A convoy slowly drove out of Chris City. Leilin Farell looked back at the city, a playful smile crossing his lips.
The Federation's recent operation had delivered a major blow to both the Möbius Ring and the Three Snake Cult.
And because they had discovered the enemy's headquarters and killed a Star-level powerhouse, the entire eastern front under Shi Ke's command immediately received the President's commendation. Now they were heading to the Atlantic Federation's headquarters to report and claim their merits.
Inside another vehicle, Mark's injuries had mostly healed. He looked at
"Oh! Nothing!" Martin seemed to snap out of his reverie, though his face showed some fatigue. "When you get old, you just start letting your mind wander!" He chuckled self-deprecatingly. "This time, our opponent was a powerhouse from another world! I keep feeling that their strength should have been on par with mine. If it weren't for the injuries, perhaps..."
"Hiss..." Shi Ke drew in a sharp breath. "A powerhouse on par with Uncle Martin! Then the person who wounded them?"
"Exactly! Those mysterious people who fought the opponent earlier are a huge threat. Unfortunately, no matter how I searched afterward, I couldn't find a single trace of them..."
Martin rubbed his brow.
At the same time, what worried him even more was that his Star-level intuition was telling him something major was about to happen at the Sacred Dawn Festival, but it was as though shrouded in a layer of fog, preventing him from seeing clearly.
"With the President here, who would dare cause trouble? I'm overthinking..."
Martin smiled and continued resting with his eyes closed, unaware of the covert observation from outside.
"Tsk tsk... the tenth level of the Fire Feather Technique! I'd really love to capture the subject for experimental research..." Leilin withdrew his gaze.
Martin had clearly broken through to the Star level. To Leilin, the man was like a massive specimen—extremely valuable for research.
If he struck in secret, he had great confidence in capturing Martin directly and then obtaining the secrets of the tenth level of the Fire Feather Technique.
But for greater gains, Leilin forcibly suppressed the impulse.
Moreover, even through their daily interactions, the Chip was continuously collecting the energy fluctuations and aura Martin unconsciously emanated, causing the deduction progress for the tenth level to surge.
...
The holy land of the Fire Feather Clan—also the capital of the entire Atlantic Federation, Transas City—now appeared before Leilin's eyes.
With the Sacred Dawn Festival approaching, the entire city seemed to have plunged into a vast ocean of joy, decorated with colorful streamers everywhere.
In Leilin's eyes, Transas City wasn't particularly enormous, but a city built up on sheer cliffs carried a strong visual impression of a city in the sky.
And something like red feather-like filaments drifted throughout the city, floating down as if snow were falling.
Shi Ke and Martin parted ways at the city entrance, taking Leilin and Locke to another location.
Crossing a massive square and then a memorial grove lined with towering stone statues, Shi Ke arrived before a majestic structure resembling a palace, constructed entirely of some kind of white jade.
"Is this the President's residence?" Locke's voice trembled slightly, filled with barely contained excitement. Leilin secretly glanced at him—this spy from the Möbius Ring, also known as the Thunder of Jupiter, had undoubtedly set his sights on this very place. So the excitement wasn't faked.
Leilin himself, while studying the residence, showed a subtle change in expression, though his eyes flickered with a trace of solemnity.
In his vision, the entire residence was blanketed in powerful energy auras, along with countless detection spells and similar wards—all perfectly normal phenomena.
But faintly, an utterly terrifying sensation emanated from deep within the residence. The aura was scorching and intense, carrying powerful fire-element particle radiation.
"Hum..." In Leilin's eyes, the world seemed to freeze. Everything turned black and white. The architectural lines of the entire residence twisted and warped, and blinding streams of red light continuously leaked from within, eventually coalescing into the form of an ancient fire phoenix raising its head and crying to the heavens!
"Chirp!" The fire phoenix seemed alive—its eyes brimming with vivid intelligence—as it turned its gaze toward Leilin.
Leilin's heart lurched. He immediately suppressed every fluctuation on his body, his spiritual power retreating tightly into the singularity point.
A massive wave of heat swept past, red light flashing ceaselessly in Leilin's pupils, causing a brief moment of blankness to surface on his face.
"Leilin, what's wrong?" The anomaly was instantly noticed by Shi Ke, who turned his head with a concerned expression.
After the recent events, he had already come to regard Leilin as his trusted confidant—even ranking above Locke. Naturally, their relationship was quite different now.
