Monia dialed a number. When the call connected, she hurried to a deserted spot and said with a frown, "Father, Aldric has brought that person inside."
"Is that so? You’ve t that young man already? What’s his character like? If..."
Hearing the voice of a middle-aged man, Monia ground her teeth. "Father! He’s a bastard!"
"Huh?!" The man jolted and hurriedly said, "Monia, is there so misunderstanding between you and Noan? I’ve looked at his file and asked Aldric. He’s an ordinary person, and his character isn’t bad."
"Father! Do you trust , or do you trust that information?"
"That... fine. I trust you." Monia’s father sighed. "I even thought I’d let you get to know him a bit, so in the future you’d have a powerful man to rely on."
"I don’t want a useless, filthy man like him!" Monia shouted, her voice barely holding back an emotional outburst. "Father, help stop him. Don’t let him pass the tests."
"What?!" Her father exclaid. "Monia, do you know what you’re saying? He has a Rank SS Hero. He’s a treasure of the Empire. If I do that, it’s no different from throwing away a treasure of the Empire."
"Father! Listen to . His character is rotten. He’s not worthy to possess a Rank SS Hero. She’s being forced by him. If you create a chance for to et her and persuade her, she will definitely abandon that bastard."
"Monia, that... isn’t good." Her father sighed. "This involves too many things. If soone finds out, I won’t be able to keep my position, or even my head."
"Don’t worry." Monia said. "Just double the difficulty of the tests, and arrange a space for and that Rank SS Hero to et. I’m sure I can persuade her. Besides, if he fails the tests, we can use that as a reason to pressure him into giving up his bond with his Hero."
Monia’s father fell silent for a long ti, then said, "Sorry, Monia. I can’t help you do this."
"Father! Please, I don’t want humanity’s hope to be held by a rotten, filthy man like him." Monia said, her voice choking as if she were about to cry. "Father, I’m begging you. You also know that soon, it’ll be hard for you to keep your position. If you have a Rank SS Hero, what that ans... you understand, right?"
Although her father did not answer, she could hear his ragged breathing. At this mont, Monia also knew her father was truly considering it.
After a while, he said, "Fine. But I can only raise the difficulty from A to S, and give you ten minutes with that Hero. Besides, even if he fails the test alone, we still have no reason to demand that he release his Hero."
"I understand, Father." Monia said joyfully. "Just give a little ti to persuade her. Then, if she agrees, I’ll go to see the Empress. I believe the Empress thinks the sa way I do."
"Agh. Fine. Don’t speak of this to anyone."
"Hehehehe... of course. Father, thank you."
Monia hung up. A cold light flashed in her eyes. She murmured, "As long as my father has a Rank SS Hero, then my family and even my fate won’t need to rely on anyone else."
...
Inside the testing center.
Aldric sighed. "Sorry for the trouble."
"It’s fine." Noan smiled. "It’s just... soone like her can still hold a position in the defense force?"
"Yes." Aldric nodded, saying tiredly, "Her father is a Grand General, but his strength isn’t great. It’s just that he followed the previous Emperor back then, so many people accepted him keeping this position."
"Rank S?" Noan asked.
Aldric shook his head. "Rank B. He has an army of fifty Rank B Machine-type Heroes, and four Rank A Dinosaur Heroes."
"Just that?" Noan frowned. If it were before, he would have felt that army was truly terrifying, but now it was different.
Just among his ordinary troops, he already had one hundred Rank SS Jade Rabbit Girls, and two Rank SS Starfall Warriors. He even had a building called the Rabbit Den, which could produce rabbit warriors every day, also Rank SS.
Although their levels were still low, as long as he was given ti, he definitely had the ability to defeat that Grand General.
"It’s just..." Aldric continued, "Empress Catherine has begun purging the internal factions. Soone without real strength like him will likely be demoted soon, or even sent to so remote area."
"That’s why he’s currently calling on various families to support him and help him regain power. But... Empress Catherine isn’t an ordinary existence. His ending has already been decided."
"Ah. This test is managed by him. You should be a little careful. That girl will definitely cause trouble for you."
Noan nodded. "I understand. But if she wants to cause trouble for , she should also prepare herself to be counterattacked."
Aldric sighed. "All right. Don’t cause too much trouble either. Wait until you et the Empress. After that, you can do whatever you want."
Noan nodded, then glanced at Yuna beside him. From the beginning until now, she had only stayed silent and walked at his side.
Suddenly, a voice sounded in his head. He glanced at Yuna and nodded lightly. She also looked at him and gave him a gentle smile, yet her eyes were brimming with danger.
The three of them arrived at an extrely vast area. At this mont, a middle-aged man in a white military uniform, countless dals on his chest, walked up to Noan.
He wore a friendly smile and said softly, "First ti eting you. I’m Frank, a Grand General of the World Governnt’s army in this region."
