Formal Visit
A fleet of vehicles slowly drove out of Wox City. Leylin turned to look at the city, a ruminating smile about his lips.
The Atlan Union’s operation had dealt a huge blow to both the Mobius Organisation and the Triserpent Sect.
As he had found the opponent’s headquarters and killed a Star rank, the eastern line that Schiker was in charge of was instantly rewarded by the leader. Now, they were heading back to the headquarters of the Atlan Union to have their merits evaluated after giving their reports.
Within another vehicle, Schiker’s injuries had pretty much healed and he watched Martin, deep in thought and sitting upright. He restrained himself for a while, before he could not help himself and asked, “Uncle Martin, what are you thinking about?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.” Martin seemed to recover from his daze and looked tired.
“I’m letting my imagination run wild in my old age,” he laughed, mocking himself. “The opponent this time is from another world. I keep having a feeling that if not for his being injured, I might just have…”
“Hss…” Schiker sucked in deeply, “Someone as powerful as Uncle Martin! How about the person who injured him?”
“Exactly! The mysterious person who exchanged blows with him is a giant threat, but no matter how hard I tried to find them, I couldn’t find any traces…” Martin rubbed his brows.
What worried him more was that with his intuition as a Star rank, he had a feeling that something big was going to happen at the Holy Solar Festival. However, there seemed to be a veil that he could not see through.
“With the head around, who else could create trouble? I’m thinking too much into this…” Martin chuckled, and closed his eyes to get more rest, not realising there was someone watching him from the outside.
“Tsk tsk… Tenth level of Fireplume! I really want to use him as a guinea pig and do some research…” Leylin withdrew his gaze.
Martin was obviously an existence that had broken through to the Star rank, and in Leylin’s eyes, was like a specimen with very high research value.
If he were to make a move on the sly, he had a very good chance of taking him down and obtaining the secret of the tenth level of Fireplume.
However, for the greater benefits, Leylin restrained himself.
Besides, even regular contact throughout the day was enough for the A.I. Chip to gather data on the energy undulations and forcefield of the Emberwing, speeding up the simulation of the tenth level.
……
The sacred land of the Emberwings that was also the capital of the Atlan Union— Tylasus City appeared before Leylin.
As the Holy Solar Festival was fast approaching, the whole city was in a state of merriment, with multicoloured streamers everywhere.
In Leylin’s eyes, Tylasus City was not that vast, but since it was constructed on cliffs and precipices, it gave one the feeling of it being a boundless city in the sky.
Red floating feathery cotton-like items floated down into the city like snow.
Schiker and Martin parted ways at the entrance to the city, and brought Leylin and Loke to another area.
Passing through a large square and a commemoratory forest full of large stone sculptures, Schiker arrived at a building as large and as majestic as a palace, the whole body made of some sort of white jade.
“This is the leader’s residence?” Loke’s voice trembled, as if extremely emotional. Leylin, however, shot him a discreet glance. This spy from the Mobius Organisation, which was also Jupiter’s Lightning, was probably targeting this place. That excitement was probably not feigned.
Leylin, on the contrary, had a change in expression when looking over this residence, as a trace of solemness appeared in his eyes.
In his line of sight, there were powerful energy lights all over the residence, as well as many probing spells and the like. This was a normal sight.
However, there seemed to be a terrifying feeling emanating from within the residence. This aura was scalding hot and dense, where the radiation from powerful fire elemental particles was felt.
A humming sound pervaded the area as the world seemed to come to a standstill in Leylin’s eyes. Everything was monochrome, and there were distortions in the lines of the building. Eye-piercing red lights constantly leaked out to form an ancient fire phoenix that faced the sky and gave a long cry.
*Chirp!* This fire phoenix was almost alive, eyes filled with wit as it glanced in Leylin’s direction.
Surprised, Leylin immediately curbed all the undulations from his body, where his soul force holed up within his point mass.
A great heat wave swept past, and red rays of light flashed in Leylin’s eyes, causing him to momentarily be dazed.
“What’s wrong, Ley?” Schiker immediately noticed him acting oddly and turned around, looking concerned.
After all that had happened, he now treated Leylin as his trusted aide, and even depended on him more than Loke. They had a very good relationship.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about how we’re going to see the magnificent leader of the state, so I was somehow lost in thought!” Leylin still looked slightly distracted but had obviously regained his senses. It seemed that only Schiker had seen him in that state.
