Return to the Alliance

On their Bohan to the Alliance, after the incident of the Number Three Floating City crash, the group's leader, the mage Gareth, naturally carried the Alliance's standard Communication Device.

The Alliance demanded that he return immediately, as it could be very dangerous outside.

To be honest, Gareth was extremely flustered when he first received the communication.

This was the first time they had encountered a situation where the Alliance contacted them before the project's scheduled end date, demanding that they return immediately.

In fact, the project was less than a month away, and Gareth had already disposed of all the smuggled goods without leaving a trace.

However, he was still very uneasy about being suddenly summoned back at this time.

After all, he really had something to hide.

However, Gareth relaxed after hearing the specific reason, because it was said that the Number Three Floating City had collapsed and the Alliance wanted him to return immediately to prepare for battle.

After hearing this answer, Gareth and his opponent checked most of the Alchemy School to confirm that this was indeed the reason before he hurried back, slightly puzzled.

Frankly, it's similar to going abroad and then hearing that your hometown's dam has been bombed, and you're being asked to come back immediately—that's how you would react.

Although the news sounded shocking, given that it used the Alliance's communication channels and those coded messages, Gareth had no choice but to hurry back.

Since they've said that, not going back would be considered defecting from the Alliance, which is different from being caught smuggling.

Because he went out with a group of the Alliance mages, if he didn't bring most of the mages back, it would be considered a premeditated murder of the Alliance mages, Bohan wouldn't be able to tolerate him then.

Conversely, if smuggling is discovered, and one manages to escape, one might be able to live under an assumed name in Bohan.

Therefore, he dared not delay for a moment, but arranging the carriage journey also wasted some time.

Fortunately, their carriage was very fast. Unlike before when they arrived in Bohan at a leisurely pace, this time the carriage practically flew off the road.

The journey, which was originally expected to take seven days, was shortened to the afternoon of the fifth day, when they saw the road sign.

"Ahead is the Alliance town; those not involved should retreat."

As Gareth reached this point, his hands trembled uncontrollably, and beads of sweat poured down his face, for he had no idea what awaited him ahead.

However, he had already prepared escape tools. Before coming, he had spent a lot of money to buy a bunch of precious tools from the Alchemist organization in Bohan. As long as the force that came to arrest him was not very strong, he would definitely be able to escape.

Of course, no one can say for sure. To use the Alliance's Communication Device, everyone has to apply first, and you will also be monitored without your knowledge. So Gareth certainly wouldn't dare to inform his 'friends' within the Alliance.

Those 'friends' had also accepted his bribes and naturally didn't want to see him arrested, but they had no choice. Communicating between the inside and outside of the Alliance the Alliance wasn't Communication Device a normal mage could do.

Gareth, with a worried expression, could only order the carriage to slow down and slowly head towards the town.

The other mages in the group had varying expressions; although some had reservations about returning to the Alliance so hastily, they were generally happy.

Many of these mages were leaving the Alliance for the first time and had long missed the Alliance goodness. Finally returning to the Alliance, they couldn't wait to get off the carriage and kiss the earth.

Philly was one of them, but she seemed both happy and unhappy.

The unpleasant part is that the timing of our return was rather unfortunate, wasn't it? They just happened to notify us that we needed to come back right after the Champion Mage Challenge ended.

If she had been notified a few days earlier, she might have been able to make it to the final competition, Philly thought.

"Philly, after you go back, you can return to your family." In the carriage, ' Lai ' spoke softly to Philly.

Philly was somewhat pleased, after all, the time she spent with ' Lai ' in Bohan was certainly not pleasant.

But as the time for parting approached, Philly felt a pang of reluctance.

' Lai ' was the most talented researcher she had ever met, and in her interactions with her, he constantly demonstrated the mindset of a researcher.

Philly could even say that the six months she spent with ' Lai ' was enough for her to make significant progress as a researcher, far exceeding the ten or twenty years of research she would have spent in the Floating City.

Moreover, ' Lai ' treated her very well, and even when it came to things she had to do, ' Lai ' didn't use a harsh tone.

"Can I come see you again in the future?" Philly blinked and asked slowly.

' Lai ' didn't hold back either, responding directly.

"Of course, you can come to me if you need anything."

At this moment, Aurora, who was standing nearby, also seized the opportunity.

She had endured so much for so long, cultivating a good relationship with Philly, all for this opportunity.

"Master Lai, I actually have some questions about Alchemy. If you have time, could I ask you some?"

Aurora did nothing wrong. Over such a long period of time, ' Lai ' had long since grown accustomed to Aurora by Philly's side.

She wanted to refuse, but then she thought about how many times they had seen each other, so she just said it casually.

"If I have the time, I'd be happy to."

