The welcoming ceremony was enormous in scale and exceptionally grand.
Once the traditional grand parade ended, they wasted no time, breaking the schedule down into numerous smaller activities.
Mars and Richard, for example-one from the Knight Order's Formation Master system and the other a young master of the Guman Family-were arranged to tour the main island's Defensive Formation;
Blanche was arranged to tour the main island's battlefield medical treatment system;
Aisili was arranged to tour the Demon Beast Legion;
Even Muli was given a special tour of the bishops' personal guards at the main island's Central Hub.
While Neo and Kallen intended to use their hosts for a political gamble, their hosts showed no restraint either, chewing the observation delegation like sugarcane to squeeze out every last drop of juice.
That evening came the belated welcoming banquet, followed by "private talks" broadcast in full, with every reporter present.
By the time everything ended, it was midnight local time.
The Moon Order God Church arranged for Kallen's party to stay in a guest palace atop a mountain in the central region of the main island. During his introduction, Mota had said it was only opened to receive the most valued guests.
To Kallen's ears, that meant the place best suited to displaying mascots.
After entering the palace, everyone rested in the living room, where Memphis set up a simple Isolation Barrier to prevent eavesdropping.
When Kallen walked in, everyone, whether seated on chairs or on the carpet, looked exhausted, and mixed into that exhaustion was unease.
Yes, they were panicking.
Before their departure, Kallen had warned them that this operation might affect their individual prospects within their families, but none of them had taken it seriously then. They had been focused solely on anticipating grand spectacles and great excitement.
After