In an instant, the originally colorful and dreamy independent secret realm was left with only an empty darkness after the two high-level members of the Sunset Spiritual Society left.
Even the colors and ghosts that were everywhere at the beginning were completely gone. It was obvious that those things were cleaned up by "Xiaguang" before leaving.
And in this pure black space, the ethereal voice of "Xiaguang" gradually dissipated as it echoed again and again:
"The great and noble setting sun is always patiently waiting in His dusk temple, which is eternally bathed in twilight. It will not resist your stopping at any time."
"I can only say that he is indeed a charlatan. He even remembers to preach the doctrine..."
After confirming that the two had left, Qi Ji sighed helplessly and muttered something to complain.
"Next..."
She turned around and looked at Luo Meng and others who were still holding their heads and holding their breath:
"Okay, you don't have to be so polite. Just keep your attitude the same as at the beginning."
"Yes, my lord."
The three men, who were almost all important figures in the empire's ruling class, agreed in unison, then raised their heads, but still did not dare to look directly into Qi Ji's eyes, but just kept their gaze on her neck.
"No matter how much I emphasize that I don't care about these things, people who know my strength will still become trembling with fear... Well, this is human nature."
He sighed inwardly, then looked at the "Iron-Blooded Knight", a member of the Royal Guards who had been so arrogant when he first appeared, but now held his breath and dared not speak:
"You are very familiar with the emperor, right?"
Feeling the other party's eyes on him, the "Flame" metallurgist shuddered immediately and replied hurriedly:
"I am your Majesty's guard, responsible for ensuring your Majesty's safety in the palace."
Qi Ji nodded as expected, and then asked:
"Now that you are here, where is the emperor?"
Seeing this mysterious demigod always mentioning the master he was loyal to, the Iron-Blooded Knight couldn't help but feel a little flustered, but he still maintained basic composure and answered logically:
"My mission will be taken over by my colleague 'Night Walker'. He is at the same level of strength as me and is absolutely loyal. He is fully capable of fulfilling this important responsibility."
"Yeah, I know that."
For some reason, Qi Ji's expression was a little conflicted, as if hesitating whether to do the next thing.
She paused for a few seconds and then continued:
"Your emperor must have known that 'Xiaguang' left the church and came here just now, right?"
"Of course, we have intelligence personnel stationed in the Church of the Setting Sun. Your Majesty will definitely know about such obvious things."
Originally, the "Iron Knight" was still considering whether to tell this internal information to outsiders.
But on second thought, there is no need to hide this so-called "secret" that is known to almost everyone from a demigod. Not only is it meaningless, it may also leave a bad impression of deception on the other party.
"This kind of thing is of great significance to your royal family, right? Combined with the god... er, the warp fragment that appeared in the grove before, the emperor will probably suspect that Xiaguang went to the grove to steal something, right?"
Qi Ji could figure out all the overt and covert frictions and disputes between the royal family and the church just by using a strand of hair.
Of course, he also knew that the royal family, who did not have demigod-level combat power, would definitely want to monopolize the so-called "subspace fragments" that he dropped in the grove, so as to get the opportunity to cultivate the first demigod.
At this critical juncture, the emperor would certainly keep an eye on the movements of "Xiaguang", the demigod of the church, at all times. Once He leaves the church, the first thing he would most likely suspect is that He is going to the grove.
The "Iron Knight" was confused by Qi Ji's persuasive way of speaking, but he did not dare to show any impatience or dissatisfaction. He could only curb his temper and said humbly:
"Your Majesty should make such a judgment."
"You said before that this guy has set up some kind of barrier for this school, and the information from the extraordinary realm cannot be transmitted normally between the inside and the outside."
Qi Ji said as he poked the still unconscious Fasti with his toes:
"So, if your colleagues want to find you to confirm the whereabouts of 'Xia Guang', they won't get a response?"
"Well, it is true."
The "Iron-Blooded Knight" was slightly stunned. At this moment he vaguely realized something, and a slight sense of uneasiness surged in his heart.
"So...what do you think the emperor will choose in this situation?"
"Well……"
Before the "Iron-Blooded Knight" could open his mouth to speak, the space not far from him twisted, and energy gushed out from the void, quickly condensing into a man whose attire was almost the same as that of the "Iron-Blooded Knight".
"……It's you?!"
