Zeke conversed with Sulong and Velvet for quite a while before he returned to his dreamless sleep.

Signora had proved her worth by reporting some important and not-easily acquired informant. For example, the case with Jonathan Stellar Link, who was inexplicably spared and set free by the Witches.

Then there was Red Mask Fanti Fan, who was still obsessing over an unknown experiment.

Even though Zeke knew his target’s whereabouts, he felt it was necessary to improve himself before trying anything.

Not only was the Serey Zhan Empire geographically far, but it was the main base of the Ascetic Blasphemers, thus rendering it a nest infested with crouching dragons and hungry tigers.

What further decreased his motivation to go there was Zeke’s identity as a System Holder. By now, the three nations, specifically their leaders, must have learnt of his special circumstances.

The Empire might not be particularly antagonistic toward System Holders, but it definitely wouldn’t treat Zeke, a citizen of the Nezulian Republic, with hospitality and kindness.

Like everyone else, it would try to use him as a weapon or imprison him.

The last piece of information was Red Mask Viper, a master manipulator and a strong force to be reckoned with.

Seeing how Signora repeatedly told him to be careful, Zeke had no choice but to start making precautions as soon as he left the hideout.

The Ascetic Blasphemers weren’t bold enough to publicly attack him, but that didn’t mean they’ll stay in the dark and be content with watching.

“It’s time to go.” Said Special Agent Elizabeth as she faced the sweating Zeke.

“Oh!” Zeke nodded and used a towel to wipe the face before going inside and changing into a fresh and clean set of clothes.

At last, after being stuck here for almost a month, he was being let go. The spaceships of the Earthlings had already left, so there was no need for Zeke to remain in hiding.

He was still curious about Frederic’s fate, but since Elizabeth and the rest of the agents protecting him were insufferably tight-lipped, he was left drowning in morbid curiosity mixed with slight anxiousness.

An hour later, Zeke was dropped in front of the shabby building in which Sulong resided. Before he got off, however, Elizabeth coldly said,

“If you cause any trouble, we will come for you.”

In response, the youth rolled his eyes and walked away. He has had enough of the incessant warnings given by almost any Special Agent that couldn’t hold back the urge to speak. Elizabeth, especially, was irritated that she had to protect the selfsame individual who invaded the facility and wrecked havoc everywhere.

As Zeke entered the office, the petite figure ran to him and hugged his waist. Seeing the angelic figure of the cheerful girl, Zeke smiled and caressed her head.

“You missed me?”

She nodded her head while beaming at him.

“Welcome back, Zeke!”

Jack also walked to him and gave him a light hug. As for the secretary, young Jeremy, he nodded in greeting before resuming his non-stop tapping on the keyboard.

“Where’s Sulong?”

“Meeting a new client. He should be back a bit later.”

“Alright.”

Zeke looked down at Angel and asked, “Want to go out and have a bit of fun?”

With a slightly surprised expression, the girl was in a momentary daze before hugging him again.

“Give me some money.”

He stretched his hand to Jack, who grunted and hesitantly took out a few stacks of paper.

“Much obliged!”

Zeke barely stayed there for a minute before departing with Angel.

Although he had been ‘resting’ for the better part of a month, he had missed the outside world and wanted to hang out with Angel. Now that Samuel was gone, there wasn’t someone close to him to talk or play with.

Zeke took the girl to Kethra’s Arms, which was the busiest district in the city. Like always, it was swarming with crowds and the restaurants and shops were filled to the brim.

For the next couple of hours, Zeke went to Central Park with Angel then the two had a delicious lunch. It brought warmth to his heart when he saw the little girl enjoy playing on the swing and ran around the grass while happily laughing.

It was apparent that it was her first time having so much fun, so he didn’t urge to leave and let her have her fill until exhaustion washed over her.

He even bought a handful of cute dresses for her, which, at first, she didn’t want to accept.

‘Thank you.’

As he saw the words written on her notebook, Zeke chuckled and said,

“You’re welcome.”

The two were walking at the side of the road, Zeke, feeling refreshed and calm, was inspecting the food stalls, whereas Angel was nibbling on a Vanilla icecream.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It was then that three people pulled in front of them. Zeke’s eyes narrowed as he gently pushed Angel behind him and glared at newcomers.

“What do you want?”

“We were scheduled to talk a few weeks ago.” Rebuked Veronica as she frowned and glanced at the fidgety Angel.

Azmer and the grumpy-looking Frederic were also present. Azmer looked impassive, but the man next to him was glaring daggers at the youth.

“There were some… unexpected setbacks. Still, this isn’t an opportune time to talk.”

“Hah! Do you think we care? We’re in deep shit because you!” Hissed Frederic as he raised his voice.

“Lower your voice. You’re scaring her.”

Seeing the familiar girl shake fearfully, Frederic gritted his teeth while huffing and puffing.

“I told you to let me do the talking.” Veronica sighed and took two steps closer to Zeke, “We’re not here to fight or harm you.”

The girl paused for a couple of breaths, seemingly pondering about something, then she muttered with a quieter voice, “How about your friend’s workplace? Lightning Flame Merc Group, was it?”

When he heard that, Zeke’s eyes got much colder and there was even a murderous intent flashing within them.

“Zeke, we’re not your enemies.” Intervened Azmer as he softly smiled at Angel. “I…no, we know about Sulong Braveheart and his new organisation. We also knew that the ‘shipment’ you took from us is that girl. However, we didn’t lay a hand on her. That must mean something, right?”

Fortunately, his words resonated with Zeke, whose expression slightly softened and the menacing aura emanating from him subsided.

With the three walking ahead, Zeke brought them to the office.

