"..."
Amid the hustle and bustle of conversation, the crowd in the venue gradually dispersed and eventually fell silent.
In the huge campus, in an unnoticed corner, a flash of colorful starlight suddenly appeared.
"The actors are in place one after another, and the show is about to begin..."
Qi Ji stepped out of the psychedelic and hazy colorful light, looking at the increasingly lively and noisy scene in front of him, and couldn't help but feel a little excited, like a candidate who was eager to take the test after making sufficient preparations:
"What exactly do you want to do? I'll wait and see, haha..."
Not far in front of her, a neatly arranged area was divided out from the wide square, surrounded by pre-arranged chairs.
At this time, hundreds of seats were already occupied by extremely excited students, and there were even more and denser crowds gathered in the outer areas, all standing on tiptoe, stretching their necks, and trying hard to look at the open space in the center.
This is the venue for the so-called "Fun Competition of Practical Skills". In short, it is an on-campus fighting activity common in college novels. It is one of the most watched informal events in every "academic competition" of the Imperial National University.
The competition has not officially begun yet. The student union members and volunteers in charge of managing the event are still counting and checking in the contestants backstage. However, long before the competition began, the seats in the front rows had already been reserved by students with means.
A small shed of moderate size was simply built with prefabricated panels at the edge of the venue, and many students were busy working inside.
On the other side, there were five or six adults who were obviously older. Some of them were extraordinary people from the school who were responsible for ensuring the personal safety of the contestants during the competition, and some were guests who came to visit from outside the school.
"...Mr. Danny, I heard that your mentor, Master Kabra, is here too. How about I take you to say hello?"
One of the bald leaders, with his school ID card tucked into his shirt, was talking to a middle-aged man next to him in a respectful and flattering tone, as if he was talking to some important person.
The middle-aged man was thin and tall, a little younger than the bald leader next to him, but between his eyebrows there was a fatigue and laziness that was inconsistent with his age, and there was a kind of vague dejection and vicissitudes.
He was wearing a white wizard robe with blue stripes. He was holding a cane with multiple gemstones on the top in one hand, leaning against the back of the chair.
Facing the bald leader's somewhat flattering words, the middle-aged man who was obviously a mage yawned in boredom and said casually:
"Not for now. I want to see how these guys want to play... Tsk, when I was studying here, there was no such activity. What a pity..."
"Of course, no problem. But to be honest, for an experienced senior like you, there's really nothing interesting about children fighting and quarreling. You'll probably get bored after sitting for a while..."
The bald leader didn't seem to give up, still smiling and trying to continue the topic:
"Mr. Danny, you haven't seen Master Cabela for four years, right? Oh, yes, Ms. Helen is here too. You are now a great hero of the empire. She must admire you very much--"
"Okay, okay, the show has started, let's talk later."
Danny slapped the table with one hand, interrupting his chatter. For a moment, his face changed slightly, and the corners of his mouth drooped a little. I don't know what he was thinking.
As soon as he finished speaking, a student in a casual suit came out of the prefabricated shed opposite, walked quickly to the center of the venue, and said in a loud and full voice:
"Dear students, respected leaders, teachers and guests..."
"Wow, it turns out that no matter which world we are in, the opening remarks of the students are the same..."
A few hundred meters away, Qi Ji, who was standing in the shadow of a tower overlooking all this, couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth and couldn't help but complain.
Although her eyes were watching this amateur but extremely popular scene, her senses were far from limited to this.
The indescribably strong perception extends like tentacles across the entire campus.
A large number of inconspicuous animal and insect-type mini reconnaissance puppets with different appearances are also in place, lurking in hidden positions with good views, taking in all the scenery in the entire area.
At this moment, beneath the glamorous and lively surface, there is a dark tide of weirdness...
There is nowhere to hide.
=========================
Highly recommended: The Visible Girl
I finished it in one go and couldn’t stop!
Looks good! Really looks good!! I’m not lying to you, honest to everyone!!!
Look! Go and see!! Go and see!!!
Chapter 336 Secret Chat
Somewhere on campus, in an ordinary office.
An old man with white hair and neatly trimmed temples sat on a chair behind the desk, his waist leaning against the back of the chair, one leg raised and placed on the knee of the other leg, his elbows resting on the armrests, his fingers interlocked and placed in front of his abdomen.
