The old man looked terrifying in appearance. His whole body was extremely thin, almost like a dry corpse covered with sagging old skin.
The atmosphere around him was gloomy and horrifying. Even though it was the most luxurious floor, the moment he sat there, it felt like a living hell.
A cold, damp aura clung to the old man.
The moment the man walked in, the old man immediately stopped what he was doing. His gloomy, venomous single eye stared straight at the man.
When his gaze landed on the man's prominent pregnant belly, his eye suddenly trembled violently, as if he had witnessed something that should be completely impossible.
Whoosh
A sharp fragment shot out like a flash towards the old man. His pupil shrank instantly, and he quickly picked up the wooden tray in his hand to block it.
But the fragment cut through the thick tray, sliced off some of the dry hair near his ear, and left a bloody mark beneath his only remaining eye.
Do not look around unless you do not want that last eye either.
The man's voice remained calm and pleasant, his tone slow and relaxed. But the old man had no doubt that if he looked at the pregnant belly again, the man would pluck out his only eye in an instant.
The old man raised his hand to wipe the blood from his face, yet he showed no anger. His face, thin as a skull, looked toward the man who was now casually lying on the most luxurious and soft couch on the twelfth floor.
His hoarse voice carried a bit of fear, familiarity, and flattery.
So it is you, Lord Sindri. Seems the previous target did not satisfy you. Who do you want to kill this time, Lord Sindri
Anyone is fine. Just make sure they are tougher to kill.
If I am still this unsatisfied, that last eye of yours will not be spared next time.
The man lying on the soft, luxurious chaise lounge was none other than Sindri, who had been wandering after leaving Plumera.
Go prepare the best room for me. Also, go to the Carnation Kingdom and find me the most experienced birth attendants.
I will be staying here for a few days to carefully study everything a pregnant husband needs to learn.
He leaned comfortably on the lounge, his long and fair fingers gently rubbing his belly at a relaxed pace, giving his commands naturally.
The old man showed no displeasure. After applying some medicine to the bleeding under his eye, he immediately got up and sent people to carry out Sindri's orders.
For a while, only Sindri was left on the twelfth floor.
He showed no interest in the many top secrets of various continents displayed in the room. He only lowered his head and focused on the movements of the child in his belly.
Whenever he sensed movement inside, a smile mixed with grievance would appear on his face.
Sister I miss you so much
He was only half from the Carnation Kingdom. Normally, someone like him should not be able to get pregnant.
Back when he was with his sister, she always treated him like a child. She would hold him, sleep beside him, and made time to teach him, but never touched him like a man and woman would.
So the child he carried now was not conceived in a normal way. It was a divine fetus formed by forcibly extracting Elara's bloodline using sacred medicine and merging it with his own.
Because it was a divine fetus, it did not follow the usual ten month pregnancy.
It had only been four or five months since he left Plumera, yet the child inside his belly had already grown to the size of a full term baby.
In the next five months, his pregnant belly would stay in this near-labor state until the divine fetus fully matured and was born.
Sindri half-lay on the luxurious chaise lounge, gently rubbing his belly while absentmindedly wondering where Elara was, what she was doing, and who she was with.
Had she been enchanted by those smug fox spirits always hanging around her?
The more he thought, the colder his face became.
The soft smile on his face twisted with traces of malice.
The once clear air on the twelfth floor suddenly thickened with suffocating pressure.
After he gave birth and got rid of those people, he would take the child and return to Elara.
With the child present, Elara, who was always soft-hearted, would surely let him stay by her side again.
As he thought of this, the expression on Sindri's face softened, and the suffocating air on the twelfth floor began to move again.
The old man who had been standing at the entrance for a while finally dared to step in, sensing the oppressive pressure had lifted.
"Master Sindri, I've passed down all your instructions.
The rooms are ready, you may choose freely from the twelfth floor.
As for the birth attendants from the Carnation Kingdom, they will be brought here before sunset."
Sindri gave a faint response, his mind still lost in the pleasant thought of returning to Elara's side with their child.
A few minutes later, a servant cautiously entered the twelfth floor.
He didn't dare look at the chaise lounge where Sindri lay, only walked over to the old man and spoke in a low whisper.
