Under the cover of night, Leon and Noa infiltrated the imperial palace through a secret passage along the outer wall.

This passage wouldn't trigger the sensory barrier alarms and was far from the main roads inside the palace, so patrols rarely came this way.

According to the intel provided by Nacho, this secret passage had been built five years ago, and only people at his level or higher knew about it.

Leon couldn’t help but admire how far his “former colleague” had come, working hard to climb the ranks. Working for the imperial family sure seemed like a great job.

But Leon didn’t have much time to reflect on his old comrade’s success. He had to focus on finding the Heartscale as quickly as possible.

Following Nacho and Scott's information, Leon and Noa made their way along the palace's outer edge, carefully moving toward the location of the Heartscale.

Just as Nacho had said, there were few patrols around the secret passage, and Leon and Noa soon found the storage facility for the Heartscale.

It was an underground structure with only an entrance visible above ground, guarded by four fully armed soldiers.

In addition to the guards, there was a sensory barrier just as powerful as the one around the outer walls.

If they forced their way in, it would trigger the barrier’s defense mechanisms, and prolonged resistance would attract more enemies.

Only those four guards could deactivate the barrier, allowing visitors to safely enter and exit.

Leon and Noa pressed themselves against the wall, observing the four guards.

"Nacho’s intel mentioned the use of passwords and signals," Leon said. "To enter the underground facility, we’ll need to give them the correct password."

"So, we’re just going to walk over there and give the password?" Noa asked.

"We have no choice. The guards don’t switch shifts—those four will be there all night, so we can’t sneak in during a shift change."

Noa blinked and asked, "What if they recognize you?"

Although twenty years had passed, many personnel had changed within the Empire, but Leon had been a well-known figure back then. His appearance hadn’t aged, so there was still a chance they could recognize him.

"Hmm... that’s a valid concern. After all, this handsome face of mine is quite memorable," Leon said, seriously contemplating the issue.

Three black lines metaphorically slid down Noa's forehead.

Her mother loved Leon’s sense of responsibility, his bravery, his selflessness, and his strength. But did she also love his narcissism?

"Mom, you must have been starving," Noa thought to herself.

"But luckily, I prepared something in advance."

As he spoke, Leon pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, along with a silver coin he had taken from Nacho.

The disguise wasn’t as important as the coin, which symbolized royal status and authority.

Back when Leon served in the dragon-slaying army, the Empire had given him a similar token.

It looked nice, but Leon had never cared much for such trinkets. He had taken it home, tinkered with it, and turned it into a bell for livestock, hanging it around the neck of his donkey.

The bell had added some much-needed fun to the donkey’s monotonous "996" work schedule of grinding grain all day.

Leon put on the sunglasses, fiddled with the silver coin in his hand, and then nodded toward the four guards, adopting a formal tone of authority.

"Let’s go, Miss Noa."

Tch—

Why did it feel like she wanted to cooperate but was also deeply annoyed? Was this the same vibe her mom got when dating him back in the day?

She was already twenty-three. Couldn’t her dad act a little more mature?

Despite her internal complaints, Noa cooperated perfectly with him.

"Yes, Lord Leon."

Father and daughter calmly approached the entrance to the underground facility.

The four guards, hearing footsteps, immediately went on alert.

"Who goes there? What business do you have coming to the imperial storage for western tributes at this hour?" the leading guard barked.

Leon said nothing, continuing to play with the silver coin in his hand.

The coin flipped smoothly between his fingers with practiced ease.

Noa stepped forward and replied in a low voice.

"Western culture is world-renowned. There are too many people during the day, so we’ve come at night to admire it."

The guards relaxed, one of them glancing at the silver coin in Leon’s hand. Realizing the man before them was of significant rank, his tone softened immediately.

"Apologies, sir. The password was arranged by the royal family. No matter who you are, we need to go through the procedure."

The password was cleverly woven into the conversation, making the storage facility for the Heartscale appear to be a simple storage room for western tributes. Anyone unaware of the code would be completely thrown off by the misdirection.

Leon quietly breathed a sigh of relief but still didn’t speak, leaving all communication to "Miss Noa."

"No problem, we understand. It’s all part of the job," Noa said. "We’re here for a routine check. Please deactivate the barrier."

"Yes, ma’am."

The guard respectfully nodded and deactivated the underground facility’s barrier.

Noa glanced back halfway. "Lord Leon, we may enter."

"Ladies first."

La~dies~first~

Ugh!

Her old man really was an actor.

Oh, her mother could be a bit of a drama queen sometimes, too.

Well, that explained a lot.

Like mother, like father.

The two of them calmly walked into the underground facility, one after the other, descending the staircase.

As they made their way down, the torches lining the walls ignited one by one, lighting their path. They passed through several layers of stairs until they finally reached the basement where the Heartscale was stored.

The basement was vast and empty, with rows of stone pedestals arranged neatly throughout. Above each pedestal floated dragon scales, glowing in various colors.

As soon as they stepped into the basement, Noa felt a heavy sense of oppression.

She frowned slightly, scanning the room full of dragon scales.

She knew that this oppressive force came from the scales themselves. The dragons may have perished, but the power within the scales still remained.

Noa wasn’t very familiar with these scales. After all, Heartscales only began to form in dragons after they reached one hundred years of age.

And she was only twenty-two.

"There aren’t as many scales as I expected…" Leon muttered. "A lot of the pedestals are empty."

"Maybe they’ve already used some, or maybe they’re saving space for more," Noa suggested. "But the limited number of scales probably means the Empire isn’t just collecting any dragon scale. Right?"

Leon nodded. "Yeah, it’s common for dragons to live past a hundred years. If the Empire were just collecting scales indiscriminately, the number here would be much larger. They must be after something more specific, like…"

"Heartscales from dragon kings," Noa finished his sentence.

"And Aurora’s reversal magic requires a dragon king’s Heartscale to work," Leon added.

Noa clicked her tongue in frustration. "But how do we figure out which scale has properties similar to Lavis' magic?"

If they took the wrong scale and couldn’t activate the reversal magic, their risky journey to the Empire would have been for nothing.

But Leon simply said in a relaxed tone, "Isn’t that easy?"

Noa glanced sideways at him.

Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out a black bag.

"We’ll just take them all."

Uh-oh.

This felt a lot like when the Sun Wukong took a job at the Heavenly Peach Garden.