I have a long-lived pawn shop.

This is the most luxurious room in the entire town. It is mostly furnished with medieval-style wooden furniture, which is old but elegant. Every bit of gold plating and inlay is made by senior craftsmen. Only the sofa is a discordant note.

And now, there was a young man sitting on the blue-gray sheepskin sofa, an opened bottle of liquor was placed on the coffee table, and the sound of raindrops rustling could be heard from behind the closed curtains.

Emperor Odin sat on that luxurious old-fashioned armchair, facing the heavy rain outside the window, with his back to the person on the sofa. This was incredible, indicating that he trusted that person as much as he trusted his own life.

"Our plan succeeded. Adams, the leader of the Cantero Liberal Party, died at 3:28 yesterday afternoon. The old ruling party headed by him fell apart. The leaders of various factions quarreled over different political interests. Large-scale demonstrations and conflicts broke out in the country... This chess piece of the Korba Federation was basically destroyed."

"Unexpected situation. A team of five people could actually kill the famous running snail? This operation was just to encourage Adams to escape to the east faster and to muddy the waters in Cantero... How did they do it? I remember that guy was extremely afraid of death and extremely meticulous. There should be a warning zone around him, and not even a fly could fly in."

"The scope of the martial law is a circular area with a diameter of about 5 kilometers. The mission report indicates that she fired the shot outside the martial law area. The straight-line distance from the shooting point to the building where Adams was located is 3214.26 meters. This is an ultra-long-range sniper kill. There should be very few people in the world who can do it."

The young man who was drinking lay on the table, shaking the cup in his hand, not interrupting, just listening.

"At 26:1, the Korba Federation's envoy met Adams, and just before that, our people took action. The bullet passed through the gap in the human wall formed by 20 psychics and soldiers, hitting the target and killing it. I guess that was the only gap, and there is still someone in the world who can seize it. Besides you, Bartulu, who else in your team can seize that opportunity that may only have / of a second?"

The young man leaned back on the sofa in a more comfortable position, his eyes hazy. "Maybe there are one or two, psychics who are good at shooting, but the timing requires the collection and calculation of multiple people... Did we lose any people?"

"No losses. In fact, there was only one sniper, and she had no observer. The rest of the team hijacked an enemy train carrying dangerous goods. They used the work of the Perpetual Motion Institute, which is a mechanical steam power system that is mounted on your arms and waist, making you as strong as a rhino. They used the power of the mechanical system to jump off the bridge on the road, and then forcibly used red steel to tear off the outer skin of the carriage. They shot and killed the unsuspecting guards one by one, blew up the car carrying dangerous goods and sank it into the river."

"What are the casualties?"

"No losses. Due to Adams' death, the command system of Cantero's upper echelons was in chaos, and all parties were arguing, so there was no effective armed force organized to pursue him. The remaining four members of the team escaped unscathed."

"Incredible, there are such outstanding talents in the Killing Team?"

"That psychic team is numbered 13, and its captain is also numbered 13. She is one of our most elite fighters. There are a lot of successful battles with her, in Forair, Kalda, and even Thorins. Almost every attack was perfect, killing the enemy quickly and escaping unscathed. Number 13 is a leader with enough prestige. The key is that her team can always execute her orders accurately: when to attack, when to retreat, when to remain silent, and when to kill. And Number 13's orders are rarely wrong."

"So he is indeed an outstanding person. Do you have information about No. 13?" The young man asked in a low voice while shaking his wine glass, "Our team needs such talents! Those little bastards are always troublesome and always try to challenge my authority. If I give them a good beating, they will know how approachable I am as the captain."

Emperor Odin said nothing. Time passed minute by minute. The ticking sound of the clock on the wall was unusually clear amid the faint noise coming from outside.

"You are not qualified to know her situation yet." The old man said calmly, "But you will be able to meet her soon... She is a natural leader and rarely submits to others. She obeys me because I can give her everything she wants. And you... Bartulu, she may have enough power to snatch the bargaining chip from you."

Bartulu held the wine glass and shook his head. He suddenly turned to look at Emperor Odin. His eyes, soaked in alcohol, suddenly became sharp. "Is it the person in the plan? Is it them? Is it her?"

Emperor Odin remained noncommittal: "I'm not sure yet. Things change rapidly on the battlefield. I've been disappointed too many times before. I won't give anyone a definite answer until the dust settles. Her information is top secret."

The information he mentioned was certainly not superficial stuff like names, but more top-secret information. Most people in Yalai knew that the Countess of the Monti family was the emperor's favorite candidate for the Silver Moon Saint, but most of them did not know the inside story of the "Xila" plan.

The entire file of the "Xila" plan will be closed after it is completed. The parliament and the military will set the highest level of confidentiality for it, and the confidentiality level cannot be lowered for a hundred years. They will not discuss this matter again.

This selection process is inhumane - drug stimulation, mental oppression, assassination training... If the truth is exposed, it will have an unpredictable impact on the image of the royal family, because the people are longing for a pure "life" saint, not a monster crawling out of blood. In turbulent times, people always worship some unreal things, and always have a certain romance in their hearts, wanting to turn the unreal worship into reality. Anything that defiles their worship must be destroyed, so those failed girls will never have a chance to surface. They are like killers raised by ancient kings, most of whom are positioned as tools until the blade of the tool collapses or breaks.

This cruel method can cultivate a messenger of God, but it can also be a devil. Perhaps one day those devils will turn around and harm their creators. The sword of the Empire of the "Saint of Sin" has two sharp edges, which can cut off the Empire's wrist or even its head.

