I have a long-lived pawn shop.

Gabia Kun took her to an uninhabited area.

The journey was not completely monotonous. The University of Sebo covers a large area and is surrounded by more than one piece of woodland. There are still one or two houses in the woodlands that were abandoned very late. It was not until a small building that looked well-maintained appeared in sight that Gabriel slowed down his pace.

It was even darker deep in the woods. The light shone on the only bit of moist green that remained from the previous night. Everything looked cold. Wei Xixin walked on the green grass and moist soil. She observed and asked no questions.

Yalai is not only a city decorated with flowers and silk, but also a city of iron, where the tip of a knife may quietly touch your back at any moment. Some are upright, while others always stand in the dark, holding a dagger with a poisoned blade, waiting to give you a fatal blow when you are weak.

In fact, Gabiya and Wei Xi came over carrying plates.

One person had a large amount of dessert on his plate, ranging from milk jelly yellow peach tart to candied iris petals. It seemed that he wanted to replenish his sugar intake during the break. The other person had a mediocre combination of high-calorie foods. Wei Xi used these to maintain his physical strength far beyond that of ordinary people.

The meal was as quiet as a funeral, except that at a funeral there was a priest reading a eulogy, but here there were only subtle chewing and swallowing sounds. Wei Xi kept her head down, her eyelashes drooping, covering the deep and cold ink color. Even if she didn't intend to show off, Abigail de Monti's behavior always revealed a reserved and cold aristocratic style, while Gabriella was too casual. She dressed like a lady, but her behavior was a bit childish, picking the ingredients she didn't like into the silver plate next to her.

Wei Xi needs Gabiya's support. With the emperor's order, the Perpetual Motion Research Institute will certainly not treat her perfunctorily, but there is certainly a difference between 100% and 200% attention. The former is mediocre, while the latter is like adding wings to a tiger. Wei Xi knows this clearly, so when she received the invitation, she cooperated and came to Gabiya's territory to have a meal with her at an unknown time.

Gabia smiled and licked the knife that was dipped in candied honey.

It's not like she had never seen Abigail de Monti's photo before, but this was the first time she had met her face to face. Gabriela was also an insider of "Sin Saint Sira" and had even participated in it earlier than most people. She was a judge and the final executor of a plan. She waited for the candidates of "Sira" to arrive one after another, and divided them into different levels according to their qualifications, giving the most dazzling crown and the heaviest shackles to the most outstanding candidates.

But no one should come to her so early.

It was too early, much earlier than Gabia had expected.

After the actual contact, Gabia had only one feeling.

—Abigail is peculiar.

Not only was her appearance stunning, this girl also had a kind of aura that Gabia couldn't describe, which made her look as if she could blur time. Even the pride that naturally came with power and wealth was somewhere between a teenager and an adult, as clear as a glass of ice water in summer.

Gabija looked at her with interest, his eyes wandering around her body until he saw the badge, then he looked her in the eyes again. Normally, this unbridled gaze could almost be considered sexual harassment, but when it came to her, it miraculously didn't seem at all lewd.

"Who told you I was here?" Gabia asked.

"A broker." Wei Xi gently pushed the plate away, which meant she had finished her meal. "And I'm not looking for you. I'm just waiting, waiting in a place where you might be."

"The broker said that when you don't want to be found, you won't be found. Just like when you don't want to stay in a place, you will fly away like a migratory bird."

Gabia was slightly stunned for a moment, and then said, "I should have sponsored him to study literature in Sebo. This is too much."

"I thought about looking for you by looking at those three and a half photos," Wei Xi said, wiping his mouth with a napkin, "but I didn't see the person in the photos, so I didn't look for you. I was just waiting. You are a migratory bird, but I am not. And migratory birds always come back."

Gabia looked at her sideways for a while, and the lines of her lips fell from the peak of her lips and then subtly rose a little.

She took out a slate covered with lines, then ground together a mixture of the legs of a certain spider and the scales of a certain butterfly, mixed with pure honey, and used a mithril pendant to draw lines on the slate to activate the ritual.

——The name of the ritual that Gabia is using now is called "The Peeping Spider's Web", which blocks out all peeping and snooping. As the weaver of the web, Gabia himself can feel and even control everything in the web.

[The Peeping Spider's Web] is not a prayer-type ritual, so Gabia must also be a psychic.

"Now we can talk openly and honestly."

The director of the Perpetual Motion Research Institute is an overly free person. She loves excitement, specializes in technology, appears and disappears mysteriously and never forms cliques. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have any political acumen. On the contrary, when necessary, Gabriella is also extremely sharp - in this era, those who can survive and make a difference are not fools.

"What do you want from me, Lord Abigail?"

"I need your support. I need to get a mechanical soldier that best suits me, and this requires a skilled mechanic to spend a long time measuring and adjusting, or even tailor-make it for me." Wei Xi said softly.

