Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Chapter 527: Unexpected Friendship?

Fisher suddenly thought of a possibility, and he couldn't help but frown.

This might actually be easy to guess, but in Fisher's mind, Yu He had always been an extremely rational person who would never act for anything other than clear interests. Emotional sentiments like "going to great lengths for a brother," "a hero's anger for a woman," and "loyalty and righteousness" were completely foreign to Yu He.

But what if?

"What are you thinking about, Vic?"

Coming to his senses, Yu He felt a chill run down his spine when he saw Yu Fisher looking at him with a smile.

"President overthinking it... Then this subordinate will take his leave. During this time, our Extra Weapon has finally been integrated, and we plan to launch our first large-scale attack at the song festival."

"Okay, go for it, Vic. Just use the money I give you to cover all the losses. If you can't cover them, I'll help you mitigate the damage."

"Thank you very much."

Fisher bowed, glanced one last time at the crystal coffin in the secret chamber, and quickened his pace to leave.

"... well."

Fisher left Yu He's private office building and returned to the gathering place of the Extra Weapon.

Although he had faced Yu He countless times, every time he was by Yu He's side—especially when he was with Yu He in a secret room—he felt a vague sense of danger.

Yu He's secret chamber was a place known only to him and two of his few trusted confidants. Only he and Ankri knew the deepest secret Yu He had buried, a fact that always made him uneasy. Unlike Ankri, who was infatuated with love, he understood all too well the saying that serving a ruler was like walking on thin ice.

"You don't seem to be in a good mood, Vic," the androgynous young man asked with concern.

"It's none of your business, Trister." Fisher made no attempt to hide his impatience with this cheap show of concern.

Trister shrugged and said, "I don't care what you're worried about, I just want to tell you—your 'old friend' was delivered earlier today."

"Oh?"

Fisher's eyes lit up, and he strode toward his room—sure enough, something was placed in front of his door. It was a cage over a meter tall, and inside it was a parrot that was entirely green except for its bright yellow chest feathers and beak.

Looking at this beautiful bird, Fisher couldn't help but smile.

"Ha, you've finally come to keep me company, Dastan."

"Coming over here! Coming over here!"

The parrot squawked and flapped its wings against the locked cage door, looking impatient.

"I'm so sorry, you must have had a long and bumpy journey."

Fisher immediately opened the cage door, and the parrot, Dastan, flapped its wings and flew out. After circling once in the corridor, it landed on Fisher's shoulder. The emerald green, valuable parrot and the robust, shrewd old man were a peculiar combination, but the two together didn't seem out of place at all.

Good evening, Vic! Vic! Dinner! Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!

"All you ever talk about is food, really..."

Fisher reluctantly pulled out a bag of corn kernels, Dastan immediately stretched his head over, skillfully tore open the packaging, and began to eat heartily. Although he had a large appetite, he was actually quite slender.

"Don't just focus on eating, I have important work to do in a few days, so don't die before then!"

"No! No! I'm going to die! Vic will die!"

"You beast..."

"Delicious! Delicious! I want more!"

"Control your food intake, and you must be tired after such a long journey. Although I spent a lot of money to charter a luxury airship for you and assigned more than twenty people to take care of you."

"They're all idiots! Idiots! Sleep..."

Dastan swallowed the last kernel of corn, preened his feathers with his beak, and then buried his head under his wing and fell asleep.

Fisher sighed and returned to his room with the only creature he could call a "friend".

On the other side of the Silver Moon, in the Mirror Sea, the organization's headquarters in the Void Space--

In the shadow of a massive building resembling the ancient Roman Colosseum, in a corner, a young girl leans against the wall, waiting alone. She has beautiful long light blue hair, soft features, and a well-proportioned figure; she is a youthful girl who inspires a sense of security.

... In fact, she was already 25 years old, the age when she should be getting married, but she looked no more than seventeen or eighteen.

She was none other than Fogg Silver, who had not appeared since the end of the Central United Academy incident. He was the only Direct Subordinate of the high-ranking Huang Huo, who had been sent by Huang Huo to infiltrate the Central United Academy as an undercover agent to secretly investigate the situation of Ye Huo. He also took Evelynths, who was the vessel of Ye Huo, away from the city when she was about to completely erupt. In a sense, he was a hero hidden behind the scenes.

She also felt that she was one of the few people in the organization with a strong sense of social responsibility, which is why she always stood out from the other members who did whatever they wanted and had almost no one she could call a friend.

That's right, "almost" none, except --

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Gin."

"Eeya!?"

The girl with the parasol suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind her and slapped her on the shoulder, startling her.

"Givinia! You scared me again!"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it."

"Hello..."

Yin sighed, wanting to complain, but when he saw the smiling girl with the parasol, he couldn't help but relax his brow.

"It's been a while, Givinia."

"Yes, Gin, how have you been lately?"

"It's quite leisurely here; Lord Huang Huo hasn't assigned me any work at all."

"After all, we've already collected all six materials for the World Crossing Gate."

