Chapter 75

75. An Important Choice in the Heart

"Hey, you didn't hesitate at all when you betrayed me," Li Ang said helplessly.

"Are you kidding? How could brotherhood be more important than doing less work!"

As things stood, there was really no way to run.

The Havun race girl in the sky was none other than Aelafia Elma, the sub-division leader of the Order Flame Group who had been trying to recruit Li Ang.

The pocket-sized girl descended toward the deck; only when she was close could one notice that she was able to stand in the air because she was stepping on a horizontally floating blade.

This blade was as thin as a cicada's wing and transparent, and the toes of her feet, clad in black footed tights, were resting on the flat surface of the blade.

The gold trim outlining the footed tights made her small, rounded toes and pink pads look like a work of art.

The blade did not land on the deck but floated at about the height of her knees, which was just right to keep her line of sight level with the others.

She raised her small palm and curled her fingers; a small hammer appeared out of thin air above Lancelot's head, and at the flick of her fingertip, it began to bash his head with a rhythmic thumping sound.

"Ouch! Miss! Spare me! Leader! Paladin! Please stop!"

Lancelot cried out miserably, but Li Ang could tell this wouldn't hurt at all; it was about the same as being tapped on the head with a finger.

Lancelot hurriedly took off Li Ang's Helmet of the Divine Eye: "Look! This is the merit I've earned for you!"

Seeing Li Ang's face revealed, Aelafia lifted her chin and arched a golden eyebrow.

"Lancelot, as a sub-division leader of the Order Air Cavalry Group, what do you think I'm doing? Punishing you is to help you remember a lesson, not to spend your days slacking off. Do you think finding the person I wanted to find can make up for your unprofessional behavior on duty?"

"Th-then, Li Ang, you don't want to recruit him anymore?"

"Heh, that has nothing to do with this—you stay put too."

Li Ang, who was trying to sneak back onto Dorothy's ship, was blocked by a long pole that condensed out of thin air.

The pocket-sized blonde girl stepped on her flying blade and flew to Li Ang's side: "Perfect, I'm heading back to the Ignis Airspace base now to suppress the chaos happening here. Since you're involved, you might as well come along. After we resolve this, you'll come back to the group with me."

Li Ang shook his head helplessly: "Aelafia, I'm just passing through."

"You've left the Soul Peak; I doubt any ordinary group would catch your eye."

The young lady put her hands on her hips: "I know you're not used to the Four Great Airspaces. It won't be long before the time comes for the sub-divisions to readjust, and then you'll come with me to the Magic Disaster Domain investigation team."

"I already have a group."

"Oh? Which top-tier group is it?"

The girl's pocket-sized mouth pursed imperceptibly, and she said something extremely fast in a tiny voice.

In the past, Li Ang wouldn't have been able to hear that speed, but ever since the system upgraded his professional rank and he gained the "Strong Physique" skill, his hearing and vision had become much sharper.

What Aelafia said was—how is it that someone else is eyeing him besides me? What kind of trash is that, damn it.

"It's not a top-tier group; I started my own group and I'm the leader."

"You started your own?"

The blonde girl stared at Li Ang, looking him up and down: "I'm not surprised, but what about your members? It's only been a few days, you couldn't have had time to find any, right? So you and me..."

"Li Ang—"

Dorothy steered the ship closer, leaning out over the railing to wave this way: "Is it resolved?"

"Resolved. Let's dock and then we'll go."

The half-elf girl steered the ship alongside the magic warship and jumped across the gap between the two ships with a hop.

She touched the Ring of the Champion on her hand: "This ring is really useful. If it were me on this journey before, I probably would have been exhausted and fainted."

When Dorothy came close, Li Ang said: "Let me introduce you. This is Aelafia Elma, the leader of the Order Flame Group, and this is Dorothy Campbell, a member of my team."

"Hello there." Dorothy waved her hand casually, seemingly intentionally skipping the aristocratic etiquette.

