This dreamy, hazy and unreal scene has become a new painting.
"The next opponent is..."
This distinguished royal princess held her chin with one hand, her amber eyes rolling around as if she was thinking about something seriously.
She reached into her coat with her other hand and pulled out a small, gray, square object from the inner pocket.
It is about the size of a fist, in the shape of a long, angular strip. One of its surfaces is engraved with complex and mysterious patterns, and it is unknown what it symbolizes.
Candice held the object between her five fingers, with the notched side facing upwards. With a thought, she summoned the spiritual power in her body and injected it into it with a specific pattern and intensity.
"Clap."
A slight sound of a door lock opening was heard from inside the square box, and then all kinds of bright and dazzling colors emerged from its surface, gathering within the winding and delicate grooves, like water rushing along a river.
After a few seconds, an extremely realistic picture was projected by this mysterious spiritual object and suspended in the air in front of Candice.
The picture shows an office-like room, and in the center of the image is a slightly strange machine that appears to be assembled from various metal materials, gems, and instruments.
It appears to be very technologically advanced, but its appearance is also very simple and rough, not very beautiful.
On this slightly steampunk-style machine, there are small square pieces of paper of the same size, each with a name handwritten on it.
And these pieces of paper are combined two by two, like some kind of random pairing.
Candice glanced around and immediately locked onto a small piece of paper with "Candice Octavius" written on it.
Then she moved her eyes to the side and saw the name right next to her own name.
"Next is this guy, very good..."
Candice nodded slightly, closed the small square box in her hand thoughtfully, and the projection in the air disappeared.
The instrument just projected was a competition device placed in the Student Union Office.
It is called a device, but in fact it is a work borrowed free of charge from the "Student Creative Inventions" studio next door. Its function is to automatically generate random combinations.
Its function is to randomly shuffle the names of all contestants and pair them up before each "competition" begins, so as to obtain the opponent list for the next round of competition.
Previously, she had hired "Su Shi" Cooper through special means, just to let him sneak into the student union office and install spiritually driven remote monitoring in an unknown place that was hidden enough and had a suitable viewing angle.
The small square box in his hand was the display terminal of the monitoring. In this way, he could peek at the combination of the paired instruments at any time.
Therefore...before each game begins, make adequate preparations for your opponent.
During the preliminary round, she knew her opponent's name in advance, and then conducted a private investigation to get a thorough understanding of this person's areas of expertise, behavior style, and personality traits.
Then he would find the spiritual equipment, spell tutorials, etc. that could just restrain him from his own all-encompassing treasure trove, and make up for it.
As long as there is no absolute gap in strength between you and your opponent, this kind of foresight tactic... is almost invincible!
"My opponent in the next round is a mage who specializes in the 'Giant' field just like me. If I want to ensure victory, I will have to rely on specific spiritual equipment. I don't think I have any that meets the requirements in my own collection... I have to ask my father. I'm sure he has it."
The reason she returned to the palace this time was to find her father, Emperor Octavius VIII, and ask to borrow one of his collections for a few days.
"Normally, at this time, Father would rest in the insect and bird room in the side hall, playing with his crickets and birds... uh."
She suddenly felt her vision go dark for a moment, and at that moment her perception of her body almost completely disappeared.
Although it was only a very brief moment and she quickly returned to normal, her legs still went weak and she lost her balance and almost fell to the ground.
If she hadn't reacted in time and used her hands to support herself against the wall, she would have fallen flat on her face in a very ungraceful manner.
"Hmm...what happened? This happened to me this morning at school, and I almost made a fool of myself in front of the students..."
Candice stopped and rubbed her temple with a strange look on her face:
"Could it be that the previous battle overloaded me? No, I don't feel tired at all..."
This was not the first time she had encountered such a strange thing. In the few years since she entered Imperial University, she had occasionally experienced short "blackouts" like the one just now.
Because it lasts for a very short time, it generally does not affect your life. The royal physician hired by my father also said that it might just be a normal phenomenon after mental exertion and I don’t need to worry too much about it.
But recently it has been happening more and more frequently for some reason... It used to happen only once a week, then once every two or three days on average, and now it sometimes happens more than once a day.
"Other than that, I don't feel any other discomfort... I feel that my body is very good, and I have hardly ever caught a cold..."
She leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths to make sure that there was nothing wrong with her physical and mental state. Then she shook her head slightly:
"Forget it... Let's go find Father first..."
After walking through a corridor that was hundreds of meters long, she came to a small door at the end of the corridor and knocked on it with her knuckles:
"Father, are you free?"
The room was silent for a few seconds, and then a low, hoarse voice was heard:
"…Little Candice? Come in."
Candice pushed the door open and walked in. With the friction sound of the bearings rotating, a large area of lush greenery came into view.
Behind the door is an extremely large flower hall, which is circular in shape. The ceiling is a stone dome with a regular round hole at the top, inlaid with colorful lattice glass.
In the flower hall, various plants are planted along the curved walls. The sounds of insects and birds are heard one after another, and the air is filled with the fragrance of earth and water vapor.
Sunlight pours down from the round hole at the top of the dome, illuminating this vibrant space like a miniature forest.
Next to one of the vegetation, stood a majestic figure.
A middle-aged man in his fifties, of medium build, with an avant-garde yet dignified moustache, and wearing summer court clothes suitable for hot weather.
Although he was not tall and strong, and was not wearing the court robes and crown, he still revealed the aura of a superior, which was the kind of majesty that only emperors and generals who were above everyone else could cultivate.
This person is the supreme ruler of the Glorious Plantagenet Empire, Emperor Octavius VIII.
Next to him stood a tall, thin man with a serious expression. Although he was right next to the emperor, he gave people the impression of having no presence, making it difficult to focus on him at first glance.