"Oh, you're asking for too much. The Perpetual Motion Research Institute does not take orders from anyone except His Majesty. Your request is too high."

Gabriella continued to cut her dessert, not taking the words seriously.

"That's not the case. I have no intention of interfering with this organization. I just applied for cooperation with you personally, Marquis Gabia. Before I met you, I had some doubts about the candidate, but after meeting you, all the mechanic geniuses whose information I had learned before faded from my mind, because the one in front of me is the strongest in the field of mechanics. If I want to become a saint who can control the Black Cross Legion, I must become the top one among them. For this, I need you to help me build and adjust the external hardware."

Although she was a little confused about the word "hardware", it was obvious that Abigail was praising her, so Gabia also showed a reserved smile and raised her chin a little, "So, what can I get if I help you? Identity, status, money, I have everything. Do you have something that can impress me more? Or do you promise to give me something in the future?"

Wei Xi smiled gently. Gabia was different from the Pope. She would not make any promises to Gabia, because for Gabia, promises were like leaning against a stone wall to guard his beloved without saying a word and knowingly guarding her.

Can you let your sweetheart know how much you love her through the rocks by leaning against the stone wall in the middle of the night? You can only dream about it. At most, when your sweetheart walks into the church with someone else's arm around her, you will move to another place and continue to lean against the stone wall to listen to the organ being played. You won't even have a chance to elope...

The same goes for promises. After a while you won’t even have the chance to fulfill them.

So Wei Xi said: "Although I did prepare a gift for you, I don't know if it suits your taste. How about this, is there anything you want? Or if there is anything difficult to do, as long as it does not touch on the principle issue, I can help you deal with it as soon as possible."

"It's dealt with...it's so easy to say. Can you make room for a cardinal for me?" Gabia sneered and pushed away the plate.

"can."

"What did you say?"

"I say yes, the position of cardinal." Wei Xi crossed her hands on the table. She had been keeping a low profile today, and only now did she release her aura, quietly, not aggressively, but like a sword slowly pushing over.

Gabia opened her mouth and saw the girl opposite her reach out and take out a document and a hunting knife. She knew the document and the knife, but they shouldn't be on the same girl at this time and place.

Emperor Odin's original plan was to allow the candidates to develop their abilities in the competition, and to establish as many candidates as possible in order to have more options. Those two things should appear in the hands of two people representing the two forces, and should not be combined into one now.

Because if the Kafa Empire has clearly stated that it wants to train a girl to become the future saint, this girl will become the target of public criticism. Once she has an accident, it will be difficult for the Kafa Empire to nominate a new candidate in the short term. Unless the candidate is so outstanding that the emperor and the pope unanimously believe that she is far superior to ordinary people and has reached the level of perfection, how can they still look down on those alternatives when they are perfect?

Only then did Gabriel realize that Abigail was not begging for help, she was armed and came to negotiate openly! With these things, she had already stepped into the upper echelons of the power circle. She didn't need to meet her in private. She only needed the emperor's order. Gabriel didn't dare to say "no" to Abigail's request.

"Do you believe me if I told you I was joking?" Gabiya was sweating coldly.

Wei Xi gave him an encouraging look: "Hmm? Don't you want to be a cardinal? Actually, other requests are fine..."

"I still want a promise!" Gabiya looked at Wei Xi and suddenly realized something.

From the beginning to the end, Abigail did not change her mind. From the beginning, she planned to do it according to her own ideas. The so-called "request" was probably the conversation process she was used to, so even though Gabia's answer was unexpected, she did not feel any psychological gap...

Sure enough, the girl on the other side nodded and asked politely, "What promise?"

Gabija felt the effect of the ritual, took a deep breath, and said, "I hope that after Emperor Odin dies, you can take me and my teacher to your territory and provide a test site so that we can continue to study freely...if we are still alive at that time.

"This should be easy for you. If you win the war, you will definitely become the real Duke of the Far East."

"I thought your Majesty was a very good leader and would lead us to an unprecedented great victory... Why are you..."

“There was a great victory, but then what?”

"You mean he's good because he won't get angry for no reason, won't kill people who oppose him over a disagreement, and even encourages his subordinates... Is that right? But you also know that for a monarch, he doesn't mind talented people retaining their arrogance and conceit. He doesn't care about these things, so he's very tolerant." Gabiyya said expressionlessly, "He is a man with desires. If he really wants something, he will become more demanding and strict than anyone else and will never let go."

"The monarch who inherited the name of 'Odin' longs to be awarded the title of 'The Great Emperor' like his ancestor two hundred years ago. What he wants is not simply the right to exploit resources. In other words, what he wants... is the entire continent!"

Gabiya's last words were spoken softly, as if she was afraid of disturbing something, but it made Wei Xi's heart tremble slightly.

