“Airbus 10034. Halt. This is Waterford Air Patrol. We have reason to believe that a high level fugitive is in this airbus. Please cooperate.” A voice of outside origins boomed through the airbus. There were no windows accessible from the basic ticket area, so Castiel couldn’t see what was happening outside the airbus.
-They already did a routine check at the hub. If they are checking again, they might have procured a device to scan faces.- Castiel thought.
“Mr. Mercer….Sorry, Leo. Can you do me a favor?” He asked Leo who was sitting beside him. He actually wanted to pay Leo instead of owing a favor but an enthusiastic person like Leo might not like small transactions between friends. And he didn’t think Leo would care about his paltry 80 primary mana stones.
“What’s up Gray?” Leo asked. He was already a little dozed off.
“This is a life or death situation for me. Can you please focus?” There was a little desperation in his voice.
“Yeah, I am up. I am up. Tell me. You want anything, you got me.” Leo was fully awake now. Castiel was a little relieved that Leo was more serious than his usual self.
“In a while, air patrol will enter the airbus. If they are using a device to scan faces for makeup, I want you to raise the biggest stink you can somewhere else on the airbus when they are close to my location.” Castiel whispered into Leo’s ears.
“Broooo! Are you the fugitive they are looking for? What did you do? I know you didn’t do anything heinous. You are also very weak, so your crime couldn’t be massive. What did you do? Also, is this not your real face? What do you really look like? Even more handsome?” Leo forgot all about the favor Castiel was asking. He was too excited about potential small crimes. Castiel didn’t think he could steer the conversation any further before he satiated Leo a little.
“Please forgive me. I cannot show you my face right now. What I can tell you is I have not committed any crime but I am on the kill list of the Zechariah family.” He explained helplessly. But Leo’s face was showing up blank.
“Who is the Zechariah family?” Leo asked ignorantly. His excitement had died down a little since there were no crimes involved.
“The Zechariah family patriarch is the Waterford law enforcement chief.”
“Bro, you got balls to be hunted by the law enforcement chief. Leave it to me. I would raise a stink so big, this airbus would reek for days.” Leo said proudly.
Honestly, Castiel didn’t like this arrangement. He had to leave his fate at the hands of a stranger he just met a few hours ago. He could also just be overly pessimistic. The air patrol might not have the device to begin with.
A few minutes later, a small navy-blue clad army flew into the airbus. All but one of them used some sort of floating board to fly in. The one at the front looked like the leader of the group. -Since he can fly without support, he is probably a golden core. Very little chance of him being a nascent soul or he wouldn’t be commanding a bunch of qi-gathering / bone-forging cultivators.- Castiel thought.
All the basic ticket holders had gathered in the dining area. The VIPs had exited their rooms and were standing on the corridors.There were about 100 personnel in this army. Except for the leader, they were all holding a scepter with a red crystal at its end. These scepters are called Scepter II, mass produced weapons capable of wounding anyone below golden core as long as the holder can aim properly. As soon as they flew in, they all bowed 90 degrees.
“Esteemed ladies and gentleman, the Waterford Air Patrol is extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. In a while, we will scan your face for makeup and/or formation. We will also search every corner of the airbus. Please cooperate.” The leader spoke.
-As I thought, They did procure a device. Nobody here caused a ruckus either. People traveling in an airbus wouldn’t usually be powerful enough to go against a medium principalities’ law enforcement.- Castiel monologued.
-Except for maybe him. But he is too excited for the oncoming drama to stop them.- He thought as he looked at Leo.
“Please line up on the deck. VIPs can stay in their room. We will scan you when we search for your room.” The leader spoke again after giving the passengers a few seconds to digest the news.
“I am going to stand near a few other sword users. I will remember this favor forever.” Castiel said as he looked into Leo’s eyes deeply.
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“Never mind Gray. This is a small issue. I am looking forward to your performance.” Leo said expectantly. Castiel didn’t want to know what was a big issue for Leo.
People lined up obediently. These people had no other choice anyway. People only capable of buying basic tickets usually wouldn’t have the power to defy a golden core, much less the full law enforcement. The leader held a ruby near each person’s face. It glowed for a split-second, then went dormant again.
