Chapter 98: Information, City Lord’s Intentions (5)
"Hm, there are more records here," Grey said with a curious look as he selected one of the data files.
Coincidentally, it was the record of the middle-stage 2nd ranker.
"Oh?" Grey tilted his head, interest flashing in his eyes. "Well, look who we have here."
"..." Eterna fell silent as she stared at the data on the screen.
[Subject 161]
[Name: Orin Ardent]
[Occupation: City Lord of Ashspire City, Major funder of this experiment.]
Next to the report was the image of a middle-aged man with a neatly tied black bun and a short beard. His calm, composed expression carried the weight of authority, typical of a man who had ruled for years.
"City Lord Orin," Eterna murmured softly.
"How generous of the city lord," Grey said with a smirk. "He personally decided to become an experiment subject when progress stalled. How noble."
Then his grin widened. "But hey, Eterna, doesn’t this make things a lot easier for us?"
"We can use it to our advantage," Eterna replied, nodding slightly.
"This guy is truly generous. He even helped us indirectly," Grey said before bursting into laughter.
Both Eterna and Grey had already come up with a plan. Grey had been subtly putting it into motion, waiting for the right moment. All he needed now was enough strength to execute it, and once he did, his resource problems would be completely solved.
He had reached level six in the past month. Though progress was slow due to stabilizing his foundation, his cultivation speed would normally have been impressive. He had spent a fortune buying hundreds of cosmic stones to fuel his progress, yet he was only halfway to the 7th level.
He needed more resources than he originally thought.
But once this plan took effect, he wouldn’t have to worry about resources ever again.
And the City Lord was the key piece in that plan.
Grey turned toward his disciples, who were giving him strange looks. He suddenly grinned like an idiot, then started laughing uncontrollably.
They wondered if the traumatic data from the captured evolvers had somehow affected his brain.
"Cough." Grey cleared his throat and snapped his fingers.
Immediately, the holo-screen flickered and displayed the City Lord’s profile.
"This?" Everyone’s expression changed drastically.
"The City Lord?" Werner’s voice trembled. "How is this possible?"
"The City Lord was working with the High Order?" the Twin Sisters gasped in disbelief.
No one could have imagined that the man who stood as Ashspire City’s protector, the one everyone respected, was actually behind the scenes supporting the enemy.
"This is unimaginable," Werner said, anger rising in his voice. "To think the real culprit behind so many High Order incidents in Ashspire City was the City Lord himself!"
High Order operatives were spotted often in Ashspire City, but each time they were caught, they somehow escaped unscathed.
Now, the truth was clear.
The City Lord had been secretly helping them all along.
A terrifying aura burst out from Werner. "Master, I’m going to pay the City Lord a visit!"
"Pay him a visit?" Grey shook his head. "I’m afraid it’s not that simple."
He recalled Varyn, the High Order supervisor behind the experiment. That man was a late-stage 2nd ranker, though Grey didn’t know his exact strength. If Werner charged into the City Lord’s mansion recklessly, it would be suicide. What if that guy was precisely hiding there?
Grey swiped the screen again, pulling up another report. "Here. Take a look."
The section describing Varyn’s details appeared before them.
"A late-stage 2nd ranker..." Werner’s face darkened. "So there really was someone like that pulling the strings from behind."
Werner clenched his fists tightly. There was a heaven-shattering gap between a pseudo–late-stage 2nd ranker and a true one who had undergone Law Reshaping.
Law Reshaping was when an evolver reforged their body using the very laws they cultivated. Each successful reshaping brought immense growth in strength. And when one reached the end of the 2nd rank, the number of Law Reshapings determined their chances of ascending to the 3rd rank. Those who only reshaped once had the slimmest chance of breaking through.
"Before thinking about that," Grey said, glancing at the unconscious, half-broken evolvers floating inside the human-sized tubes, "we should get these people back home."
He already knew who to call.
Opening his contacts in his head, Grey tapped the most frequently called number on his new account.
Valeria Everhart.
"Hello?" Valeria’s sweet voice came through the comm.
"I need help," Grey said bluntly.
Ten minutes later, dozens of AVs descended from the air one after another, docking neatly above the High Order hideout.
Grey waved his hand to signal them.
One of the AVs opened, and from it stepped a woman with a curvy, well-endowed figure. She wore a luxurious gown with a black luxurious coat draped over her shoulders and stylish black sunglasses. The moment she spotted Grey, she hurried toward him.
"Little brother Grey!" Valeria exclaimed as she rushed forward and began examining him anxiously. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt anywhere?"
Her voice was filled with genuine worry.
"I’m fine," Grey replied, rolling his eyes. "If I were injured, I wouldn’t have called you. I’d be running away to heal first."
"Greetings, Miss Valeria," Werner said with a calm nod.
"Senior Werner?" Valeria blinked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
She hadn’t even noticed anyone else until now. She had been completely focused on Grey.
Hearing her, Werner chuckled awkwardly. "Me and Master wer..."
He froze mid-sentence, almost choking on his words. The Twin Sisters looked equally awkward, their faces twitching slightly.
"Master?" Valeria’s sharp ears caught it immediately. As the CEO of a major corporation and an evolver herself, her senses were exceptional. "Who’s Master?"
She turned her gaze toward Grey, who had one hand covering his face in exasperation. He had told Werner countless times not to call him that in public.
"I mean, me and my good friend Grey here were just out for a test flight in his newly forged AV," Werner said quickly, coughing to cover up. "I just suddenly thought about my own master from back in the day. We used to travel like this too."
"Oh, is that so?" Valeria nodded, though her eyes narrowed slightly as she shot a suspicious glance at Grey.