Monarchs are ghouls that feed on death, blood, and carrion.

Two hundred years ago, Odin of Kafa used violence and his iron hoof to trample the ancient kingdom of God. The sun of theocracy was extinguished in this war, and the human rights country represented by the Kafa Empire rose into the sky. The long era of gods came to an end at this moment, and the war between them became a milestone in the new era.

Two hundred years later, Odin of Kafa wanted to put an end to another old order. Nothing could hasten the demise of the old world more than war, and he personally directed this grand performance to shorten the process of reaching the inevitable end.

The Emperor Odin who had suffered all kinds of hardships in his childhood had long disappeared. His gentleness and calmness were just masks he used to disguise himself. In his heart, there remained only an aloof and iron-fisted powerful person, always holding a sharp iron blade.

The desire to become the most powerful person keeps him energetic, but he is no longer young. There is no way to prolong life after the death of a god. If he does not die in the assassination of Emperor Odin, he can only live for another 30 years at most... 30 years is not enough to eliminate all the surging resistance forces, nor is it enough to brainwash the next generation of people. None of the alternative successors can match his skills, so once Emperor Odin dies, the empire that was forcibly stuck together will fall apart and exist in name only.

There is still a long time before that time, and Gabia has already started looking for the next employer. She is indeed far-sighted, and the future of the empire seems less optimistic.

At least from Wei Xi's perspective a thousand years later, the monarchy would inevitably be abolished after the discovery of the sprouts of capitalism, and the wealth accumulation of the new bourgeoisie would greatly threaten the control over the country. The kings and the old nobles would never stop suppressing the upstarts, and the upstarts' long-cherished wish for political change would certainly not be satisfied. Even Wei Xi knew that now in Yalai, old nobles often called the upstarts "nouveau riche"... Now these problems have been suppressed before the upcoming war, but there are undercurrents beneath the ice, which Emperor Odin could not fail to see.

Even so, Wei Xi felt that the old man didn't care about this outcome. His goal was to become the only emperor in the continent. If he unified the continent, he would be like a god on earth. As a power animal, that was the highest happiness he could experience. As for whether his children could hold on to the kingdom his father had built after his death, that was really not a big deal... After all, after he died, he didn't care about the flood.

Flesh and blood will grow old, empires will fall, love will fade, and even bones will eventually turn to dust six feet below.

What will be eternal?

History is as vast as a long river. It does not record personal love, hate, sorrow and joy. Only those who have made a significant contribution to the progress of the times will shine as brightly as stars.

Wei Xi lowered his eyes, his feather-like eyelashes dotted with a few scattered lights, making his eyes look even deeper, like a gemstone base that sets off the fire. "I swear on the honor of the Monti family that I will never betray the agreement between us."

The ability to see into the future was briefly activated, and countless images kept flashing in her mind. Thousands of soldiers filled the road in front of the Amber Palace. The platoons of mechanical soldiers spit out thick white steam, and the reflection of the badges on the uniforms hurt people's eyes. The torrent of power and authority collapsed with a bang, so magnificent that the city could hardly bear it. The spires of the church pointed to the sky like dense lances, and white petals flew all over the sky. The requiem surged like a tide, and the death knell rang.

With a "bang", Wei Xi subconsciously shut down her ability. Because the time was short, the pain between her eyebrows was still tolerable. She looked up and found that Gabiya had thrown the stone slab onto a cabinet in the cabin. The ritual on the stone slab was a one-time product and would be automatically lifted when the time came. The lady motioned Wei Xi to put away her things. Wei Xi silently put the documents in her inner pocket and hid the hunting knife in the belt under her hem. She stood up following the force pulled by Gabiya.

She was already tall, and Gabiya was half a head taller than her. The lady, dressed like a noblewoman, lifted her skirt, kicked off her high heels and put on a pair of flat shoes, then said to Wei Xi, "Let's go. I'll take you to visit the Perpetual Motion Research Institute."

"It's in the Charlotte area, right? Just take my limousine."

"That's not a perpetual motion research institute." Gabiyya smiled contemptuously, "I'll take you to the real headquarters. Everything you want to see is there."

Wei Xi was silent. To this day, she still knew too little about Yalai. But in the common people's perception, the Perpetual Motion Institute was just two blocks away from the Vatican. Although it was not as large as the Vatican, it was also a conspicuous building... So it turned out that it was not considered the headquarters?

She suddenly felt a tremor and anticipation in her heart. She thought she had known a lot about the inside story of this city, but in fact she had only seen the edge of the miracle.

Gabiya tugged at Wei Xi's hand and said, "Hurry up, or you'll miss the last bus!"

They walked onto a deserted gravel road. There was no one on the road. Light and shadows fell through the gaps in the woods, casting long shadows on the ground. The heels of their boots tapped on the stones, making crisp sounds like the tune played by a xylophone.