Overall, Lawrence is not someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve; otherwise, he wouldn't have endured in silence for ten weeks.

Even when he just spoke targeting Andrew, at most it was sarcasm without truly losing composure.

But now, his expression was quite remarkable.

Because all his targeting of Andrew was based on Orleans being healthy.

Who would've thought... Orleans was injured?!

"Orleans was injured by the Saintess of the Magic Guild?" Dean Charlie exclaimed, "How... how did I not know about this?"

Lady Yi Lian sighed softly, "I just received the news as well."

"Is it serious?" Two voices rang out almost simultaneously.

To everyone's surprise and astonishment, one of these voices asking about Orleans' injury came from Barbara.

And the other was actually from Andrew!

Even though Barbara wasn't very familiar with Orleans before, she knew from a young age that he was likely to be her future professional partner, and added that Orleans always had a good reputation within the Commerce Association, it's only natural for her to be concerned.

As for Andrew... Andrew never really felt much hostility towards Orleans from the beginning!

Debbie may be a ***, but Debbie is Debbie, and Orleans is Orleans.

For a warrior injured in frontline combat, Andrew had no hostility, rather, he naturally held a sense of profound respect.

Asking about the other's injury at this moment was also from the heart, not a deliberate show.

Speaking out at the same time as Barbara was half coincidence, half the resulting rapport from being together for a long time.

Andrew and Barbara didn't feel that this rapport was a big deal.

However, many high-ranking members of the Commerce Association were again moved. Like Lawrence, quite a few didn't want to see Andrew and Barbara in a romantic relationship. They just didn't harbor the same level of targeted malice as Lawrence.

Yet seeing the two young men already having such a level of rapport, even though it was just a small detail, some higher-ups couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: perhaps they really couldn't be separated?

The higher-ups, each being at least Tier Eight strong, could tell at a glance if a junior was putting on a show.

Andrew's earnest inquiry into Orleans' injury, and the fact that Barbara mentioned Andrew suggested Barbara and Orleans form a professional partnership, subtly increased the higher-ups' impression of Andrew.

Some even — like Susan — seriously thought for the first time: what if it's really Andrew? What if this boy truly becomes the future "prince-in-law" of the Commerce Association?

For the first time, they began to seriously consider this possibility rather than instinctively rejecting it.

This subtle psychological shift was quite significant, yet very crucial.

Lady Yi Lian then said, "At least he is not in life-threatening condition; his situation is a bit more optimistic than Peter's."

According to the latest news from the frontline—

Even after being injured, Peter continued to oversee the "Crimson Battle Lance". Despite being severely injured, as long as he was still at the frontline, he naturally posed a threat. Plus, the elder healer had rushed to the spot, bringing with him the Snickers of Tier Four recently created by Andrew, it should be fine.

"As for the other injured, including Orleans, they will soon be sent to the 'Shield of Flowing Fire', with Captain Linda from the Warm Fire Temple already arranging everything," Lady Yi Lian said, "So, you don't need to worry excessively about Orleans' injury."

Everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, thinking it was good that there was no life-threatening danger.

And it seemed not severe enough to affect his future career development and cultivation limit.

"But the problem is…"

Dean Charlie frowned, "What about the Royal Court's negotiations? If Orleans can't participate in the contest, at least one of the three matches will be a virtually guaranteed loss."

Andrew knew the match deemed a guaranteed loss referred to the two-on-two among the younger generation.

After all, they were missing a Tier Four, while the opponents would surely send two Tier Fours into the fray together.

Just then, Jin asked, "Was Orleans really defeated in a one-on-one duel with the Saintess of the Magic Guild?"

This issue was crucial.

Because if that were the case, it would likely mean in the young generation's one-on-one duels in the Royal Court's negotiation contest, they would still lose.

If Orleans couldn't win one-on-one, it would be hard for Barbara to stand a chance.

Lady Yi Lian slowly nodded, "Yes."

Everyone fell silent.

All knew that the second Dual Fire War was bound to happen sooner or later, and many believed the next war would come even sooner than Andrew did, not later.

Preparations for the outbreak of the next war need to begin now.

From the upcoming Royal Court negotiations!

Yet now they faced such a disastrous situation.

"In a one-on-one, the young lady possesses the 'Orange Flame Warm Fire' and wields the 'Warm Fire Order', she may have only recently reached Tier Four, but she might still have fight potential,"

Dean Charlie commented, "The two-on-two contest is the biggest problem now! Even if the opponent's Saintess was also injured by Orleans, there are still three other Tier Four Saint Sons! Any two of them would form a Tier Four pair, and apart from the young lady, we have no other Tier Four young talents to replace Orleans."

The people on site began to discuss.

The topic returned to the Royal Court negotiations.

Even Lawrence temporarily set aside concerns over Andrew and Barbara's romantic relationship.

The urgent crisis was: who could replace the vacancy left by Orleans' injury withdrawal?

Andrew stood by, silently listening.

A phrase lingered at his lips, unspoken: "I actually just reached Tier Four. How about I step in as Barbara's temporary partner for the two-on-two in this negotiation contest?"

He listened as Dean Charlie listed young talents from the Warm Fire Academy, only to have each proposal shot down by other higher-ups from the Commerce Association.

Several times, Andrew could hardly suppress the urge to reveal his attainment of Tier Four!

Yet ultimately could not fully gather the resolve.

Wanting to go to the Royal Court's negotiation was one thing, but representing the Commerce Association in battle was another.

Andrew fell into a moment of hesitation.

As he returned to awareness, seeing the many faces failing to come up with a reliable solution, everyone's expressions became increasingly grim.

Originally, even though the frontline situation was brutal, it had been a stalemate, with Peter capturing the top Grand Mage despite being hurt.

Thus the higher-ups were in pretty decent spirits, otherwise, they wouldn't have had the leisure to bring Andrew and Barbara's relationship issues to the table for the first public discussion.

But after hearing that Orleans was injured and realizing they might face a dilemma with the negotiation contest having no one adequate, everyone thought it was simply terrible.

Andrew shifted his gaze back to Barbara beside him.

He saw that Barbara was not participating in the higher-ups' discussions, just silently listening, with her delicate brows slightly knitted.

Her small fist hanging loosely by her side was tightly clenched.

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