Indeed, it was Andrew who had taken action.

He did something that was initially planned to be done immediately upon arriving at Warm Fire City.

In an even more extreme manner.

"Is this the place?"

In the afternoon, after leaving the ice cream shop with Susan, Andrew was soon enveloped in Susan's power and brought to a solid black palace gate.

This was the highest level of the tallest building at the city's center, also the second tallest building in the entire Flame Realm, second only to the Dragon Stone Tower of Scholar's Fortress.

As the saying goes, "It's cold at high places," but in front of this door, Andrew only felt warmth, to the point of almost feeling hot.

This was actually a Magic Tower, just like the Magic Laboratory in the center of Wildfire Territory, with the function of providing heating for the entire city (or Territory).

As the controller of this Magic Tower, Barbara's mother was already powerful herself. With the tower's support, she might not surpass her husband to become the strongest of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, but apart from Chairman Beiru, no one in the association could be her match when she presided over the tower, not even Peter who would also be suppressed.

"That's why bringing Ivan along has little significance."

Andrew thought to himself, "As long as Barbara's mother wishes, in this Magic Tower, I have no ability to resist."

Susan stepped forward and pushed open the heavy door slightly. Amazingly, such a giant door made almost no sound when opened. The door must be incredibly heavy; proof was that even this simple action of pushing the door left Susan sweating.

After pushing the door, she caught her breath and looked back, saying, "Alright, you can go in now."

Andrew, who was carefully observing the surroundings, was a bit startled upon hearing this: "You're not coming in with me?"

Susan said plainly, "Didn't I tell you? The lady only wants to see you."

Andrew responded with an "um," but didn't move forward immediately. Instead, he stayed where he was, looking at Susan and earnestly asked: "Do you have any advice?"

This Susan, though she had once said something like "How dare you attack Master Havier," which had angered Andrew nearly to his breaking point, and seemed to have a volatile temper.

However, during her process of bringing him to this door, especially when she brought him to fly to the top of the Magic Tower at first, she seemed quite accommodating and didn't make things difficult for him because he was not yet Tier Eight and lacked flight ability. In fact, she made him feel very stable throughout.

While the mere "stability" can mean nothing by itself.

Yet Andrew, almost at zero distance while feeling her Fighting Qi enveloping him, had a vague sense that this seemingly stern Susan might not be as unfriendly as she appeared.

"Advice? None."

Susan shook her head expressionlessly, "If I had to give advice – you shouldn't have thought of meeting the lady from the start! Now, don't make me say it a third time; go in."

This time, Andrew finally stepped forward.

Before entering, he turned back with a smile and said, "Thank you for your advice."

Then, he slipped through the door crack, his silhouette disappearing outside the grand doors.

Susan watched Andrew walk into the grand doors. After a moment, she let out a nearly inaudible sigh, murmuring under her breath, "May fortune be with you…"

As Andrew vaguely sensed, Susan wasn't quite as bad-tempered as she appeared, especially after repeatedly witnessing him subdue Sabye and rushing toward the deranged Havier. Personally, she felt a bit amazed and even appreciative of Andrew's character, style, and abilities.

It was precisely because she developed a hint of admiration that she intentionally said, "How dare you attack Master Havier."

Because in Susan's view, seeking an audience with the lady was a terrible idea!

If she were Andrew, she would avoid seeking a meeting before the Chairman emerged, let alone meet; she would hide away as far as possible! If unavoidable, she would feign an unhealed injury, continue "fainting" and lying down. In any case, she would use all means to delay until the Chairman came out before discussing anything else.

This is because, aside from the Chairman, no one knew better than Susan how much the lady had changed over the years since the young lady's unexpected death and how terrifying she had become!

Susan silently closed the palace door again.

Truth be told, she was unsure whether Andrew could walk back through that door again.

But she was suddenly perplexed by a question: "Why did the lady suddenly say I should bring that brat to see her? Surely she can't, like me, be swayed emotionally by the brat's actions to the point of easily changing her mind to see him?"

At the same time, upon entering the palace doors, Andrew finally met Barbara's mother.

The palace doors silently closed behind him.

In front of him was a massively spacious hall, almost giving a sense of "emptiness".

A beautiful woman in a red dress was engaged in a video call, the Flame Realm's version of it, with someone through the "Fire Net."

