Time moved forward once more.

Early morning, less than twelve hours remained until Sleepless Sky Huoxing's coming-of-age ceremony.

Paris, having worked through the night, stood at the side entrance of the Sleepless Night Family's estate. A trace of weariness hung on his face, but after inhaling an orange-flavored stimulant, his spirits lifted somewhat.

"Whew, that's better!"

Entering through the Sleepless Night Family's side door led directly to the family's hall and banquet venue. Whenever the Sleepless Night Family held any large-scale event open to outsiders, such as family anniversary celebrations, new Family Head inauguration ceremonies, or grand weddings for direct-line descendants, they would choose to host the banquet and ceremony here.

Compared to the overall simple and archaic style that dominated the Sleepless Night Family estate, the decor here was relatively more luxurious. Everywhere, one could casually see the Sleepless Night Family's crest, which resembled leaping, burning flames, as if deliberately showcasing and emphasizing the family's nobility.

Standing at this side entrance, CEO Paris looked up at the vigilant Sleepless Night Family guards in the wall sentry posts, the many more security personnel disguised as servants hidden among the flower beds and greenery, and the various newly installed cutting-edge scanning devices at the prototype and concept machine level. A proud expression appeared on his face.

"It's practically impregnable."

Just as Paris was marveling, Sleepless Sky Huole walked out from inside the side door. This Young Mistress also showed signs of drowsiness on her face, clearly having not slept all night either.

"Impregnable? I certainly hope so!"

Compared to Paris's confidence and pride, Sleepless Sky Huole seemed somewhat anxious.

Both of them had gotten up in the middle of the night to work overtime. After pulling an all-nighter, they had reorganized and redeployed the originally arranged "security protection" measures, raising the level by at least another two tiers.

The current defensive layout of the Sleepless Night Family was almost comparable to the specifications used when Peerage Nobility Family Heads visited and met with each other!

Personally authorized by the Sleepless Night Family Head, all security work for this coming-of-age ceremony was to be handled by Sleepless Sky Huole. This was originally a great opportunity to expand her sphere of authority and could be considered a "good assignment."

But...

That was only true if this was just an ordinary, safe coming-of-age ceremony.

Having been alerted by Lin Yu yesterday, Sleepless Sky Huole already knew that someone might likely attempt to assassinate a Peerage Noble during the event, so she was naturally tense.

Even though defensive arrangements had been made during the day yesterday according to the specification of "high probability of an assassin attempting to assassinate a Peerage Noble," by nightfall, Sleepless Sky Huole had once again worked overtime.

The reason was simple—the news that someone wanted to assassinate a "Peerage Noble" had actually been leaked!

"Peerage Noble power reshuffle," "The Sleepless Night Family setting up a trap to kill guests," "The conflict between the Mercury and Autumn families," "The Saint-Land family's internal strife intensifying," "The Sorenson family wanting to use this to launch a full-scale war"...

Various rumors ran rampant. People speculated wildly about the reasons, mostly revolving around the grudges, entanglements, and conflicts of interest among the Peerage Nobility.

After all, in the eyes of Sleepless City's residents, anyone daring to target a Peerage Noble must surely be another Peerage Noble!

As the host, the Sleepless Night Family had to immediately put on a sufficient show to clear any suspicion—this was precisely why Sleepless Sky Huole and Paris had worked overtime all night.

After a whole night of effort, rumors doubting the Sleepless Night Family had indeed decreased considerably, but Sleepless Sky Huole didn't feel the slightest bit relaxed.

On the contrary, she had a headache.

A Truth Corporation executive walked over and handed a tablet to Sleepless Sky Huole. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Your Excellency, this is the hourly rumor collection and online public opinion monitoring..."

Sleepless Sky Huole looked at the detailed rumor list, which was sorted into two rankings based on order of appearance and discussion heat respectively. A dull ache began to throb at her temples.

"As expected, the rumors are no longer just at the family level..."

As time passed, the rumors were becoming increasingly specific.

Sleepless Sky Huoxing, Sleepless Sky Huo Shu, Qiu Xinliu, Sherf Sorenson, Sheng Lan Kui, Sheng Lan Lai... and even Sleepless Sky Huole herself.

Almost every well-known figure from the attending Peerage Nobility was simultaneously suspected of being both the mastermind behind the assassination and the assassination target, sparking widespread discussion.

Various hypotheses and deductions emerged endlessly.

Among them, the rumors about Sleepless Sky Huole consistently held a spot in the top three in terms of heat—for several hours now.

CEO Paris also looked at the rankings on the screen, observing Sleepless Sky Huole's expression, and said in a low voice, "These rumors are indeed excessive... but look, even the esteemed Alt Mercury, a respected elder gentleman, is being wildly speculated about. It shows how unreliable these rumors truly are."

"Usually, these nobles, big and small, show nothing but respect towards your Peerage families. Yet when faced with such a situation, they all reveal their dark thoughts and ugly faces. The way they seize on this topic to advance their own agendas is truly nauseating."

"However, Your Excellency, you mustn't overthink this. We have already made comprehensive preparations. I believe there shouldn't be any problems."

"Moreover, we all know that you certainly aren't the so-called mastermind... and you definitely aren't the assassination target either."

As CEO Paris spoke, Sleepless Sky Huole sighed. "If I were the assassination target, that would be one thing. It's precisely because we don't know who it is now, and it probably isn't me, that gives me a headache."

Sleepless Sky Huole spoke while rubbing the space between her eyebrows. "Also, the hypothesis that I'm some mastermind is too absurd to take seriously. But..."

Sleepless Sky Huole's finger swiped, finding a rumor concerning Furbollo among the top ten in terms of heat.

"Why would anyone suspect that this assassination was planned by Furbollo... That's insane. This is practically a slap in my face."

"Although Furbollo has been a bit more assertive lately, how could he suddenly have the courage to assassinate a Peerage Noble?!"

CEO Paris looked at Furbollo's name and, hearing Sleepless Sky Huole's words, was uncharacteristically slow for two seconds before quickly following his superior's lead with comforting words. "Your Excellency, that is indeed absurd... It must be because Mr. Furbollo has been in the spotlight too much recently, attracting jealousy and hatred—as the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind."

Sleepless Sky Huole's expression eased slightly. "That's probably it. But this guy just had to choose this moment to disappear... making this ridiculous rumor grow even stronger."

At this moment, "Furbollo" had suddenly vanished from Sleepless City for nearly a full day. Compared to the frequency of major news he stirred up every few hours recently... this was indeed somewhat abnormal.

And Sleepless Sky Huole didn't know where he had gone either—the information Paris had conveyed to her was that "Mr. Furbollo said he was going to prepare some 'surprises' after leaving yesterday."

Therefore, Sleepless Sky Huole couldn't help but feel a bit worried now.

"Furbollo, what exactly are you doing?"