The last time Saul saw Sander was when he rescued his sister Mido’s soul from the soul tide at Blue Water Bay.

After that, to thank Saul, the other party had given him the ancestral Chaos Realm Compass.

Of course, at that time Sander only knew the Chaos Realm Compass might be a magical tool, unaware of just how rare a magical artifact it truly was.

Naturally, as an ordinary person, even if he had known, he couldn’t have activated it. Moreover, activating the Chaos Realm Compass also required the ancient magical coins in Saul’s possession—these were items passed down from before the Crescent Calendar.

At the time, Saul had wondered whether Sander, who lived so poorly yet had an innate pride and possessed such ancient and powerful magical tools, might have some background.

But he never imagined that after a few years, the other party would transform from a down-and-out street merchant into the emperor of the strongest empire on Nephret Continent.

Alfonso also hadn’t expected Saul and the emperor to know each other.

He looked left and right but still didn’t ask about their relationship.

As a court wizard, he naturally knew the current emperor had recently been brought back from Stat Continent—royal bloodline that had been living in exile.

Since the other party had been on the same continent as Saul before, they should have met then.

“Since you two know each other, that makes things easier. Your Majesty, Lord Saul, let’s sit over there and talk.”

Alfonso raised his hand, inviting the two to sit on the sofa at the far end of the room.

Saul watched Sander slowly walk over. From his complexion and gait, his body seemed extremely weak.

Sander’s skin was not only much paler than their last meeting, but had a bloodless pallor.

Looks like Sander’s life as emperor isn’t great either. He remembered that Sander wasn’t among those who came to welcome him, probably because his physical condition didn’t allow it.

The last time I saw him, his physical and mental state were quite good.

After Sander sat down, Saul directly placed his hand on the back of the other’s neck.

Sander’s body stiffened but he didn’t dodge.

Alfonso sat leisurely in place, also showing no wariness.

“No problems with the soul body. The body has been modified, constitution strengthened… hmm, have you been rather unrestrained since becoming emperor?”

Faced with such a direct question from Saul, Sander smiled bitterly. “Lord Saul, I have no say in this matter.”

Saul looked at Alfonso with a strange expression.

Unlike court wizards of the Kema Empire, Alfonso clearly wasn’t as respectful toward Sander.

There was even a sense of managing him.

Seeing Saul look over, Alfonso nodded. “His Majesty Alexandra is Evernight’s only remaining royal bloodline and must leave behind more heirs as soon as possible.”

Saul’s mouth twitched.

Looking at it this way, it really wasn’t Sander becoming indulgent due to his sudden change in status.

“How many children do you have now?” he asked the somewhat embarrassed Sander.

Sander pressed his lips together, his complexion becoming even worse.

“None, none at all.” His voice was as thin as a mosquito’s.

Saul was silent for a moment, then placed his palm on Sander’s nape again.

Sander lowered his head, knowing Saul was going to help examine his body.

Unlike last time, this time he felt something sharp pierce directly into his nape.

Intense pain immediately traveled along his spine to his brain. But just as he was about to reflexively dodge, he discovered his body had become as cold and frozen as ice, unable even to lift his head.

Large beads of sweat immediately emerged from his forehead and nose, gathering together before dripping down his cheeks onto his chest.

Alfonso watched from the side, becoming somewhat curious about Saul and Sander’s relationship.

Saul was causing Alexandra such pain, yet the latter didn’t even cast a pleading glance his way.

This showed complete trust in Saul!

Ordinary friendship wouldn’t produce such behavior.

However, Alfonso was merely curious—he didn’t truly care about the Evernight Emperor’s emotions or social connections.

After all, this emperor was only a figurehead who couldn’t even access Evernight’s government affairs, merely existing to continue the bloodline, and…

While Alfonso was thinking, Saul finally lifted his hand. Sander, who had been tormented considerably, immediately slumped forward in the next second, fainting.

Saul raised his hand to let Sander lean back against the sofa, while casting a spell to heal the trauma caused by his examination.

At the same time, since Sander had fainted, Saul could communicate with Alfonso without considering Sander’s feelings.

“Lord Frim invited me here to treat black tide pollution in mermaids. But you brought me to see Sander first. Could it be that mermaids are just a cover, and the real purpose is to have me treat His Majesty the Emperor?”

Alfonso maintained his serious expression. “It would be more accurate to say that treating the Evernight Emperor is part of treating mermaid pollution.”

Saul cupped his chin, speculating. “Could it be that forcing Sander to quickly produce heirs is also related to mermaids?”

Alfonso nodded.

“Evernight’s royal family doesn’t have mermaid bloodline, does it?”

“More or less.”

Saul extended his hand directly toward Alfonso. “Please explain!”

Alfonso had brought Saul to see the Evernight Emperor this time to clarify matters.

He paused for a moment to organize his thoughts before beginning to explain the relationship between Evernight’s royal family and the mermaid race.

“You know that the southeastern coastline of Nephret Continent is covered with Red Sea Trees, right?”

Saul was quite knowledgeable about things related to black tide pollution.

“Yes. Used to absorb the black tide surging from the Abyssal Eye.”

“Red Sea Trees can absorb black tide pollution but cannot eliminate it. When absorbed pollution reaches a certain level, the Red Sea Trees will have their accumulated pollution backfire. Even if methods are found to collect and isolate the pollution, it causes great harm.”

“To solve the Red Sea Trees’ pollution backfire, the Tribunal spent ten years separating mermaid bloodlines from ancient bloodlines and created large numbers of mermaids. Through modification, they weakened the mermaid race’s spiritual bodies while purely enhancing physical tolerance, making them more suited to black tide pollution than other races. They can even survive in it for periods of time.”

“The modified mermaids feed on the root plants that grow from Red Sea Tree bases. These root plants are where Red Sea Trees store black tide pollution.”

Saul’s eye twitched slightly, suddenly thinking of the mermaid left in his palace.

He had noticed then that the mermaid had very low intelligence, seemingly possessing only basic survival instincts, yet could survive with large amounts of pollution in its body.

But even if they could adapt to pollution, there was still a limit.

Red Sea Trees would backfire pollution they couldn’t store—what about mermaids?

When they ate the polluted roots produced by Red Sea Trees and the pollution in their bodies reached the limit, the only outcome would be destruction, right?

When Water God Floco was at a critical moment of recovering his strength, he still split his consciousness to inhabit the mermaid Saul carried. Was this to see what living conditions his descendant mermaid race currently faced?

Looking at it now, it was truly quite miserable!

(End of Chapter)

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