One-Eyed Monster

The calm before the storm always stands out distinctly, and Igor felt that this period was too quiet, with no significant changes in any aspect.

They naturally had continuous communication with Luona’s side, but what puzzled Igor was that the replies from Perkins and Sol were all very basic.

The replies merely consisted of acknowledgments, reminders to stay safe, and instructions to get in touch if anything happened... No new information came back.

What Igor wanted to know most was information about Lord Bern, but no matter how he described it, the information he received about Bern was always that he was a kind, wealthy old man...

It seemed that Luona did not consider Bern at all.

This left Igor very puzzled. He felt that Luona would have only two reasons to treat him so perfunctorily. One was that Luona was facing external enemies, with everyone on the battlefield. However, this possibility was impossible, because if the Empire went to war, the whole Empire would know about it. The Spiders and Crows in various places lived off such information; the second possibility was that Sol and the others encountered some tricky situation, which was more likely.

However, Igor could not picture Lord Bern as a kind, wealthy old man.

In Igor’s eyes, since Bern was the mastermind behind the Circus, he inevitably had substantial ties with the Soul Devourers. Perhaps, he’s likely a person manipulated by Soul Devourers, and could Bern be connected to that invisible enemy that often just leaves a voice behind?

It’s strange to discuss, this enemy who can only be heard took away the Puppet Master’s Spirit Core when they fell, so why did the guy never show when the Clown fell!

At this thought, Igor immediately overturned his previous idea. Surely, this invisible enemy was not Bern himself, because the information about Bern showed that he didn’t know the Puppet Master was finished...

So the question arises again, why didn’t this invisible enemy appear this time? Could it be that the Spirit Core on the Clown was not as valuable as the Puppet Master’s?

The more Igor thought, the more headache he got. Whenever he couldn’t figure out these things, he noted them down and used the Mail Bird to send them to Perkins because he knew many things couldn’t be solved without Luona’s resources.

Unfortunately, Luona had also been silent for a while...

Igor naturally did not know that this period of tranquility was only a facade.

The calm before the storm put the whole world in a state of peace. Not to mention the Three Great Empires, even the Kayne Empire was surging with hidden currents.

Since Kuyi Tulan of the Alchemy Workshop was appointed as the King’s Hand, all major forces were caught off guard. The secretary Benjamin of Imperial Capital Xinbal publicly admonished him, and was directly thrown into the deep prison by the King, which made those who originally opposed Kuyi Tulan even more reserved. Resistance was unconsciously underway, and Benjamin’s imprisonment made those involved in planning the conspiracy cautious, fearing that disaster might fall upon them one day, which made this period almost like a Cold War; every capital leader was observing, every family was observing, and the Alchemy Workshop was observing as well.

Once a party takes action at this time, it will inevitably trigger a chain reaction; the entire Kayne Empire might fall into a civil war...

Of course, the happiest would be Mantai and Wensi Empire. The kings of these two empires were waiting for the opportunity, thinking that the Kayne Empire was precarious internally and invading now would just give the shaken foundation a chance to reunite, and they wouldn’t do such foolish things.

However, Igor was unaware of these matters, only feeling strange that everything seemed so quiet.

Unknowingly, he had arrived in Xili Capital, which was quite small, not even a third the size of Luona, let alone compared with Star Court; however, after crossing Star Court, the whole ambiance had subtly changed. Fortunately, he had a Spirit Book with him, preventing any significant embarrassment.

In Xili City, beverages are simply called wine, anything else to drink is referred to as water, including lemon water, orange water, apple water of various kinds, but if you ask for an apple beverage, the bar owner or the pub assistant will invariably hand you a bottle of apple wine!

Kadi almost bought a bunch of colorless liquor, if Igor hadn’t stopped him, he likely would have spent the Gold coins...

At this moment, Igor finally realized the invaluable role his Spirit Book played.

He had almost forgotten about the Spirit Book on him, except for once he used it upon entering the Circus, he generally didn’t bother much about the Basic Spirit Book’s state. This time touring a new place, the Spirit Books referred to as Travelogue played a crucial role.

However, since Igor seriously started reading the Spirit Book, its attitude dramatically transformed, no longer the previous disdainful state.

Yet, the Spirit Book’s original nagging habit hasn’t changed.

"You finally remembered me, huh? Truly not easy, I thought you abandoned us!"

"Well, well, it’s an unavoidable thing, you know how it is recently... Hehehe..." Igor was a bit embarrassed by the Spirit Book’s comment.

It’s quite amusing to say, these two folks used to meet and squabble within a few sentences before, but now they seem to become sheepishly embarrassed with each other.

Kadi had always been curious about the Spirit Book, and meeting it again naturally brought him much delight: "We meet again!"

"You know, basically, we see each other every day!" The Spirit Book seemed to have some animosity towards Kadi, reluctant to talk much with him.

"Hehe, you see, we’ve arrived at a new place. Thanks to your assistance, we avoided much awkwardness!" Igor scratched his head, subtly expressing gratitude towards the Spirit Book.

"Actually, you should let us out and about regularly; honestly, we’re suffocating!"

"Indeed, it’s worse than being abandoned in the attic."

"This state, not quite asleep and not fully awake, really feels uncomfortable!"

The other Travelogues also joined Kayne Travelogue in protesting, which made Igor even more embarrassed!

"Why don’t you all come to my side, I promise to let you out regularly!" Kadi said excitedly.

"Oh, better not, we’re fine as we are now," the Spirit Books said unanimously.