Aelafia nodded at her, frowning as she stared at Li Ang: "Are you trying to fob me off with the girl you're hitting on?"

Dorothy didn't understand what was going on and blinked blankly.

"She's not someone I'm hitting on."

"Eh? She's not?" Dorothy hummed.

"You probably won't believe it," Li Ang shook his head: "I didn't originally intend to look for people like them."

Dorothy pouted, and Aelafia's expression froze: "Them?"

"Oh, I already found one before."

The pocket-sized girl sized Dorothy up: "This one's magic rhythm suggests she's a novice spellcaster. Are you telling me everyone you've found is..."

"The other one is a 2nd-rank swordsman."

Aelafia's expression grew colder and colder, and Dorothy whispered that she wouldn't disturb their serious business and slipped to the other side of the deck.

"Uh, Miss," Lancelot felt the atmosphere was wrong and inched over step by step: "About the empire's affairs..."

Aelafia raised her hand over her shoulder and pointed behind her, where a snow-white high-rank airship was floating, with the emblem of the Order Flame Group printed on the outside of the suspension balloon above.

"Droste will go to the Order Hall first to check the situation."

The person she mentioned was the deputy leader of the Flame Group, whom Li Ang had met before.

The people on the airship were communicating with other ships at the entrance of the shipping lane, and by this time, they had finished talking, just passing the magic warship and flying into the Ignis Airspace.

"Serious business first," Aelafia didn't continue to dwell on Li Ang's affairs: "Tell me about what you've seen and heard."

Soon, she learned about the blocked shipping lane, the Annihilation Knight, the empire uniting various territories, and a series of other events.

"It seems their plan was to take advantage of my absence to catch you off guard one by one, and then block the shipping lane to control the Ignis Airspace.

"Like that black trash from just now, they are weak individually, but if there are enough of them, even I wouldn't be able to break through on my own.

"Th-that's weak?" Lancelot muttered to himself, torn between laughing and crying.

With another tap on his head, Aelafia looked at the cross-currents of the shipping lane and said: "It will take a while for the nearby elite Order groups or the top-tier groups that received the commission to assemble, and another while to clear the shipping lane. This so-called empire is planning to take advantage of this time to do something inside."

As someone used to all kinds of situations, Aelafia's analysis was very similar to what Li Ang had surmised.

"You bunch of trash are truly disgraceful. If it weren't for someone else passing by, this empire really would have succeeded. I'll have to train you properly later."

After finishing, Aelafia's tone softened a bit: "However, they launched their attack while the leader and deputy leader were performing official duties, so they were well-prepared. You clearing the shipping lane ahead of time counts as a merit for you this time, and Li Ang as well; the guild will certainly reward you for this."

Guild rewards are generally divided into merit and material goods, usually a choice between the two, but in a situation where the empire is causing trouble, both should be awarded.

"What are your plans next?" Li Ang asked.

The young lady leader said she planned to patrol the garrison area, check the damage to each squad, and then assemble the remaining forces to patrol and suppress the entire airspace together with the elite Order Flower Sword Group, who were on their way after receiving her report. They would disarm all the empire's armed forces, detain the people involved, and then begin investigating the truth behind the scenes.

This was a standard procedure, and Li Ang continued: "There are a few things I'd like you to pay attention to."

He picked up the helmet of the Annihilation Knight that Aelafia had killed and pointed at the eyes on it.

"This is the mark of a faction. The empire being able to master combat power at the Exalted Realm has everything to do with them."

The young lady leader's small hand took the helmet and gently stroked the surface; a silver ripple sparked a tiny sound of thunder. She had already controlled her magic power to analyze the helmet—this was an ability unique to her race and profession.

"Indeed strange."

She put on the helmet; the helmet that originally belonged to a two-and-a-half-meter giant looked very large on her, like a young girl, which was a bit comical, but no one present dared to laugh.

