Today was Gustav's meeting with the upper echelon within the Zaliban group, and he had already made plans.
He and Lydia arrived before a massive mirror structure a few minutes later. It was just a single floored building, but it was quite tall and majestic. It was similar to an upside-down cone in look.
There were several Zaliban troops roaming about the vicinity, and this place seemed secluded from other places within Region twenty-six.
There were no other structures to be seen around it. It was situated in the middle of a green-colored lake, making it look like the structure was standing on an island.
Technically it was still an island since it was surrounded by a body of water, but it only had enough space to contain the structure.
Gustav and Lydia walked across the bridge-like platform that led to the structure's entrance.
——–
Minutes later, within a large board room, a massive diamond structure table could be seen positioned in the middle. Six luxurious-looking seats that could be mistaken for old thrones were positioned around the table, and four middle-aged-looking men and one woman were seated on it. The seat on the other end of the table was empty.
Gustav stood at the side of the forefront with his helmet taken off while Lydia stood by his side.
Of course, the face everyone could see was Akeem's, and they were currently engaging in a conversation with Gustav.
"It's good to see that you're back, but I hope the information you have for us today is truly something worth the time of everyone here," The man seated at the forefront side of the table voiced out. Gustav was currently standing on his left side while Lydia stood on his right.
He had short blonde hair and a long goatee that reached the middle of his chest area. This was Lydia's father, and the other four seated on the other sides were the upper echelon of the Zalibans.
The two men sitting on the right side of the table were Vice Leader Furlan and Adviser Usman. The man and woman on the left were Chief Supervisor San and Chief strategist Ulzrha. While Lydia's father, Sir Timothy, was known as the head of the Zalibans.
He was the highest power, but that didn't make the others in the room any less powerful. The three governing bodies were like the backing in the background; they never revealed themselves.
However, Gustav had told Sir Timothy the other day that one of the three governing bodies must be in attendance at today's meeting, and he specifically mentioned Chief Brisk Ali.
Gustav proceeded to answer that he truly did have a crucial piece of information and even added that knowing this might turn the tide of the battle, including that it was related to why the opposing groups were starting to win against them.
At this point, all five of them were intrigued and asked Gustav to go on with what he was going to tell them.
"That chair is still empty," Gustav voiced out while pointing at the last chair on the other end of the table.
"Chief Ali is running late, but he'll be here soon enough. He's always like this," Vice Leader Furlan voiced out from the side.
"You can just go ahead and start giving us the piece of information you have for us," Chief strategist Ulzrha voiced out with a slightly aged but strong feminine tone.
"If I began disclosing any information now, how would he understand by the time he arrives? I'll rather just wait till he's here," Gustav stated.
"We'll bring him up to speed on the development of things. Don't waste any more of our time. We all want to know what this piece of information is," Adviser Usman, who seemed to be running out of patience, voiced out.
"I do not wish to explain things twice, so it's best we wait," Gustav sounded as respectful as he could, not wanting to stir up any suspicions, but he didn't know he already sounded quite demanding, especially in the presence of the strongest powers within the Zalibans.
Lydia had expressed several times that she felt Akeem was different from before for several reasons. One of them was the fact that Akeem was quite respectful and wasn't really the commanding type.
Gustav, who was just playing the role of someone he knew nothing about, had been quite commanding and straight with his use of words. Lydia knew Akeem wouldn't be able to speak boldly in such a place which was why she was surprised Gustav had stayed this long without disclosing the piece of information like they asked him to.
Originally, Akeem wouldn't think twice before he began narrating all he knew after hearing their command, but Gustav was just using all these to stall for time.
Especially with the fact that this was all a ruse and he didn't have much to say anyway. He wouldn't want to blow his cover before his target arrived.
"Young man, you cannot…" Adviser Usman seemed to be getting pissed off as he voiced out, but before he could complete his sentence, Sir Timothy chipped in.
"Let's all calm down… Akeem, why don't you start with why you were missing for two months. That way, you won't be giving out any crucial information before the arrival of Chief Brisk Ali," Sir Timothy suggested with a mild tone.
"Good idea… An entire squad disappeared along with a junior commander. According to the reports, it was Lucuis. Our Leader's daughter also suffered so much thinking you were dead. An explanation is required," Vice Leader Furlan listed out with a tone of curiosity.
"Hmm, alright… This is what happened…" Gustav decided to narrate what he had cooked up previously to them.
He already told Lydia this story, and Lydia would have already narrated it to her father if it wasn't for the fact that she was just meeting him in person after over two months since she secluded herself from everyone after the disclosure of the death news back then.
