Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
City of Nagadako
Planet Naga
In the middle of the white light shooting up from the volcano into the sky, Garen and company walked out slowly, still recovering from the long-distance teleportation.
They could vaguely hear the soft melody of a violin coming from a distance.
The pure music was accompanied by a heavy and majestic chorus of countless voices, ringing out through the distant sky and swirling in the air above the entire city.
Garen raised his gaze to look into the sky above the capital, and he saw an enormous, spinning round blue stage there. There were countless audience stands suspended around the stage, and as several thousand or even ten thousand audiences watched, the gentle melody of the violin kept coming from the center of the stage.
“May the arriving passengers please leave the teleportation point as soon as possible,” said an electric voice around them.
Garen and his friends followed the crowd out of the volcano, and just like them, the few visitors sparsely scattered around them were mostly looking up at the round board in the sky. That shining blue round stage had attracted these visitors to the City of Nagadako at the first possible moment.
At the exiting elevator, there was a screen displaying some advertised information.
‘The renowned Queen of Violin, Lady Annie Victoria, performs in celebration of the Energy Machinist Ranking Competition.’
“This place is so developed.”
It was Tesna’s first time leaving the planet, so she found everything new and fascinating, looking at the restroom teleportation point beside her with an awestruck expression. “They’re using teleportation even for the restroom, how extravagant!”
In the Blackboard Region, only the higher-ups could enjoy teleportation facilities, but here, even the toilet involved teleportation…
It was Clint and the others’ first time coming here, so they were villagers who had come to the city for the first time. They understood nothing, but they wanted to get a closer look at everything, to better understand what all these things were actually meant to do.
The people around them moved like the tide, making it rather crowded and noisy.
Suddenly, a group of people walked out from another teleportation elevator. They were all dressed in green uniforms, the men well-built, the women devilishly attractive, and they all wore a green shield badge.
“It’s the people from Two-Headed Snake.”
Someone mumbled softly around him.
Garen heard it, and did not stop Clint, Baylon and White Winter, since he knew that Turing would naturally greet the newcomers for him.
But his gaze moved toward the team of Energy Machinists dressed in green, these people had workers whose only job was to open a path for them, preventing others from bumping into them and causing conflict. They were just like celebrities, and it was not long before many young people ran out from goodness knows where, rushing up and clamoring to take a picture with them, or to get their autographs.
Garen and crew were pushed out of the crowd by the security, just to make space for this group to walk.
Separated from the crowd and the security, Garen quickly looked for the relevant information in his Imprint.
Two-Headed Snake—a mid-range Energy Machinist Sect, they definitely had a Level-Eight Guardian, and at least five Non-Falling-Level Elders.
There was already a Non-Falling-Level team coach hidden among the people here, and all the disciples who were here to compete were Inherited Level, be it the men or the women.
“As expected of a mid-range sect.” Garen was silently appreciative.
He compared this group with his own. There was nothing to be said about Clint and Baylon, they were no different from ordinary people without their Mechs, and White Winter was a novice, there was nothing a Level-One Energy Machinist could do. Garen himself and Turing were hiding their auras and energy waves, so they seemed like normal people as well.
Suddenly Garen’s gaze sharpened, he had actually sensed a familiar presence among the group from Two-Headed Snake.
“Hm? This presence?” He frowned abruptly.
“What is it, Brother?” Baylon was constantly observing Garen, so when she saw that he was frowning, she hurriedly asked.
“It’s nothing, let’s go. Do you want to go back to my place first, and settle down a bit before you consider your options?” Garen asked back. They were here now, but Garen knew that Clint and the others could very well have orders from Red Moon, and so it was highly likely that they would operate freely. Although Red Moon was seriously injured right now, he could still wake up occasionally and send them some messages. After all, he had been supplemented with one of his component parts now, and was no longer just a core like before.
It was just as he expected. Clint scratched his head awkwardly.
“Sorry, Bro, we still have some private matters to settle, so we’ll still need to stay here for a bit.”
“What about Lonnie?” Garen looked at Baylon.
“Sorry… Brother, this is for you!” Baylon lowered her head, her expression tortured. Suddenly, she stuffed a small item into Garen’s hands.
“Alright, then,” Garen smiled. However, his face was always on the fiercer side, and smiling made him look scarier than if he had cried. He looked at the small black ring in his hand, it was evidently a Space Ring.
“I’ll leave Turing here to help you guys out, how does that sound?”
“Hehe, thanks a lot, Big Bro!” Clint hurriedly smiled, his expression eager to please.
Suddenly, they heard Red Moon’s voice.
“Get him to help, go to the Great Bronze Hall!” The voice softened and vanished almost as soon as it rang out. Evidently, Red Moon was still incapable of maintaining long-term communication.
“Great Bronze Hall?” Clint and Baylon were both taken aback, and they exchanged a glance. Since Garen had set aside the training method Red Moon gave him without ever practicing it, he could not hear the voice, and only the other three could.
They hurriedly told him the place.
When he heard it, however, Garen frowned.
