Chapter 5: Demon Hawk (Fifth Update)
“There’s no one else left.”
As Su Xiao spoke, he contacted Bubu Wang and learned that Bubu Wang would arrive at the Imperial Capital by the earliest tonight.
“Red Scorpion, Landa, and Kelsey are all dead?”
The young vice officer’s pace slowed.
“Dead.”
“Kelsey… Kelsey still owes me a meal, Landa owes me 2,000 gold notes, and Red Scorpion owes me 12,657 meals.”
The young vice officer muttered to herself as if she had lost her mind. Heaven knows why Red Scorpion owed her 12,657 meals.
At present, Su Xiao had lost the department he wanted most: the Crow’s Eye of the Ninth Unit, an intelligence division that could even find out what color underwear the enemy was wearing.
The Crow’s Eye was different from other subordinate departments of the Ninth Unit. They hadn’t been disbanded but were separately pulled out by the Old Holy King. Both the Old Holy King and the Moon Goddess were reluctant to disband this department. Moreover, its members rarely participated in frontal warfare, and most of them had no issues.
At 3 PM today, the Old Holy King summoned Su Xiao, and at 7 PM, the Moon Goddess summoned Su Xiao. No matter which side Su Xiao chose to join, he would offend the other.
Now, Su Xiao wanted to investigate the clues about the Soul Speaker, which was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Therefore, he urgently needed the intelligence from the Crow’s Eye. That was originally his department, and commanding them wouldn’t cause the Crow’s Eye members to resist.
But before that, he had to meet the Old Holy King first.
With nothing else to do, Su Xiao took the young vice officer on a few rounds around the city. During this time, the young vice officer somehow got herself a set of Ninth Unit military uniform and put it on. As for the long dresses and corseted skirts popular in the Imperial Capital, she had no interest at all. Makeup was basically impossible for her unless the mission required it.
At 3 PM, Su Xiao arrived at the Lurenfei Palace in the central district of the capital. This was the center of power in the empire and one of its landmark buildings. The other landmark was the Moon Goddess Monastery.
The Lurenfei Palace covered a large area. Unlike the Royal Palace, its outer areas were open for public visits. The Hero Cemetery within was opened once a week for 2 hours, limited to the first 100 people. This was to let the public know who had sacrificed their lives to secure their peaceful lives today.
After Su Xiao reached the inner area of the Lurenfei Palace, he wandered into the Imperial Council Hall. The Imperial Council Hall had five floors. The first three were office areas for important civil officials, and the upper two were council areas.
The young vice officer was stopped as soon as she reached the entrance of the Imperial Council Hall. She was a steam bomb expert; leveling the Imperial Council Hall would only take her a few minutes.
Twenty soldiers in chainmail, holding metal halberds, stood around the young vice officer. Amid the crowd, she looked harmless.
Compared to the young vice officer, who was looking around, the burly soldiers were more nervous. Sometimes, you really couldn’t tell who was more threatening just by appearance.
Su Xiao went straight to the fourth floor of the Imperial Council Hall and pushed open the door to a council room. Inside were two rows of council tables pushed together. At the slightly higher seat at the head sat an old man with gray-white hair and a withered face. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary old man, with a blanket draped over him.
“Kukulin.”
The Old Holy King’s voice was not loud and lacked energy, but his bright eyes indicated that his physical condition was much better than it appeared.
“Sit.”
The Old Holy King slowly raised his hand, picked up the black tea on the table, and took a light sip.
“Holy King, I’m on your side.”
Su Xiao sat on the seat to the right of the Old Holy King, his tone not particularly respectful. If he were still overly deferential at this point, he might not even make it out alive. There were 30,000 elite soldiers and 2,700 transcendent beings stationed in the Lurenfei Palace. Su Xiao was certain that if a battle broke out, his chances of breaking out were slim—too many transcendent beings.
“Still holding a grudge. Have some tea. Yus brought it from your hometown. Although you have no family, the taste of home is always worth remembering, isn’t it, Kukulin?”
The Old Holy King’s smile was very kind—the kind of kindness that devours people without spitting out bones.
“Indeed.”
Su Xiao picked up the teacup, took a sip, and found it tasted good.
“Don’t go looking for the Soul Speaker. It’s very dangerous. The Crow’s Eye is temporarily yours. That was your original unit. You use it, and I’m at ease.”
As soon as the Old Holy King opened his mouth, he said everything, including the Soul Speaker. The scope of this old man’s informants was unimaginable. Moreover, he guessed that Su Xiao wanted control of the Crow’s Eye.
“I’m very curious about what the Soul Speaker really is. A person? A creature?”
Su Xiao wasn’t surprised. When he had previously revealed that he was searching for the Soul Speaker, he had already thought it through carefully. If this world’s Lv.42 initial mission could take his life, then the subsequent awakening mission wasn’t worth considering.
“That is… a person.”
The Old Holy King put down the teacup, leaned back in his chair, and relaxed completely.
“How long has it been since I heard that title? Do not seek, do not listen, do not blaspheme the gods.”
The Old Holy King exhaled a breath of turbid air, as if savoring the aftertaste of the black tea, looking drowsy.
“There are always things that need to be let go. The Ninth Unit was like the empire’s eagle. They did very well, but the empire no longer needs this hunting eagle. When you starve an eagle, it will do everything it can to peck a piece of meat off you. But if you feed it, it will fly away and never return. Besides, the Ninth Unit has already become a demon hawk. It has started ‘eating human flesh.’”
The Old Holy King still wore that kind and smiling expression, but his words contained a huge amount of information.
“A group of demon hawks will fight over food. If they die down to just two, the food will be enough. The victor survives.”
Su Xiao put down the teacup, his gaze turning to the window.
“Two, two is good. Kukulin, go to the Moon Goddess’s place tonight. Take this thing, and the Crow’s Eye is yours.”
With that, the Old Holy King threw his teacup to the ground. His kind expression gradually disappeared, becoming awe-inspiring. Where was the image of a kind old man? Even a powerful transcendent standing before him now wouldn’t dare to act rashly. That was presence.
“Guards!”
As soon as the Old Holy King spoke, several fully armored guards rushed into the council room.
“Expel him.”
“As you command.”
Several transcendent guards made a gesture of invitation. They knew exactly what was going on. “Expel him” was for outsiders to see. Now, they first had to invite Commander Kukulin to move, so of course, they had to be polite.
These people around the Old Holy King—which one wasn’t a shrewd operator? The foolish ones had long since died.
Su Xiao stood up and walked out of the council hall. As soon as he stepped out, one of the transcendent guards whispered:
“Commander Kukulin, forgive us. It’s our duty.”
Su Xiao didn’t speak and continued down the stairs. When he reached the third floor, the transcendent guards all wore angry expressions. The guard who had spoken earlier even let out a roar, startling the passing civil officials.
Su Xiao’s expression turned “ugly,” and he quickly walked down the stairs.
“Ah… such a big figure, fallen from power. Power is truly unpredictable.”
“Speak carefully. Even if such a big figure has fallen, he can still crush you.”
Three civil officials muttered a few words before slowly walking away. The transcendent guards exchanged glances and turned to go upstairs. As the saying goes, around those in power, everyone is an Oscar-level actor.
PS: (Fifth update delivered. A bit late, shamelessly asking for monthly votes.)