Noan lowered his head politely. "First ti eting you. I’m Noan, and this is Yuna, my Hero."
When Frank saw Yuna, astonishnt imdiately showed on his face. Although he was over fifty, because he was a Lord, his lifespan was very long, so he still looked youthful, as if he had only just turned thirty.
Upon seeing Yuna, his heart thudded hard for reasons he could not understand. A kind of desire rose within him, urging him to possess that woman.
Too beautiful, so beautiful that perhaps no words could describe her beauty.
But he was, after all, a Grand General. The desire in his eyes vanished instantly. He quickly regained his composure, reached out his hand toward Yuna, and said, "First ti eting you."
Yuna did not respond. She only gave a slight nod.
Frank felt a little embarrassed, but he was not angry, because Yuna was too beautiful, and she easily earned his forgiveness. Besides, she was a Rank SS Hero, an Empire-level treasure. Her status was far higher than his. Her arrogance was only natural.
He smiled and said, "Do you want to rest a bit, or take the test right away?"
Noan replied, "Right now."
Frank waved his hand. A female staff mber walked up to Yuna, lowered her head, and said, "Please follow ."
Aldric frowned. "Wait! Grand General, are you planning to separate Noan and his Hero?"
The Grand General forced a smile. "Yes. The first test is about the Lord’s individual potential, so we need to separate them. After all, I don’t know what beneficial effects a Rank SS Hero might grant the Lord. This will make the evaluation fairer and more accurate."
Aldric found it truly ridiculous. He wanted to say sothing, but Noan’s hand landed on his shoulder.
Aldric turned to Noan and saw him shake his head. Aldric could only fall silent, thinking that Noan had a way to respond.
Noan smiled and said, "I understand. But I want to ask first... what is the difficulty and format of the test?"
The Grand General glanced at Aldric, then looked at Noan and said with a smile, "I can’t disclose that. But don’t worry, the difficulty won’t be too high. It’s mainly to see how far your potential goes."
Noan nodded. "Understood."
Yuna also nodded, then followed behind the female staff mber.
Seeing that, Frank let out a sigh of relief inwardly and thought, ’I can only help you this much, Monia. The next part, I hope you can handle it yourself.’
He truly hoped Monia could succeed. After all, his position was being shaken. If he could obtain a Rank SS Hero, then those old bastards and even the Empress would not dare treat him poorly.
He might even use that girl to raise his status another level, standing on equal footing with Empress Catherine herself.
Although the risk was enormous, the benefits were also too great. He could not restrain his greed.
High risk, high refunds. He understood that principle very well.
"Follow ," Frank said.
Noan and Aldric followed behind Frank. Even with Aldric present, Frank was not too worried. He had prepared the system. Even if the Empire’s or the World Governnt’s inspectors checked, they would not discover anything strange.
Frank led them to another area. Here, there was a teleportation gate and a huge screen floating in midair.
He smiled and said, "Please step into the teleportation gate. It will take you to the testing location."
The scientists around them began preparing energy for the gate. However, it was not hard for Noan to notice that the way they looked at him was a bit strange.
Noan sneered inwardly, then nodded and followed the staff’s instructions.
Before he stepped into the gate, his eyes flicked toward Aldric, and he gave a subtle wink.
Aldric frowned, seeming to understand sothing, but he did not speak. He only nodded slightly.
Noan stepped into the gate and vanished completely.
At this mont, a System notification suddenly appeared on the screen.
[Ding! Technical error detected. Initiating repair.]
Seeing that, Aldric frowned and said, "Grand General Frank, what are you trying to do?"
Frank smiled and shrugged. "Just a System error. Aldric, don’t worry."
"Frank!" Aldric clenched his fist and ground his teeth. "He is a treasure of this Empire. If you dare harm him, don’t bla ."
Frank no longer maintained a friendly expression. He wore a cold, greedy smile. "Hahahaha... General Aldric, what are you saying? This is just a System error. Besides, even if Noan dies, his Hero can still find soone else to sign a contract with. You... don’t need to worry."
"You..." Aldric said angrily. "Looks like I underestimated your greed and madness. I’ll report this to the Royal Guards."
Crack! Crack! Crack!
At this mont, a group of Machine troops aid their magical guns at Aldric. It seed that if he moved, those guns would imdiately fire at him.
"Frank!" Aldric ground his teeth. "Do you know what you’re doing?"
"Hahahaha... of course!" Frank shrugged, his face dark and icy to the extre. "General Aldric, just pretend you don’t know what’s happening. Silence is enough. Otherwise, I’m afraid your sister will run into trouble."
"You..." Aldric’s eyes widened, full of rage as he glared at Frank. "Bastard!"
Frank chuckled. "Besides... General Aldric, what the Empress needs is a Rank SS Hero, not him. Even if he dies, as long as that Rank SS Hero lives... it’s enough."
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