“Great Bronze Hall?” He knew the place, it was one of the Planet Naga Holy Lord’s old hideouts, an important place for storing bronze crystals. These were delicate times, and he could not show his true powers, so it would be very hard for him to accomplish that.
“I can’t get you in directly, but I can help you guys to apply for a tourist pass.” He knew that Clint and the rest would soon encounter their first greatest enemy, the Non-Falling Demon Lord, Shaunt.
In the process of their bold attempt to retrieve one of Red Moon’s parts from the Great Bronze Hall, they might encounter many challenges and dangers, but this was a path they had to take.
“That’d be more than enough! Thanks, Big Bro!” said Baylon immediately, full of gratitude.
“No problem.” Garen summoned Turing, and told him to pass a message to the Sect. It was still possible for him to use his connections to arrange for a pass, this was a matter he could settle with money.
Once everything was arranged, and the contact methods sorted out, Garen finally split up with Clint and the others.
Only his disciple Tesna was with him now. Both of them took another cab that was teleporting towards the Scarlet Snow Sect.
“Master, where are we going?” asked Tesna in a small voice.
“To meet two friends.”
Garen replied softly.
“Friends?” Tesna felt as though this whole trip was a dream. She really did not understand the world of Energy Machinists and pilots, but she had something of a one-track mind. Her principle was that once she believed in someone, she would believe everything about them. Now, for example, she had absolute faith in Garen, and believed that he would not hurt her.
The cabbie kept chatting with Garen throughout the journey, he was clearly a very talkative guy, but that was also to be expected. When there was an innocent-looking young girl like Tesna sitting in the car, most men would act talkative.
“I heard that the competition will be held on Planet Naga this year?” Garen suddenly changed the topic, raising this important matter.
“That’s right, there would be a Major Battle held every so often, to distribute the resources among the sects. This is the highest-level competition among Energy Machinists, just look at how many more people there are now compared to usual. Our business gets a lot better as well, tourists and Energy Machinists from all over are here to watch the action. Almost all of the elite Energy Machinists wool be here, after all, it’ll help widen their horizons if they can which the way others fight. Naturally, there won’t be much of an effect on us normal people,” chuckled the cabbie.
“Is that so?”
“I hear that the Old Mayor will also show up and speak for the competition this year, wonder if that’s true.”
Garen nodded, and said nothing else. He knew who the Old Mayor the cabbie mentioned was, in the eyes of normal civilians, this Old Mayor was just a leader, the highest-ranking one. But as an Energy Machinist, he was the Holy Lord that maintained discipline throughout the entire Planet Naga, the man known as the Backlight Holy Lord. He was one of the three strongest Energy Machinists.
Soon, the car stopped in front of a bar.
Two people with slightly cold expressions were waiting outside, and they nodded slightly at Garen.
Winding down the car window, Garen motioned for Tesna to get out of the car.
“Follow them, they’ll send you to a place where you can settle down, and I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Okay.” Tesna nodded hurriedly. She got off the car, and after those two said a few words to her in private, she followed them away.
Garen watched as the people from Scarlet Snow led Tesna away, and got the cabbie to continue driving, telling him a location softly.
“Before the prologue begins, I had better get all the trivial matters properly sorted out.” He remembered those two friends from way back then who he had not seen for a long time, and his mood lightened slightly.
****************
In another grey-brown coffee shop
Accord leaned in front of the private room’s ceiling-to-floor window, looking out at the crowd of passersby, slightly dazed.
Everything inside the private room was brown in color, the sofa, the table and chairs, the wallpaper, and even the projector sphere suspended above his head, spinning slowly.
Accord was dressed just like any other relatively wealthy man, his appearance completely inconspicuous. To him, when he was meeting friends, it was best to set aside status or positions. If he still had to consider these things when meeting his true friends, then how would it be different from his regular social gatherings? Those were all about making connections for mutual benefit and social capital, but with his current status and position, he was surely not lacking in those aspects. He had attended such gatherings far, far too many times, so many times that they frustrated him.
Beep-beep, beep-beep.
The Energy Machine Imprint rang again.
Accord glanced at it, it was a call from the sect, they were probably trying to ask him about annoying trivial matters again. So he just muted the sound, letting it flash and blink on its own.
He opened the Friends tab in his Contacts, and chose Garen’s name.
“Hey, where are you now?”
“Outside the door.”
Ka-chak.
The door opened.
Garen walked in, dressed in white robes. The clothes looked a little unique, as though he was a member of the cleric.
The two of them exchanged glances, and each could instantly tell that the other had changed tremendously.
Garen looked even colder, and also stronger.
And Accord no longer looked as unassuming as before, although he was not handsome by any means, he still had a mysterious aura of sharpness and confidence that made his originally messy hair and slightly dark skin all look naturally glossier.
His glasses had also changed to a nicer model, and his overall impression was that of a gentle, scholarly man.
“You’re as skinny as ever!” Garen smiled, and patted Accord’s shoulder forcefully.
“You’re even buffer than before…” Accord was exasperated.
