would face an unprecedented run on the bank. The armies would have no wages or provisions. The officials would have no salaries. The entire state apparatus would completely stop functioning.
It truly appeared to be the end of the road.
…
Was there really no way out?
No, no!
There was still one path to take. But this path was truly a dead end, truly a path of knives and seas of fire.
First step, dispatch troops to confiscate the property of all nobles in the royal city. This would yield an astronomical sum of gold coins.
Second step, the entire Kingdom of Fury Waves would temporarily enter a planned economy. All materials would be completely controlled, and all citizens would receive equal distribution.
Third step, the kingdom would temporarily enter a military-first policy. Large amounts of gold coins and materials would first be supplied to the army, suppressing any possible rebellions that might arise.
Once this path was taken, it would truly be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. The Kingdom of Fury Waves would either be completely destroyed or reborn from the flames.
Sauron took a deep breath and said, “Fang Zeming, the gold coin reserves in the Royal City Gold House belong to all the kingdom’s subjects. They do not belong to Hidden Continent. You have no right to transport them away.”
Fang Zeming shrugged his shoulders and said, “So what? Are you going to lead troops to Hidden Continent to recover this sum of gold coins? Do you even know where Hidden Continent is?”
This was already the rhythm of a person being invincible when they reached the pinnacle of shamelessness. My Hidden Continent has simply swallowed your Kingdom of Fury Waves’ savings. So what? What can you do to me?
Sauron said indifferently, “I cannot go to Hidden Continent, but I can fight to the mutual destruction of both sides. I can storm the Hidden Yuan Association, capture Fang Qingyi, and force Hidden Continent to return this money. If Hidden Continent does not return it, I will skin Fang Qingyi alive, pull out his tendons, grind his bones to dust, and scatter his ashes!”
Fang Zeming hissed, “You dare? If you dare to do this, you will be completely irreconcilable with the Dragon Temple.”
Sauron smiled and said, “Having reached this point, would I still worry about completely falling out with the Dragon Temple?”
Then, Sauron’s voice turned cold and clear, and he ordered, “Have the griffin warriors transmit orders to Gao Yin. Have him lead the troops to attack the Hidden Yuan Association, capture Fang Qingyi, and kill every single person without exception!”
When this order was given, even Imperial Guard Commander Hei Ningqi was completely stunned.
He had not expected Sauron to be so resolute and mad. Once this was done, the entire sky would truly fall.
Sauron turned around with a smile and said, “Hei Ningqi, it is no big deal. Even if the kingdom’s situation reaches the brink of complete destruction, I will lead all of you back to Tianshui City. Have Zhiyan ascend to the throne as king in the Southeastern Province. Then we will lead several hundred thousand troops and reconquer the entire Kingdom of Fury Waves’ ten thousand li of rivers and mountains.”
“Good.” Hei Ningqi roared loudly.
Sauron said word by word, “Even if I completely smash the entire Kingdom of Fury Waves to pieces, I will absolutely not compromise half a step with this group of filthy parasites from Hidden Continent.”
The Imperial Guard Commander said word by word, “Even if it is a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, this subordinate will follow Your Grace the Duke to the very end!”
Sauron repeated once more, “Transmit orders to Gao Yin. Lead the imperial guards to storm the Hidden Yuan Association, capture Fang Qingyi, and kill every single person without exception!”
“Understood!” A Shadow Pavilion warrior swiftly rushed out, mounted a griffin, and flew toward the royal city to deliver this annihilation order from Sauron to Grand Eunuch Gao Yin!
And the chief manager of the Royal City Gold House, the direct subordinate of Hidden Continent, Fang Zeming, looked at Sauron in disbelief and hissed, “Sauron, you are mad, you are mad…”
Sauron said word by word, “If this is madness, then I have never been sober!”