CH 461

“Uh, General Hardy, why are you spitting up blood? … Oh, it’s because Barrett is here.”

When Lin Xiao saw Hardy spit up blood, he looked toward the door and realized it was because the grand marshall arrived. So he slapped his cheeks to perk himself up and looked curiously toward the door.

When Hardy saw his foolish demeanor, it was like he was struck by lightning. He weakly wiped the blood from his mouth and asked.

“W-why?”

“What?” Lin Xiao didn’t hear clearly and glanced at him.

“Why… are you fine?”

The grand marshall’s atmosphere was no joke! How come Lin Xiao was standing there effortlessly when even he had difficulty breathing? Not only did he not feel restricted at all, but he was also even yawning!?

Hardy originally wanted Lin Xiao to make a fool of himself and use it as a reason to chase him away, but now Lin Xiao was fine and he was the one who made a fool of himself!

“Why am I fine? Heh, I just have a strong resistance against stuff like this.” Lin Xiao scratched his head and casually said something then ignored him.

“What? Strong resistance? Damn brat! How dare you…”

Hardy could tell he gave him a perfunctory answer and almost spat blood again! But he could only silently endure it and tried to suppress his injuries.

Actually, Hardy didn’t need to get mad since Lin Xiao wasn’t really just brushing him off, it was the truth.

A mere grand marshall wasn’t even worth mentioning to him. If you want to know why, just think about it, could a grand marshall’s atmosphere compare to the demon king?

Although her demonic aura was suppressed, she still emitted a monarch’s aura and after living together so long, Lin Xiao gradually became resistant to things like that!

No… it wasn’t just as simple as immunity!

During this year, not only was he not scared by her aura, but after all that resistance (training), he even used his gentlemanly (perverted) aura to suppress Elena and made her into his maid!

Just think about how grand of an achievement that is!

Throughout history, after numerous generations of heroes, none of them have been able to subdue the demon king, and Lin Xiao was able to turn her into an obedient maid!

So this was the way to deal with the demon king?

Numerous years later the books will surely record his legendary feat, how he sacrificed himself to entangle the demon king and bring hundreds of years of peace and prosperity!

Cough, his imagination was running wild… anyways Lin Xiao didn’t care what Hardy thought and started observing the person outside.

As expected of a warring general, even from this distance Lin Xiao could clearly see the horrific scar on his face, from the forehead down past his eye. Barrett still looked energetic but he was actually already in his fifties. As a peak seventh-level warrior his figure was tall and sturdy and he looked massive even from afar, his hair was disheveled and he appeared unkempt, but that still couldn’t hide his atmosphere!

“This guy might not be easy to deal with…”

Lin Xiao exclaimed to himself as he measured him up and down.

Noticing someone observing him, Barrett also looked up to see that black-haired youth and when their sight fell on each other it was like they collided in midair and even Barrett was shaken!

“Who’s that kid?” Barrett quietly asked his subordinate.

“I heard he’s called Lin Xiao, an advisor that the princess specifically invited. Um…. grand marshall, it seems you should stabilize yourself, even the princess is affected.”

“Ah! I almost forgot…”

After Barrett was reminded, he realized he was too impatient and he took a deep breath to calm himself and which also allowed the people in the room to finally relax.

But was his oppressive aura leaking because he was too impatient?

Of course, he did it on purpose!

“It seems like they haven’t grown at all…”

Barrett stepped into the meeting room and observed their embarrassing states and sighed.

The officials from the peace faction always stay in the back-lines and don’t know the cruelty of war, they were so weak that they couldn’t even endure a bit of his aura, how embarrassing… just take a look at the finance minister Taike, he was sprawled out on the table and gasping for breath like he almost died.

The only one he was pleased with was Claire. Even though she was also affected, she was able to maintain her consciousness and she didn’t easily admit defeat as she clenched her jaws and endured it.

Other than that, he was also curious about someone else.

“You said he was called Lin Xiao, and Claire invited him?”

“That’s right.”

“Who is he?”

“Just a normal investigator.”

“If he was just a normal investigator and at such a young age, how was he completely unaffected and he was even able to observe me?”

“What? Are you serious?”

The subordinate looked up in shock at Lin Xiao and couldn’t believe he had such strong determination!

“That Lin Xiao kid isn’t normal.”

Unlike Hardy, Barrett was quickly able to notice Lin Xiao’s differences. On the surface, that kid looked like he was lazily leaning against the back of Claire’s chair and dozing off, but in actuality, he was continuously observing everyone’s reactions, Barrett even noticed that it looked like he was standing while protecting Claire in case of an ambush.

Strong determination, excellent observation skills, and unpredictable strength… Barrett was not fooled at all by his age and appearance and already saw him as an opponent that could be his equal!

“Grand marshall, aren’t you overestimating him? He’s just a brat, what kind of abilities could he have?” The subordinate contemptuously smiled and ended up getting strictly reprimanded.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover! From now on, you guys aren’t to have any direct conflict with Lin Xiao during the meeting, wait until I get to know him… do you understand?”

“Y-yes!” After seeing the grand marshall get angry, the subordinate trembled and quickly passed Barrett’s orders down.

They didn’t need to converse, just a simple look and they both saw each other as a strong enemy that had to be carefully dealt with! But who knows who will have the last laugh during this meeting…

The short-lived storm quickly passed and Barrett lead a line of people into the meeting room and filled up the remaining seats with Claire in the middle, Hardy and the peace faction on the right, and Barrett’s war faction on the left. It was clear that there was a vicious battle brewing.

The meeting has now officially started!

“Oh? General Hardy, what’s that?” Barrett pointed to the thick documents curiously.

“Uncle Barrett, that’s their plan.”

Claire was rather respectful towards Barrett as she simply went over what had happened earlier, and how Hardy suggested the plan that she found issues with.

After hearing that, he didn’t ridicule Hardy’s foolishness and was secretly surprised and everyone else that sat down was the same and saw Lin Xiao in a different light!

They all knew that there was no way Claire could have found the issues with Hardy’s plans by herself, that must have all been the advisor Lin Xiao!

Thankfully Lin Xiao was here, otherwise if Hardy got the initiative on Claire first, then it would be hard for him to recover it!

Barrett looked up and glanced at Lin Xiao and when their eyes met, it was like Lin Xiao was saying, ‘No need to thank me, I won’t only reject Hardy’s plans, I’ll do the same with yours!’

Alright kid, I want to see what you have up your sleeve!

Barrett was riled up by his look and attacked!

“Princess, please increase the military spending, and support the front-lines… I can surely help you eliminate the rebels!”

Barrett got straight to the point and stated his viewpoints!