"My lord, the Blood Lord just sent a message urging you.
His Highness asked how the investigation was going."
The old man said nothing, just gripped a round object under the dark counter and narrowed his eyes in deep thought.
After a while, he muttered as if in a trance.
"Southwest corner of the continent... Dahlia Kingdom... Gladiolus Kingdom... Shadow Guards...
Even poison from the Valley of Divine Healers...
Valley of Divine Healers... in the Plumera territory of the continent's southwest... Plumera... Plumera!"
The old man and the servant both spoke in very low voices.
Even if someone stood a meter away, they wouldn't be able to hear what was being said.
But on the other end of the twelfth floor, Sindri suddenly raised his crimson eyes.
Under the white veil, his stunning and beautiful face silently turned toward the old man.
The soft smile on his lips faded.
Unaware, the old man and servant continued whispering.
"Is it that small third-tier kingdom in the southwest called Plumera?"
"Yes, go investigate.
There's a powerful karmic artifact on the person who killed those from Shuitian Kingdom.
Even I can't see her directly.
I could only trace her by indirect means and found that she was with someone from Dahlia Kingdom, Prince Yu, and the Crown Prince of Gladiolus Kingdom, Prince Leland."
"Check this Plumera.
If its current ruler is a woman, has good relations with Dahlia and Gladiolus, and is always accompanied by a tall, strong Shadow Guard, then she must be the one behind everything that happened to the Blood Pavilion."
"Is that so?
You all want to find Elara too?"
As soon as the old man finished, before the servant could respond, a cold, eerie voice echoed beside his ear.
The old man instantly tensed up.
He slowly lifted his head and realized the servant beside him had somehow become a headless corpse.
The old man gasped in horror.
In that moment of blood spraying everywhere, he looked up in shock and rage.
Sindri had silently appeared at the counter, now calmly looking down at the object in the old man's hand.
"Is it him? Did sister kill him?"
Sindri's pale and slender hand reached under the dark counter in front of the old man and took out the ball-shaped object the old man had been pressing down with his palm.
It was a human head.
It was the head of the leader of Shuitian Kingdom that Elara had killed in the hidden chamber.
"Heh, how bad must this guy have been, to make even someone as soft-hearted as sister want to kill him? Truly, he deserved to die."
Sindri chuckled softly after speaking. His pale fingers slightly tightened around the head, and just like that, he crushed the entire skull with a light squeeze.
Blood and flesh splattered all over the old man's face again, but the old man didn't dare to move at all. He only stared at Sindri in growing terror. "Sindri, what are you trying to do? This is the Huangquan Hall branch. Every floor is guarded by top experts of Huangquan Hall. Even if you're one of the top three killers on the Tianzi Ranking. If you dare to make a move, Huangquan Hall will never let you go. Not to mention you're currently pregnant and much weaker than before. Even if our top three combatants aren't here, if you dare touch me, you won't make it out alive today."
As soon as the old man's voice dropped, the previously empty twelfth floor was suddenly filled with over a dozen people.
These were all elites blood-forged by the hellish training methods of Huangquan Hall. Each one of them alone would be considered a top-tier assassin on the continent.
But even when surrounded by so many killers, Sindri just gave a low laugh. He didn't even look at the killers around him.
"If my sister wants to kill someone, let her. Anyone she wants to kill must deserve to die. But what are you all doing? Trying to stop my sister from killing? Even sending people to investigate her?"
Sindri's smiling face showed a trace of menace. "I miss my sister so much that I can't even go see her for now. What gives you the right to go?"
The old man's terrified eyes widened even more. He had no idea how this hell-like madman had anything to do with a girl from a weak kingdom in the southwest.
"You, you're still pregnant. Your strength has dropped. If you hurt me, you won't get out. Even if you really can do it, Huangquan Hall will never forgive you. Never."
The old man was so scared by the sudden madness in Sindri's expression that his teeth were chattering.
He had to fix his eyes on Sindri's raised pregnant belly, trying to make the now-weakened Sindri calm down.
But a madman is a madman.
Why would he ever hold back his killing intent for any other reason?
Especially when someone touches something or someone he desperately longs for but cannot have.
