Time ticked by. Wilson and his son searched all over the palace, but still came up empty. They had practically turned most of the palace upside down, yet still couldn't find what they wanted, leaving them increasingly frantic.
"Report—!" A guard jogged in in a hurry, panting as he delivered his message. "Your Majesty, in the former Queen's residence, we found a hidden secret room!"
"What?!" Wilson froze for a moment, then a surge of wild joy flashed across his face. He immediately pressed, "Did anyone go in to check yet? What's inside?"
"We haven't received your orders—" Before the guard could finish, Wilson's bulky body looked as if it had been jump-started by some force. He bolted out of the hall and hurried toward the west wing.
By the time Wilson arrived at the former Queen's residence, he was panting and drenched in sweat. He didn't even bother acknowledging the guards' salutes, just waved impatiently. "Quick, quick—take me to that secret room!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The guards moved at once.
Several guards held bright Lamp Shells, carefully supporting Wilson as they led him to a bed that had been shifted aside. Where the bed had been was an ominous staircase passage, over a meter wide—dark, deep, and mysterious.
"You—go down and scout it!" Wilson peered into the pitch-black passage and couldn't see a thing. He casually pointed at a guard and ordered him down to investigate.
"Yes!" The chosen guard's face twisted in misery, but he forced himself to answer. In his heart, he prayed there wouldn't be any deadly traps or mechanisms below. Holding the glowing Lamp Shell, he inched down the stairs with extreme caution.
If there really was some mechanism inside, he'd be the unlucky pioneer who took the hit.
"Your Majesty! There's a huge stash of gold and jewels in here!" Not long after, the guard's voice echoed up from within. Wilson's eyes lit up.
"Quick, we're going down too!" Wilson snatched a Lamp Shell from a nearby guard. His fat body was shockingly nimble as he squeezed into the passage.
They walked several meters down the wide corridor until two secret rooms appeared on either side. One door was shut tight, while the other was already open. The guard stood inside the opened room.
Under the bright glow of the lamps, the room blazed with gold—everything in sight was a dazzling yellow, so bright it almost hurt to look at.
Crates of gold and jewels were stacked in neat order. This was clearly the Birka royal family's hidden fortune, accumulated in secret over many years.
"So this is why I always felt the treasury numbers didn't add up… it was all secretly moved here!"
Wilson stared at the crates of gold that nearly filled the enormous room—dozens of square meters at least. Delight spread across his face as he grabbed a gold bar and rubbed it over and over, unwilling to let go.
"Your Majesty, there's another secret room beside it. The blueprints you're looking for might be in there…" One guard, forcibly suppressing the urge to sneak a few gold bars for himself, quickly reminded Wilson—who had almost forgotten why he'd come.
"Right, right—almost forgot the important part. Go check the other room, now!" Wilson nodded quickly.
The image of Mieko taking Arthur Westin's life in an instant flashed through Wilson's mind. His fat hand trembled uncontrollably, and the gold bar slipped from his grasp. He didn't dare linger to admire it, and hurriedly urged them on.
When they pushed open the door to the other secret room, the view opened up.
Compared to the glittering wealth next door, this room felt empty. Inside, there was only a large sealed iron chest, sitting there awkwardly.
"Hurry! Open it—break that lock!" Wilson rushed to the chest and saw the lock. He immediately barked at the guards.
"Yes!"
A guard drew an extremely sharp waist blade and chopped down at the iron lock.
Clang!
With that single strike, the rust-stained lock snapped cleanly into two pieces.
Creak!
The chest opened slowly, and a foul, musty stench rushed out. It was obvious it had been sealed for a long time.
There was no gold or silver inside. No precious weapons either. Only a thick stack of yellowed blueprints.
"Hahaha! These look like ship design plans—no mistake. What Lord Mieko wants has to be these…" Wilson casually pulled out the top few sheets and gave them a rough glance. The diagrams looked very much like a ship's structure. A wave of uncontrollable ecstasy surged up in him, and he burst into loud laughter.
"Immediately send people to wait outside Birka Forest. The moment Lord Mieko comes out, report to him that we've found the blueprints!" Wilson ordered urgently.
…
A few hours passed quietly.
After receiving the message, Mieko hurried to the Birka royal palace. Wilson was already there, pacing back and forth anxiously as he waited.
"Those design plans are in that iron chest?" Mieko's gaze settled on a rusted, darkened iron chest, a hint of doubt appearing on his face.
Wilson quickly opened the chest, took out the top few yellowed sheets, and offered them up with both hands. "Lord Mieko, these were found in the secret room. They look like some kind of ship design plans—please see if they're the ones you wanted?"
Mieko took the blueprints. His eyes landed on one sheet that was densely packed with explanatory text. After examining it carefully, the corners of his mouth rose into a satisfied smile.
"That's right. These are the blueprints for an electric engine. No doubt about it—this should be the design plans for Ark 'Maxim'…"
These plans for "Maxim" weren't exactly the same as the one Enel later built—there were significant differences. But with these plans, the craftsmen would save themselves a lot of trouble when designing it.
"Ah, right—Lord Mieko, we also found a large amount of gold in the secret room. About that…" Wilson hesitated, then still asked respectfully. He knew he couldn't hide the gold from Mieko. If Mieko got angry over it, his life wouldn't be worth anything.
"Leave the gold for yourself to deal with." Mieko waved a hand, speaking indifferently. "Gold? There's one place where it's everywhere."
He didn't know the exact amount, but he knew the gold on Upper Yard was effectively inexhaustible. As long as there was enough to build Ark "Maxim," that was fine. Besides, the higher the purity, the softer the gold—its main value was its excellent conductivity and its appearance. The core structure of the Ark obviously couldn't be made entirely of gold.
"Thank you, Lord Mieko!" Wilson said, tears of gratitude welling up. He'd thought the gold was doomed, only to be handed an unexpected lifeline. Overjoyed, he immediately plastered his face with smiles and bowed repeatedly.
"Lord Mieko, are you planning to build that Ark? Do you need me to gather craftsmen right away?"
"Birka is short on resources—building it here is impossible!"
(End of Chapter)
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