The young man seemed to have gotten the answer from the emperor's vague words. He drank the liquor in the glass and silently chewed the pickled olives soaked in alcohol. His eyes were calm, and then suddenly there was a change. Silently, his right hand stretched to his side.

He grasped the gun handle at his side, and the veins on his hand jumped like snakes. It was a modified gun, engraved with a psychic matrix, with a caliber of 12mm and a total length of 39cm. It used SST8 gunpowder and explosive armor-piercing bullets. One shot could kill a rhino. A person who was shot would lose a lot of blood and immediately lose the ability to resist. If it hit the bone, it would be enough to shatter the impact point into slag.

There was a slight knock on the door. A neatly dressed gentleman named Bontemps walked in, holding a wooden tray and lightly replacing the wine and glasses with a new set. He seemed not to notice Bartrude's alertness, and then said softly, "The person you want to see has arrived, Your Majesty."

Odin did not answer for the time being. He was still staring at the rain outside the glass window. The raindrops fell on the stone slabs and created a layer of transparent ripples. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became subtle. The young man's body was tense. He was not alert because of the knock on the door, but because of the person who was quietly waiting outside the door. When she was six meters away from the reception room, she deliberately left footsteps. Her steps were soft and powerful, which undoubtedly came from her strong self-confidence.

The young man stared at the oak door. The silence was sometimes warm and sometimes evoked hidden hostility. Bartello felt the tension and pleasure of a large amount of adrenaline secretion. His heartbeat accelerated, his palms were sweaty, and he was eager to try.

"Don't be so hostile. You may become companions in the future. Leave first and don't forget to close the door." Odin said calmly, "By the way, I would like to remind you that the child is not someone who will remain indifferent to provocation. Control yourself. I don't want to see you fighting outside the meeting room."

The silence lasted only a few seconds. The young man finally withdrew his hand from his side. He shrugged and said in a nonchalant manner, "Okay, for the sake of that damn comradeship... I'm going back, Godfather." He picked up the military cap on the table and put it on his head. The silver ring on his index finger flashed a little light during the movement. It was a heavy and simple ring. On the huge ring face, there was an emblem of an angel with open arms and wings embracing the iron shield of the Palatinate family. It was the token of the first family under the royal family - Bartrude was not only the young ruler of the Palatinate family, but also the only godson publicly acknowledged by Emperor Odin.

He hummed a song, opened the door and walked out.

……

Wei Xi looked at the corridor in front of him.

There was no one in sight, only two black-clad guards standing by the oak door at the end. The golden gas lamps cast a warm glow. The emperor's lounge should be a safe place, except for the feeling just now, a familiar, pricking feeling pressing on her spine, making her feel as if there was a pair of eyes staring at her in front of her, a pair of enemy eyes.

"Miss?" Bangdang turned around curiously and looked at Wei Xi who suddenly stopped.

"Sorry, I was too nervous." Wei Xi followed Bang Dang to the oak door at the end of the corridor. She was the only one who could walk here. Her teammates were stopped quietly halfway and taken to other lounges. Wei Xi was not surprised by this, because although His Majesty Odin always behaved approachably to her, he was an emperor after all.

The door opened again, and this time a young man came out. He was wearing an exquisite tweed military uniform and had the rank of major general on his shoulders. His silver-gray eyes were as cold and hard as the snowy plains in the Far North, and as savage as an animal. His dark brown hair was messily sticking up like the ears of some kind of dog.

Wei Xi looked up, and their eyes met and then separated, without any intention of exchanging pleasantries. Wei Xi looked at the young man without any gender connotations, more like finding a place for his eyes to land, rather than passing over the person in front of him and wandering to any blank space - this was a dangerous guy, but it didn't stop Wei Xi from ignoring him.

The young man walked away humming a song.

Bontemps opened the door and motioned for her to enter.

"Abigail, my child, you never let me down." Emperor Odin had left the high-back chair and sat in front of the desk with a world map behind him. He personally picked up the dark green wine bottle, poured amber wine into two crystal glass tulip glasses, and motioned Wei Xi to sit opposite him.

"Your Majesty." Wei Xi took off his iron mask and saluted Odin, took the wine glass, and sat in the chair opposite the old man.

"Try this wine, your favorite birch sap wine."

"I heard that the largest birch sap wine producing area, Child, is not far from the southern front, and many regional wineries have been requisitioned. This wine is very expensive, right?"

"This is not a new product this year. It is an old wine from the royal cellar. It is used to celebrate the safe return of my child." The old man raised his glass. "I am glad to see you back, Abigail, my angel."

"Completing two difficult tasks in one day is a masterpiece. You are already the ace of the killing team, and even among the candidates for "Xila", no one has been able to surpass you so far." The emperor's tone was filled with calm approval, really like a kind teacher facing a student he admired.

Wei Xi also raised his glass, "Thank you for your blessing, Your Majesty."

"In fact, on the way back, the train I took passed through Child, and all I saw along the way were burning birch forests." Wei Xi sipped the wine, the aroma of cardamom and the slightly spicy feeling like ginger rolling on the tip of her tongue.

"Really? It's a sad thing indeed." Emperor Odin spun the glass and stared at the wine swirling in it. "It was thirty years ago. I was invited to visit the Low Countries Alliance and stopped in Cherder. At that time, a bottle of birch sap wine produced by the top winery in Cherder cost only three hundred silver coins. Unfortunately, they joined the Far East Alliance led by the Korba Federation, and the price here is more than three times higher."