The two left their spot and walked and talked, the wide street now empty except for the two of them.

The main function of the organization's headquarters is to serve as "the residence of the Leader and a few high-ranking members" and "the storage place for important items (materials for World Crossing Gate)."

The organization's headquarters was a rather desolate place, filled with magnificent buildings that blended Byzantine and ancient Greek styles, making people feel very small in comparison. Although it was the organization's headquarters, very few members actually lived there permanently; only the Leader and a few high-ranking officials were present.

The atmosphere here is always oppressive; the light is perpetually dim, the sky is always pitch black, while the ground is a flawless silver-white. If you were to walk outside the complex and look into the distance, you would find that the land where the headquarters is located is completely flat, without any undulations, as if it had been irrigated with mercury.

While the scenery possesses a unique beauty reminiscent of postmodern art, looking at it for too long can be a bit... creepy.

They dared not linger at headquarters. After exchanging a few casual words, they fell silent and made their way as quickly and naturally as possible to the passage connecting the Void Realm to the outside. It was a vortex wrapped in gray-black bandages, with darkness at its center. Just one glance at it would evoke a primal fear in anyone's heart, and even though they had used this passage many times, they still couldn't get used to it.

There are two ways for organization members to enter and exit the organization's headquarters. One is to use the "public passage"—which is the one they are currently passing through. This passage is automatic and does not need to be reported to the Void Realm. The disadvantage is that the number of exits is limited. The Void Realm has set up a total of several hundred exits in some important locations on the Spirit Star, but of course, the area covered is still insufficient to meet the needs.

Secondly, Void Realm. As long as they explain their destination and purpose, the virtual realm member will handle the task with an official attitude. Of course, most members wouldn't dare to bother the higher-ups for such a trivial matter.

After a moment of dizziness, the headquarters disappeared, and what appeared before them was the scenery of a small alley in a bustling city. Only after the vortex of bandages behind them completely disappeared did the two breathe a sigh of relief.

"How long until the World Crossing Gate is built?"

"If nothing unexpected happens... time is running out."

"The Leader is quite composed. If it were me, I would start building as soon as I gathered all the materials to avoid any unforeseen problems."

Huang Huo obtained the Gleaming Gold South-Pointing Compass from the Si Nan Family of the Tianyuan Kingdom on the East Emperor Continent.

Blood Fiend and Gustav retrieved two Crystal Realm Fruits from the Crystal Island in the center of the North Realm Continent.

The Leader personally went to retrieve the Karmic Fire and the Boundary Breaking Armor from the Central United Academy.

Anubas obtained the Truth Incantation and the Rakshasa True Word on the battlefield of the West Saint Continent.

At this point, all six materials for the World Crossing Gate have been gathered.

More importantly, all six materials have been secretly bound by Anubas's "forced contract," stripping them of some of their control.

The rebellion squad consisting of Huang Huo, Anubas, Givinia, and Gin has been successful so far. Huang Huo has even been assigned by the Leader to "guard the materials that have already been obtained." Logically, he could have attached a contract to the Divine Artifact at any time after accepting this task, and there was no need for others to do it outside, but this was a last resort.

The Void Realm is completely free in the Void Space and can see what is happening anywhere in the Void Space. If the contract is attached when the materials have already been stored at headquarters, his actions are very likely to be discovered by the Void Realm, which is too risky. That's why a collaborator who can move freely is needed... or rather, a servant.

"The Leader must have his own considerations, such as 'timing' or something like that..."

Are there any limitations?

Yin tilted her head and thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with an answer. Although she was quite clever, she was far inferior to Givinia.

"That's for sure. Either it needs to be timed appropriately, or there's something missing in the construction of the World Crossing Gate. It seems that Huang Huo and Anubas have discussed it, but they haven't been able to come to a conclusion."

"I see..."

"Didn't we discuss the Huang Huo with you?"

"Lord Huang Huo only treats me as a useful servant. 'The people can be made to do things, but not to understand them.' That's probably the feeling."

"Puff..."

Seeing Silver puff out his cheeks and cross his arms, Givinia couldn't help but laugh. They had now left the alley and were in the bustling downtown area of the city, which served as their exit. Pedestrians were coming and going, and the place was very lively.

"There's an ice-elemental ability user selling ice cream over there, want one, Givinia?"

"Thank you, I'll pay you back when I get back."

"We're practically family, so consider this my treat."

"Then I shall humbly accept your offer."

It's been a while since I've had any cold, high-calorie snacks. It's okay to have one occasionally, right? Givinia, I've always been proud of my naturally slim physique.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, it's time for our usual monthly event again—an extra chapter will be added immediately when we reach 100 Monthly Votes or rise to 10th or 11th place on the Monthly Votes ranking!

The author has finally finalized the outline for the epic battle between the main group of 5 plus 1 goofball and the 11-person Extra Weapon.

Controlling the length while showcasing each character's unique traits is incredibly challenging...

Are you all ready, the geniuses who suggested names for the Extra Weapon? (laughs)