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Hearing these words, Apollon Joy stopped his kowtowing, a bitter expression crossing his face as he replied, "Before all this happened, I, too, believed that my status and influence were among the highest in the entire empire. But when I was being hunted, I finally understood."

"Authority is always inferior to strength! If your power is lacking, others will not be suppressed by your so-called authority when they surpass you. On the contrary, they will be eager to attack you, eliminate you, and seize your power for themselves!"

"Though I don\'t know who you really are, I know that you have the strength."

Pausing for a moment, Apollon Joy continued sincerely, "If you doubt my sincerity, you can name any condition, and I will do everything in my power to fulfill it!"

Hearing this, Dean Bruce\'s eyes narrowed slightly.

Apollon Joy\'s status was extraordinary. If he could take him on as a disciple, it would certainly bring countless benefits.

Dean Bruce could even potentially help him ascend to the throne. In that case, it would be akin to having control over an entire empire!

The only concern was that once Apollon Joy secured the throne, he might choose to sever ties with Dean Bruce.

Binding him with a blood contract would seem too cold and impersonal.

After all, there was the bond of a master and disciple to consider!

So, what could he do to ensure Apollon Joy wouldn\'t turn against him?

While Dean Bruce pondered over this, Apollon Joy didn\'t just sit there waiting. He pressed his hands firmly against the wooden floor and resumed kowtowing. Enjoy reading at m _v _le _mp _yr.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of his forehead hitting the floor echoed in the room. Blood began to flow more freely from Apollon Joy\'s head, the red stark and vivid.

Dean Bruce glanced at him and, seeing his sincerity, nodded. "No need to keep bowing. For now, you\'ll follow me for the next period. If your performance satisfies me, I will accept you as my disciple and pass on the healing spell you saw."

"Not just healing spells—whether you want to learn combat magic, high-level spells, or even Ultra-High-Level spells, I\'ll be able to teach you."

As his words fell, Apollon Joy\'s eyes widened in astonishment, filled with disbelief.

The reason Apollon Joy wanted to become a disciple was purely because his injuries had been healed so swiftly. He hadn\'t expected Dean Bruce to know so many other types of magic!

For a moment, Apollon Joy found it hard to believe.

Dean Bruce\'s words were intended to paint an enticing picture. Seeing Apollon cease his kowtowing, Dean Bruce continued, "It\'s not easy to become my disciple. If you fail to meet my expectations, it simply means that there\'s no fate between us, and we should part ways without further entanglement!"

"Yes, I understand."

Apollon Joy nodded, his emotions in turmoil, his expression appearing somewhat conflicted.

Dean Bruce, however, shifted his gaze to Linda Quirell\'s body, his thoughts racing like lightning.

Why had the person in the shadows released Linda Quirell\'s body?

Was that person so arrogant that they never considered the possibility of defeat and that the body might be left behind?

If they simply needed a puppet to cast spells, they could have used any body. So why choose Linda Quirell in particular?

If the person in the shadows didn\'t know Linda Quirell\'s identity, then his previous assumptions were wrong!

After all, Miranda Joy, being a princess, couldn\'t possibly not recognize the daughter of the empire\'s grand general.

[Three possibilities: First, I guessed wrong, and Miranda Joy has nothing to do with this. Second, Miranda Joy is collaborating with someone else. Third, the current Miranda Joy… is an imposter!]

Considering these three possibilities, Dean Bruce began to deliberate whether or not to increase his precautions for the next steps.

While Dean Bruce was lost in thought, Apollon Joy approached the body controlled by Shelly William and whispered, "Linda, though we were never really friends before, we\'ve met a few times. Do you have to be so cold?"

"Now we\'re in the same boat. How did you manage to escape? And who\'s behind this? Can you share some information with me?"

"…"

Seeing that Apollon Joy was about to start rambling on and on, Shelly William\'s eyes narrowed, and with a subtle use of magical power, a fierce pressure descended, instantly silencing Apollon Joy. He awkwardly closed his mouth, offering a sheepish smile.

If Dean Bruce weren\'t present, Apollon would have certainly erupted in anger. After all, his identity was nothing to scoff at.

In this magical world, even if power was more important than influence, authority still held more weight than it did in the modern world Dean Bruce hailed from!

If your status wasn\'t on par with others, you\'d naturally be beneath them!

Time flowed by, and soon sunlight poured through the windows, illuminating the entire room.

