"Once again, I sincerely apologize," Dean Charlie repeated seriously, "I will arrange for the airship to land, which will take about fifteen minutes."

Andrew didn't expect Dean Charlie to be so straightforward. He nodded and said, "Thank you," while also collecting the anger and sadness in his heart.

Dean Charlie paused for a moment, then said, "I know the president and I were too much to you, Andrew. But could you, for Miss Barbara's sake, listen to me for a few more moments during these fifteen minutes of landing?"

Andrew naturally understood that this so-called "few more moments" was undoubtedly an attempt to persuade him to continue on the journey to the Royal Court.

Instinctively intending to refuse, but recalling that Dean Charlie had almost suffered backlash from the Puppet Fire just now, and especially thinking of his mention of Barbara, Andrew finally nodded, "Okay."

Even if he ultimately decided to leave, he did indeed want to understand: why did the president and Dean Charlie treat him like that just now?

The airship began its descent.

As it escaped the turbulent flow of violent fire elements during the descent, the airship stopped bumping and returned to stability.

Susan, Barbara, Havier, and Sabye in the adjacent practice room did not feel the airship descending.

However, Warm Fire City, remotely monitoring the situation on the airship, noticed the anomaly immediately.

President Beiru instructed Dean Charlie to report the latest situation to him in three hours—because in President Beiru's view, the effectiveness of the Dragon Awakening Potion would take at least three hours to show results—so after speaking with Madam Yi Lian, President Beiru went into seclusion for healing again.

President Beiru did not know, nor could he have thought, that Andrew on the airship had dealt with the effects of the Dragon Awakening Potion in just ten minutes and passed the first step of the special training.

Madam Yi Lian, temporarily in charge of all affairs of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, quickly contacted Dean Charlie through the "Heart Net" upon receiving the latest news of the "midway landing of the airship": "What happened? Did something go wrong? Did Andrew pass the special training or... did he fail?"

Shortly, Dean Charlie's response was: "Andrew has successfully passed the first step of the special training, but he doesn't want to go to the Royal Court now. This is our and the president's misjudgment. I'll try to persuade him to stay. I'll have results within fifteen minutes."

Madam Yi Lian was both pleasantly surprised and somewhat astonished to learn that Andrew had already passed the special training. She knew very well what the first step of that special training was, making it even more incredible.

When she heard Andrew wanted to leave, she paused, then sighed, seemingly guessing the reason, and replied to Dean Charlie: "Don't force it, and don't use any rhetoric, it will backfire. Sincerely explain things to him, and let him decide for himself."

Dean Charlie: "Understood." The communication was temporarily cut off afterward.

After the Twin Fire War, the Flame Realm overall returned to calm, with all the surges moving beneath the surface once more.

Now, due to Andrew's airship making an "unplanned mid-flight smooth landing" en route to the Royal Court, Madam Yi Lian's nerves were once again taut in Warm Fire City.

But the most surprised ones weren't in the east; it was the Magic Guild beyond the dividing line to the west!

The airship's northward journey along the dividing line was a typical "show of strength" move.

Such a move often involves at least both parties, not just one side.

East of the dividing line, Warm Fire Commerce Association's airship's high-profile northward journey could not have been ignored by the Magic Guild.

In the dry, barren hills to the west of the dividing line, a tall figure dragged a giant axe-spear, walking step by step in the air above the vast gray landscape.

Who else could it be but the female assassin?

It's hard to say whether the female assassin began monitoring the airship first, or if the airship made its high-profile northward move first.

In any case, the two sides proceeded almost side by side across the east-west dividing line, moving north together.

The airship was the "posture" adopted by Warm Fire Commerce Association, while the female assassin, on the other hand, was the "posture" from the Magic Guild's side.

If ordinary people in this Flame Realm saw such a scene, they would surely feel shocked and thus naturally develop feelings of tension, unease, or even fear that "the war has ended but opposing contradictions still exist."

For the female assassin, however, this was a quite normal, even slightly boring, mission.

She wore a mask, her eyes revealed through eyeholes showing a relaxed and carefree expression, apparently not placing much importance on Dean Charlie and Susan, the two great experts on the airship.

She also had no intention of actively attacking the airship.

Both sides understood very well: after the ceasefire agreement, there wouldn't be any fights starting up temporarily. But postures should be shown, attitudes should be displayed, and muscles should be flexed. That's all. There wouldn't be any further extreme actions.

If nothing unexpected occurred, both sides would proceed along the dividing line in parallel, reaching the Royal Court around the same time, at which point the female assassin would quietly retreat, and the airship would land at the Royal Court to formally start negotiations—this would be the logical scenario.

The female assassin was indeed following the script.

Until... she suddenly saw the airship slow its pace, then begin to descend slowly!

"Huh?"

The female assassin halted her steps, evidently surprised, "What does this mean? Why is it descending suddenly? There's no reason to land here."

