Chapter 570 - 539 Current Situation in the Avak Region (1/3)

Chapter 570: Chapter 539 Current Situation in the Avak Region (1/3)

"I really didn’t expect it to be you..."

When a puzzled Tres arrived at Ian’s research building and saw the Fae who had designated his squad for the escort mission, he wasn’t surprised anymore, "I knew it had to be someone with a lot of pull to stop us from departing and turn us into guards."

"It’s easier to work with someone you know, don’t you mind?"

Ian was carrying a box, dressed in Void Armor marked with the Knight Order of Inspectorate’s emblem, and spoke through the built-in voice channel, "If you’re not satisfied, I will not apologize."

After registering his name at headquarters, Ian made a small modification to his Entangling Void Armor, namely installing an internal communication module used by the Knight Order of Inspectorate into Entangling Void Armor.

With this specialized communication module, he could access the Knight Order of Inspectorate’s private communication channels, which was convenient for coordinating efforts.

As the Entangling Void Armor was a Sublimation Armor, its performance was naturally superior to standard armored clothing, and since the module could be removed at any time, Ian didn’t find it bothersome.

"Of course I don’t mind."

Shrugging his shoulders, Tres smiled cheerfully, "It’s all for The Empire, after all. Investigative missions and escorting observation squads are equally important."

This Knight, who had been undercover for far too many years, seemed to have a hard time breaking his ingrained habits and spoke with a distinctly common touch, "Moreover, I could guess that the merit following you would be greater. You must have a valid reason for wanting someone familiar like me, who would cooperate with you even better."

"Guarding an observation team means less fighting and more merit, and getting appreciated by bigshots, what’s not to like?"

Having said that, he shrugged again, "Don’t worry, since you’re willing to share the merit, I’ll definitely cooperate with you. Just say the word, and I’ll follow. Just don’t send me and my boys on a suicide mission, that’s all."

—That may not be so certain. Our His Highness Michael does not seem to be someone who plans to just watch from the sidelines; he’s bound to stir up something dangerous.

Ian thought to himself but indeed had no intention of letting those who trusted him die.

To the best of his ability.

"What’s the situation now?"

Ian and Tres were discussing the known intelligence over a military map. Ian looked towards the Avak region and asked, while Tres drew a circle with his hand on the map, in an area northwest above the Bart Great Rift Valley, south of the Western Territory, "It’s right here. A huge circle centered around the Avak Viscounty."

"Ordinary people inside the circle suffer from nausea, dizziness, gastrointestinal discomfort, and blurred vision. This is the result of the Spirit Energy Field affecting the neural currents."

"At the same time, a large number of Biochemical Beasts have appeared in this area, most of which are modified organisms with short lifespans but extreme ferocity. They are the fungal enhancers that appeared in the Western Territory and South Ridge some time ago— and this kind of fungus enhancer can even control corpses."

"It’s hard to imagine, right? The inhabitants of Fiery Flame Land have actually used Bio-Alchemy to create Spirit Energy corpses, which have the same effect as the Undead in stories!"

At this point, Tres’s tone was relaxed, but his expression was very serious. He was joking to lighten the mood, but he was well aware of the severity of the situation, "But that’s not the end... The closer to the center of the Avak region you get, the more likely you are to encounter an extremely strange Spirit Energy entity."

"We call them ’Phantasms’. Most of these Phantasms appear as ordinary people. Of course, they are not human, but more like Phantoms."

"They will recklessly attack all life forms within their sensing range."

"But the further inward you go, the stronger these Spirit Energy Illusions become, and mixed in among them are some controlled Humans, some of whom are from Fiery Flame Land’s special forces squad."

"There was even an unlucky squad that encountered a Peak Second Energy Level Explosive Owl Phantom; before they could react, they were decimated by the creature’s kamikaze attack, leaving only the captain surviving to return."

At this moment, Tres shook his head slightly, "Our original mission was just this. We were to gradually approach the inner side of the Avak region and figure out the source of the anomaly."