In front of the beautiful woman was a three-dimensional magic projection, and in the image was a middle-aged knight with a sinister scar on his face.

It was none other than the current Warm Fire Commerce Association's First Knight, Peter!

"...Hmm, that's roughly it. After the Shield of Flowing Fire was attacked, things have been a bit tense on my side, but fortunately, thanks to you, I'm barely managing to hold on." Peter spoke politely, and from his words, it seemed he was just reporting the latest front-line situation to Barbara's mother, especially the changes in the situation after the female assassin attacked the Shield of Flowing Fire.

The beautiful woman listened quietly, occasionally interjecting a word or two.

Before this, Andrew couldn't help but imagine Barbara's mother as a woman who became unbalanced and temperamental after the unexpected death of her eldest daughter.

But upon seeing her in person, he found: that wasn't the case at all!

The beautiful woman's brows, eyes, and features were practically what Barbara would look like as a middle-aged woman years later. The only difference was Barbara had more of an oval face, while this woman had a standard oval face.

She wore a faint, gentle smile on her face.

If Barbara's first impression was a doll-like perfection that felt a bit unreal in its "exquisiteness,"

then Barbara's mother exuded a kind of "elegance" inside and out, devoid of any aggression.

This... really is Barbara's mother?

The wife of the president who was cold towards Barbara, refused to meet Andrew, and sent people to rudely knock on him?

She said now, "Alright, I understand. The front line there, I'll leave it to you. General Peter doesn't have to worry about Warm Fire City and the Shield of Flowing Fire. Beiru's injuries aren't too severe, though three days ago he aggravated it a bit while trying to stop that female assassin, but fortunately, it's nothing serious. Alright, let's leave it at that for now. Contact me if anything comes up."

The video call was then disconnected.

Andrew listened silently, finally understanding the question Susan couldn't figure out outside earlier: "The president's wife suddenly changed her mind and agreed to see me, probably because of that video call just now!"

Throughout the call, there was only talk about the front-line situation, not a word about him—even though Andrew didn't hear a single thing related to him after he came in. However, the fact that Peter made the call at this time was a signal in itself!

If he remembered correctly, Barbara had mentioned before that the front-line situation was directly overseen by the president. Even if the president was injured and in retreat, he would still take the time every day to listen to front-line reports and give the latest instructions.

Andrew could guess that the person in the magic projection just now was Peter.

But under normal circumstances, Peter absolutely wouldn't report the so-called situation to the wife!

"In other words, the call just now was actually Peter representing the president to deliver a message to Barbara's mother: to have her see me!" Realizing this, Andrew felt a sense of security on one hand, as it seemed the president was rather friendly towards him.

On the other hand, he felt indescribably awkward: despite his previous efforts, clashing with Sabye, firmly stopping the berserk Havier, and if not for Barbara holding him back, he would have directly confronted Susan. Yet all of this was actually pointless.

Barbara's mother agreed to see him, and the change of mind had nothing to do with him at all!?

"Are you Andrew?"

The beautiful woman on the other side hung up the video call and finally looked in his direction.

Her voice was still so melodious.

A gentle smile was imbued in her tone.

Yet this time, Andrew's gaze finally met her eyes directly.

With a "thump," Andrew felt his heart skip a beat, clearly hearing his own heartbeat. Simultaneously, every hair on his body stood on end, every muscle tightened! His whole body froze, unable to breathe!!

But it wasn't because of "suppression."

It wasn't because of "tier suppression," nor was it due to "Earth Fire Suppression." It was different from three days ago at the Shield of Flowing Fire, facing that unknown female assassin!

The reason Andrew couldn't breathe or move, and why his heart was racing uncontrollably at this moment, was solely because of her eyes.

They were... completely empty eyes.

Only after facing them head-on could Andrew feel: she was indeed elegant, kind, and gentle... none of this was false, it wasn't his illusion. However, those eyes, that gaze, were empty, utterly empty.

It seemed as if her heart was just like this excessively spacious and empty hall, completely hollow, dead.

Clearly, she was a living person, possessing all the elegance and beauty a living person would love, envy, and admire.

But those eyes... were essentially the eyes of a dead person!

Andrew, of course, knew she couldn't possibly be a dead person.

But looking into those eyes, Andrew knew: her heart had already died.

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