She was a top-tier powerhouse of Tier Nine, and she had a clear understanding of the structure and trends of this Flame Realm. She wasn't just some simple brawler.

For this reason, when she saw the airship descending without any warning, even someone like the female assassin who had single-handedly breached the Shield of Flowing Fire was taken aback.

Instinctively, she tightened her grip on the long handle of her axe spear.

In her eyes, a rare gravity gradually appeared.

In the battle of the Shield of Flowing Fire, the female assassin had killed the City Guard "Shield Knight Jimmy" and seriously injured Falk, known as "the strongest one-on-one Warm Fire Mage of Tier Nine," which was nothing short of fierce.

But when she left, she was directly shocked by a distant strike from President Beiru, which caused her to vomit blood. Although she managed to leave, deep down, the female assassin developed a caution towards President Beiru's strength that she hadn't held so strongly before.

And not long ago, in the "Dragon's Nest," she teamed up with Holigar, the First Grand Mage of the Magic Guild, to fight against Peter, resulting in Peter being critically injured and Holigar captured by the heavily injured Peter. This made the female assassin realize: she was strong, but in this world, she was still far from invincible.

President Beiru, with a higher tier than her, and the three Earth Fire Scholars, were all stronger than her.

Peter, the First Crimson Knight of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, who was of the same tier, was at least not weaker than her. Like her, he was a War God Level presence unmatched in combat power among Tier Nine. The battle at Dragon's Nest, where Peter fought two alone, made the female assassin understand that in a one-on-one fight, she might still be slightly inferior to Peter!

With more respect in her heart, she naturally thought more about her actions.

For example, at this moment, seeing the airship actually landing so boldly in front of her, the female assassin couldn't help but frown slightly: "What does this mean? Surely it's not deliberately enticing me to attack it, exposing a flaw while actually being... some trap...?"

It's certainly not some trap.

It's just that Andrew inside the airship was having a conflict, and Principal Charlie, realizing he had made a mistake, was trying his best to make amends (this sentence seems a bit off)!

After thinking for a moment, the female assassin still felt the need to report, and immediately used the communication divine artifact of the Magic Guild, the "Fire God Space," to message certain beings in the Scholar's Fortress: "Something unexpected happened on my end..."

Andrew, inside the airship, naturally didn't realize that the airship's unexpected landing had alarmed both Warm Fire City to the east and the Scholar's Fortress to the west.

Andrew wasn't even aware that the female assassin was not far nearby. If he knew, he probably wouldn't have said "let me off the airship"...

While the female assassin was shocked and surprised by the airship's descent, on the airship, in the practice room, Andrew was equally shocked and surprised as he stared at Principal Charlie with wide eyes: "Three years? What do you mean? What does 'there are only three years left in the world' mean??"

"The literal meaning."

Following Madam Yi Lian's advice of "no tricks and no wordplay," Principal Charlie spoke sincerely and truthfully, "Although this sounds somewhat like an excuse, in fact, the president was indeed prompted by the thought that there really isn't much time left in the world, leading to his earlier misjudgment. He was just anxious. And I was wrong in this matter too, I should have advised the president not to worry." He sighed and shook his head as he said this.

Principal Charlie indeed didn't play any special tricks, but he actually played the biggest trick.

That is to sincerely admit the mistake!

Usually elegant, he now looked remorseful and regretful, almost saying, "I was wrong. I know I was wrong. What? Where was I wrong? Umm... everywhere!" His attitude made it impossible to stay angry!

But Andrew didn't care much about whether it was right or wrong?

Frowning, he asked, "Did the president really say there are only three years left in the world? Not that the Warm Fire Commerce Association has at most three years left, but... this Flame Realm?"

This was really crucial.

If the Warm Fire Commerce Association failed, it could just regroup and try again later.

But what does it mean that there are only three years left in the world?

If unable to defeat the Magic Guild within three years, would this world... be destroyed?

Andrew really wanted to say, isn't the side currently taking a defensive stance us? How come suddenly we are the ones under "attack pressure"?!

If someone else said such things, Andrew would only dismiss it as alarmist talk.

But these were the words of President Beiru!

Wait a minute...

Andrew suddenly thought, after what just happened, now even President Beiru shouldn't be trusted unconditionally and mindlessly.

Is this terrifying saying "only three years left in the world" actually a rhetoric to make me stay?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask in a deep voice: "How can I trust that this saying from you and the president is true?"

Principal Charlie scratched his face, seemingly a bit embarrassed, "Is this what it feels like when credibility collapses..."

He shook his head, then his expression turned serious and he said calmly, "In fact, Andrew, you cannot be certain, because the president actually doesn't know the specific reasons behind it either. The president only sensed a 'trend' while battling the three Earth Fire Scholars of the Magic Guild, which is——"

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