"The structure doesn't use many rare materials; it just solidifies pure magic matter in the material world, but these eyes are pulling on spirituality in a way I cannot understand."

"Did you see anything after putting it on?" Li Ang asked.

"I can't see anything. Only its original user should be able to see. They are covered in purple-black flesh and blood, in some kind of special state."

Taking off the helmet, Aelafia nodded: "It is indeed worth paying attention to."

"The faction behind this is not ordinary. Please keep an eye on it and be cautious when investigating the empire."

Li Ang recalled the envoy he saw talking to Count Finat in the secret passage; he had valued the two Annihilation Knights highly before, yet he didn't show himself when they were destroyed.

That person's panel also had many terms he hadn't heard of, but since it was related to the empire, it was also related to the fate Zoe had to face.

Aelafia's eyelids drooped slightly: "Are you worried about me? Worried about me, the seventh-ranked Air Knight in merit?"

"A little."

The blonde girl looked up with a swoosh: "Isn't that perfect? Since you're involved in this, if you're worried about what might happen later, come with me and get to the bottom of the empire."

Li Ang pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

Aelafia was right; if it were before, he would have gone personally to ensure everything was foolproof.

When he flew out of Spark Island, this option had already appeared in his mind.

Conflicting with this option was the choice to go to the Frost Sky Island in the Gorassis Airspace and take Zoe on an adventure.

He had promised that little cat he would go as soon as possible, and he didn't believe the empire's forces would be curbed so easily.

Since they became the villains blocking the world protagonist's progress in the game plot of "Newbis Fantasy," the empire would certainly continue to execute their plans until the truth behind the scenes was completely revealed and the mysterious power they mastered was defeated.

Why didn't Li Ang assemble his "friends" and "all the top-tier groups" to destroy the empire directly?

First of all, this world didn't revolve around him alone, or rather, he still had a long way to go before he could make the world revolve around him as much as possible.

The top-tier groups were either conquering the forbidden lands of the Magic Disaster Domain or eliminating magic disasters, adding islands in the material dimension back into the natural cycle to create usable land for the world.

Occasionally, the arrival of a magic disaster would also bring enemies that mortals couldn't imagine.

Without these powerhouses working hard in the Magic Disaster Domain, all kinds of terrifying enemies would pour into the Four Great Airspaces, leading to devastation.

And the various Order groups were also maintaining the peace of their respective airspaces.

Investigating the empire, even under the leadership of Aelafia, a member of the Knight Resolution Council, would take time for help from all sides to arrive. This process might also involve issuing commissions for scattered Air Knights and Air Cavalry Groups to take on.

If Li Ang contacted the eccentric and powerful freelance friends he knew, they might be willing to help, but the problem was that in most cases, he couldn't find them at all.

This world was just like that, which was why he wanted so much to have his own team.

Secondly, the empire had taken a risky move this time; although it was unexpectedly thwarted by Li Ang, they should still have backup plans. It was just a delay in their plan, not a total collapse.

The power behind them had far-reaching implications, and since it had existed in the darkness of this world for so long, it would certainly not be easily destroyed by superficial suppression.

Zoe was a person related to the fate of the world, and the empire was closely related to this.

Without Li Ang, she would have been facing the empire's pursuit. In the future, she would have fought the empire while becoming stronger, and finally, she would have had a decisive battle with the mastermind behind the scenes.

Why her? Perhaps it was because only she could solve the empire's problem.

Therefore, since that day would eventually come, Li Ang using his own experience to train her, helping her become stronger earlier, and being better prepared when the fateful moment of the decisive battle with the empire arrived, might be a better solution. It might even mean she would suffer less hardship and encounter fewer sacrifices along the way.

Therefore, Li Ang had to temporarily entrust the empire's affairs to Aelafia.

He composed his expression and said earnestly: "Aelafia, this is my personal, solemn request. I'm going to use that favor I owe you here."