He was wearing a slightly playful short leather jacket that did not match his age. He tilted his head slightly and looked towards the side window.
The de facto president of the Imperial National University, the mysterious imperial strongman, the "metallurgist" of the unknown field - Roman.
Through the tightly closed glass, those deep and sharp eyes looked down meaningfully at the lively scene outside, where the bustling crowd was filled with youthful energy.
However, this high-level extraordinary being who moved in secret had deep worry and heaviness in his eyes, as if he was worried about some unbearable yet irresistible disaster.
"…I have a feeling that today is the day."
He spoke in a hoarse voice, almost whispering, so that no one could hear him except himself...
should.
"Luo Meng, I always feel that you are too sensitive."
Just as he finished speaking, a completely different voice suddenly sounded from beside him.
It was an old and deep male voice. It was not very magnetic, but it was full of awe-inspiring majesty that made the listeners involuntarily respect and fear from the bottom of their hearts, and generate admiration from the humble for the superior.
If there was someone else in this office, he would be greatly shocked.
Because the owner of this voice that came out of nowhere... is a great man who has left a deep impression on every citizen of Twilight City... and even the entire Glorious Plantagenet Empire:
The emperor of the glorious Plantagenet Empire, a king whose status is equal to the pope of the "Sunset Spiritual Society" "Twilight Angel" -
Octavius VIII!
"Heh... I hope I'm just overthinking it."
Luo Meng laughed bitterly with a hint of self-mockery and shook his head imperceptibly:
"But since early this morning, I've been feeling palpitations for no apparent reason... You know, at my level, even if my actual strength has been greatly reduced due to 'that incident', as long as I'm still alive, I'll have some inexplicable intuition.
"This kind of intuition, perhaps even the most supreme gods cannot fully understand its mechanism, but it is always very accurate... Perhaps this is the mystery of fate, and no being can fully understand it."
As he spoke, his body posture remained the same, without any worship.
The tone of his speech was also very casual, without the fear and respect that one would have when meeting a king. It was just as natural as chatting with an old friend of many years, without any trace of deliberateness.
"Logically speaking, even if those people really confirmed your location and decided to take action...it wouldn't be today."
The deep voice of the Imperial Emperor Octavius VIII rang out from all directions, and the majestic tone now carried a bit of comfort:
"Look, today is the Empire's National Day, and your school is holding a major event. In addition, because of the subspace fragments that suddenly appeared on the campus a few days ago, I specially arranged for several strong men from the palace to go there.
"The 'Morning Saint' of the Church of the Setting Sun, the 'Imperial Shield' of the Royal Fleet, the Grand Mage Kabra of the Academy of Sciences... The news that has been made public alone has shown the outside world that the Imperial National University will now gather a large number of official high-level extraordinary people.
"Including the few people I secretly sent, and yourself... the Imperial National University these days is probably the area with the second highest defense level in the entire Twilight City, second only to the Imperial Palace... Heh, in a sense, it is stronger than the Imperial Palace. After all, there will be no 'saints' from the Church of the Setting Sun in the Imperial Palace.
"As long as the brain of your 'arch-enemy' has not been sacrificed to the evil god, he will never choose a day like this to offend the majesty of the empire."
Listening to the king's words, Principal Luo Meng's solemn eyes trembled slightly, as if he was touched.
"From a logical point of view..."
He narrowed his eyes and murmured:
"Those guys don't follow logic..."
"According to the person from the Church of the Setting Sun, a few days ago, a legendary warrior from the Chaos Realm appeared to have deployed his Mythic Form without permission in the Upper City. Unfortunately, for some reason, he was not caught."
The emperor was silent for a few seconds, then said:
"It should be your 'archenemy', right?"
"We couldn't even capture the 'Apostle' of the Sunset Church?!"
Principal Luo Meng was slightly startled, with a bit of surprise on his face, but soon he laughed:
"Then I can basically guess who it is...it can't be anyone else."
"Although he escaped, the person at the Sunset Church remembered his presence. If he dares to step into Twilight City again, he will be exposed immediately."
"From your tone, it seems like you are very happy about this happening?" Luo Meng keenly noticed something and asked with one eyebrow raised.
"You can say that."