As he said this, the Knight frowned slightly, seeming somewhat perplexed, "Up to this point, the Duke of Solin is still refusing official aid from The Empire, so we can’t deploy on a large scale. Therefore, we have to use aircraft to reach nearby areas and approach on foot from the ground."

"It’s extremely dangerous, but if we achieve something, we’re certain to earn military merit."

Ian nodded slightly; he roughly knew how Tres and his squad might die without him around—just as he said, overwhelmed by a crazed Spirit Energy Phantom, almost entirely wiped out, leaving only Tres by chance to survive.

As for why Tres was so eager to achieve military merit, Ian actually knew as well.

As an Inspector Knight with Second Energy Level, Tres could completely choose to retire as a noble Lord of a remote area when he reached the peak of the Second Energy Level, provided that his merits were sufficient.

Actually, the factions of Nobles that support the Knight Order of Inspectorate mostly came about in this way. Among the Military Merit Nobility groups in the southeastern part of The Empire and the Eastern Border, a portion is related to the Inspector Knights, and around Mist Port, the Fortress Nobility are mostly Inspector Knights as well. Although most are only Barons and Viscounts, the foundation of The Empire is precisely these groups of basic Nobility.

This was a policy implemented by Inega II, which Axel modified slightly and continued to use to this day.

At that time, Tres also changed his and his family’s fate completely.

The question is, why was Tres so urgent?

Ian didn’t know these details, and he didn’t plan to ask. Instead, he mused for a moment and slowly said, "My task is to observe changes in the Spirit Energy Fields around the Avak area with these Fae scholars and analyze the reasons for the anomalies."

"This task also involves facing Phantasms, and if possible, we’ll need to capture one."

"Does it matter if they are strong or weak?"

Tres asked, "Do we need a specific type?"

"The stronger the better, but actually it doesn’t matter. The type, too—it would be better to have a variety, but it’s fine if we don’t."

Ian nodded slightly, "After all, we’re analyzing the cause, and whether strong or weak, the principle should be the same. Don’t worry, I won’t choose targets that you need to risk yourselves to deal with."

——After all, there are Foresight View and Silver Chips.

In critical moments, it’s not the time for me to be conducting research; I’ll just cheat directly.

"Then we will follow your lead," Tres had no doubts about Ian: "I’ll go summon the flying vessel."

"Just like that, I hope we have a pleasant collaboration."

"A pleasant collaboration indeed."

Through Tres, Ian also got to know more about the current situation.

The Empire and the Duke of Solin had now openly fallen out, and the anomaly in the Avak area had put the lives of a million people at risk. Even the Western Border Duke, whose tenure dated back to the founding of the country, could not avoid paying a price after causing such a disaster.

Ian learned from sources associated with Yisen Gard that the Imperial Nobility Court had already commenced actions, and if relevant evidence was found in the Avak area, then The Empire would strip the Duke of Solin of his ducal title.

In the past, this would have been nearly impossible, as all the Nobles would oppose stripping the title from a peer of such prestige, who had been a part of The Empire for as long as it had existed.

But faced with the death of a million people—albeit unconfirmed—no Noble would dare to refute this decision—unless they too wanted to be conveniently dealt with by the Imperial Capital.

"No wonder there’s such a big fuss. It seems they’ve finally found a reason to cut down the power of the dukes."

Ian wasn’t surprised; after all, he had guessed that the Duke of Solin intended to betray, and what the Imperial Capital had to do was to completely extinguish the legitimacy of the Duke’s rule before the betrayal occurred.

In this way, it wouldn’t lead to the situation that happened after Steep Ridge Fortress declared independence, where all the Nobles of the northern Grand Duchy united as one.

As long as the public is informed about the Duke of Solin’s role in creating the Avak tragedy, there shouldn’t be much trouble when reclaiming The Grand Duchy.

After confirming the relevant information and making all the preparations, Ian went with Tres to the flying platform at the entrance of the Central Urban District in the Imperial Capital.

There, a flying vessel awaited them, a vessel which both seemed out of place in this world and, paradoxically, fitting.

It was a disk.

An ’UFO’.

_

Update time for the next Chapter: 2022-08-10 8:01:00