The deep night enveloped them as the group arrived outside the gates of Ushi City.
Before leaving, Willis gave a few more instructions to Sielyou.
Hearing this, the other party frowned in confusion.
“Imperial sister, why are we doing this?”
“To buy time, obviously.”
Willis shrugged.
“And we have to be quick, so the other side doesn’t have time to react!”
“Right now, we’re exposed and passive, so we have to take measures.”
Willis smiled.
“Ushi City right now is like a churning lake—murky and unclear, you can’t see what’s beneath…”
“What we need to do is calm the surface, and then the big fish will jump out on their own.”
“This period is our most precious preparation window.”
Watching Willis and Victoria disappear into the night, Sielyou gazed anxiously for a while.
She looked up at the sky and muttered, “It’s almost dawn.”
Returning to the carriage they’d arrived in, Victoria acted as the driver.
She urged the horses forward, heading toward Heishan Mine.
Inside the carriage, Willis set aside all thoughts for the moment and looked at the soldier lying on the ground with a fierce expression.
Willis kicked him, knocking the cloth from his mouth.
Immediately, the man began cursing.
“You two filthy women! Do you know who I am? How dare you kidnap me! Don’t let me get out, or else…ah!”
He didn’t even finish before a Flame Whip lashed across his mouth.
The stench of burnt protein filled the air, accompanied by the sizzling sound of charring.
Willis held the Flame Whip in her hand, Fire Magic Power surging within her.
“You seem to like being whipped, don’t you? Today, this Imperial Princess will let you fully enjoy the Flame Whip!”
Her expression turned fierce as she swung relentlessly.
The Flame Whip, formed from Fire Magic Power, could be long or short, thick or thin in her hands.
Even in the cramped carriage, she was unaffected.
The Flame Whip struck only the soldier, not damaging the carriage at all.
Outside, Victoria drove the carriage, listening to the cries and screams from within and the foul stench that drifted out.
Strangely, this time she didn’t think Willis was being cruel.
Instead, she felt thoroughly satisfied and refreshed!
These Heixin Jengong—heartless overseers and the poison of the mines—deserved to die a hundred times over!
As for the soldier inside, who guarded the equipment, Victoria believed this was just the beginning of Willis’s purge.
By the time the horizon began to lighten with Yudubai, Victoria had finally brought Willis to the outskirts of Heishan Mine.
“Your Highness, we’ve arrived.”
Inside the carriage, the soldier’s screams and pleas had ceased.
Victoria lifted the cover, seeing only a pile of charcoal on the floor, no longer even human-shaped.
Whip marks covered the remains.
Each mark had turned the flesh inside out, charred and agonized.
Victoria sensibly tossed the corpse into a ravine below, then she and Willis changed into miner’s clothes.
Sneaking back into the mine from the outside, they found even the sentries atop the walls were drowsy at this hour.
No one noticed.
But they couldn’t hide their return from those in the same dormitory.
Especially Nidnia.
When Willis and Victoria entered, Nidnia and the other three, including Terrence, were already awake.
Seeing Willis return, the group was obviously stunned for a moment.
Other miners nearby snored loudly, sleeping like dead pigs.
Terrence and his group couldn’t sleep because they knew Willis’s true identity; they’d discovered the pair’s absence not long after they left.
But they didn’t dare make a fuss.
Nidnia, on the other hand, had gotten up at midnight to use the toilet and discovered Willis and Victoria were gone.
“You two—where were you all night!?”
As Captain of the Fourth Team, Nidnia had barely slept after realizing their disappearance.
Because if the Overseers discovered their escape or even the intent, their own lives—and those of other miners—would be at risk!
So Nidnia’s tone was angry.
Just last night she’d called her “sister,” and this morning she glared in fury.
Willis knew that if she couldn’t give a good explanation, her undercover operation would be blown.
She blamed her lack of experience and preparation.
Now, to muddle through, she could only use a reason the other party couldn’t refuse—to make Nidnia cover for her.
But what reason would work?
Willis’s mind raced, while Nidnia’s gaze grew more suspicious and wary.
[No choice. Looks like this is the only way.]
[I didn’t want to reveal things so soon, but whether it’s here with Nidnia or over in Ushi City, I’m running out of time…]
[Now, it’s all or nothing!]
Resolving herself, Willis exchanged a glance with Terrence and the other three.
Then she pulled Nidnia aside and gave a reason that shocked her to the core.
In a low voice, Willis whispered to Nidnia:
“We spent the night scouting the layout of the mine.”
“Scouting the layout?”
Nidnia was confused.
“Why?”
“Because…I want to lead everyone in a rebellion!”
Buzz~!!!
The instant that word hit, Nidnia’s mind exploded.
She couldn’t even process who Willis was, why she wanted to do this, or her motives…
The moment her brain received the word [Rebellion], it began to ring.
Nidnia shook her head in horror, collapsing to the ground and scrambling back in disbelief.
As if terrified, her eyes trembled.
It wasn’t just her—the other three, including Terrence, almost popped their eyes out at what they’d heard.
Re…
Rebellion!?
If anyone else—someone who hated Willis—had said such a thing, they might have understood.
But who was this before them!?
Too lazy to even use a fake name, simply going by “Little Willis”—Willis Egbert, Imperial Second Princess!
She wanted to rebel against herself!?
At that moment, only one word echoed in their minds—What the hell!?
Was Willis insane, leading miners in rebellion?
What was she after!?
If someone now said the Imperial Second Princess had seen the light, repented, and become a partner of justice, Terrence would jump up and stab them.
Nonsense!
Nidnia also took a long while to come to her senses.
“Eh? Eh? Eh!? You…I…Did I mishear?”
She still felt a ringing in her ears.
But as she calmed down, the word [Rebellion] seemed burned into her mind with magical force.
No matter how she tried to forget, she could only helplessly find it growing clearer.
She even hoped the girl before her would confirm it!
“That’s right. Rebellion.”
Willis replied calmly with a smile.
“Heaven and earth are merciless, treating all things as dogs! Heaven is fair—if Willis is unfit to be Lord of Ushi City, then a more suitable person should take the role!”
Her impassioned expression seemed to say [That more suitable person is me!]
At this moment, Victoria felt a powerful urge to spit out her own complaint.
And as she wondered if any sane person would see Willis as a lunatic right now—either berating, scoffing, sneering, or reporting her…
Nidnia instead asked seriously:
“Why…did you have to go this far?”
For a moment, Victoria felt as if thunder was rolling through her mind.