"Not very peaceful?" Sunan raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

With the removal of the Eternal Life Association, the southeast region of the continent has been much calmer these past few years.

If you don’t count the war between the Starry Alliance and the Cangjin Empire.

Rose’s tone was heavy, "Has Night Owl contacted you recently?"

Sunan’s eyes flickered, and he shook his head.

"Me neither, which is unusual. Given Night Owl’s style, he would definitely be holding a gathering at this time."

Sunan agreed with Rose in his heart, but he said, "Maybe he’s busy with his training."

"Perhaps." Rose changed the subject, "But I lean towards the possibility that something happened to Night Owl."

Sunan immediately understood the implication of her words.

"Are you suggesting someone is after the Starry Tower key in Night Owl’s possession?"

If there’s anything Night Owl might have encountered trouble over at this time, it would undoubtedly be the Starry Tower key.

Rose nodded solemnly, "It’s very possible."

"Our battle with the Eternal Life Association was quite the commotion, attracting a lot of attention and investigation. The existence of the Starry Tower key may no longer be a complete secret. Now that the Starry Tower is about to appear, it’s not surprising if someone takes a risk."

Sunan nodded in silent agreement.

What Rose said is indeed possible.

The fall of the Eternal Life Association attracted considerable attention from those with motives, and it’s not surprising someone found clues about the Starry Tower from a series of events.

Even without this matter, there’s still Evans.

There are many smart people among the Wizard Apprentices, and if someone deduces the connection between the Kessler Clan and the Starry Tower from recent events, Evans would surely be targeted.

Even though Evans is a Legendary Knight, without the protection of the Holy Fist, he’s vulnerable. If Level 3 Wizard Apprentices joined forces against him, it would be hard for him to withstand.

By that time, the Starry Tower key would no longer be a secret.

And those in the forest cabin with the key would naturally become coveted targets.

Night Owl might have had an accident because of this.

However, all this remains speculation for now; Night Owl might indeed just be busy with his training.

No matter which it is, Sunan wasn’t all that concerned.

After all, his relationship with Night Owl wasn’t close enough to care about the other’s safety.

Nor did he worry that someone would be foolish enough to rush onto Star Alliance territory to snatch the Starry Tower key from him.

If that happened, Sunan would actually be quite pleased—because that would be a delivered bounty!

Rose, seeing this, sought his protection.

If Night Owl did indeed run into trouble because of the Starry Tower key, she too would be in a dangerous position. Only with Sunan would she feel truly secure.

"We’ll know if Night Owl has any problems once the Starry Tower appears."

Sunan casually brushed over the topic, glancing at Rose.

"You’re welcome to stay in Ghost Lake City for as long as you want."

"But just so we’re clear, if your presence brings trouble that I have to handle, the fee won’t be cheap."

"I understand." Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

With the reputation of having killed Saulo, who in the southeast of the continent doesn’t know of Sunan’s renown?

She didn’t think anyone would be foolish enough to challenge Sunan here.

But if they did, it would definitely be an enemy she couldn’t handle on her own, and paying a price for Sunan’s protection would be very worthwhile.

Sunan then summoned Carolina to help arrange a place for Rose to rest.

Having been worried on her journey, Rose hadn’t observed the state of Ghost Lake City, but now at ease, she had the leisure to look around, her gaze sweeping down the corridor windows to the streets below.

She could see many Stone Golems patrolling the streets.

Though rarely venturing into the underground world, Rose had been secretly keeping an eye on Star Alliance affairs and knew it had expanded rapidly, now one of the largest forces in the southeast underground world.

Their renowned military power is the Demon Pattern Knight Order and the Golem Legion.

Information about the former isn’t hard to come by.

Reports on the seven Knight Academies in the Starry Principality had long been detailed on the desks of high offices in various countries.

Many countries even modeled their own academies after the Starry Principality’s, specifically for training knights from commoners and farmers.

But even with systems imitating the seven academies, their results fell far short of the original.

The core reason being these countries didn’t have a Star Alliance to massively supply Dragon Blood Fruits, Demonized Weapons, and Magic Pattern Armors.

As for the latter, due to its being in the underground world, information collection was difficult.

No one has been able to ascertain exactly how many Golem Puppets Star Alliance possesses.

Retracting her gaze, Rose turned her attention back to Carolina ahead, her eyes twinkling as she suddenly said, "I’ve heard that the Golem Legion currently sweeping the battlefield for the Starry Principality is provided by Star Alliance?"

Carolina turned back to give Rose a deep look, a playful smile on her lips, "I thought Lady Rose doesn’t involve herself in surface wars, why the sudden interest?"

"Just curious, since it’s my first time seeing a fully-fledged Golem Legion."

Rose’s tone held a hint of surprise, as if she really were only curious.

Carolina smiled slightly, "If you are curious, why not join us at the Star Alliance and see for yourself?"

"Join the Star Alliance?"

Rose was genuinely surprised, never having expected Carolina to suggest such a thing.

"Yes," Carolina grinned charmingly, "Lady Rose should know of our strength at Star Alliance, joining us would not be beneath you."