Weapon seller in the world of magic

The imperial palace, Imperial City of Phoenix;

Unlike any other usual day, the palace was heavily guarded by thousands of soldiers from the entrance gate to the Emperor's chamber.

From morning to night, every second, they were on high alert, working in different shifts and ensuring the palace was always secured.

And when they spotted an unidentified flying object in the sky which is descending toward the forecourt of the palace without going through standard procedures, almost half of them rushed forward and took out their weapons.

However, a majority of their hands were shivering in nervousness and fear as they remembered the warning from their Supreme Commander. If any enemy is bold enough to make such an entrance, then, it is almost assured that only those above the 7-circle had remote chances of surviving.

More than some sort of spaceship, it looked like a creature. With its spiny, spider-like shape and constantly undulating black skin, the divine throne took the appearance of a sci-fi warship called the shadow dreadnought, although of the mini size.

Overall, it did have an unsettling effect on the spectators. Naturally, the generals were informed and by the time the object landed, even Song Tai was present. While everyone is tense and Song Tai looked serious, there was just one person who looked calm.

"Relax everyone. It is not an enemy. Lower down your weapons." Shang Wen's words attracted the attention.

As they turned to look at him, the second prince pointed at the object, "It looks weird, it is made of metal, and it can fly. Do you need me to say any more?"

The low-level soldiers looked at each other in confusion while the imperial guards and the three generals realized what the second prince was hinting toward. 

Soon, a door was opened on the top of the vehicle and two men were seen slowly rising up.

Song Tai's eyes darted to Mark and then at the sixteen-pointy legs of the vehicle until Mark and Allen landed on the ground. 

The supreme realm expert then disappeared from the spot, returning to the side of the Emperor whom Bai Xun was guarding in his absence.

"It's been a while, Brother Lu," greeted the second prince with a smile, expressing his friendliness.

Mark smiled in return and nodded, "It is, Brother Wen." He doesn't want to address him like that but it came naturally from his mouth. After all, Shang Wen was the only one in the imperial family Mark respects from the bottom of his heart. Perhaps, it might be because of the second prince's noble and straightforward character, or it is because he never thinks of himself as royalty. The reason might be anything.

Leaving behind the divine throne and Allen in the middle of the palace grounds, Mark started walking forward. Walking beside him, the prince asked, "What was that? Is that a new flying puppet?"

During the divine throne's transformation, people cannot sense its grade. Hence, Shang Wen has no idea about it.

Mark has no plans to reveal the secret either. He answered, "It was a gift I recently received. There's only one of its kind in the world though."

"Relax. I'm not interested in it. There's already so much on my plate with the existing ones," commented the second prince with a shrug of his shoulders. 

After a brief pause, he then changed the subject, "Originally, I planned on meeting you to borrow Allen to increase the pace of the flight training. But, the situation forced us to meet under different circumstances." 

Mark immediately replied, "Honestly speaking, neither you nor I have anything to do with this current situation. It's not our job to worry about it."

The second prince immediately understood what Mark was hinting at. He couldn't help but comment, "Well, not everyone thinks that way though. People always connect something with another to suit their needs."

"That's true." Mark nodded in agreement.

Soon, the both of them made their way to the private chamber while everyone else dispersed to get back to their work. However, the spider-like vehicle was attracting too much of their attention that they couldn't help but glance at it very often.

Meanwhile, Mark stepped inside the chamber and saw Shang Fu and the remaining three princes in the chamber alongside Song Tai and Bai Xun. There was no one else apart from these.

It was also the first time Mark saw Shang Bo in person but his impressions of this prince are nowhere near positive.

As the leader of NET, the most powerful spy organization in the whole Vermilion bird continent, usually, he certainly is a person worthy of befriending but because of the fact that Shang Bo is an imperial prince who appeared to be working in the shadows, Mark feels like he is more of a threat.

As Mark stood in one spot for a bit of time, Bai Xun asked him to take a seat before introducing the princes.

Mark nodded to each of them and greeted the emperor with a bow and then sat beside Shang Wen.

Looking at him, the serious-looking Emperor then opened up the matter, "Lu Zhen, you must have already learned of the situation at Gong City."

As Mark nodded, Emperor Shang continued, "The reason I summoned you here is to discuss how much involvement you have in this war."

Mark expected that much from the start. He calmly answered, "I'm a weapon seller and my job is to sell the weapons to the customers. What they do with them is none of my business and the consequences are not mine to bear either."

"I don't buy that, Mr. Lu," commented the crown prince. He took the opportunity to act first before the other princes, especially Shang Wei.

As everyone looked at him, the crown prince went on to say, "I believe you were aware of who Kunyu bandits are and what they will do once you sell the weapons to them. As a citizen of the empire, you do have the responsibility to alert the imperial prince if you were to sell something really dangerous to the traitors of the empire."

A frown instantly appeared on Mark's face as he heard the words of the crown prince but it quickly disappeared by his sheer willpower. He didn't waste time in defending himself, "I'm bound by the customer-seller confidentiality. And those who walk into our store are our customers regardless of their identity. Whether it is an Emperor, peasant, or a traitor, all of them have equal status for us."

"How dare you compare His Majesty with a peasant? Do you think of us as a joke?" The Crown Prince raised his voice. Perhaps, he wanted to impress his father more and decided to be more vocal. Or it might be because of his ill feelings toward Mark.

Mark is the type of person who has a high ego and doesn't like to be insulted by enemies, definitely not when he had so much anger toward the Shang Dynasty, which encourages the killings of babies. 

He instantly reacted by giving him a death stare, "And do you think you are qualified to raise your voice against me just because you are a crown prince? Whatever I am now is the result of my hard work. On the other hand, you got that position on a gold platter because you are the eldest. It's not the result of hard work. So, yes, I think of you as a joke and look down on you."

"You…"

Everyone: "..."