Chapter 133 - 110: Hand It Over!

When Ed arrived at the ruins of the Royal Palace with over thirty Sun Warriors, a bizarre scene immediately caught everyone’s eyes:

A mysterious figure draped in a pure white bear-skin cloak stood silently beside the Shattered Star, engaged in a standoff with another Giant Warrior clad in a reinforced, heavy Sun Armor, appearing more imposing and sturdy.

From a distance, the atmosphere between the two seemed tense and full of hostility.

But upon closer inspection, one could see that neither side moved, like two oblivious, unmoving rocks on the shore.

Eleanor was sleeping soundly by the door of the Shattered Star, while Lucia was circling around the cloaked figure, occasionally hammering her fist on the joints of the person’s prosthetic.

The petite girl was trying to climb onto the figure’s shoulders, tugging at their cloak...

The only thing missing from the scene was the presence of Lord Lin Lan.

Or perhaps... was that gigantic warrior with the exaggerated height actually the true form of Lord Lin Lan?

It must be! Such a thing would only be fitting for Lord Lin Lan!

The warriors straightened their backs instinctively, maintaining solemn military order as their minds raced with thoughts.

In all this, Ed naturally possessed more information; once a soldier serving on White Oak Main Island, he instantly recognized the identity of that cloaked figure.

It’s the Night Owl Hunter!

Those Empire rats lurking in the shadows indeed harbored no good intentions!

Uncertain of what exactly had transpired, Ed still coldly made a gesture, and over thirty Sun Warriors immediately surrounded the mysterious figure, prepared for battle.

Simultaneously, the warriors analyzed the surrounding environment.

Jay glanced at the ruins and the striking White Bone Throne deep within the palace, subconsciously recalling that giant, serpentine monster head emerging from the palace...

Who knows what horrific battles Lord Lin Lan must have endured...

Jay swallowed hard; if not for the timely summoning of the Ash Soil Blessing by Lord Lin Lan’s Envoy, everyone in Camelot City would have been doomed...

At this moment, Ed stepped forward, focusing intently on the motionless Night Owl Hunter as if they had lost their soul, his heart filled with growing doubts.

A corner of the dusty memories of the former Alliance officer was uncovered.

During the North and South Sea wars, the Alliance had captured an elite hunter of the Empire at a great cost, attempting to unearth the secrets behind the Empire, but officials ultimately failed.

No matter the brutal methods employed, even when their limbs were severed and organs extracted, the Night Owls would use the coldest words to shatter the will of every interrogator, even using the core in their chest to initiate the most devastating self-destructive attacks!

They were born as a group of monstrous beings devoid of the concept of pain.

The Empire had once loudly declared that the souls and wills of the Night Owls had long melded with steel, and the bloodless, tearless Night Owls would never yield nor fall into enemy hands; the only solution was to kill them.

Could this one be restrained by the Lord through some means?

Carrying this question, Ed faced the giant, attempting to call out, "Lin... Lord Lin Lan?"

"You’ve got the wrong person, Ed."

Lucia released her grip on the cloak’s fur, laughing as she glanced at the soldiers who had just arrived on the scene.

"This Giant is named Ota, one of Lin Lan’s subordinates."

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking delighted for some reason: "There are four warriors like this! Together, we’re quite formidable, and that Prince Ryan didn’t stand a chance..."

"Hold on, hold on... let’s focus first, Lucia, why is the Night Owl Hunter like this?"

Ed interrupted her rambling, his tone growing urgent: "And where is Lord Lin Lan now?"

"Just use the Philosopher’s Stone, and you’ll know. Lin Lan is conversing with the real Hunter in the dream inside this metal contraption!"

Lucia pointed upwards, suddenly excitedly rattling on: "That bad guy is trying to plot something evil in the dream, but now he’s cowering in fear, huddled in the corner with his head in his hands, completely subdued by Lin Lan!"

Dream... the real Hunter...

Ed, bewildered, hurriedly tightened his grip on the Golden Crystal Stone gifted by Lord Lin Lan, casting his gaze skyward.

·

Silence.

The Dream Space was silent.

That simple greeting seemed to cut off the dream signal; Lin Lan stood beside the sweat-drenched man, curiously examining the peculiar mechanical construct before him.

No. 444’s face was deathly pale.

As one of the Empire’s absolute elites, he prided himself on having an indomitable will forged through countless trials.

Yet all that was happening now had shattered his common sense, as well as that of the other three Imperial Dukes.

Logically, the living mechanism ’Night Owl’ could accommodate only one person’s dream; any additional consciousness would surely attract the prying of Nightmares, ultimately leading to the complete collapse of the dream world.

But the current dream world was quiet, even quieter than during his shifts in the Imperial City...

The tempting whispers generated by those demonic Nightmares had completely vanished, seemingly encountering some terrifying predator; what terrified No. 444 the most was that the Mechanical Dream had become unprecedentedly stable.

His mind, once on the verge of bursting from the flood of information, was suddenly relaxed, the vast, complex, and burdensome information seemingly wholly consumed by the being before him...