The early morning mist had not yet completely dispersed in Spirit City, and the Guard Knight canteen was already filled with the steam of food and the low hum of conversation.
Su Xu and Roger finished their breakfast in silence.
According to the duty roster, they were still scheduled to stand guard in front of the Supreme Pontiff Palace today.
On the way to the Supreme Pontiff Palace…
Roger finally couldn’t help but lower his voice and say to Su Xu, “Hey, do you feel it?
The atmosphere isn’t right.
That order from the Vice-Captain last night…
and this morning the patrol teams for the entire inner city have increased.
Something must have happened at the Supreme Pontiff Palace, and it’s something big.”
Su Xu looked straight ahead, his pace steady.
Hearing this, he only responded plainly, “Brother Roger, regarding matters from above, the less small people like us who stand guard know, the better.”
“Even if something truly massive has happened, the Supreme Pontiff and the Elders will handle it; it’s not our place to worry.
We just need to stand our post well and make no mistakes; that is our duty.”
Roger listened and glanced at Su Xu.
Although he still felt that this guy had risen through money, which was very annoying, these words were reasonable and even carried a rare sense of clarity.
Rarely did he not object, merely muttering, “That’s true…
but I still feel uneasy.”
As he spoke, Luo Ge’s dislike for Su Xu seemed to lessen slightly.
The two stopped talking and walked in silence to the Supreme Pontiff Palace, standing still by the familiar pillars.
The morning light outlined the palace’s silhouette, making it look increasingly sacred and solemn, yet it also seemed shrouded in an invisible layer of oppression; they did not wait long.
A steady and highly majestic sound of footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.
A purple-gold figure, surrounded by several personal attendants with deep and steady auras, gradually became clear.
It was Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong.
Today, she was still dressed in that exquisitely luxurious purple Supreme Pontiff robe, wearing the Nine-Segment Purple-Gold Crown and holding the Gemstone Scepter that symbolized supreme authority.
Her stunning face was covered in majesty, her eyes were cold and deep, and her steps carried an unquestionable sense of dominance.
Although Su Xu keenly noticed a trace of gloom and fatigue deep in her eyes that was hard to erase, her high and inviolable aura was even stronger than usual.
Su Xu and Luo Ge immediately knelt on one knee, lowered their heads, and said in unison, “Greetings, Your Holiness!”
Bibi Dong’s pace did not slow down in the slightest because of their greeting; she only nodded slightly, her gaze casually sweeping over the guarding knights, a routine she went through every day.
However, just as she was about to step into the palace gates, her footsteps suddenly halted.
Her gaze fell upon the young Guard Knight on the left who was keeping his head down.
A very faint, almost non-existent…
sense of familiarity?
No, more accurately, it was a strange warning sign originating from bodily instinct that suddenly tightened the depths of her Soul!
That lingering, nauseating, and confusingly weird milky scent from yesterday.
In this instant, it seemed to create an absurd and bizarre association with the extremely faint, pure aura of a young male emanating from the guard before her!
The thought flashed by, but it made her heart skip a beat.
“You,” Bibi Dong’s cold voice rang out, devoid of emotion, “raise your head.” Su Xu’s heart skipped a beat as well.
But his movements did not hesitate; he raised his head as ordered, his gaze respectfully lowered to the ground, not daring to look directly at the Supreme Pontiff.
“Your Holiness.” “What is your name?” Bibi Dong’s gaze was like a physical weight as she carefully scrutinized Su Xu’s face.
Very young, even somewhat handsome, but his spirit power fluctuations were weak, only around Rank 41.
His temperament seemed cautious, even a bit restrained, no different from countless ordinary low-to-mid-level Spirit Masters.
“This subordinate is Su Xu,” Su Xu answered clearly and steadily.
“Su Xu,” Bibi Dong repeated the name in a low voice, the scrutinizing light in her purple eyes intensifying.
