Chapter 62: An Eligible Third Investment?

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: An Eligible Third Investment?

She desperately wanted to stop her. She could not possibly allow Grant and Evelyn to discover Lydia’s existence.

But while she was struggling to figure out how to handle the situation, a deep bell rang from within the palace. The sound rolled across the wilderness like thunder.

Mira, Grant, and Evelyn all froze. For several seconds their minds seemed to go blank. Then they finally regained their senses.

Grant’s expression changed.

"What’s happening?" he demanded.

A rumbling sound came from the distance.

Then another. And another.

Dust began rising along the horizon, and countless figures emerged from every direction.

Monsters. Dozens. Hundreds. More and more continued to appear.

Among them were creatures whose auras were even more terrifying than the giant lion they had encountered earlier, and they were all rushing toward the palace.

It was as though the bell had summoned every monster within the surrounding region.

Grant’s face became grim.

"Our way back is blocked," he said.

The three of them had been completely surrounded.

Evelyn swallowed nervously.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Grant’s expression was equally ugly. With this many monsters approaching from every direction, attempting to fight their way back was practically suicide.

Then Mira looked toward the palace.

"Go inside," she said.

Grant turned toward her.

"What?" he asked.

"We have no other choice," Mira said, pointing toward the entrance.

The palace gates, which had been completely sealed moments earlier, had somehow opened.

Only slightly, but the gap was clearly large enough for them to enter. And the nearest monsters were already less than a kilometer away.

There was no time left to deliberate. If they remained outside, the monster tide would swallow them. If they entered the palace, at least there was a chance of survival.

Grant clenched his teeth.

"Move!" he shouted, immediately sprinting toward the entrance.

As he ran, he looked back at the two women. "I’ll enter first. Stay close, but don’t take unnecessary risks. If something happens inside, don’t worry about me. Just get yourselves out."

His decision was not motivated by a desire to claim the inheritance first. He was prepared to put himself between danger and the two women if necessary.

The three rushed through the palace gates. The moment they entered, the monsters outside abruptly stopped.

They remained roughly a hundred meters from the palace, pacing restlessly but refusing to move any closer, as if an invisible rule prevented them from crossing that boundary.

Grant finally released the breath he had been holding.

"Thank goodness," he said.

Evelyn placed a hand against her chest.

"They didn’t follow us," she breathed.

She had barely finished speaking when her face suddenly changed. The previously silent hall had come alive. Voices echoed from every direction.

"How dare you enter the palace of the Empress of the Sharia Dynasty!"

"Kneel!"

"Kneel!"

"Kneel before the Queen!"

"Submit!"

"Submit!"

"SUBMIT!"

The countless voices overlapped until they became one deafening roar. The sound shook the entire hall, and then an invisible pressure descended.

Grant’s knees buckled. Evelyn’s face went pale as an overwhelming force pressed down on her body. Neither of them could even lift their heads.

Mira was affected as well. She gritted her teeth and tried to resist. But before she could fight back, Lydia could no longer endure it. She rushed out from within Mira’s body.

* * *

Outside the palace, another figure had been quietly watching everything.

Xavier Kane. He had followed his wife from a distance the entire time, never allowing himself to get too close.

The moment he saw Mira enter the palace, he naturally moved toward the entrance as well.

But he had not even reached the gates when a small white creature suddenly appeared in front of him. It looked like a tiger, yet it was barely larger than a puppy. Its entire body was covered in pristine white fur.

The tiny beast glared at Xavier with unmistakable hostility. Then it stepped directly into his path.

The tiny white tiger was furious.

For as long as it could remember, guarding the palace had been its only purpose. It had been asleep for an extremely long time and had only awakened a few days ago, yet when it opened its eyes, most of its memories were already gone. It could no longer remember where it came from, and it could not even remember why it had been given the name Snow.

There was only one thing that remained deeply rooted in its mind. Protect the palace.

Wait for the palace master to awaken. And prevent any humans from entering before that happened.

Who was the palace master?