“Basic ticket holders can be seated again after they have had their face scanned.” The leader commanded again. He was not checking for any ID. There is no point anyway. He just has to recognize Castiel’s face, that’s the only agenda on this endeavor.
.
Soon, the leader was about 5 turns away from Castiel. The queue was formed in a way that a person faced the back of the person in front of them. Castiel’s queue was near the left edge of the airbus. The people that already had their faces scanned were standing in a crowd on the right side of the airbus. Leo was among them. Just as the leader reached exactly 4 turns or about 4 feet away from Castiel, there was a loud thud near the crowd at the far right of the room.
Loud gasps could be heard coming from the crowd.
“MURDER!!!!! MURDER!!!!! MURDER!!!!!” Leo shouted so loudly and repeatedly that Castiel’s ears almost bled. All the people simultaneously and instantaneously looked towards the commotion. Almost at the same time, the steward’s sound could be heard.
Please remain calm. Please make way for responsible authorities to investigate the crime. Do not interfere with the crime scene.
The passengers moved away quietly without panic. Even if most low level cultivators have never killed a soul in today’s progressive civilization, they still can face death calmly just by virtue of having enough discipline to cultivate in the first place.
The leader had to drop his agenda to respond to his duties as part of law enforcement. He approached the crime scene steadily. The other patrol apprentices had cordoned off the area. There already was a big crowd encircling the crime scene, Castiel couldn’t get any view in. -What the fuck did he do?- Castiel thought. He had to go sit at one of the chairs towards the top to get a view.
He could see a middle aged man laying on the ground. His eyes and ears were bleeding with no other wound visible from where he was sitting.
“Who shouted murder just now?” The leader asked the crowd while carefully searching the body for an ID.
“I did.” Leo stepped forward as the crowd made way for him. He was kind of standing out with his blue-everything look.
“Did you see anything?” The leader asked Leo.
“Nah. He just dropped from one of the upper floors. Must be a VIP.” Leo said while spreading his hands.
The leader finally found an ID.
“There are no external wounds on the body. The face on the ID doesn’t match the face on the body.” The leader said in mild annoyance. He brought one of the rings he was wearing closer to the corpse’s face and closed his eyes. A few seconds later he opened them in shock. This was the first time Castiel saw a big change in expression on the leader’s face.
“This is Brock Turner. A C grade fugitive with a threat level A. 20 years ago he killed a child of the Mercer family for some treasure. The Mercer family put out of bounty 100 exemplary mana stones on him but nobody could ever find him.” The leader explained.
-So that ring on his finger is some sort of criminal database. There cannot be that many famous and powerful Mercer families. That child might have something to do Leo. It cannot be a coincidence that he boarded this particular airbus- Castiel thought. He was also shocked by the corpse’s identity. A threat level of A means he was a nascent soul before he died. For Leo to be capable of silently killing a nascent soul without anyone noticing and without any wound, he couldn’t even begin to imagine how powerful Leo was. He was piecing together the information when he glanced in Leo’s direction. Leo winked at him. He could hear a few people sitting near him whispering and discussing the Mercer family.
“Oh my god, the Mercer family!!!”
“Are they famous?”
“What are you talking about? They are one of the most powerful human families to ever exist. Most people in that family go on to become water or ice mages. They guard the deadliest stronghold for the human empire against sea beasts. They are also the bridge to the merfolk royal family. I heard the merfolk royal family even sometimes marry their children with the Mercer family. I wish I could marry a merfolk beauty.”
“In your dreams.”
-If the Mercer family is capable of guarding a border alone, they must have a few nirvanas. I really want to know how powerful a family like Mercer is, so that I can have a general idea of how powerful the world’s top organizations are. I will at least have a goal to work towards. But I cannot ask Leo or he might guess my real age.- Castiel thought.
The steward approached the patrol leader.
“Sir, you have already got your fugitive. Please take the body and leave the airbus. Let our esteemed passengers continue their journey peacefully. This has been boisterous enough.” The steward said respectfully but forcefully. The leader’s hands were now tied. He couldn’t continue his search anymore and make the Mercer family feel like there was a more important fugitive on the airbus without producing any more evidence. He helplessly asked the patrol apprentices to carry the body and left the airbus with his army.
Even if the leader wanted to continue his search, he would have found that his face scanning ruby had a minor incision which completely disabled the formation inscribed on it.