If Qi Ji was present, he would find that the man's clothes were almost exactly the same as those of the "Iron-Blood Knight", the metallurgist of the "Fire" realm in the independent dream that Fasti cut out.
Obviously, in the past the emperor should have had two personal guards around him, but now one of them has been left at the Imperial National University.
The king, bathed in the sun, turned around and looked at Candice with a kind smile:
"What's wrong? Did you have fun at school activities?"
"Uh, Father, have you ever..."
Candice briefly described the conditions and requirements of the spiritual equipment she wanted.
"Oh, of course."
The emperor nodded without asking why. He turned his head and said to the guards beside him:
"Find one like little Candice said."
"Yes."
The grim-faced guard bowed slightly, then turned his head slightly and muttered something to the air. Then he said to the emperor in a serious tone:
"Your Majesty, they will be delivered to Her Royal Highness's bedroom."
The emperor hummed, his warm smile unchanged, and said to Candice kindly and lovingly:
"By the way, did you go to see Uncle Roman at school? You haven't seen him for a long time, right?"
"I can't find him either." Seeing that her problem was solved, Candice felt much more relaxed. She leaned against the door frame and answered casually, "This guy is sneaky. Does anyone know where he is?"
She knew that her father had a good relationship with the principal, Roman, but she really had no connection with that strange old man. She didn't know why her father always cared about the relationship between her and Roman.
"Look at you, how you talk."
The emperor laughed and rebuked his daughter for her choice of words, then changed the subject and said:
"He will come to the palace in a few days. If you are free, you'd better come with him... I remember your school's activities last for three days, right? That's just right."
"Good good."
Candice agreed reluctantly, then she suddenly thought of something, stood up straight, and her expression became more serious:
"Oh, yes, Father. How is the matter in the grove going?"
She was referring to the so-called "natural subspace fragment" that inexplicably landed in the grove in the North Garden of the Imperial National University.
Originally, she seldom asked about such affairs involving national politics, but since that incident had involved her, she couldn't help but become curious about it.
"Oh, it's quite troublesome."
The emperor, who was currently the father, did not hide his emotions and sighed:
“The person at the Sunset Church must have known about it, but there has been no movement in the past few days, so no one can be sure of his thoughts.
"Although we have sent strong men from the palace and the military to take control of the situation as quickly as possible, it will not be of much significance if there is no demigod to preside over it...
"In short, even though we have done so much, the final ownership of that piece of 'subspace' still depends on the mood of 'Xiaguang' in the Church of the Setting Sun."
"That's it..."
Candice's mood was somewhat affected by her father, and she felt a little depressed for a moment:
"Without demigods, even we can only be so passive..."
There are actually quite a few legendary strongmen of the fourth realm in the royal family and the military. Their number in public is even more than that of the Canyang Spiritual Society.
But in a truly crucial contest, the decisive factor is not the backbone, but the height at the top.
There is not even one demigod in the royal family... Many things are actually controlled by the Setting Sun Spiritual Society, which has many "apostles" and "angels".
If it weren't for the historical legacy of the founding of the empire, and the will of the main god of the Sunset Spiritual Society, "God of Dusk and Decay" and "blasphemy" Anmon, who didn't care much about the expansion of the church's power...
I'm afraid that the Glorious Plantagenet Empire has already become the back garden of the church, just like its neighboring Templar Empire.
Based on Candice's existing extraordinary knowledge, she knew how important a piece of "subspace fragment" that was temporarily ownerless was.
In the context of the church, such fragments are called "the raw materials for the prototype of the Kingdom of God", which shows how valuable this thing is.
It is said that under certain conditions, it can become the key material for advancing to the mythical realm and reaching the level of "demigod"...
In other words, if the royal family can master such a sudden natural resource, it may be possible to cultivate the first demigod loyal to the royal family in the near future!
This will completely change the status of the royal family and the situation in the empire!
This is why my father’s ministers attach so much importance to this incident.
However, will the Sunset Spiritual Society...really sit back and watch all this happen?
Would they really allow the royal family, which was originally greatly restricted by their own will, to become a role that could stand on equal footing with themselves?
The answer is obvious...
"Haha, you don't have to worry too much about these things."
The emperor immediately comforted her, and his wrinkled face regained a amiable smile:
"We will handle it all, and things will always get the best result..."
The tall, thin guard with a low presence suddenly changed his expression and interrupted him:
"Your Majesty, there is a situation."
"……Um?"
The emperor frowned slightly and looked at him seriously.
Now was his rest time, and as a subject he should not have disturbed the rare conversation between him and his daughter, but he still did it at the risk of angering the king.
This means that something urgent has indeed happened.
Under the emperor's gaze, the guard came closer and whispered in a low voice:
"The 'glow' of the Sunset Church has left."
"what?!"
The emperor was startled and immediately asked:
"Any more information?"
In name, the Canyang Spiritual Society and the royal family have a cooperative coexistence relationship of mutual assistance, but after all, they are two different forces, and there are bound to be conflicts of interest.
As long as the two parties are not in solidarity, there will definitely be intelligence gathering between them.
Therefore, there are informants sent by the royal family in the Canyang Church, who are responsible for observing and reporting various events happening in the heart of the Canyang Spiritual Society.
Of course, there must be insiders of the Canyang Spiritual Society in the palace. Not only the emperor, but almost every minister under him knew this. Planting informants for each other was a tacit "secret" between the two sides.
Among all the information about the Setting Sun Spiritual Society, the movements of the demigod "Apostle of Sunset" are undoubtedly the most important and have the highest priority.
His will almost determines the direction that the royal family can ultimately choose.