Upon seeing this person appear, the "Iron-Blood Knight" was startled at first, but then he realized that it was reasonable for the emperor to send a "Night Walker" of the same level as himself to connect with him who had temporarily lost contact.
"Your Majesty sent me to investigate the school... What's going on now?"
The "Night Walker" explained directly to the "Iron Knight". He looked around the surrounding environment with obvious confusion on his face. It was obvious that he did not understand the current situation and the whole story.
"What about your majesty's safety?"
For absolutely no reason, the "Iron Knight" asked his colleague this question, which should have been a stupid question.
The Night Walker glanced at him with a slightly strange look in his eyes and replied inexplicably:
"I handed it over to the guards... Who is this person?"
The second half of the sentence was directed to Qi Ji, who was floating not far away. He had just arrived and was completely confused about the situation.
Qi Ji glanced at the two emperor's guards from the corner of his eye and said leisurely:
"I'm just giving you a simple reminder, nothing else. With both of you masters here, the security around the emperor will surely be reduced, right?"
"Wait... No!"
At this moment, the "Iron-Blood Knight" understood something and widened his eyes in horror. Intense fear and panic instantly surged into his heart and penetrated into his bones.
If Qi Ji's words just now were said by someone else, he would have been dismissive.
Who dares to question the ability of the Royal Guards?
Even without himself and the "Night Walker", the two strongest men, the protection formed by the Royal Guards, who are the elite among the elite, cannot be shaken by any Tom, Dick and Harry!
But those words were not spoken by some unknown person; they came from the mouth of a demigod who stood at the pinnacle of the extraordinary path and was infinitely close to mastering the authority of the supreme laws of this world!
Then the weight of these words...will be beyond doubt!
"Are you saying that His Majesty might be in danger?"
The "Night Walker" standing by keenly realized the key point from his colleague's reaction, and his face suddenly became solemn.
He did not scold this girl of unknown origin, but asked the "Iron Knight" in a serious manner:
"Should we hurry back?"
Chapter 359: A Stroll in the Secret Realm
"Oh, this is really difficult..."
Seeing the two royal guards in front of him becoming increasingly panicked, Qi Ji also felt a little conflicted.
She was hesitating whether she should go and help if the emperor was really assassinated, or just stand by and watch the show.
In the past, if she encountered things like bullying, arson, looting, natural disasters and man-made disasters, she could easily distinguish who was the victim and who was the perpetrator, and then correctly choose to follow the simple emotions in her heart and support the side of justice.
But once the situation escalates to conflicts between social organizations, or even countries and races, the situation becomes less easy to judge.
In smaller situations, what determines whether the behavior of both parties is legitimate is their character and moral standards as human beings.
Those with evil hearts and dirty thoughts are bad people, and those with lofty ideals and clear actions are good people. This distinction is basically correct.
However, at the macro level, the so-called good guys and bad guys cannot be judged solely based on the moral character of the people involved.
Whether the emperor who glorified the Plantagenet Empire was a wise ruler who worked hard to govern the country or a licentious tyrant actually had little to do with the legitimacy of the act of "assassination".
What if Qi Ji chose to stop this long-planned assassination because of his own ideas, but it caused some immeasurable, far-reaching, tragic consequences? What should he do?
Unless Qi Ji knows everything in the world and has unlimited deductive ability, he will not be able to predict what consequences will be caused by his intervention.
Of course, with her absolute strength, she can also choose to do whatever she wants without worrying about the consequences.
Anyway, as of now, apart from the existence of gods, nothing in this world can threaten her. She is fully qualified to impose her will on all living and dead things in the mortal world.
But if she really wanted to do whatever she wanted, then she, who had modern values on Earth, would be quite dissatisfied with the entire social structure of the human world, let alone the emperor and nobles.
If she really wanted to be unscrupulous, she would not care at all whether the glorious Plantagenet Emperor would be assassinated. The first thing she would do was to personally sweep all these parasites who were sucking blood from the workers and peasants into the garbage dump of history.
But this is wrong. Regardless of whether the concept is correct or not, once you develop a cloud-looking mentality like "Just leave it all to me, you ignorant mortals cannot understand my lofty ideals, I can solve all the problems myself", it is very dangerous.
This perspective of thinking that one can transcend everything, control everything, and regard the universe as chess pieces has essentially begun to deviate from the category of "human" and approach a certain "inhuman" realm...
