Although he had expected this, it would seem he was still surprised about the identity of the culprits.
Gustav also understood that these were the branch heads of the second and third highest ranked branches in the entire Vertigon family.
They were expected to stand by the main family the most instead of sabotaging them behind their backs.
A thought that jumped to Gustav’s mind was how this would be resolved after he had apprehended all the culprits. How would the main family handle this?
Gustav threw that to the back of his mind in the next moment. That wasn’t any of his business. His only job was to find and apprehend them.
“Are you ready to become the family head?” Gustav asked Stark.
There was no response for a good period and Gustav turned to the side to stare at Stark.
“Well… No,” Stark responded as a melancholic aura surrounded him.
“Hmm but you seem quite eager to help me catch the culprits who were responsible for delaying a ceremony you are not interested in,” Gustav said before gulping down a cup of wine.
“What can I say… It’s the right thing to do. Despite not wanting to become the family head… Yet… It doesn’t mean I would beam with joy if the emblem was stolen since it could have caused a lot of problems for the family. If they had figured out how to harness the power, a lot of people’s lives would have been jeopardized,” Stark explained.
“I will make sure something like this never happens again even if I have to take on the role of the family head this early,” Stark added.
“Hmm… Looks like a hard choice, either your freedom or the endangerment of the family…” Gustav muttered.
Stark might be distant from his family and didn’t like spending a lot of time with them but he really loved them regardless. He also wouldn’t want to betray the last promise he gave his father before his demise.
He had mentioned he would protect the family in his absence. What kind of son would want to dishonour his late father’s name.
“Since they have chosen this path, they will bear the consequences,” Stark said with a solemn tone.
‘Now that’s a leader alright…’ Gustav said Internally as he noted Stark’s demeanour.
“Alright get ready,” Gustav said as he stood to his feet and moved to the bathroom to clean up.
Stark stood to his feet and moved to the side of the room. He could see footage displaying the two family branch heads heading somewhere.
“Are we going where they’re going?” Stark asked.
“We are not…” Gustav responded as he walked out of the bathroom.
“I already know where they’re headed but I am 100% certain that won’t be all of them… There are over twenty thousand Vertigons after all… Maybe just a meeting for the heads,” Gustav added.
“Does that mean the Beta-ranked Mixedblood is also going to be there?” Stark asked.
“Most likely, we can leave that to your Alpha ranked guard and the troops your mother will be gathering,” Gustav answered.
“While we will be catching the other small fries scattered across the island… So long as you retrace the steps of Emblem movement, we should be able to clock in on some of them so it will be a double operation,” Gustav explained.
“Oh, so Viltru won’t be following the both of us then?” Stark voiced out with a contemplative look.
“He’ll be dealing with the other Beta-ranked Mixedbloods so no,” Gustav responded.
“Alright let’s do it,” Stark stated with a decisive tone.
“We need to inform your mum first of the current development,” Gustav said as he moved towards the door.
Stark followed after him and they headed straight down the stairs to the living room.
Juli was sitting on one of the sofas with a few underaged kids who Gustav suspected to be main family members as well. They were watching a televised anime program on the massive holographic projection.
“Where’s mom?” Stark questioned.
“The second study,” Juli responded with a slightly suspicious look.
“Alright,” Stark responded and turned towards the south while Gustav followed after him.
“Hey Officer Crimson,” She greeted while waving.
Gustav turned to the side and nodded at her before he resumed following Stark.
–
Minutes later they were in a massive study, discussing with madam Lilian.
“It only makes sense the main powers of the cult will be there tonight,” Gustav voiced out.
“So I should send the troops to the location you mentioned?” She asked.
“Yes, make sure they get there twenty minutes after the meeting has begun. I and Stark will be busy gathering the others so we can take them down in one fell swoop,” Gustav said in confirmation.
Madam Lilian had a contemplative look for a while before speaking.
“Hmm, does that mean you two don’t need any troops to follow you?” She asked.
“We just need them to be on ground and ready to take action when we are unable to handle things by ourselves,” Gustav voiced out.
He couldn’t let them follow him and Stark mostly because he wouldn’t want to use too many abilities in front of strangers.
However, Gustav wanted emergency troops to be on standby just in case of necessity.
“Alright, let’s get ready,” Madam Lilian seemed to have understood everything as she voiced out in response.
She proceeded to move out of the study with them as the operation would be beginning in an hour.
*********
Time went by pretty fast and almost an hour had gone by since the discussion with Madam Lilian.
Within a massive space just in front of a hangar, troops of over three hundred people had gathered.
They were all dressed in whitish robe-like outfits with the emblem of a three-headed dragon on their backs.
Their powerful lineage bloodline energies were being channelled as they stood there, causing pressure to radiate across the surroundings.
All of them wore looks of seriousness as they lined up in a battle format.
In front of them was Madam Lilian and a few of the main family members. Gustav was yet to arrive on the scene with Stark as well as one more powerful figure needed for the operation to begin.