"I told you, if you keep staring, you won't even keep that eye."
The old man screamed in agony. His only remaining eye was now an empty socket.
Sindri clicked his tongue in mild disgust. As he turned, his gorgeous red robe lightly swept past the old man's face. The scream abruptly stopped. The old man fell silently to the ground.
He raised a hand to gently rub his pregnant belly, making sure the child inside was not disturbed by the old man's scream. Then, with a light flick of his other hand, a long sword glowing with bright red blood appeared in his snow-white palm.
Looking at the blood-red sword in his hand, Sindri took off his white gauze veil hat. Leaning slightly on the desk in front of him, he gently caressed his belly with the hand that wasn't holding the sword. His stunningly beautiful face was revealed under the dark twelfth floor lighting, adding even more brilliance to the low-key and luxurious interior.
He slightly tilted his chin at the killers surrounding him. His lazy tone was full of stubborn madness.
"Come on then. Even with only half my strength, I can still deal with all of you."
"Anyone who heard what was said about my sister today, none of you are leaving."
On the other side, Elara looked at the sudden appearance and disappearance of the hostility level from the Yellow Springs Hall.
[What is going on?]
The System was also stunned. After a few seconds, it hesitantly told Elara: [Master, either someone from Yellow Springs Hall suddenly discovered something else and cleared their suspicion of you, or... the person who suspected you suddenly had an accident?]
Does that mean the person who suspected her is suddenly gone?
Elara: [...That timing is way too perfect...?]
[Exactly!]The System snapped back to focus and immediately relaxed. [Hey! But no matter what happened, this issue has basically resolved itself! You don't need to overdraft or credit any more National Fortune Points! The crisis is currently resolved!]
The crisis from Yellow Springs Hall was temporarily resolved. In the following days, Elara discussed the Northern Campaign with Prince Yu, Gareth, and Prince Leland. At the same time, she coordinated remotely through letters within the country, and led the merchant teams at the fastest speed toward the southwest corner of the continent.
However, to avoid wasting the time when Salvia Kingdom and its vassal states were being entangled and pressured by the Louhanze Kingdom during the Hundred Nations Banquet, Elara ultimately decided not to return to Plumera. She would go directly to Salvia Kingdom, resolve the Divine Mirror, and then launch the Northern Campaign by surprise.
This was currently the most efficient approach. The Hundred Nations Banquet hadn't officially ended yet, and the conflicts and disputes arising from the underground treasure scramble were still ongoing.
Salvia Kingdom and others had been tricked and were now trapped in Geranium Kingdom.
People from Salvia and the other nations, if they wanted to avoid getting involved with the major forces and bringing disaster upon themselves, would definitely focus their attention on Geranium Kingdom during this period. So now was the best time for her to sneak in, solve the Divine Mirror, and immediately start the Northern Campaign.
After Elara finished explaining her plan and ideas to Prince Yu, Gareth, and Prince Leland, all three agreed that this was indeed the best time to infiltrate and strike north.
However, since Elara would go alone, the three of them were still somewhat worried.
"Don't worry. Since I've decided to go, of course I've made all the preparations. I wouldn't go unless I was confident."
"Salvia Kingdom and the others may be trapped in Geranium Kingdom now, but sooner or later they will finish their matters and return. If we wait until then to infiltrate and launch the campaign, it will be too late."
"With Prince Leland's secure route into Salvia's Imperial Palace, this is the best moment to sneak in. It will take at most two to three days. Once the Divine Mirror is resolved, I will immediately have the Puppet Soldiers deliver the message."
"At that time, it will be the moment we all begin the Northern Campaign together!"
Seeing Elara speak so seriously and firmly, it was clear that she had already made up her mind.
Though worried, the three of them also understood that this was indeed the best arrangement for now.
After two seconds of silence, they each nodded in agreement.
Prince Yu and Gareth brought out the divine artifacts they had only recently acquired.
"Since you're so determined, take more protective items with you. None of us can afford any mistakes in this Northern Campaign. Miss Bai..." Prince Yu looked at Elara and paused, "...remember that Leif is still waiting for us in Sargassum. You must not get hurt."
Prince Leland also took out the divine artifacts they had divided earlier and placed them all on the table.