The most terrifying thing is that this transformation is not a physical change caused by the promotion of supernatural powers, but an irreversible distortion of the entire person's spirit, thoughts, and self.
This will be the most penetrating poison.
This goes against Qi Ji's current principles. She has always considered herself a "human" and not anything else.
This is not shaken by the changes in the nature of her own life.
The same is true in reverse. If she sits back and does nothing, those unknown forces will really kill the emperor, which will lead to chaos and turmoil in the domestic and international situation, and even indirectly cause the outbreak of war and countless tragedies... This is obviously not a good development.
In short, it’s difficult to deal with if you are neither upper nor lower.
"…Sir, please allow us to leave this place."
Just when Qi Ji was in a dilemma, the "Iron-Blooded Knight" mustered up the courage to speak, interrupting her confused thoughts.
Qi Ji looked over and saw two royal guards looking at him with pleading eyes.
"let's go."
With a slight sigh, she waved her hand and did not force the two to stay.
After all, they were the emperor's guards. It was normal for them to rush to rescue him when they learned that their master might be in trouble. She had no reason to stop them.
After getting the permission from the only demigod present, the "Iron Knight" breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged glances with his colleague "Night Walker" beside him.
The next second, the bodies of the two collapsed at the same time, one turned into a sea of red flames, and the other dissolved into fine black fluid, quickly dissolving in the vast space as dark as ink.
"Just do what you need to do. I'm too lazy to clean up this mess."
After casually glancing at the remaining Nus and Roman, Qi Ji didn't say anything more. He hooked his hand behind his back, and large patches of bright light emerged around Fasti, who was unconscious and floating in the air, and enveloped him in an instant.
The same thing happened to Qi Ji, as dazzling star sand appeared out of nowhere, covering her figure. The next moment, the starlight suddenly went out, and the two of them disappeared at the same time.
As the starlight faded, her vision quickly changed from darkness to complex and rich colors, like abstract oil paintings.
She did not take Fasti directly back to the real world, but entered the "Great Secret Realm".
——The space just now was exactly the area that Fasti cut out independently from the "Great Secret Realm".
After having close contact with Fasti and Romon, two legendary masters in the "Chaos" realm, she has roughly mastered the system they practice and study, and can freely enter and exit the so-called "secret realm" like the "Secret Saint" Fasti.
This is a space that is difficult to describe in words. Even using the word "space" to describe it seems particularly inappropriate.
Here, there is no strict distinction between up and down, left and right, east and west, north and south, nor are there any objects or phenomena visible in the normal world. Even distance has lost its meaning.
Just like the fragmented, absurd and bizarre illusion that people feel when they are half asleep or after taking hallucinogenic drugs, this place seems to be a product of a crude mixture of all things, where speech and logic encounter a vacuum.
If extraordinary people from other realms break in, even the "saints" or "metallurgists" of the fourth realm will easily get lost and confused, and thus be exiled forever in this absurd world.
But Qi Ji, who has learned the "Chaos" field system, will not be confused. She can find a clue in this vast image that has no rules or logic and seems like the hallucination of a madman.
That is the "anchor point" that can correspond to the location information in the real world.
As long as you target these "anchor points" and concentrate your energy on breaking through them, you can accurately land at the corresponding locations in the real world.
Fasti’s “secret walk” essentially makes use of these “anchor points”.
"Although it takes time to travel through the secret realm, and it's not really 'teleportation', at least there's no distance limit... In some cases, it's a little more practical than the 'space grafting' and 'stand-in flash' that I used to use... Tsk, each has its pros and cons."
In her aimless associations, she grasped an "anchor point" in the chaotic secret world.
Its corresponding location in the real world is the royal palace at the core of Twilight City, the "Twilight Palace".
Yes, she wanted to go to the palace with the two guards.
Despite her previous thoughts, she gradually came to a realization that there was no need to dwell on a single issue before something happened.
If you really want to think about it, the moment she came into this world and interacted with human civilization, she had already been "influencing" the operation of this world.
You can't take all the responsibility for every accident that may involve you, right?
According to this logic, the biggest sinner in the world is the Big Bang - if there is such a thing as a Big Bang in this world.
Of course, we cannot give up thinking. We must always observe the situation, make our own judgment, and then put it into practice... Is there any other way for us to treat the world?
