"What are you doing there?" Alice walked up to Michael and embraced him from behind. She gently leaned against his back while Michael continued working. He smiled from one ear to another, his golden eyes glowing vibrantly as the pictures before him changed.
"Iâm watching our friends. Well, not only them. Iâm watchingâŠeveryone, if you want me to be precise," He muttered while using his Essence to shape the bowl field with water before him. The bowl transformed into a mirrorâs frame, and the water rippled as it transformed into liquid glass. At least, that was what it looked like to Alice. But only for a moment as countless pictures appeared before her.
"Isnât that Sun Demos?" She asked, and the pictures slowed down. They showed Frederik Kolbenheim and Jacqueline Orlando spending time at their home in the Tritan Alliance before returning to the images revealing Sun Demos and his little kingdom in the Untamed Jungle.
Sun Demos was still one of Michaelâs tamed monsters, but it was not like Michael told the Monkey King to do anything. He could do as he pleased as long as he didnât try to go against Michael or his friends.
Sun Demos evolved and mutated several times over the course of the last few decades. He was now a Blazing Sun Monkey King, a Mythical Existence at the 7th Tier. The little troublemaker was now a Divine Beast!
Michael hadnât been around Sun Demos often in the last few decades. In fact, he was aware of how negligent he had been with the Monkey King, but Sun Demos didnât hold him accountable. If anything, Sun Demos was happy Michael didnât pay much attention to him. The Monkey King never felt like Michaelâs subordinate. If anything, fighting side by side felt more like the alliance of two kings rather than an Emperor commanding his lowly subjects.
Sun Demos liked that about Michael the most. They worked together for a few years before going their separate ways.
The Monkey King was a lot stronger than he used to be, and he used that strength to create his own territory, where he lived with his children, as well as the other Blood Oath Demon Monkeys. This included the monkeys that were given birth through evolutions, mutations, and the like.
However, the Blazing Sun Monkey King ruled them all. He was the ruler of the Monkey Kingdom.
"Are you watching everyone like that? How did you manage to create such a scrying bowl â or should I call it a mirror? â in the first place? I can understand you seeing everything thatâs happening in the Origin Expanse, but how did you stalk Jac and Frederik? Theyâre not in the Origin Expanse right now, or are they?" Alice inquired.
She didnât talk down to him, but her choice of words hurt a little.
"Stalking? I am just checking on my friendsâŠ" Michael responded a little down.
Alice ruffled through his long, silky hair with a smug smile, "Of course you are. Youâre just a bit overprotective. Yes, yes. Thatâs it."
Michael snickered in his mind, but he knew better than to say anything aloud.
"What about Zeroa? I havenât seen her for a while now. She hasnât been in the Elemental Empire either. I visited it two weeks ago, but they havenât seen her for a few years now. I was going to ask you, but I forgot about it," Alice asked, a trace of worry returning to her voice.
"Zeroa is fine," Michael smiled and changed the picture to the Elemental Empress and the Red Dragon enjoying their lives on a tiny island, "Before you ask⊠Yes, that is an active volcano. Yes, theyâre both at fault for its eruption⊠and yes, they are both still in the Origin Expanse."
Alice raised an eyebrow, the worry replaced by confusion and curiosity.
"Where are they? Is that theâŠ"
"The Azure Ocean? Yeah, it is. I donât know what theyâre planning, but I sure hope they wonât tear apart the Azure Ocean with their actions. Caesus has already done enough damage to the Azure Ocean ecosystem. There is no need to create PyroWyrms in the middle of the Azure Ocean. This would be a catastrophe."
"How would theyâŠ" Alice asked, but she sealed her lips before the full sentence could escape her mouth. She knew better than to keep asking stupid questions. It was just that she was curious, and her hormones were going crazy these days.
"Please, do not ask me how they make Wyrms. Nobody should be forced to learn or see anything about thisâŠmethod," Michael shuddered and turned to his wife. He pinched her cheeks before kissing her on the forehead.
"Either way," Trying to change the topic, Alice cleared her throat and moved forward, "What exactly did Caesus do?"
Michael chuckled and turned back to the scrying mirror. He recreated the images of Caesus battle with the Ocean Dragon.
"The Ocean Dragon was supposed to be hibernating until ascending godhood. That was the plan. Unfortunately, this didnât work well. Caesus established his settlement less than two kilometers from the Ocean Dragonâs residency and chose to use its bay as a port to collect the fish eating itsâŠpoop."
Alice burst into laughter, and she didnât stop for a good minute or two. She only noticed that Michael wasnât joking when he kept looking at her, his lips pressed into a fine line.
"Wait! You are not serious, right? No. That cannot be. You canât be serious."
"Well, that is a serious matter. He was earning a fortune from the fishes evolving through the Ocean Dragonâs excrements. Unfortunately, they were too loud and woke the Ocean Dragon. To be loud enough to wake a dragon in everlasting slumber is quite an achievement," Michael sighed deeply.
"But theyâre fine, right? CaesusâŠNothing happened to him, right?"
"Yes, he is fine. He was close to death, but he went above and beyond, breaking through his limit a few times â which was quite impressive â and forced the Ocean Dragon to depart. The Ocean Dragon used too much power and will probably take even longer to attain godhood. Its centuries-long slumber was for naught all because it engaged in a life-and-death battle with Caesus," Michael said with a note of pride in his voice, "Caesus is as good as new, and he should be stronger than ever. He has to be careful, or he might accidentally accept a Law or Authority and attain godhood if he keeps going like that."
"You look like a proud father," Alice teased Mciahel, who could only shrug.
"I am proud of Caesus. And Tiara, as a matter of fact," He showed Alice everything the Silverfang siblings had achieved. Their development plants progressed much faster than they were devised. They might have told everyone their progress would be slow and that they didnât want to rush anything, but the truth was that the siblings were competitive and ambitious. If it was possible to progress faster and grow rapidly into a first-rate raceâŠwhy shouldnât they give it a try?
Michael could only agree with that.
Why wouldnât they try their best if they had the means to?
âMaybe being around me during their time in the Untamed Jungle didnât do them well. I might have influenced them too much,â Michael realized, but the smug smile on his face never disappeared.