"Caliph, we cannot let him leave like this!"

Ilam hurried to Saladin's side and said anxiously, "What he did were acts of evil!"

Saladin looked at the stack of books in front of him, picked up the book "Confessions" from it, and opened the pages. Looking around, he found that it was covered with dense annotations.

"Do you remember what this young man, Throat Bone, looked like when you first met him?"

Ilem was taken aback: "First time meeting him?"

“He was like a demon who had just crawled out of hell, with only malice and hatred for the world in his eyes,” Saladin said in a low voice. “At that time, he was pursuing the vision of the end times and longed for the end of the world.”

Ilam gripped his scimitar tightly: "We should have killed him back then!"

Saladin shook his head and said, "He is still that evil spirit, but there is something new in his eyes, something precious."

Ilem gritted his teeth and said, "You wouldn't be letting him go because you value his talent, would you? I dare say that Throat Bone is a menace; sooner or later he will bring disaster to the entire empire!"

Saladin did not answer Ilam's question, but suddenly changed the subject: "I ask you, how much longer do you think I have to live?"

Elem deliberately avoided Saladin's gaze: "What are you talking about?! Your health is improving day by day!"

Saladin laughed and said, "I've told you before, you shouldn't look around when you're lying."

Ilem lowered his head and remained silent.

Saladin then asked, "I ask you again, after my death, who can succeed me and continue to lead the empire into the future? My sons? The Grand Masters? Or some wise governor?"

Ilem opened his mouth slightly, but ultimately remained silent.

“You should be well aware of the dire situation within the empire,” Saladin sighed. “The counterattack of the old imperial forces, the resistance from various religious powers, and the disloyalty of the governors in various regions…”

"This empire appears incredibly powerful, but in reality, it is already riddled with holes."

Ilem said anxiously, "Your Majesty..."

Saladin waved his hand: "Don't try to comfort me. There is no such thing as eternity in this world. Everything has an end... If there is anything that will remain unchanged, then it is only the word 'truth'."

"truth?"

"The laws of all things, the laws of the universe, the meaning of life... I believe that behind all of this, there exists a cruel yet true explanation." Saladin gently closed the Confessions and carefully brushed away the dust on the surface: "And what this young man, Houzi, is doing now is pursuing the truth behind all things, which is why I am unwilling to target him."

"Then what should the Empire do..." asked Elam.

Saladin neatly arranged the books, closed his eyes, and slowly said, "Everything has its reason, and God will arrange it."

In the dark and damp basement, Karin, who had lost her sight, groped her way forward.

With a thud, she bumped into something hard and fell to the ground.

The strange, gurgling noises coming from ahead made Karin recognize the source of the noises—the mute yet incredibly strong strange man.

Get out of my way!

Karin struggled to her feet, trying to go around in another direction, but bumped into the strange man again.

Enraged, Karin kicked the strange man, only to find that he didn't budge and remained blocking her way.

"I've already said it! Get out of my way!"

The strange man let out a series of whimpering pleas, but still did not move aside.

Just as Karin was feeling the ground, preparing to find something to attack, an old voice made her stop.

"Don't make things difficult for him."

Karin straightened up, turned her head towards the direction of the voice, and said in disbelief, "I recognize your voice, you are... Master Myris?!"

The emaciated Myris emerged from the darkness. He stood before Karin, looking at her once innocent and naive face, and sighed deeply: "Fate has brought you back to us once again."

Karin excitedly grabbed Myris's sleeve: "How did you get here? Where is this place? Can you take me out of here?"

Mylis helped Karin up and sat her back down on the stone bed, saying softly, "Child, let's tell you slowly."

“We found you barely alive during the fire in Tero City and brought you back for treatment,” Myris said softly. “You had extensive burns all over your body; it’s a miracle you survived.”

Karin remained silent for a while, then touched her face and said, "What about my eyes?"

"I will do my best to treat you, but I cannot guarantee that you will regain your sight."

Karin lowered her head, suppressing her sorrow, and said, "I want to go back to Twilight City."

Mylis shook his head slightly: "Next is the second thing I need to say. I can't send you back right now."

"Why?"

"Because this is Baghdad, the capital of the Southern Empire."

Karin was stunned.

Myris continued, "Above us is the military heart of the entire empire, with soldiers patrolling constantly every day. From here, forget about escaping; even sending a letter out is as difficult as climbing to the sky."

Karin was a little confused: "But how did we get here? Why are you all here...?"

Myris replied, "I have some reasons why I must stay here for a while."

After processing this information for a long time, Karin asked again, "Why can't I use my powers here?"

"The building materials here are very special. They are a magnetic ore from the Supuha Mountains that can suppress the exertion of any supernatural abilities. This is one of the methods the Southern Empire uses to deal with alien species."

"So, this is a prison?"

Not entirely.

"I do not understand."

"You don't need to understand."

Myris stood up and said to Karin, "But I have good news, and I guess this is also thanks to Todd. You now have regeneration and physical enhancement abilities, and your wounds are healing faster, which is a good thing."

Karin suddenly asked, "Besides you and me, there's another person in this room. Who is he?"

Mylis turned his gaze to the strange man and opened his mouth as if to speak.

What Karin couldn't see was that the strange man was frantically waving and shaking his head at Myris, as if afraid of revealing his identity.

Myris sighed heavily: "He...he's just one of my servants, responsible for taking care of your food and daily needs...you can trust him."

Karin nodded and didn't say anything more.