Placing the now-glowing stone aside, Dean Bruce ended his contemplation and woke up Nicholas William, summoning everyone to head downstairs.

The innkeeper woman had already prepared breakfast, filling the table to the brim. She then retreated respectfully to the side, maintaining a distance from Dean Bruce and his group.

However, Dean Bruce keenly noticed that her gaze frequently drifted towards Linda Quirell\'s body.

Shelly William sensed the woman\'s gaze lingering on him and, though unable to speak aloud, he immediately sent a telepathic message: "That innkeeper is suspicious. Her eyes are shifty, and her mental energy is constantly focused on me. Should I kill her?"

Hearing this, Dean Bruce shook his head.

Whether or not the woman had any ulterior motives, they couldn\'t make a move on her right now!

They simply didn\'t have enough information. If they acted rashly and ended up killing her, wouldn\'t they lose yet another clue?

After finishing their meal, Dean Bruce gestured for the group to leave. Just as they stepped out of the inn, he abruptly turned around, catching the innkeeper\'s gaze directly.

In that instant, fear flashed across the woman\'s eyes, and she hastily lowered her head.

Dean Bruce narrowed his eyes. He finally understood why he had found her so strange!

Everything she did seemed to be an act!

The fear in her eyes… was always exactly the same!

But in reality, a person\'s expression changes constantly; it\'s impossible for someone to exhibit the exact same emotion every time.

In other words, she was deliberately putting on this facade.

[I can\'t let her die. If we lose this clue, do I have to stage a whole play just to capture her alive?]

While these thoughts swirled in his mind, Dean Bruce kept his face impassive. He shut the inn\'s front door and then urged Apollon Joy to lead the way as they headed toward the Gold family\'s estate.

With so many people around, they had to be cautious in gathering information. They couldn\'t ride horses as it would attract too much attention.

It must be said, having a local guide was incredibly useful. Even though there were patrols regularly marching through the city during the day, Apollon Joy\'s directions allowed them to weave seamlessly between the soldiers, slipping into narrow alleyways and making their way onto the next street.

Thanks to recent rumors of hauntings, the city\'s residents kept their doors and windows tightly shut, allowing the group to move through the streets unimpeded as they drew closer to the palace.

After donning disguises and receiving Dean Bruce\'s polymorph spell, Apollon Joy sighed, "Finally, I\'m back at the palace. It\'s a pity that the Gold family has betrayed me. Otherwise, I could have returned to the palace and immediately mobilized the troops to crush the mastermind behind all this!"

After his lament, Apollon Joy turned to look toward the other side and whispered, "Although the Gold family\'s estate isn\'t inside the palace itself, it\'s tightly connected to it. Nearly every corner is guarded by soldiers, with fixed sentry posts. To get close, we\'d either have to take out those guards or use special magic like invisibility to sneak past them."

"What… what do you plan to do?"

Apollon Joy spoke up again, cautioning, "Remember, even though those soldiers don\'t participate in the patrols, other patrol units occasionally pass by. If you\'re going to take action against them, you must be quick! Once the patrol soldiers notice anything, the entire palace—including the Gold family—will go on high alert!"

Hearing this, Nicholas William instinctively glanced toward Linda Quirell\'s body, opened his mouth to speak, but then remembered that Apollon Joy wasn\'t exactly an ally yet. He couldn\'t risk exposing any information.

Fortunately, Shelly William understood what Nicholas William meant and immediately sent a telepathic message to Dean Bruce, "I know an invisibility spell that can cloak everyone in the group!"

[Hmm? Is invisibility a group-wide effect?]

Hearing this, Dean Bruce\'s mind stirred. If he remembered correctly, he had obtained a magic scroll for an invisibility spell during his last draw!

As for why he didn\'t let Shelly William cast the spell?

It was because Shelly William was a spirit. Right now, he could only control Linda Quirell\'s body for basic movements. To cast real magic, the spirit itself needed to channel the power. But if he did that, the differing energies between the spirit and body would accelerate their separation. This would easily be detected by those with keen senses.

Dean Bruce was still planning to use Linda Quirell\'s body to deceive the mastermind and lure them out. How could he risk exposing such an obvious flaw?

Shaking his head, Dean Bruce said calmly, "Don\'t worry about it. Just lead the way, and I\'ll handle things when the time comes."

Upon hearing this, Apollon Joy, having only recently met Dean Bruce, didn\'t think much of it. But Nicholas William and Shelly William couldn\'t help but feel an even deeper sense of admiration and respect.