I thought.

You may have forgotten someone.

While Lan Qi was in the Shadow World, there was someone in the real world who was living in a state of misery every day.

Lan Qi had already closed the three-week Shadow World livestream and hadn't opened it again.

Principal Loren now holds a press conference every other day, bowing an average of five times a day. In most of the newspaper photos, he looks like he's sweating and wants to die.

Today is the twenty-eighth day that Lan Qi Wilford, a student of the Council of Sages of the Icrete Academy, Hyperion Alanzal, and a Seventh-Order Bread have entered the Seventh-Order Shadow World together.

Hutton Kingdom, the royal capital Icrete, Old Brie Tribunal.

In this magnificent and ancient courtroom, light streams through the glass windows from the high ceiling, casting a solemn hue.

The Old Brie Court was originally established a century ago as a criminal court near the city walls of Icrete.

Its name comes from the street on which it is located, Old Brie Street, which extends along the line of the ancient city wall of Icrete for a full two kilometers.

The history of the tribunal can be traced back to at least Solar Calendar 1605, but the current building was rebuilt in 1702. In the early days, it mainly dealt with cases of petty criminals, but gradually developed into a center for handling major criminal cases.

The statue of the God of Light and Law stands at the end of the hall, as if her gaze is also watching the upcoming hearing.

In the center of the hall.

Loren stood wearing a black suit, white shirt, and gold tie, with rhombus-shaped cross saintly glow patterns on the buttons and collar.

His figure seemed particularly isolated.

As the center of criminal justice in the Hutton Kingdom, the Old Brie Court is one of the most important criminal trial centers, handling cases including murder, fraud, terrorism, and other major crimes.

Many historically famous cases have been tried here, covering terrorists, serial killers, and important political cases.

The façade of the modern Old Brie Court building is decorated with sculptures of several grand justices, representing justice, courage, and wisdom. The interior of the court is decorated with traditional wooden paneling and heavy red curtains, and the judge's seat is towering and full of authority.

Under normal circumstances, Loren would be invited to sit on the judge's bench.

Now, he was looking at the judge's bench.

Ludmilla, the student council secretary in the public gallery, put away her pen and notebook, unable to continue writing.

As a reporter for *The Hutton Times* and a senior of Lan Qi and Hyperion, she has been following the Shadow World-related content of the Icrete Academy every day recently.

The court's hearings are usually open to the public and are an important reflection of the legal transparency and impartiality of the Hutton Kingdom.

Due to handling many high-profile cases, the Old Brie Court is often closely watched by the media and has even become the focus of many overseas reports and analyses.

Ludmilla also felt that the seats next to her were filled with reporters from other countries in the Kingdom United Parliament.

She glanced slightly at the notebook of the reporter next to her.

She saw—"Judgment Day Revealed: Loren, the Truth Behind the Disaster and the Mystery of His Fate."

Ludmilla: "..."

Ludmilla silently took out her notebook, crossed out the news title she had originally written, and changed it to: "The Mystery of Judgment Day: The Man Behind the Disaster—Loren, Hero or Sinner? His Secret Will Shock the Entire Kingdom!"

The Old Brie Court and the cases it has handled often appear in various literary works and dramas in the Southern Continent, such as many detective dramas.

So this has also become a pretty good place to find material, not just an important landmark in Hutton Kingdom's judicial history.

Finally, the bells began to ring.

The thin light, the heavy atmosphere, condensed into an almost tangible entity.

The walls were no longer light-colored shelters, but became the faces of the judges, silently pressuring Loren in the center of the courtroom.

For this hearing, opposite the semi-circular hearing platform, the judges from various high-level departments were already seated. Not only officials from the Southern Continent Kingdom United Parliament, the Shadow World Management Association, the Southern Continent Disaster Prevention Agency, the Hutton Kingdom Security Bureau, and other departments, but also the dignitaries of Hutton were packed into the seats.

"Now that student at Icrete Academy is treading on thin ice with every step. As an amateur, he has to take charge of the behemoth of the Pulante Empire in its long history. The hearts of the people and the parliament are like two fierce beasts. No matter how cautiously he tries to balance these two forces, he can only attend to one thing and lose sight of the other, and may even lose both. It is almost impossible to increase military strength or finances in a short period of time."

The sound of discussion from the jury echoed in the dim conference room, like the whispers of ghosts.

"The Seventh-Order Shadow World is not simple. The solidified structure of the parliament is like an unshakable fortress. The entire Pulante Empire is a cage, and that northern continent looks like a dead end."

