At the table next to Zeig and March 7th.
The people at that table kept glancing over, whispering among themselves.
Among them were an elderly man, a young and handsome youth in his prime, and a noble lady.
The only thing they all had in common was their luxurious attire or accessories—gold earrings, jade bracelets, or thumb rings made from blue geomarrow, all proclaiming their noble status.
The old man's wrinkled hand kept tapping on the table. He said harshly:
"Damn it—I never thought this Executor had already planned to take the money and run without honoring any rules!"
He glanced at the other two and continued viciously:
"Since he broke the rules first and refused the toast only to drink the forfeit, then we have nothing more to say!"
The other two both looked grim.
They had originally been in a private room, but when the youth stepped out to use the restroom, he spotted Zeig and March 7th sitting in the main hall.
He reported this back to the others, so they all left the private room, paid to send the original occupants of this table away, and sat here to eavesdrop.
But they never expected Zeig and March 7th to disregard them so completely!
They had heard every word of the conversation just now!
The tone was filled with utter disdain for the nobles!
The noble lady gripped her wine glass so hard her knuckles cracked. She said unhappily:
"Hmph, they're still young after all—no sense of restraint whatsoever!"
She downed the wine in her glass in one gulp.
"In the end, he's just an outsider brat. The only reason he got the Executor position is sheer luck!"
But after she finished, the young noble crossed his hands on the table and frowned:
"You can't put it like that. You all saw the phenomena outside Belobog earlier, right? According to reliable sources, that was all the Executor's doing single-handedly!"
Back then, the Taixu Sword God had unleashed continuously, shaking the entire planet. Sword energy ran rampant, golden light blanketed the snowfields.
Vast skies cleared of dark clouds as golden swords stretched for thousands of miles, smashing the ice plains to pieces as if an Aeon had descended!
It was said that was him deliberately holding back to avoid damaging the soil—who knew what would happen if he used it directly on people?
They probably wouldn't even have time to arrange the remains.
"Heh." The old noble looked at the young noble and said coldly:
"It's just some martial prowess. Not everything in this world can be solved with force!"
The wrinkles on his face trembled as he spoke:
"Our family has operated for so long, lasting from hundreds of years ago to now—we never relied on Pathstriders! Even I am just an ordinary person. What do we rely on? Connections, weighing interests!"
Hearing this, the youth grew even more worried:
"But… that Executor doesn't seem to need our connections at all. As for interests… they're all in his pocket already."
"Foolish!" The old noble didn't dare slam the table and alert the table next to them, so he could only rap the surface rapidly:
"What we gave was just 'toll money'—I never expected him to be so ungrateful!"
"As long as he still wants to stay in Belobog, still wants to run the museum, then he has things he cares about! Just like how he was willing to expend greater effort to preserve the integrity of the soil beneath the ice plains!"
The old noble's lips curved into a slight smirk:
"Killing everyone on sight—that's a madman, a rabid dog! If someone like that has power, it's truly terrifying! But clearly this kid isn't one. As long as he's not insane, there are naturally shackles!"
"Oh?" The noble lady smiled charmingly:
"Then what do you think are the shackles binding him?"
The old noble smiled:
"Since he comes from the Astral Express, it's absolutely impossible for his purpose to be destroying the planet or massacring the innocent, right? And he wants money—he needs money. All the bribes we gave him, he accepted without refusal!"
"What does that prove? The great Trailblazer of the Astral Express accepting bribes and corruption? Think about the others from the Express—which of them is like this kid?"
The noble lady slightly raised an eyebrow:
"You mean…?"
"Exactly! He doesn't even count as a real Trailblazer, yet he's working for them—and gathering money!"
The old noble said coldly:
"It's very likely he has some leverage held over him by the other Trailblazers, forcing him to travel with them. He urgently needs a large sum to break free from those bonds!"
To the old noble's left, a black-haired man with dark golden eyes lit up and gave a thumbs-up:
"Brilliant! I didn't even think of that!"
To the old noble's right, a girl also widened her pink-blue eyes:
"But even if we reach this conclusion, what can we actually do?"
Faced with the doubt, the old noble snorted coldly in frustration:
"What if we could get our hands on that leverage ourselves? Do we lack money? Hm? In this world, there's no one that interests can't move—if it doesn't work, it just means the interests weren't enough!"
The young noble still looked worried:
"But… this is still just an assumption, right? What if we're wrong and he's actually just a complete psycho?"
The pink-haired girl to the old noble's right slumped on the table and muttered:
"If we're wrong, we're wrong. It's not like we'd start a direct conflict—there'd still be room to maneuver."
The noble lady was just about to speak when her mind suddenly exploded with realization.
She glanced at the two beside the old noble, rubbed her eyes, then broke into a cold sweat and shrank back, not daring to move.
The old noble smiled contentedly:
"Heh, exactly like this. Before we get the real result, we naturally have to keep probing…"
The black-haired man crossed his hands on the table, brows furrowed: "Then how exactly do we probe?"
"Heh, young people just don't like using their brains! That's why the families behind you lot stay so weak forever—serves you right!" The old noble cursed.
The noble lady quietly glanced at the people at the table, shifted her butt, and slowly moved her seat away.
When the youth saw the noble lady slip away quietly, he looked around—and after seeing two extra people beside the old noble…
In an instant.
His heartbeat skipped half a beat!
Cold sweat poured down instantly.
He shrank down, slumped on the table, not daring to move a muscle.
The old noble said speechlessly:
"You're so young and already slumping like that—what are you going to do when you're old!"
Right after he spoke, the noble lady quietly crept back, legs trembling, staring into the distance in horror.
"What's wrong with you two? Brain short-circuited?" The old noble couldn't help cursing.
The youth slumped on the table, shivering:
"Sir… your senility must be acting up again. Take a look around."
"Hm?"
The old noble raised his head.
All the other guests in the hotel lobby had vanished. Only Silvermane Guards surrounded their table completely.
To the old noble's left and right sat Zeig and March 7th, who kept offering suggestions and strategies for the bribery matter.
It wasn't until the Silvermane Guards hoisted the old noble up entirely that he finally called out in confusion.
But no one paid any attention.
Bronya stood to the side, coldly surveying the three nobles, and said gravely:
"You actually dared to bribe an Executor personally appointed by the Supreme Guardian. You're a disgrace to Belobog's nobility."
"Silvermane Guards, take them away."
…
"Captain, what about the Executor's bribery matter?"
"Deduct it from his museum dividends."
That certain someone: "?"
…