Chapter 42: 41. Empire

41. Empire

Watching the passenger ship that had come to pick him up sail away, Li Ang was speechless for a moment.

It wasn't shock, anger, helplessness, absurdity, or a desire to laugh that he felt in his heart.

It was a complex feeling of having a little bit of everything, compounded by speechlessness.

Regardless of what faction these four ships belonged to, what kind of nerve did they have to open fire on an official cooperative transport ship of the Guild?

The Sky Knight Guild was not merely a trade organization; it was the largest political entity in the entire sky, possessing territory and military power.

In the past, the islands were generally isolated from one another; it was the emergence of the Guild that facilitated exchange and established the current order of the airspace, and because of this, the Guild had agreed upon a common set of laws for airspace order with almost every faction capable of communication.

Even if the various islands and factions had their own rules, and even if there were people who did not cooperate with the Guild, they could not openly violate the Guild's laws; after all, the law was not oppression, but the establishment of order and protection.

Openly attacking neutral civilian transport ships had already seriously violated the law.

Li Ang wanted to see how they would die.

He asked Eden, "Do you know what organization they are?"

Eden shook her head, "I do not know, but they are certainly not simple."

"Those mortals, their weapons could not break my solid ice, yet they caused serious damage to my very being. That weapon of theirs that releases lightning seems as if it were designed specifically to attack Star Souls."

The black lightning finally used by those magitech airships was indeed too bizarre.

"Specifically attacking Star Souls..."

Li Ang asked, "You have hidden yourselves very well; in all the years past, I have never had any understanding of Star Souls, and I believe that at the very least, the vast majority of high-ranking Sky Knights are also unaware. But these people, how could they have weapons specifically for this?"

Eden nodded, "Our names have long since faded with the winds of history; I, too, cannot understand what faction they are or why they are able to master such weapons."

Li Ang pinched the bridge of his nose.

Ever since he met Zoe, he had thought that something major might be starting to happen.

The existence of many secrets in this sky was a consensus among all adventurers; sometimes, what everyone chatted about over tea was exploring some ancient secrets, which could be paths to becoming top-tier powerhouses, the inheritance of ancient technology, or wealth sufficient to become the foundation of a nation—stories of legendary adventurers obtaining them had long circulated in the sky.

Although there were many secrets, only a rare few had been uncovered in thousands of years, and it was very difficult for top powerhouses of successive generations to grasp their clues.

It was not until the Sky Knight Guild was established, the number and strength of adventurers gradually increased, and large-scale coordinated operations were formed, that the Sky Knight groups gradually conquered various dangerous places.

But everyone knew that huge mysteries still existed ahead.

Major events affecting the entire sky had also occurred in the airspace, each involving many people and factions; in the ten years Li Ang had been here, there had been two major events, the Lost Ancient Battlefield and the Tower of Demons, and he had also witnessed the style of other top group members in those fierce battles.

Now, this was surely the beginning of another major event.

Li Ang looked at Zoe, who was listening to the conversation quietly.

What is a protagonist of destiny? A child of the world? It was precisely that her fate was inextricably linked to the world. Was it the world being turned upside down that bestowed such a fate upon her, or was her fate to change the world? Or perhaps, the two were originally two sides of the same coin?

As the protagonist of the world advances, certain dusty secrets of the world will inevitably be opened; Nubis is about to become different, and this change will exceed everyone's understanding and imagination.

The fact that he himself spent quite some effort dealing with the Earth Serpent was the best illustration; more difficult situations might appear in the future, and if one does not want to be swallowed by such a tide, everyone must be prepared, whether they are strong or weak.

This unknown faction, the fleet mastering the black lightning that specifically attacks Star Souls, was likely the vanguard of the tide.

"The two of you can ride on my back to break through, but before that, I would like to ask the God-child to help me recover from my injuries."

Eden said; she had been pursued by that black lightning, which clung like bone-eating maggots, and the injuries she sustained were not light, while Zoe's power could quickly heal her.

Li Ang was a bit worried, "Can she handle it?"

Eden smiled slightly, "The God-child's power is not generated by herself, but is connected to the source at the other end; only when she does not know how to wield it will it consume her life."

