Chapter 1838

Inside the small church, Su Xiao sat on a wooden chair, holding a tablet computer. On the screen was a real-time surveillance feed, and the protagonist of the feed was the hurried Senator Bloom.

Su Xiao's plan was simple. From the beginning, he had guessed that the Senate would not obediently hand over military power. This was a matter of course. Even if Ken Lahan had the right to demand that portion of military power and let the King he supported gain great power, rules are made by people, and whether to follow them depends on the individual ability of the parties involved.

The Senate could become one of the contenders for royal power; of course, they wouldn't be simple characters. Expecting them to obediently hand over military power was unrealistic.

The best way to know where an enemy's weakness lies is to scare them first, see where the enemy covers, and then strike there—that basically won't be wrong. Of course, if the enemy is very cunning, this might fail.

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang had been tracking Bloom. Now Su Xiao had no power and no money. If he wanted to fight against those in high positions in the Empire, he at least needed chips in his hand, and military power was the best chip.

Bloom on the surveillance feed suddenly stopped. He seemed to have thought of something. After pondering for a moment, this guy actually changed direction and returned to the Senate. Clearly, Bloom had realized that returning to his own residence now would likely expose his weakness to the enemy.

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang stopped tracking and asked Su Xiao what to do next. Su Xiao signaled it to continue tracking Bloom; Benny had already arrived at the other party's residence.

An hour later, Benny scurried onto the roof of the small church and tapped the glass above with its claws.

"Use the door."

Su Xiao signaled a maid to open the door. The maid pushed the door open reluctantly.

Benny hadn't obtained any classified documents or the like. People like Bloom wouldn't leave secrets on paper; they would only keep them in their hearts.

Benny handed a metal savings card to Su Xiao. Su Xiao inserted the savings card into the card slot of the tablet, and inside was a video about five minutes long.

This was a pitch-black basement. Benny was filming while hanging upside down from the ceiling, so the video was also upside down.

The basement was guarded by three rotting hounds. Behind them was a glass tank ten meters long and six meters high. The water in the glass tank was somewhat yellow, and inside was a mermaid with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a light red fish tail.

The mermaid floated horizontally in the water as if dead. Her eyes were hollow, her plump chest was bare, and a tube as thick as a finger was inserted above her lower abdomen.

"Is this Bloom's unspeakable secret?"

Su Xiao was somewhat disappointed. Bloom was so composed before dinner, and it was just for a mermaid? However, the other party imprisoned this mermaid in a cell a hundred meters underground; this video should have some value.

"Old... Ken Lahan, what's going on with this mermaid? Does imprisoning this thing violate imperial law?"

Hearing Su Xiao's words, the old charlatan looked over sideways, the implication being: were you just about to call me an old charlatan?

The old charlatan's mood was clearly bad. The military power he had promised earlier had fallen through, and a feeling of being old filled his heart. This feeling was terrible.

The old charlatan just glanced at the video, and his pupils tightened rapidly. He stepped forward a few steps and snatched the tablet from Su Xiao's hand.

"Moon, Queen Moon?"

The old charlatan's lips trembled, and the expression on his face gradually twisted.

"Bloom!!"

Black smoke enveloped the old charlatan. At this moment, he was like a vengeful evil spirit. Su Xiao even heard the creaking sound of bones rubbing together.

"Calm down, Lahan!"

Bloodthirst spread with Su Xiao as the center point. The air in the small church seemed to distort. Not far away, Peidela and the four maids rolled their eyes and fell to the ground simultaneously with a thud.

Benny's fur stood on end, and its tail puffed up. It felt a pair of black and red eyes looking down at it. It had been a long time since it had felt this kind of horror.

Crack! Crack!

The glass of the small church cracked, and the wall fell layer by layer.

The black smoke on the old charlatan gradually dissipated, but his hands still couldn't stop shaking.

The bloodthirst dissipated. Benny jumped onto Su Xiao's lap and bit Su Xiao's hand. That look seemed to be saying: "You scared me to death, pay up."

Su Xiao grabbed Benny by the scruff of its neck and put it back on the ground.

"Tell me, what's special about this Queen Moon?"

Su Xiao could now be certain that this was Bloom's unspeakable secret. Although Bloom wouldn't lose his power if this were made public, his reputation would be foul, seriously affecting his ascent to the throne.

"Queen Moon was married by His Majesty in his later years and was also the youngest Queen. His Majesty had five women in his life. Except for Queen Moon, the other Queens have already passed away."

The old charlatan's emotions stabilized a bit, but his pupils remained pitch black like ink.

"In other words, she knows many of His Majesty's secrets?"

Su Xiao stood up, and the broken glass of the small church fell.

"One can understand it that way, but Queen Moon should have already passed away. I personally attended her funeral, and furthermore..."

"What the eyes see is not necessarily the truth."

Su Xiao came before Princess Peidela of the Morning Dawn and patted her fair, soft cheeks.

"Hey, wake up."

Su Xiao gradually exerted force.

"Wuu~"

Peidela frowned. The first time she saw Su Xiao, tears blurred her vision.

"Let's go, go to the Senate to take back the spoils of war."

"I, I can't stand up."

Peidela looked at Su Xiao with teary eyes. Su Xiao reached behind Peidela with one hand. Just when Peidela thought Su Xiao was going to pick her up in a princess carry, her vision flipped, and she saw Su Xiao's back. Clearly, Su Xiao was carrying her on his shoulder.

Just as Su Xiao was preparing to carry Peidela and return to the Senate with the old charlatan, an angry female voice came.

"Let that child go."

Hearing this voice, Su Xiao and the old charlatan were both stunned. Both looked at a young girl wearing a deep green robe and a hood, holding a skewer of roasted meat in her hand.

The girl hesitated for a moment, threw down the remaining half of the roasted meat skewer, and drew the knight's sword at her waist.

"You villain."

The girl clearly recognized Su Xiao, or rather, it was hard for her to forget. Once in the Holy Grail world, Su Xiao had almost slaughtered his way through that world, and when he looked at her, it was as if he were looking at a sweet dessert, as if he were going to swallow her in a few bites.

"You are..."

Su Xiao looked at the knight's sword in the newcomer's hand and basically guessed who the other party was.

"It's rare for plot characters to become adjudicators. No, wait, you are now a human existing in this world. Is this a benefit after becoming an adjudicator?"

Su Xiao had previously received a prompt that the adjudicator would prevent him from conflicting with other contractors, which meant assisting him in clearing out rule-breakers to a certain extent.

"So, that anomaly has already cultivated you into an adjudicator."

Seeing Artoria, Su Xiao immediately thought of that toad. Although he had only seen it once, Su Xiao judged that the other party was an anomaly—not a rule-breaker, but a more difficult anomaly.

"My mentor is not an anomaly; his name is..."

The ahoge king was just about to say the toad's name, but felt it was somewhat inappropriate.

"Who he is has nothing to do with me. You're blocking the way."

As Su Xiao spoke, the old charlatan was looking at the ahoge king benevolently.

"This... lady knight, I think you might have misunderstood. This young girl is our Princess Peidela. We will not do anything to harm her. Furthermore, you are trespassing in a church now; this place is watched by the God of Light. Please do not behave rudely."

The old charlatan placed one hand on his chest and nodded to the ahoge king.

"Excuse me."

The ahoge king took a deep breath. She was different from when she first started. If Su Xiao hadn't triggered her bad memories, she wouldn't have drawn her sword rashly.

Now Artoria was certain that the hunter she had to face was of the most difficult type to get along with.