Chapter 1837

The group left the Royal Garden. Clearly, compared to the strength of the other four factions, Su Xiao's side had basically no advantage—no money, no people. The only advantage was that they could fight, and fight very well.

According to Su Xiao's understanding, although the old charlatan often had the God of Light on his lips, in reality, his abilities had nothing to do with light. It was the purest darkness—a darkness that annihilated and possessed strong adhesive power. Once eroded by this energy, one's life force would be drained in a short time.

The old charlatan could not absorb this life force; he would re-inject the absorbed life force into the enemy's body, turning the enemy into a 'believer,' commonly known as a walking corpse, to help him fight to the death.

This was a quite brutal ability. According to the old charlatan's description, becoming a transcendent in this world was not a simple matter. The first requirement was to be born with powerful mental strength to accept the Power of Eternity.

Initially, the Power of Eternity would amplify emotions. If one couldn't resist this stage, they would become a resident of the Dead City and enter the Dead City in a special way.

If one resisted this process, the nature of the Power of Eternity would change. As for what ability it transformed into, that depended on the user's personality.

The abilities of the Order faction mostly leaned toward light, such as healing, purification, Blazing Sun, Holy Sacrifice Knights, etc. Most did not directly use light-type energy; the so-called light was a broad categorization.

As for the darkness that stood in opposition to light, it was very difficult to categorize; there were thousands of known classifications. After all, people have selfish desires. Over 90% of people, after absorbing the Power of Eternity, transformed toward the nature of darkness. However, this didn't mean that those with the nature of darkness were necessarily bad people, but one thing was certain: transcendent beings of the light type were definitely of the kind faction or stubborn mules; this was absolute.

Walking on the street, Su Xiao had a rough understanding of the transcendent beings of this world.

As they advanced toward the center of the Holy City, the surrounding buildings were clearly a head taller. After walking for about half an hour, a domed building appeared in their line of sight. To be precise, it was a complex of buildings—the Senate had arrived.

Two guards stood above the stone steps. These two were at least two and a half meters tall, over a meter and two wide, and the full-body armor they wore was a finger thick.

With those two standing there, commoners didn't dare to approach the Senate at all. One had to know that this was the place responsible for administration, appointments, and elections, and it was open to all commoners.

But now, the area in front of the Senate was deserted. If commoners wanted to enter, they had to spend a high fee to go through the back door; the corruption didn't even bother with a fig leaf.

"Stop!"

Just as Su Xiao's group stepped onto the stairs, one of the guards in front of the gate shouted, full of vigor.

Su Xiao and the old charlatan both looked at this soldier, saying nothing, just quietly watching the other party.

"Today is a rest..."

The armored guard had just opened his mouth when his brain felt as if it had been hammered, instantly turning into mush.

With two clangs, the two guards, who weighed at least three hundred pounds each, fell to the ground. Black smoke dissipated from the old charlatan's hand.

"This is a place of adjudication and justice; no citizen can be prevented from entering."

The old charlatan was the opposite of his usual benevolence; those somewhat murky pupils were pitch black.

"Assemble! The main gate has been breached!"

A roar came from inside the Senate. Perhaps because they had done too many bad things, a certain number of troops were actually stationed inside the Senate.

With the clashing of armor, in just over ten seconds, hundreds of soldiers rushed out of the main hall. It wouldn't be long before ten thousand soldiers arrived at this location.

Su Xiao and the old charlatan had no reaction. Bubu Wang was also long accustomed to such scenes, but Princess Peidela of the Morning Dawn and her four maids were a bit panicked; clearly, they hadn't experienced this kind of battle array.

Su Xiao looked at the old charlatan. The old charlatan's expression wasn't very good.

"How many people did they send to watch you?"

"..."

The old charlatan was speechless. The situation before them was definitely not a coincidence; the Senate was much harder to deal with than imagined.

"How do you plan to resolve this now?"

The old charlatan clearly wanted to test how Su Xiao would handle this matter. Although he wanted someone to sit on the throne as soon as possible, he didn't want to cooperate with a mere brute.

"Blow this place up."

"?"

The old priest looked at Su Xiao with slight astonishment. Before he could speak, the sound of an explosion had already come from inside the Senate.

Boom, boom, boom...

The destructive power of the explosion wasn't too strong, but the momentum was extremely shocking. The soldiers who were just about to rush out of the main hall immediately stopped in their tracks. They simultaneously looked at a man wearing golden armor with a handsome face.

The handsome man was bewildered for a moment. He glanced at the stairs leading up behind him, then looked at Su Xiao and the others.

"My lord, I suggest..."

An old soldier with graying hair and one blind eye was just about to speak when the handsome man waved his hand, signaling the soldiers behind him to surround Su Xiao and the others.

"My lord, this..."

"Shut up, we'll talk about this in private."

The handsome man barked a low command. The old soldier's mouth opened and closed. According to his opinion, they should immediately withdraw all soldiers and leave this matter entirely to the Senate to handle. Without causing too much of a stir, even if they arrested the few people at the gate, they could still use political means to gloss over it afterward.

But the explosion just now was too loud. Once this matter blew up, they would be overstepping their authority; if something happened to the Senate, it wasn't their place to resolve it.

Hundreds of soldiers had just surrounded Su Xiao and the others when an old man wearing a gray long cloth garment with no sleeves walked down the stairs.

"Adrian."

The gray-clothed old man shouted. The handsome man turned to look at the person who had arrived and immediately knelt on one knee.

"Senator."

"Stand down."

"Yes."

Adrian was somewhat puzzled, but he led his men to withdraw to the backyard of the Senate and had people drag away the two corpses at the gate.