She tried to find any trace of suspicion on this face, any hint that might relate to that dreamlike experience—such as hidden lewdness, madness under a disguise, or a subtle mark left by some special Spirit Ability.
However, there was nothing.
Not a single trace.
The Guard Knight Su Xu before her had clear eyes, a respectful posture, and low, steady spirit power.
Aside from his decent-looking face, there was almost nothing noteworthy about him.
Compared to the image in her subconscious of the ‘enemy’ who could silently desecrate her with unpredictable and mysterious methods, he was more than a hundred thousand miles apart.
I really am being paranoid…
Bibi Dong inwardly shook her head, a sense of absurdity welling up.
How could it be a mere Spirit Ancestor guard?
Forget about how he could approach her by breaking through layers of guards and the perception of Titled Douluos; the mere fact of making her completely unaware and leaving her with no memory afterward was definitely not something a Spirit Ancestor could achieve.
That similarity in aura was likely just a coincidence, or an illusion caused by her excessive tension.
Placing such groundless suspicion on a low-level guard would not only fail to help find the true culprit but might also interfere with the actual direction of the investigation.
“Mm.” Bibi Dong asked no more, giving only a faint response before withdrawing her gaze, turning, and walking slowly into the depths of the Supreme Pontiff Palace.
The hem of her magnificent robe traced an arc on the floor, finally disappearing into the shadows of the palace.
Su Xu did not stand straight again until her figure had completely vanished.
In that moment just now, Bibi Dong’s gaze felt as if it were going to see through him completely from inside out.
That invisible pressure belonging to a Peak Douluo was no joke.
Fortunately, the ‘clear-eyed stupidity’ unique to his time as a college student in his previous life was well-disguised.
His Time Stop Ability had also left no traceable marks.
From the corner of his eye, he caught the gaze Luo Ge threw his way—a mix of shock and lingering fear.
Clearly, Luo Ge was stunned by the Supreme Pontiff suddenly stopping to ask an ordinary guard’s name, and even more terrified by Su Xu’s ‘presumptuous’ behavior just now.
Su Xu ignored him, merely adjusting his stance slightly.
His gaze became focused again, as if everything that had just happened was merely a minor interlude.
But his mind was firmly fixed on the interior of the palace.
His vision seemed able to penetrate the thick walls, falling upon that exquisite figure walking toward the throne.
Especially those breathtaking curves that swayed naturally with her steps under the luxurious robes…
ripples rose in his heart once more.
Yesterday was only the beginning; that wonderful ‘taste’ and the pleasure of conquest were already deeply imprinted in the depths of his Soul.
Seeing Su Xu return to ‘normal’ so quickly, with a gaze that seemed even more ‘focused’ on guarding the palace gates, Luo Ge couldn’t help but curse inwardly, “Courting death.” Yet, he also secretly admired the guy’s guts, or perhaps his ignorance.
He wouldn’t dare be like Su Xu, whose gaze always seemed to sweep over places it shouldn’t when the Supreme Pontiff passed by.
Silence returned to the palace.
But this silence did not last long.
About half an hour later, powerful auras began to approach one after another.
First to arrive were Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and Ghost Douluo Gui Mei.
The two Titled Douluos arrived together, their expressions even more solemn than usual.
Following them, several Elders in Cardinal robes and several high-ranking Elders of the Spirit Hall also entered the Supreme Pontiff Palace one after another.
They merely gave each other simple nods of greeting; almost no one spoke, and the atmosphere was heavy.
Clearly, this was no ordinary morning report, but a high-level emergency meeting.
Su Xu and Luo Ge straightened their backs and looked straight ahead, but both understood in their hearts: the upper echelons of Spirit Hall were likely discussing the strategy for some ‘major event.’ Su Xu’s gaze swept over those big shots entering the palace as he calculated in his mind.
With the high-level officials gathered and security tight, it would likely be difficult to find a perfect opportunity to be alone with Bibi Dong like yesterday in the short term.
He still had to wait patiently…