In the capital of the Evergreen Empire...
In the imperial palace, the emperor stood before the level 90 man who had returned defeated from the Black Plain.
The emperor had already heard about the defeat of the Blood Triangle Pirates group in Minos' domain. Still, due to the situation of those men, trying to recover from their losses, he had not yet met them.
But now, less than two weeks after the events in Dry City, the leader of that pirate group was there to report on the recent events with Minos personally.
"... And that is what happened, Your Majesty." That man, once majestic in front of Minos, said humbly, with his aura shy.
The emperor remained silent for some time, watching that man as he associated this subordinate's account with what he had recently heard from Calvert.
He then said. "So Minos Stuart refused to work for your group, and now he is disappeared..."
"There was nothing we could do, Your Majesty. The brat Minos hid inside one of those black holes of his. Unfortunately, with my strength, I couldn't last long inside that thing...
I fear that in such a region of space, only people stronger than me and my men can act against him." He said, ashamed of his incompetence in front of a young Spiritual Saint.
But there was nothing to be done. Minos was an abnormality, and it was not this man's fault.
At most, he was guilty of being negligent, but the emperor could not blame this subordinate for Minos' unusual talents.
He added. "As for the disappearance of the brat Minos, it will be tricky to find him, Your Majesty. The damned can manipulate space and can travel through wormholes.
So finding him would be difficult even for me."
"He can manipulate space, eh? That's really impressive, I must say." The emperor muttered, remembering no one in human history with such an ability.
But innate abilities, fusions, and other mystical characteristics of cultivators still had their mysteries, even for high-level cultivators.
Anything was possible in the Spiritual World!
So this man, although impressed, gave no more importance than he normally would to the talents of a level 77 youth.
He said. "Well, I won't punish you this time. Just redo your work and plan ways to show Minos Stuart his place. But, in the meantime, I want you to join Calvert's group in searching for the tracks of this little fellow.
I'm not going after him myself because I'll soon be moving up a level. But, in any case, talk to Elder Thomas for any developments on the matter. He will handle your organization in my absence."
That level 90 man clenched his fists as he felt anticipation in his heart. "Will Your Majesty advance to level 99?"
"I hope so. I have already been at the peak of level 98 for four thousand years, but I have finally reached what is necessary to attempt an advancement. So I must remain in seclusion for the next few years.
In a decade or two, I will return."
"This subordinate wish Your Majesty success!" That man prostrated himself before saying he would do his best and communicate with Thomas.
With his departure, the emperor finished his business. He went to his family's Spatial Kingdom, intending not to return until he advanced to level 99.
...
In Emperor Evergreen's absence, Thomas Evergreen, the emperor's brother, level 97, was already in place to handle the most important matters of that state.
Right now, he was standing next to Prince Calvert and the heir to the empire, communicating to these brothers about the emperor's situation.
"Your Highnesses, His Majesty has gone into seclusion in the family's Spatial Kingdom and has temporarily left me in charge of his most relevant duties. In the meantime, I hope you will cooperate to share some of his minor responsibilities." That man, who seemed to be in his middle age, over 16,000 years old, said to the two relatively young men in front of him.
Calvert and the heir to the empire nodded in agreement, not so surprised by their father's move since something like this was already expected.
They had their factions within the Church, but the older one had no interest in becoming the leader of this organization but rather in taking over his father's functions. So even though they belonged to different factions, they had no great rivalry.
Ducan, the emperor's eldest son and current Supreme Pontiff of the Spiritual Church, would take care of the empire's defenses if anything happened, so neither of these two was worried about their father's departure.
Calvert then said. "Has he given any orders that we should pay attention to?"
"No. Just continue what you were already doing." Thomas said before looking at the local heir. "But you need to watch the Blood Triangle Pirates group. It seems that Minos Stuart has beaten the crap out of some of the high-ranking members of that group."
"I heard about that." The Second Prince commented. "But what does my father think about it? Minos is missing, and no one has any idea where he is.
Even the men from the western region watching him are lost."
"Just continue the investigations and eventually relay the information to me. I will deal with it when the time comes."
"Will you move?" Calvert frowned his eyebrows. "Uncle Thomas, don't forget that Minos is important to our plans, or the damned Ducan will pass on the power in the Church to someone outside the family."
Ducan belonged to the Evergreen family initially. So he would defend that state and that imperial house if he had to. But he had grudges against his old father and some high-ranking organization members.
Because of that, he had chosen one of his disciples, someone originally belonging to a noble family in the empire, not someone from the imperial house.
That displeased many members of the Evergreen family, but given Ducan's power, his powerful faction, and his history with the family, few spoke against him locally.
But that man's younger brothers were not afraid to call the respected Supreme Pontiff a curse or other names.
Thomas sighed and said. "I know. We won't debilitate Minos to the point of ending his potential. But he needs to suffer a little before he serves us."
...
Meanwhile, Minos and his group had already traversed a long portion of Veora Kingdom in the previous hours when they came across something that caught Emperor Stuart's attention.
As they were passing through a forest in that state, amid their group's rest, Minos suddenly saw from afar a set of three chariots with a symbol he knew.
Upon seeing that, he stood up from where he was sitting and frowned, remembering something that had happened several years ago in the ancient Kingdom of Waves.
"The symbol of the Goddess of Life?" He muttered upon seeing that, drawing the attention of his fellow beasts in that direction.
"Are they related to the Goddess of Life?" Minos wondered before deciding to approach that group.
...