The woman gently reached out to Zoe, "I will guide you, do not worry."

Zoe reached out cautiously, her fingertips touching Eden's, and her whole body was instantly enveloped in divine light.

"How is it?" Li Ang asked.

Zoe's expression was peaceful, but she widened her eyes and opened her mouth, as if she were unable to speak because she could not digest too much information.

In her pupils, tiny runic lights formed a vortex, spinning rapidly.

The divine light transitioned to Eden, dyeing her blue hair cyan, and the pale blue at the ends became like bright gold.

After about half a minute, Eden took the initiative to separate her palm.

"I have recovered for the most part."

"That's it?" Li Ang did indeed see that her complexion had improved quite a bit.

"This is the power of the God-child; only a small portion of her full potential is manifested. Let us—"

Eden wanted to suggest leaving, however, a commotion arose in the village not far away.

An airship hovered at a very close altitude, the flame tail of its magitech power furnace illuminating the grassland, and a large number of soldiers marched off the ship in formation, directly breaking into the village.

"Let's go quickly."

Li Ang and Eden immediately took action; Zoe looked at everything in her home with reluctance, carefully closed the door, and followed behind them.

Slipping into the woods along the shadows of the houses, the three arrived outside the village.

The soldiers who came off the airship were all ordinary soldiers of low strength; except for the leader who was a Tier 2 warrior, the others were all Tier 1, equipped with Tier 1 standard armor, and holding Tier 2 magitech energy guns in their hands—only this type of weapon could be considered somewhat powerful.

Magitech guns were not cheap; if they were all purchased from the Makaina island nation, they had truly spent a fortune.

The soldiers kicked open the villagers' doors, broke into their homes, dragged out the villagers who were already trembling from the various events of the day, and hauled them to the center of the village.

A leading sergeant shouted, "Grab the teenagers! Sigh, forget it, just grab everyone and be done with it! The adults don't matter, but don't hurt the children, or I'll cut off your heads!"

But the villagers who had lived in a remote place for a long time had never seen such a formation; some were so frightened they screamed, while others collapsed to the ground.

"What are you doing? Let go of my child!" a mother cried out.

A soldier kicked her down, snatched her terrified son, and took him to stay with the other children.

"Are they all here?" the sergeant asked.

"Reporting to the corporal! All have been found!"

"Good, test them."

The sergeant took out something similar to a gauge, but like the cannon that had released the black lightning earlier, it was wrapped in a dark purple substance, with yellow pustules bulging as it squirmed.

The front of the gauge was a sharp spike; he directly stabbed it into the trapezius muscle of a child in front of him, and blood entered the instrument through the tube of the spike.

The child cried out in pain and was knocked unconscious by a soldier nearby.

"No reaction, next." The sergeant's voice was devoid of emotion.

Seeing the child injured and beaten, his parents became agitated.

"Why are you taking my child!"

A strong male villager suddenly pushed away the soldier pinning him down and rushed toward the group of soldiers guarding the children.

The sergeant drew the long sword at his waist, easily decapitated the man, and then stabbed through the woman beside him who was likely his wife, shook the blood off the blade, and sheathed it again.

The other children, who were all about to cry loudly, were so frightened by the scene of the dead that they fell silent, and some even fainted.

The sergeant sneered, "No need to rush; to prevent trouble, you all had to die anyway. You should feel honored to be able to contribute to the resurgence of our Holy Spirel Empire."

Zoe in the woods covered her mouth tightly; she leaned against Li Ang, trembling uncontrollably.

Although she could fight against monsters, seeing her own kind dismembered was quite a shock to her.

All the children had been blood-tested, and the sergeant roared, "Not found! They must be on this island; find them even if you have to cut down the entire forest!"

"A-are they here to catch me?"

Zoe grabbed Li Ang's hand, her eyes red.

The matter was related to Star Souls, and they wanted teenagers; it was almost explicitly saying that it was because of her that these people were implicated.

The young girl looked at those villagers and sobbed in a low voice, "Although I don't like them, but—"

Li Ang shook his head, "Zoe, this is your first lesson as an adventurer."

"I will endure it."

"No," Li Ang pointed at the soldiers, "I mean kill them."