There was a hint of smile in the emperor's words:
"Although the activities of your 'archenemy' organization, the 'New World' sect, in the country have been unsettled in recent years, they seem to have exercised deliberate restraint, and the consequences they have caused rarely exceed the bottom line of those nobles.
“So, although I have advocated for cracking down on this organization many times, the execution strength of the people below… basically only regards it as a cult with a relatively ordinary level of harm, and they are not too active.
"This kind of thing is not something I can control. It still depends on what those dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts and men think. But something like this happened recently... They, especially the nobles of Twilight City, must be quite terrified, right?"
"Of course. The Upper Town is where the rich and noble live. The 'Saints' of the 'New World' sect actually dared to unfold their 'Mythic Form' in such a place without permission... This is a very deadly warning signal for the nobles."
Principal Luo Meng nodded slightly, and then he realized something, and his eyes lit up:
"You mean... this incident will become an opportunity for the ministers to fully support you in destroying the 'New World' sect?"
Many years ago, Octavius VIII tried to unite the "Reorganization Movement" to eradicate the heretical cult "New World".
However, the state religion that glorifies the Plantagenet Empire is the "Order of the Setting Sun", and the support of the Order of the Setting Sun is one of the foundations of the empire.
Even if the imperial law does not persecute or exclude paganism in name, it is impossible to allow pagans to carry out activities rampantly within the country, especially when the advocate is the emperor.
Therefore, the real decision on the recommendation and completion of this task comes from the nobles, both large and small, who are the ones who actually control most of the local governments in the country.
However, this kind of dark cult is a common social problem in all parts of the world, and the Glorious Plantagenet Empire is no exception. Judging from the harm shown by the "New World" sect, it is not worth the nobles to spend too much time on it.
If Octavius VIII forced them to execute the decree, it would not be impossible in the short term, but this would inevitably cause resentment among the nobles, after all, it would damage their interests.
The long-term consequences of this... at the very least it would affect the succession of the crown prince, at worst it would destabilize the local rule of the empire. This is an act that endangers the national system and must not be done rashly.
But now it was different. Although it was unknown why the "New World" sect, which had always been cautious in its crazy actions, would allow its "saints" to unfold their "mythical form" in the downtown area, it happened.
Moreover, it was in the Upper City, where the businesses and families of the nobles and wealthy were highly concentrated...
It is estimated that even if Octavius VIII does not deliberately reiterate it, the nobles... especially the nobles of Twilight City, will take the initiative to turn their attention to this willful cult.
"Ah... You've been taking care of me..."
After figuring this out, Luo Meng couldn't help but sigh. His old but spirited face somehow showed a hint of loneliness:
"I'm really ashamed that I couldn't help you that time..."
"Oh, that's what you said."
The emperor said in a voice that revealed a subtle sadness and melancholy:
"You've done enough. I will never be able to repay you in my lifetime..."
“Boo!!!——”
Suddenly, an extremely loud horn sounded outside the window, so penetrating that it could be heard clearly throughout most of the campus.
"...The activity seems to have started." Roman looked out the window and whispered.
"This is a rare day. You should go out and play with the students and relax."
The emperor's tone softened a lot, and he said leisurely with a smile:
"I heard that little Candice also participated in an event... Unfortunately, I have to deal with the warp fragments and have to argue with the people from the Sunset Spiritual Society. I can't spare the time during this period, otherwise I would definitely go to show my support."
"Oh, if the great emperor comes to our school in person, then I, the cheap principal, will definitely give him a warm welcome."
Luo Meng teased half-jokingly, and stood up with some relief. After standing in front of the window and overlooking the scenery outside for a while, he let out a long breath:
"I want to go out for a walk. Bye."
"Goodbye, come to the palace later."
"Ah."
After a brief farewell, this small office fell into complete silence.
"Ah... As expected, am I worrying too much?"
He could sense that several powerful and familiar auras were approaching the Imperial National University. Some of them belonged to several legendary masters who were guests of honor at the event, and some of them belonged to the personal guards who were under the orders of the emperor.
Yes... With such a grand lineup, no matter how crazy the lunatics of the "New World" sect are, they can't possibly fall into the trap, right?
Thinking of this, the old man smiled bitterly at himself and turned to walk towards the office door.
No one seems to have noticed...