“Haha!” Schiker patted Leylin in understanding, causing a trace of jealousy to arise in Loke’s expression.
“Lord Schiker!” The guards at both sides of the residence saluted with their bodies straight, not hindering Leylin and his group. It was obvious that they had known of Schiker’s identity beforehand.
“Instructor, so you’re the son of the leader! It’s truly an honour to be able to serve you…” Loke entered the resistance, so stirred up that he seemed about to spit foam.
In order to get these two talents to submit more wholeheartedly, Schiker had revealed his identity as the leader’s son on the way to Tylasus.
In actuality, while he’d assumed that his identity was kept secret, Loke and Leylin had long since found out. However, they obviously appeared to be shocked, and were only one step short of grovelling at Schiker’s feet.
“I’m going to bring you to see Father. Remember to be cautious with your words!”
There was no excitement on Schiker’s expression, and his expression instead turning darker. This evidently had to do with his status as the illegitimate child, and Leylin and Loke naturally did not say more.
There was a second wall after they entered the residence. Schiker did not enter directly, but instead brought Leylin and Loke to another area similar to a duty room.
Leylin glanced at the inscriptions beside the room. There was a line of small wording written in black on a red base: Military Office.
‘Could this be the Atlan Union leader’s personal force?’ Leylin could sense the Emberwing undulations from outside the place.
He found that the auras of all the soldiers inside the office were immensely powerful, and none were below the eighth level of Fireplume. He could feel powerful crimson flames in a few other directions, causing his Fireplume at the peak of the ninth level to turn somewhat sluggish.
‘Star ranks! Perhaps only the leader of the Atlan Union will be able to order Star ranks around. He’s probably a rank 5 Magus…’ Leylin wondered.
“I am Schiker, bringing two of my subordinates to see the leader. I’ve made an appointment,” Schiker spoke to a staff member at the military office, passing an emblem-like item over.
The staff member had a stern expression. From the undulations from the ninth level of Fireplume, he was also a peak Sky rank.
Taking Schiker’s emblem, he placed it on a piece of apparatus and scanned it.
*Beep!* The screen on the apparatus leapt up, and showed information on Schiker’s appearance and some other basic details.
He stood up, performing a military salute, “Officer Schiker, you can bring two subordinates inside.”
“Thanks” Ever since Schiker entered the residence, he had spoken sparingly, to the point that every single word was as precious as gold. Leylin and Loke struggled to suppress the excitement in their hearts and followed behind him as a military official led the way.
‘A.I. Chip! Record information on the structure, as well as powerful energy responses. Whether it’s heat, electrons, radiation or chemical reactions, record everything!’ Leylin was inwardly communicating with the A.I. Chip, making the most of his time and creating a topographic map of this residence.
‘The moment those two Kemoyin dukes found out about my status, they immediately threw this job at me while they relaxed. Sigh…’ Leylin rolled his eyes inside, but knew that they had already prepared this operation for a long time. Coming in mid-way of their plans meant he had lucked out, so he did not take this to heart.
‘Firasource stones… This soul treasure is only distributed from the residence of the leader. There’s definitely something wrong!’ A glint flashed in Leylin’s eyes and withdrew again as he lowered his head and followed the official in front. They passed through several sentries and corners one after another. These security measures were all shown on the surface, and there were probably many more in the unknown.
In actuality, Leylin disapproved of these measures. For the leader, they were probably a burden, and at crucial moments, only his rank 5 strength could suppress everything.
However, this was the anguish of a person occupying the top seat. Even if it was impractical, it was needed for a person befitting his status.
“His Highness, the leader, is inside. You have half an hour!” The official brought Leylin and the others before a large red door and gave a deep bow before retreating.
Schiker took in a deep breath and held the brass handle of the door, “Father!”
“Come in!” The voice was gentle, yet held within an irrefutable intent. Even the air seemed to distort, obstructing the usual operation of rules and physics.
‘There’s a rank 5 inside, but I have the A.I. Chip, as well as Fireplume at the peak of the ninth level as a cover. That’s enough to conceal my original strength!’
Leylin, who had faith in his strength, followed him in.