Why was Snow responsible for guarding this place?

Where had it come from in the first place? It had no answers.

Still, something deep within its blood told it that once the palace master awakened, all of those mysteries would finally be explained.

Unfortunately, before that day came, Snow had already encountered a major problem. It had left the palace for only a short while to wander around, and when it returned, three humans had somehow gotten inside. Its home had been invaded!

How could Snow possibly tolerate that?

Those humans had not undergone the trials required to enter. They had simply walked straight inside! That was completely unacceptable.

Therefore, Snow immediately decided to drag them back outside and force them to undergo the test properly.

After all, over the past few days it had already discovered something strange. The numerous demonic beasts surrounding the palace could not enter it.

Only Snow could freely cross the boundary. That meant removing the intruders was its responsibility.

With that thought in mind, the little white tiger hurried toward the palace square. It had barely reached the entrance when another human suddenly appeared in front of it. Snow stopped, its tiny body stiffening. Then it lifted its head and let out an angry growl.

"Awoo!"

Its golden eyes narrowed. This human had come at exactly the wrong time. Snow was already prepared to stop him and force him to take the test as well.

But then something completely unexpected happened.

The young man simply stared at it for a moment before raising one hand. A strange black and white glow slowly gathered above his palm.

Snow froze. Its nose twitched. Then it sniffed again.

That smell... what was it?

It was unbelievably fragrant. The little tiger’s expression changed instantly. Its anger disappeared, its eyes widened, and saliva began to drip from the corner of its mouth.

Whatever that black and white energy was, Snow instinctively knew one thing.

It was delicious.

The young man slowly extended his hand, and the mysterious energy floated directly in front of Snow.

The little tiger stared at it for barely a second before opening its mouth, and the wisp of chaotic energy disappeared into its stomach with a soft whoosh.

Snow’s eyes immediately brightened.

"Awoo!" it barked, a satisfied burp escaping its mouth.

Then, completely abandoning its previous hostility, the tiny white tiger rolled happily across the ground. It had just eaten something delicious, and more importantly, its instincts were telling it that the human standing before it posed no threat.

So there was no reason to remain cautious.

A strange smile appeared on Xavier’s face as he watched the little white tiger rolling around like an oversized ball of fur.

A notification appeared in his mind.

[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully invested one wisp of chaotic energy!]

[A 20x return has been triggered!]

[Reward: 20 wisps of chaotic energy!]

Xavier’s eyes immediately lit up.

"So this is another investment target," he murmured.

He had not expected to discover one so quickly, and this time the target was not even human. It was a demonic beast.

He had originally only given the little tiger a wisp of chaotic energy because the system had issued a prompt the moment he encountered it.

According to the system, the little white tiger possessed extraordinary Destiny, and its bloodline was none other than the Star-Devouring Demon God.

That made it his third eligible investment target.

His first target had been Mira. His second was Lydia. Now he had encountered a third. There was no chance Xavier would simply walk away.

Besides, when he arrived, he had already glanced through the palace entrance.

Mira, Grant, and Evelyn were still alive and did not appear to be in immediate danger, which allowed him to temporarily put them out of his mind and focus on the tiger.

For now, the mysterious little tiger in front of him was far more interesting.

Xavier had merely wanted to experiment. He had extended a strand of chaotic energy toward it, never expecting the previously hostile beast to become friendly so quickly.

Now that he knew the chaotic energy worked on it, another thought immediately surfaced.

Simply feeding it chaotic energy isn’t enough. If I keep doing that, it’ll end up like Lydia.

Xavier rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The name Star-Devouring Demon God had caught his attention. Star-devouring.

That sounded like something with an enormous appetite. If chaotic energy worked, perhaps pills would work too? There was only one way to find out.

Xavier reached into his spatial ring and took out a Star God Pill, placing it on the ground.

Snow immediately became interested. The little tiger lowered its head and sniffed the pill, seeming to regard it as another kind of food.

After licking it experimentally, it swallowed the pill whole.