The plain-looking drone circled the entire island like a busy little bee, making seven or eight loops around it and capturing everyone from every angle. It missed nothing: close-ups, wide shots, overhead and low-angle shots, even extreme close-ups. It was so thorough that this had gone beyond gathering photographic evidence. They were practically making a movie.
Yet the experts on South Xia Island seemed not to care about the drone's antics, which were just like those of a veteran paparazzo. Perhaps they simply couldn't spare their attention from their opponents in the middle of battle, or perhaps the drone had undergone some kind of deranged stealth modification.
Either way, footage of the scene immediately after the battle had just been transmitted to a car driving toward the outskirts, on Jewel Coast Avenue.
In fact, the livestream had started five minutes earlier, as soon as the battle began.
Krell Belmont watched the show while driving, sparing it a little of his attention—and promptly drove straight into a flower bed beside the curb. Yet, by all rights, with his abilities as a Fourth-Ring "Defender," he should have been able to pilot a fighter through a hail of bullets, dance the tap, and watch porn all at once.
The projection of Yani sitting beside him made no effort to hide her disdain. "Looks like you're pretty shaken. Did you spot some important information?"
I wasn't just shaken. I was absolutely floored. Krell thought to himself. He did his best to keep his voice calm. "It was like watching a farcical, badly acted pantomime. They couldn't even be bothered to keep up the pretense."
"That wasn't a farcical pantomime. It was surrealism and magical realism. Is this why I keep telling you to read more? These days, even lagomorphs can tell the difference between