Xu Feng wasn’t surprised that the whole Razor Nightmare Guild had been detained.

Destroying the teleport platform was one thing. But to do that during a major crisis was another.

They somehow managed to implode themselves without him actually lifting a finger yet.

His luck was really striving!

"Hmm, Emperor Aether wants to meet me. Is it to reward me?" Xu Feng asked cheekily.

"Yes..." As much as Olivia wanted to punch his cheeky face, she had to admit that he would definitely be rewarded for his merit today.

If not, then there would definitely be a hell of complaints from Kong Ming himself.

Kong Ming was the type of person who refused to allow meritorious people to be sidelined and not awarded.

To meritorious people, they deserved to be honored. But to dishonorable people, they didn’t deserve anything.

That was just how Kong Ming operated.

"What will happen to Razor Nightmare players?" Carmen suddenly inquired.

She found it hard to believe the empire would banish them altogether, right?

What about the innocent players who weren’t even present or aware of the incident?

"Hmm, you seemed concerned about them." Olivia narrowed her eyes.

"Concerned?" Carmen let out a small laugh. "Rather than concern, I’m more curious about their plight. We don’t exactly have a friendly relationship."

"Oh, bad beef?" Olivia was amused. She glanced at Xu Feng, who simply sighed in defeat.

"Remember the collective nobles who accused me of treason? Yeah, they’re the ones who reported me and deceived the nobles." He explained softly.

Of course, his behavior and tone of speech were completely an act orchestrated by both him and Carmen.

The two of them were secretly laughing sinisterly in capitalizing the opportunity to put the hammer on the nail in the coffin for Razor Nightmare and that bastard Edgar.

Sure enough, Olivia fell for the two’s schemes and frowned deeply.

"So everything was a conspiracy with the Razor Nightmare involved?" She muttered. There was simply too much of a coincidence here.

Not to mention, the timeline was nearly inescapable for Razor Nightmare to be innocent.

First, they accused Xu Feng of treason, escalating the matter to the high nobles.

Second, the city they were based in became the summoning platform for a Demon Lord.

Lastly, they even had a member capable of destroying a Teleport Platform to prevent prompt reinforcement.

These series of incidents happened in a linear line.

Who wouldn’t be suspicious of them?

But the question was why?

Why did they side with the demons?

"I don’t know if this is involved, but the leader of Razor Nightmare had been coveting my Haven Wind Town for a while." Xu Feng cleared his throat and said in an unsure tone.

"They have previously contacted me in hopes of taking over my town, but of course, I’ve rejected them. Haven Wind Town was built under my sweat and tears, so I refused to sell it out."

Olivia’s expression darkened.

"Capitalism." She commented. It wasn’t the first time she had witnessed capitalist behavior, which always escalated into major incidents.

Some of them even went to court, where she had to oversee the evidence presented to her.

"Anyway, that’s enough of the discussion for now. You don’t want to make the emperor wait." Olivia said.

"W-Wait a second—"

Xu Feng wanted to stop her, but it was too late.

Like some sort of item, he was held tightly as Olivia soared to the sky. The wind pressure quickly hit his face like a truck.

’Damn, that hurt!’ Xu Feng cried inwardly. He didn’t dare to complain loudly because he knew one thing.

They said women were more known as petty than men.

And that was indeed a fact!

Although Olivia didn’t outright say she was angry about being told to shut up earlier, her actions now had proven that she was getting it back at him in a subtle manner.

She was a Tier 5 expert, so how could it not be possible for her to create a shield to help him deflect the high wind pressure from the speed of their flight?

She definitely didn’t do it because she wanted him to suffer a little bit.

Half an hour later...

Xu Feng’s face nearly turned crooked from the wind impact.

But at the very least, he survived the journey.

Atheria Empire, Royal Court

Upon gliding down from the sky, many imperial guards were startled and thought it was an intruder.

However, once they noticed who the arrival was, they sheathed their weapons.

"Lady Olivia." One of the higher-ranking guards approached her and greeted, their eyes subtly glancing at the man behind her.

"The emperor told me to bring him over." Olivia casually said, clearly used to their protocol.

"I understand." The guard nodded and quickly raised his hand to signal the rest to open a path for them. He didn’t even bother to inquire for much detail.

Sometime later, Xu Feng followed Olivia to the interior of the Royal Court.

Once they had walked for quite a distance, the atmosphere in the court gradually turned solemn and rigid.

Xu Feng also noticed a figure seated at a throne, with many other nobles kneeling down on one knee to give their reports.

"Your Majesty, three more towns had been razed to the ground by the Colossus’ army. The nearby city could barely hold on. We’ll need to send reinforcement to the North immediately." One of the nobles said.

As soon as they finished, another noble snorted in disdain.

"That North area had barely any value compared to the South. The South is where most agriculture is located, and those Colossuses are constantly sending their armies to siege them. How can the South survive if we allocate more soldiers to the North?"

The heated discussion on where to deploy the military had caused a huge debate among the court.

Amidst the tension, the figure at the throne suddenly slammed his palm lightly on the armrest, instantly silencing the crowd.

Every noble no longer uttered a single sound as they waited for him to speak.

In the meantime, the emperor, Aether, ignored their presence and glanced at Olivia.

"How was Bardmon City, Olivia?" He calmly asked, his demeanor and aura fiercely domineering.