Returned

"That Garp guy, he may seem calm, but he's probably quite worried about his son."

Zephyr dragged a knocked -Quincy into the warehouse and tossed him aside.

They knew that Garp's son, Dragon, had also participated in the God Valley Incident and had disappeared along with them.

Therefore, infiltrating the Wandenreich this time is a must. We can't ignore either our own son or all those marines.

After splitting up with Garp, Zephyr began to frequently encounter Quincy, which he didn't understand at first.

Just then, he saw a warehouse and suddenly realized that the Quincy's purpose in coming here was obvious—the warehouse contained clothing.

He defeated all the Quincy he encountered and threw them into the warehouse. The unconscious Quincy landed on top of the others, forming a pile.

"They're only getting these military uniforms now? It's not like everyone's getting new ones; maybe this place's just been established?" Zephyr muttered to himself.

This was the intelligence he obtained from the Quincy he captured. The country had just been established, and it was reasonable for them to distribute clothes to everyone.

In other words, the Wandenreich did not exist many years ago, but only recently emerged.

It's hard not to connect this to the recent God Valley Incident.

He seems to have made some progress on the God Valley Incident.

It seems that God Valley has offended the Celestial Dragons, Celestial Dragons are planning to target the country. However, this plan is disrupted by Rocks and his group, who arrive out of nowhere...

While Zephyr was thinking, he also kept an eye on the outside. Once there was no more movement, he casually picked up a Quincy military cap from the side and put it on his head.

Then he left the warehouse and locked the door.

He needed to gather more intelligence; these low-level Quincy didn't know much. It would be great if he could meet someone from that Knights.

As Zephyr continued on his journey, he noticed that the number of forks in the road was decreasing, and they seemed to be becoming more concentrated.

After that, he never met another person.

As he walked out of the road and turned around, he froze in place.

There was no road ahead, only a large gate.

He remembered that he was taking the left path, and when he encountered multiple intersections, he tried to stay to the right to control his direction and get to the center of the palace, rather than the edge.

Now, there's just a door standing there, and no other intersections or rooms.

Either he's found the core location, or he's gone astray and reached a dead end; opening the door might just lead him straight out of the palace.

He did a quick mental calculation and realized it wasn't time yet, so he made his decision.

Even if it's full of demons, he'll still go in and take a look! He strode forward with determination.

When they reached the gate, Zephyr paused, tightened the bandage on his right shoulder with his left hand, pulled his hat brim down, and pushed the door open.

As a door opened, the scene before him startled him.

This place is... so big and spacious!

Zephyr walked in and looked up. The surrounding silver-white walls were smooth and delicate, and four pillars were distributed in the four corners of the room, without any patterns on them.

It resembles a royal palace, but it's practically empty inside. There are no decorations, and no paintings on the walls. Its most distinctive feature is its exceptionally high ceiling.

The entire space was dark and gloomy, with only a faint blue light.

Deep inside, directly opposite the gate, there is an altar-like staircase upon which sits a throne.

This is an item worth taking a second look at.

The throne was sharply defined and made entirely of steel. Behind it, a pentagram flag was unfurled and hung there, motionless and without wind.

Zephyr wandered around inside, excessively leisurely.

He casually wiped away his sweat...

Wrong!

He suddenly realized something was wrong; how could such a small amount of exercise make him sweat?

He held the hand up to his eyes and saw that it was indeed covered in a clear liquid, which flowed along the lines of his palm and between his fingers as he moved.

It wasn't sweat, nor was it water dripping from the ceiling.

He slowed his breathing and suddenly realized that the air inside the hall was unusually dense and had liquefied.

His clothes were soaked shortly after he came in.

He had no intention of leaving. Now that he was inside, he had to search the place thoroughly, hoping to find some clues.

After groping along the wall and circling around several times without finding anything, he walked toward the throne.

Ta-da~

The sound of his footsteps on the steps was clearly audible, echoing in the quiet, enclosed room, as if in sync with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Finally, he arrived at the throne, circled it left and right, but found nothing.

He shifted his gaze to the flag.

The flag was dark blue with a silver pentagram printed on it; its design was simple, just like the pattern on the Quincy's clothes.

He had his back to the throne, so he didn't know that a pair of eyes were watching him from the direction of the throne.

Silently, I watched him from behind.

"Haschwalth, welcome to the Wandenreich. Here exist our fellow Quincy, just like us, and this is where you will live from now on."

"... Um."

Haschwalth withdrew his gaze from Zephyr and nodded to Kaya, who was standing beside him.

The two people appeared out of thin air in the main hall.

Zephyr hadn't noticed them before they spoke, which is why Zephyr heart nearly jumped out of his chest when the voices suddenly rang out.

"Who goes there?!" Zephyr jumped back abruptly, his eyes fixed on the newcomer.

When he saw it clearly, a strange look flashed in his eyes.

There were two men standing together, both dressed in white robes. He recognized one of them; he had seen him during the Battle of Hachinosu, the one who had personally killed Admiral Bright.

The other man had long blond hair, sea-blue eyes, and a handsome face, but a cold and aloof demeanor.

"You are my heir, and I will announce this to everyone. You should be prepared," Kaya continued speaking to Haschwalth.

"Is that alright? I'm just new here," Haschwalth said expressionlessly.

"You're a Quincy of the same type as me." Kaya didn't say much, and walked towards the throne, with Haschwalth half a step behind him.

Zephyr watched as Kaya ascended the steps, shook his cloak, and sat upon the Iron Throne.

Haschwalth stood guard to one side.

"Alright, now we can turn our attention to the guest we've invited in." Kaya propped his cheek with the back of his hand and turned his head slightly to look at Zephyr.

He didn't show any obvious emotions; there was no surprise, and certainly no anger.

He smiled and greeted him.

What brings you here, Vice Admiral Zephyr?