Obviously, Sulong, Jack, and Jeremy were surprised to see the three unfamiliar people.

Upon noticing Zeke’s not-so-good expression, Sulong creased his brows and motioned for Jack and Jeremy to stay back.

“I know you.” Exclaimed Sulong as he stared at the blond-haired Azmer.

“You saved my life a while ago. I’m Azmer Lorson.”

“...”

Sulong didn’t reciprocate or act with kindness, instead glancing at Zeke and waiting for a silent reassurance of the guests’ non-hostility.

Frederic unceremoniously sat on the couch and crossed his arms, looking as irritated as ever. Azmer and Veronica remained on their feet as they cautiously looked at the domineering Sulong, who emitted a powerful heat.

Even someone well-versed in Pyromancy like Azmer, felt threatened and in awe..

“Take her inside.”

Zeke reassured the anxious Angel as she was taken to the apartment by Sulong.

Before long, there was a long and eerie bout of silence that flowed between the two parties.

“First and foremost, we are thankful for your assistance during Azmer’s capture. However, that doesn’t give you the right to steal what we worked hard to acquire.”

“Acquire? Angel is a human, not an object. And I’m not handing her back to you people.”

Veronica shook her head as she wryly smiled, “The matter with the girl has passed over and our superior wasn’t the least bit pleased. However, considering you were the one who took her, and your dangerous entourage, he ordered us to stay put until further notice.”

Before Zeke could talk back, Veronica continued with a serious expression,

“You have the strength to back up your actions, Zeke. Nevertheless, the Ivory Oak Order will not tolerate any more meddling. These were the words our superior, the Black Templar, wanted me to convey to you. We will stay out of each other’s affairs and pretend nothing happened. I hope that my wording has been clear enough.”

Zeke shrugged his shoulders, looking unperturbed by her threatening claims.

“That is not up to me to decide. If you do not harm or provoke me or those close to me, I will have no reason to oppose your organisation.”

“We will not.”

When she said her piece, Veronica broke into a faint smile and clapped her hands once, “That’s it for now.”

As Frederic stood up and the three were about to leave, Zeke stopped them and said,

“What do you know about Red Mask Viper?”

“You… where did you hear that name?!”

Frederic burst out in surprise and Veronica looked startled, but Azmer looked more confused than ever.

“That’s irrelevant. You seem to know him, but I do hope your organisation isn’t working with him.”

“And why does that concern you, boy?!”

“I’m just making sure we really won’t cross paths in the future. It would be quite unfortunate for you to be allied with the Ascetic Blasphemers.”

“...”

In the end, Frederic didn’t deign to offer any remarks or retorts. He snorted and stormed out of the office.

….

South-West of the Sunken Metropolis was a long and rocky mountain range surrounded by desolate lands which were, by and large, uninhabited.

The whole region was filled with underground caves, dark caverns, ancient labyrinths, and inaccessible historical ruins.

At the foot of the 2nd highest mountain, there was a piece of flat land riddled with small volcanic eruptions.

Special Agents Katrina, with her twin blades in hand, was jumping from one spot to the other as she slashed her weapons.

Silver blasts were unleashed from glistening silver blades as she spun in the air and killed another lizard-like beast covered in hot and tough dark red scales.

She hasn’t been fighting for long, but the unfavourable terrain and the suffocating heat made her reach physical exhaustion within a couple of minutes. That and the wave after wave of Magma Lizards, which were a special type of beasts that lived only in this location.

She had been sent alone on a top-secret mission, but the journey took her almost two weeks and what awaited her was beyond her wildest expectations.

The Black Rock Mountain Range was notorious for its harsh and unforgiving climate and the outrageous quantity of Magma Lizards.

Katrina might not be that knowledgeable about the world, but she knew that Magma Lizards were small in size and relatively docile unless provoked. However, the one she faced were strangely enraged and tripled their recorded natural size.

‘It must be because of ‘that’.’

She gritted her teeth and thrustr her blade forward, piercing a lizard’s opening mouth before flinging it to the side and somersaulting. She sent X-shaped blasts all around her, destroying the volcanic holes and killing any and all beasts that charged her way.

When she finally got a moment to breathe and recover, the ground shook violently and a large eruption occurred.

The Special Agent was sent flying to the back as she swung her sword to push away the push away the lava.

Alas, a bit of it splattered on her left arm and shoulder, making her groan in pain as her outfit melted. She was wearing an internal armor that was imbued with Aether, but it was low-grade and insufficient to resist the magically-empowered Lava.

When she sobered up from the agony of having her skin burned, Katrina wiped the sweat off her forehead and raised her head.

Her pupils constricted when she sighted a frighteningly big lizard that had two long tails. The beast had its mouth wide open, revealing upper and lower rows of pointy teeth, but what was alarming was the fire accumulating in its maw.

Sensing imminent doom, Katrina channelled all of her remaining Aether into her sword and leaned forward as a layer of razor shark milky aura enveloped her.

Just as she was about to attempt one last desperate attack at the monstrous lizard, an enormous hand formed of a mass of sinister darkness appeared out of thin air.

The hand, clenched into a fist, brutally bashed the lizard’s scaled back. The force behind the malevolent hand of darkness was strong enough to flatten the lizard.

However, it didn’t stop its rapid hammering motion until the lizard’s scales were shattered and blood poured out like a fountain.

Then, the hand dispersed and the Darkness wrapped around the lizard, devouring it in an instant.

Even with the adrenaline kicking in, Katrina was overwhelmed with exhaustion, physical and mental. Nonetheless, she saw a tall man with greasy raven-black hair approach her.

At first, she didn’t recognize him, but when he got closer, the woman let out a surprised gasp.

“Jonathan Stellar Link?”