A new shield X a card X an invitation

"Iron Wall, try covering the shield with Nen and see if you can make it wider, harder, or even make it float up on its own."

"Gray Beak, try keeping your energy on the blade. After one cut, the energy won't dissipate, and you can make a second cut."

"Try focusing your energy around your Shattered Eye and see if you can see farther and faster."

He pushed the three cards onto the table.

"If you can't figure it out, try it; if it doesn't work, try something else."

"Rest when you run out of energy, and try again when you're rested."

"Write down what you've figured out on the card in three days, and I'll come to see it."

Iron Wall picked up the card and examined it twice, his rough fingers making a rustling sound as he rubbed the card surface.

"Alliance Leader, what about you? What have you been doing these past three days?"

"I'll take a day off, then I'll go see Grey Elder Hui."

The Gray Beak pencil fell off its ear.

"Really going?"

"The word has been spread; if we don't go, he'll send more than just two Shadow Beasts next time."

Jiang Ye picked up the water glass on the table and tilted his head back to gulp down the last mouthful of cold water.

"After I finish talking with Grey Elder, I need to take care of the Max Elephant matter when I get back."

"The three of you keep the cordon in place, and no matter what noises come from inside the workshop, don't come in."

Shattered Eye ' lips moved, but in the end, he swallowed his words back.

Iron Wall stood up, stuffed the card into his pocket, and slung the shield over his shoulder.

Three days is enough.

As he was walking out, Jiang Ye called him back.

"Iron Wall."

"Um?"

"Your shield has three layers of iron patches on it; it needs replacing."

"Go to the warehouse and check if there are any whole alloy plates in the Gray Rat Squad's shipment. Find a thick one and chip off a new side yourself."

"The direction you fired was useless because the shield itself wasn't strong enough; even with a thick layer of air, it was all for naught."

Iron Wall looked down at his patched shield, grinned, and there were still bits of his lunch stuck to his front teeth.

"OK."

The three of them exited the container one after the other. Jiang Ye sat alone on the metal bunk bed, looking down at his own shadow.

The Max Elephant's outline bulged slightly, becoming more subdued than before, as if it were pushing upwards through a thick layer of mud.

He reached into the Shadow Space, his fingertips touching the black flat box left by Irmmi. He brushed the cool metal surface against his fingertip and then withdrew his hand.

Two days.

Max Elephant another round of suppression, the elephants will be ready to be used.

Regardless of how things turn out with Grey Elder, having an extra card in hand will always give us more peace of mind.

He had just closed his eyes to prepare to unload the cargo when there was another knock on the container door.

The tapping was slow and gentle, but the tapping was done with great patience.

"Enter."

The door opened, Gray Beak poked half his head in, still clutching the inventory slip in his hand, his expression a little strange.

"Leader, a message has come from the northern outpost."

"Explain."

"The Grey Elder's side... sent someone over, saying it was to deliver an invitation."

Jiang Ye opened his eyes.

"Invitation?"

"They say that Grey Elder is hosting a banquet at his mansion tomorrow night and invites the Alliance Leader to attend."

Gray Beak handed over a folded piece of cardboard. The paper was grayish-white with dark lines pressed into the edges, and a line of handwritten words in the middle, the ink still fresh.

Tomorrow night.

The signature consisted of only one character: Weng.

Jiang Ye turned the invitation over; the back was blank.

He rubbed the paper with his thumb; the subtle embossing raised slightly beneath his fingertip—the kind of pattern commonly used by the Council of Elders.

Where is the person who delivered the invitations?

"Still waiting at the northern outpost. They said Grey Elder instructed us to wait for the Alliance Leader's reply."

Jiang Ye folded the invitation in half and tossed it onto the table.

Go back and tell him I'll arrive tomorrow night.

Gray Beak responded and turned to leave, but Jiang Ye called him back.

"Wait. Have Shattered Eye push the northern perimeter line outwards another two hundred meters. I'll take Iron Wall there tomorrow night; you and Shattered Eye will guard the base."

"Over at the workshop..."

He paused for a moment.

"Don't touch the workshop yet. Let's talk about it when I get back from Grey Elder's."

Gray Beak nodded, closed the door, and left.

Jiang Ye leaned back against the headboard, staring at the folded invitation on the table.

The invitation will be delivered Grey Elder night, at the perfect time.

The invitation arrived shortly after Chrollo and Illumi left, indicating that Grey Elder's people had been keeping an eye on the steel casting workshop.

"Old man."

He muttered a curse under his breath, but a slight smile played on his lips.

The Grey Elder wanted to see what cards he had up his sleeve, and he also wanted to see Grey Elder.

Whoever reveals their hand first at tomorrow night's dinner will suffer.

But before that.

He looked down at his shadow. The outline of the Max Elephant lay deep within, more stable than before, but its edges were still trembling slightly, like a taut string that could snap at any moment.

"Just one more day."

Jiang Ye raised his hands, interlocked his fingers, pressed his thumbs together, and arched the backs of his hands outwards.

The middle and ring fingers bend inward and come together, while the index and little fingers curve out in an ivory-like arc. The hand shadow falls on the metal floor of the shipping container, and the outline of a giant elephant with its head held high silently unfolds, dark and more stable than when it was summoned last time.

The Max Elephant's silhouette shifted in the shadows, its trunk twitching, and Jiang Ye's temple throbbed.

He dispersed the hand shadows and let out a long breath.

I'll be back from Grey Elder's place tomorrow night. No matter what the outcome of the talks, Max Elephant must be subdued.

To the north, out of his sight, outside the 500-meter perimeter of the steel casting workshop, a man in a gray short-sleeved jacket was squatting atop a pile of scrap metal, stubbing out the last half of his cigarette on the sheet metal, squinting as he looked toward the Rust Remains Alliance camp.

"Tomorrow night."

He muttered something to himself, slid off the pile of scrap metal, and his figure quickly disappeared into the gray, dusty path of the wasteland.