"Oh! Nothing. I was just thinking about meeting the President shortly and lost my composure for a moment!"
Leilin's face still showed some daze but had clearly recovered. The anomaly moments ago seemed to have been visible only to him.
"Haha!" Shi Ke understandingly punched Leilin on the arm, drawing a flash of jealousy onto Locke's face.
"Officer Shi Ke!" The guards on both sides of the President's residence snapped to attention and saluted, though they did not stop Leilin's group—clearly they had long been briefed on Shi Ke's identity.
"Sir! You're actually the President's son! We're so honored to follow you..." Locke entered the residence looking so excited he was nearly foaming at the mouth.
In order to better "recruit" these two talents, Shi Ke had revealed his identity as the President's son to them on the way to Transas.
In reality, he believed his identity was tightly guarded, but Locke and Leilin had both known about it for some time. The two of course acted greatly shocked on the surface, nearly prostrating themselves at Shi Ke's feet.
"I'll take you to see my father now! Watch what you say!"
Shi Ke's face showed little excitement—in fact, it was somewhat gloomy, clearly related to his status as an illegitimate child. Leilin and Locke naturally did not comment.
After entering the residence, there was a second wall inside. Shi Ke did not proceed directly but instead led Leilin and the others to a nearby room that resembled a duty office.
Leilin glanced at the nameplate beside the door. On a crimson background, a line of small text was written in black ink: "Military Officers' Office!"
"Could this be the Atlantic Federation President's personal force?" Leilin quietly sensed the Fire Feather Technique fluctuations emanating from outside.
He discovered that the soldiers within the Military Officers' Office all possessed extremely powerful auras—not a single one was below the eighth level of the Fire Feather Technique. And from other directions, faint crimson fire energy leaked through, causing the ninth-level-peak Fire Feather Technique within his own body to feel somewhat stagnant.
"A Star-level powerhouse... A being who can command Star-level powerhouses—that could only be the Atlantic Federation's President, a fifth-level
Leilin mused quietly.
"I'm Shi Ke! I've brought two subordinates to see the President! The appointment was already arranged!"
Shi Ke addressed a clerk inside the Military Officers' Office, simultaneously handing over a badge-like object.
The clerk wore a cold expression and carried ninth-level Fire Feather Technique fluctuations—he was clearly also a peak Sky-level powerhouse.
He took Shi Ke's badge and swiped it across a device!
Ding! The screen on the device flickered, displaying Shi Ke's appearance and basic information.
"Officer Shi Ke! You may bring two subordinates inside!" He stood up and delivered a military salute.
"Thank you!" Since entering the residence, Shi Ke had spoken very little, and now he was reduced to uttering the barest essentials. Leilin and Locke suppressed their inner excitement and followed behind Shi Ke, led deeper inside by a military officer.
"Chip! Record all architectural data and powerful energy reaction fluctuations—thermal, electrical, radiological, chemical—mark everything!"
Secretly, Leilin was still communicating with the Chip, striving to record the complete layout of the residence.
"Those two Giant Serpent Dukes—once they learned my identity, they dumped all this work on me and went off to enjoy themselves. Honestly..."
Leilin rolled his eyes inwardly but knew the other party had been planning this operation for a long time. His joining midway had already netted him considerable advantage, so he didn't take it too hard.
"Fire Source Stones—a treasure of the soul. If they only flow out from the President's residence, something is definitely going on!"
A glint of sharpness flashed through Leilin's eyes before being quickly suppressed. He respectfully lowered his head and followed the military officer through barrier after barrier, checkpoint after checkpoint. These were only the visible defenses—no telling how many hidden ones lay in wait.
In truth, Leilin found all of this rather excessive. For a President at that level, these arrangements were probably nothing but burdens! When it truly mattered, only his own fifth-level power could suppress everything.
But such was the burden of those in power—even if useless, appearances demanded such arrangements.
"The President is inside. You have half an hour!"
The military officer brought Leilin's group before a jujube-red door, bowed deeply, and withdrew.
Shi Ke took a deep breath and gripped the brass handle on the door. "Father!"
"Come in." The voice was gentle, yet carried an irresistible will—even the void rippled faintly, disrupting the laws and physical constants, making Leilin's heart tighten slightly.
"Inside is a fifth-level existence. But I have the Chip, and the ninth-level-peak Fire Feather Technique is covering me from the outside—enough to conceal my true strength!"
Confident in his own capabilities, Leilin followed inside. (……)