"Ken Lahan, you came to my place—are you here to reminisce? Or are you here to find trouble?"

The gray-clothed old man walked slowly from the steps inside the main hall. He was thin, had a hooked nose, was clean-shaven, and his graying hair was shaved very short. His name was Bloom, the most powerful Senator. There were 16 Senators in the Senate, and the other 15 all supported Bloom—it could be called a miracle.

"I came to take back what doesn't belong to you."

The old charlatan stepped into the main hall and locked eyes with Bloom.

"Do you think you are still the King's Right Guard? Based on your behavior just now, I have the right to order people to kill you right here."

Bloom's gaze swept over the old charlatan and Su Xiao. At the very first glance, he judged that these two were not easy to deal with. As for Princess Peidela of the Morning Dawn, he ignored her directly.

Bloom stood on high ground, almost looking down on the old charlatan.

The old charlatan's gaze turned to Su Xiao, seeking Su Xiao's opinion. After all, the explosion just now was caused by Su Xiao, which not only forced the soldiers to retreat but also made the person in power in the Senate show his face.

"How should this person be addressed?"

Su Xiao took a step forward, seemingly asking Bloom, but in reality, he was asking the old charlatan.

"Bloom."

The old charlatan spoke in a low voice.

"Oh, nice to meet you, Senator Bloom. I am Kuku Lin Bai Ye. According to the laws of the Empire, you should address me... Duke Kuku Lin?"

Su Xiao looked at the old charlatan again. The old charlatan nodded in affirmation, signaling that Su Xiao's statement was correct.

"Duke..."

Bloom narrowed his eyes, sizing Su Xiao up.

"Ken Lahan, according to imperial law, how should the military be sentenced for attacking a Duke and a Princess without cause?"

A metal coin flipped in Su Xiao's left hand, clinking as it touched his metal bracer.

"They should be hanged."

The old charlatan immediately understood Su Xiao's meaning and lowered his head to Su Xiao to show respect; this was intentionally performed for Bloom to see.

"Then what about overstepping authority to attack a Duke and a Princess?"

"The entire clan should be exiled to the border stone quarries, stripped of citizenship, and the perpetrator should be subjected to the cast-iron punishment."

"Very good. Where is that officer named Adrian?"

"He has already hidden in the backyard of the Senate."

The conversation between Su Xiao and the old charlatan did not cause much of a change in Bloom's expression.

"Someone."

Bloom spoke in a long, drawn-out tone. A soldier wearing iron-black armor ran over quickly and knelt on one knee before Bloom. This was the Senate's guard army.

"Go bring that man named Adrian here. He is in trouble."

"Yes."

In less than half a minute, the guard returned dragging a long, strip-shaped burlap sack, leaving a trail of blood along the way.

"My lord, Adrian committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

"Oh, then send all his relatives to the border stone quarries and strip them of their citizenship."

"As you command."

The armored guard swung his arm, throwing the blood-soaked burlap sack in front of Su Xiao.

Bloom's meaning was already very clear: the person has been handed over to you; military power is simply not in the Senate, and what the military does has nothing to do with them.

"Gentlemen, would you like to stay for lunch?"

Bloom lifted his chin and turned to walk upstairs. When his back was turned to Su Xiao and the others, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. He hadn't encountered such an opponent in a long time.

The strong guards at the gate initially, including the soldiers who rushed out, as well as the officer Adrian, were all arranged by Bloom. He had sent people to monitor Ken Lahan years ago because he knew the other party could take military power away from him.

At 9:56, Ken Lahan met with Princess Peidela of the Morning Dawn. At 10:05, Bloom received the news. He pondered for about 10 minutes and basically guessed Ken Lahan's purpose. Therefore, he had Adrian transferred from the military district through an old friend and promised the other party a bright future.

When Su Xiao and the others arrived at the Senate, Bloom was still negotiating with Adrian. Adrian mistakenly believed that his life was about to reach its peak; he had latched onto a super big shot.

Precisely because of this, although Adrian felt something was wrong earlier, hindered by that beautiful future, he decided to take a gamble. But he didn't know that regardless of the outcome today, he would definitely die.

Just as Bloom went upstairs, Su Xiao took the old charlatan and walked out of the Senate. He was laughing, laughing so hard that his white teeth were exposed.

"I failed."

The old charlatan followed behind Su Xiao with a gloomy face and his head bowed.

"What failure?"

Su Xiao, who was walking forward, turned his head to look at the old charlatan. Just as the old charlatan looked up at Su Xiao, his footsteps faltered, because when he saw Su Xiao's smile, he actually felt a sense of trepidation.

"We succeeded. If nothing goes wrong, that old guy will hand over military power. And he will hold his nose and let Peidela ascend."

Su Xiao and the others walked out of the Senate.

On the third floor of the Senate, at a large dining table, Bloom tucked a napkin into his collar. Just as he was about to pick up the silver fork beside his hand, his hand paused in mid-air.

A few seconds later, a crisp clattering sound came. A servant ran into the room quickly and found that the dining table had been overturned to the side, with cups and plates in a mess.

Bloom held a silver fork in his hand, which gradually bent as he exerted force. He had suddenly thought of something just now: where did the bomb for the explosion come from?

Bloom walked out of the restaurant quickly and headed straight for his bedroom on the fourth floor. Just as he pushed open the bedroom door, a few pieces of rubble fell from the wall. Inside a hole in the wall was a metal cabinet that had already been opened.

"Go, send people to my residence immediately. Now, immediately!"

The things Bloom kept in the Senate were not important; something in his home was his fatal weakness.