"Student Loren is probably already collapsing and dare not open the Shadow World recording program again."

The experts' conclusions were like a series of blockbuster bombs, constantly exploding in the courtroom, shocking everyone's hearts.

As the presiding judge rang the start of the meeting, these voices came to an abrupt end, and a repressive silence enveloped the entire space.

Loren took a deep breath, trying to calm the fluctuations in his heart.

He had learned to endure questioning.

Although there were many people close to him and worried about him on the judge's bench and in the audience, that was only a small part, unable to withstand the storm of public opinion.

"Loren, do you know why you are standing here today? The three-week deadline has passed, and we still cannot predict the progress and failure rate of this Seventh-Order Shadow World. As the person primarily responsible for the accident that may cause a major disaster, how will you be responsible for your actions?"

Duke Akarez, the Minister of Justice of the Hutton Kingdom, one of the judges on the judge's bench, spoke solemnly.

As the head of the Hutton Kingdom Security Bureau, he even had reason to suspect that Loren might be colluding with foreign Rebirth Church organizations.

Because more and more evidence recently proves that Duke Micahya has an inseparable connection with the Bishop of the Night, and before Duke Micahya disappeared, he had a close personal relationship with Loren.

If Duke Micahya is really the Bishop of the Night of the Rebirth Church, it is hard to believe that Loren is actually unaware.

Loren's throat felt like it was blocked by something.

"Respected judges, I...I am deeply aware of my responsibilities, but please allow me to explain...I am deeply aware of the personal abilities of this student, Lan Qi Wilford. He has unique Shadow World abilities, and as early as nearly a year ago, he defeated the Saintess of Destruction..."

He remained calm and discussed his thoughts.

"But I guarantee that if Lan Qi really causes any accident, as his teacher, and also due to dereliction of duty in failing to restrain him, it is all my responsibility."

Just as Loren answered, one side of the courtroom lit up, and a crystal ball-shaped magic device began to rotate, projecting the last scene left by the Shadow World livestream three weeks ago.

The magical engineering record projection allowed everyone to clearly see the last situation of the Shadow World that they could currently know.

"The biggest problem now is that if the Shadow World fails midway, it does not necessarily have to wait until its expected forty-five days to end when the conditions for success cannot be met and a natural disaster occurs. In these three weeks, a natural disaster may suddenly occur every day due to the failure of this Seventh-Order Shadow World. Loren, can you really bear this responsibility?"

Duke Akarez pressed.

Now, it was not just Loren, but he, who was in the same camp as Loren, or rather, many high-level officials in the Hutton Kingdom, were under the same huge pressure from the outside world.

The citizens in the audience held their breath and exchanged glances from time to time, their expressions changing from suspicion to thought, and from thought to confusion.

"I am ready at any time to do my best to make up for all mistakes. I will not evade any responsibility."

Loren's voice echoed in the hall, each of his words seeming to be fighting against fate.

In this hearing that was both a trial and a defense, truth, responsibility, and redemption, every word became unusually heavy.

As the sun rose completely, the hearing that had been convened in the early morning finally came to an end.

When the hearing announced its first adjournment, everything fell silent again.

Loren slowly walked off the hearing platform. At this moment, he looked even more tired than after fighting the Cardinal, as if he was already numb.

Even the Ice Witch, who was disguised as a citizen in the audience, couldn't help but feel sorry for Loren.

She had been staying in the Church of the Goddess of Destiny in Icrete these days, and she and Loren would see each other every day.

She couldn't bear to put any more pressure on Loren.

Even though she had been worried about Hyperion every day these days, she couldn't sleep because she was worried about her whereabouts in the Seventh-Order Shadow World.

But at this moment, she only felt that this guy looked too pitifully honest.

No matter how those dignitaries made things difficult for him, he was trying to find a way to take on everything himself and impress and persuade the world with sincerity.

He was completely a nice guy.

No.

The Ice Witch frowned tightly.

The manipulation of the hearts of the people in the Northern Continent and the mad last words of the Saint of Destruction had already revealed the flaws in Loren's plan.

Thinking carefully, if Loren was really the mastermind behind the scenes, his ability to endure humiliation and bear burdens and his seamless acting skills completely conformed to his overall view.

Assuming...all of this was within Loren's expectations, and he knew that everything would be reversed in the future, then...

The Ice Witch couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine and hugged herself.

(End of chapter)