Aurora blinked happily, thinking that this was the first step to success. All she had to do was offer some extra compensation during her consultations or invite him to participate in some projects, and establishing a real relationship with ' Lai ' would be just around the corner.

Of course, ' Lai ' knew Aurora's purpose. Now that they were almost back in the Alliance, it would be incredibly foolish of her not to understand Aurora's intentions after all this time.

However, after figuring it out, ' Lai ' didn't care much anymore, because she figured she would be locked up for a while, which was unavoidable.

"Master Lai, I wonder if you have the time? I'd like to invite you to participate in a large-scale puppet project in the Highland Province. I think you may know that this project has been operating in the Highland Province for over a decade..."

Within this project, others also learned of ' Lai's ' true identity. Although they didn't usually interact, at this moment of parting, he suddenly mustered up the courage to extend an invitation.

' Lai ' waved goodbye with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, stopping her from continuing.

"No need, thank you for the invitation, but I think I might not be free right now..."

Seeing this, Philly and Aurora were a little curious and casually asked:

"What's next?" This was really just a casual remark, since both of them thought that someone who had won the Gold Alchemy Award should be incredibly busy.

How could someone possibly participate in a project in Bohan and stay there for six months, like before? How could there possibly be a winner of the Gold Alchemy Award in the world?

' Lai ' just smiled and didn't answer.

Just then, the convoy finally arrived at the city gate. Once they stepped inside, they could say that they had truly entered the territory of the Alliance.

Just then, a sharp alarm sounded, and before anyone could react, the sky darkened considerably.

It felt as if a not-so-clean glass dome had been placed over my head, and the scenery on the horizon began to blur.

At the same time, the glass cover began to turn yellow and then black.

The surrounding mages seemed to want to quickly cast a shield on themselves, but when they simulated the spell model, they found that the difficulty of construction had increased several levels, causing most of their shield spells to backfire and become ineffective.

Those ordinary people who witnessed this scene either collapsed to the ground, or, being more astute, saw the Magic Glow emanating from the place and immediately hid under the mages' carriage.

"They're not here to arrest me, are they? No, this is a bit much." Gareth shuddered, sensing something was wrong.

Amidst the chaos, a stern rebuke interrupted everyone's train of thought.

"Everyone, cease resistance. This is the scene of the Alliance Investigator ' arrest."

As these words fell, many figures dressed as Investigator appeared on the other side of the city gate, and ' Lai ' spotted two particularly striking figures among them.

One was Roderick, Iris's mentor, and the other was Alva, Fourth Order Mage from the Alchemy School.

When ' Lai ' saw them, they also saw ' Lai '.

Roderick's expression was merely complex, while Alva's was one of surprise, as if he were shocked that such a person as ' Lai ' actually existed.

As these Investigator appeared, the mages present calmed down. After all, these were Investigator from the Alliance, and they were, in a way, one of the Alliance's own people.

Gareth, his hands trembling, went to meet them. He recognized the two Fourth Order Mage among the Investigator; after all, he was a third-tier Alchemy School and usually interacted with these Fourth Order mages.

"I'm Gareth, the head of the academic exchange program in Bohan. May I ask why..."

Roderick glanced at the mage, and with his extensive experience, he immediately recognized why Gareth was so nervous.

"We're not here to investigate smuggling..."

Gareth's pupils dilated for a moment, then returned to calm, and he relaxed considerably.

Indeed, it's a waste to investigate such a trivial smuggling case when even Fourth Order Mage has come.

However, his heart also tightened, because the involvement of Fourth Order Mage was clearly a major event, especially since two of them had been dispatched...

Without further ado, the Investigator began their operation. They activated their magical equipment, and in a flash, they were instantly teleported in front of ' Lai '.

A gray light appeared before ' Lai's ' eyes, and he felt a little dizzy.

"I surrender, I surrender." It wasn't that ' Lai ' couldn't defeat these Investigator, but there were two Fourth Order Mage on the other side. How could she possibly defeat them? It was better to just surrender.

Philly and Aurora watched from the side, their faces showing utter shock, their mouths agape, unable to close for a long time.

What's going on? Why would an award winner of the Gold Alchemy Award be arrested by Investigator?

After the Investigator cast several spells on ' Lai ', he spoke sternly.

"Tell me, where is the Mage Philly you took away?"

' Lai ' didn't answer, almost bursting out laughing. There was no need for her to answer, because one of the Investigator had already recognized her, and Aurora and Philly's expressions gave it all away.

"Wait, why do I need to do this too?" Philly's eyes widened, completely bewildered.

"Hey, this shouldn't be my fault!" Aurora said anxiously when she saw that she couldn't move her arm either.

"Arrest them all. They're so close; they might be accomplices." And the Investigator didn't just target Aurora; instead, half the mages in the entire project who were close to ' Lai ' and Philly were arrested.