Chapter 75: 74. An Important Choice of the Heart

74. An Important Choice of the Heart

"Hey, you betrayed me without a moment's hesitation," Li Ang said helplessly.

"Are you kidding? How could 'brotherly love' be more important than skipping out on two loads of work!"

Things had reached this point; there was truly no way to run.

The Havun girl in the sky was none other than Aelafia Elmar, the sub-commander of the Order Flame Corps who had always wanted to recruit Li Ang.

The petite girl descended toward the deck. Only when she was close could one notice that she was able to hover in mid-air because she was standing on a blade floating horizontally.

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

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

The blade did not land on the deck but hovered at about the height of a knee, which happened to keep her line of sight level with the others.

She raised her small palm and curled her fingers; a small hammer manifested out of thin air above Lancelot's head, and at the flick of her fingertips, it began to rap against his skull with a rhythmic thudding.

"Ouch! My lady! Have mercy! Commander! Sir Paladin! Please stop!"

Lancelot cried out miserably, but Li Ang could tell it didn't hurt much 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! See 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-commander of the Order Sky Cavalry, 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 offset your professional misconduct?"

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

"Hah, that has nothing to do with this—you, stay put as well."

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

The petite, blonde-haired 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 unrest happening here. Since you're involved, you'll come along. Once it's resolved, you'll return to the Corps with me."

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

"You've left the Soul Apex; ordinary corps probably aren't worth your time."

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-corps to reorganize. When that happens, you'll come with me to the Demon Disaster Domain investigation team."

"I already have a team."

"Oh? Which Heavenly Corps is it?"

The girl's tiny mouth pursed imperceptibly, and she said something at lightning speed in an extremely low voice.

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

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

"It's not a Heavenly Corps. I started my own team and I'm the captain."

"You yourself?"

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

"Li Ang—"

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

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

The half-elf girl brought her ship alongside the magic warship and hopped across the gap between the two vessels with a nimble leap.

She touched the Ring of the Champion on her hand: "This ring is really useful. If I had done this journey before, I probably would have fainted from exhaustion."

Once Dorothy arrived, Li Ang said: "Let me introduce you. This is Aelafia Elmar, Commander of the Order Flame Corps. This is Dorothy Campbell, a member of my team."

"Hi there," Dorothy waved casually, seemingly making a point not to use noble etiquette.

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

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

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

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

"You might not believe it," Li Ang shook his head: "I didn't originally intend to find people like them."

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

"Oh, I had already found one before."

The tiny girl sized up Dorothy: "This one's magic rhythm suggests she's a novice spellcaster. Are the ones you're finding all..."

"The other one is a Tier 2 swordsman."

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

"Um, my lady," Lancelot felt the atmosphere was off and shuffled over step by step: "About the Empire's business..."

Aelafia raised a hand over her shoulder, pointing behind her, where a pristine, high-tier airship was floating, the logo of the Order Flame Corps printed on its suspension balloon.

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

The person she mentioned was the Vice-Commander of the Flame Corps, whom Li Ang had met before.

The people on the airship were communicating with other ships at the channel entrance. By now, they had finished, and they just happened to pass the magic warship, flying into the Ignis airspace.

"Business first," Aelafia didn't dwell on Li Ang's affairs: "Tell me what you've seen and heard."

Soon, she had learned about the blocked channel, the Annihilation Knights, the Empire uniting various territories, and the rest of the events.

"It seems their plan was to take advantage of my absence, use the time difference to defeat you one by one, and then block the channel to control the Ignis airspace.

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

"Th-that... can be considered very weak?" Lancelot muttered to himself, caught between laughter and tears.

After rapping him on the head again, Aelafia looked at the cross-currents of the channel: "It will take a while for the elites of the nearby Order Corps or the Heavenly Corps that received the commission to assemble. It will take even longer to clear the channel. This so-called Empire is planning to take advantage of this time to do something inside."

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

"You bunch of small fry are truly shameful. If it weren't for someone passing by, this Empire really would have succeeded. I'll have to train you properly when we get back."

After finishing, Aelafia's tone softened slightly: "However, they struck while the Commander and Vice-Commander were performing official duties, so they came prepared. You clearing the channel ahead of time counts as a merit for you this time. Li Ang as well—the Guild will certainly reward you for this."

Guild rewards are generally divided into merit points and physical items; in most cases, one must choose one, but in a situation like the Empire causing trouble, both should be awarded.

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

The young commander said she planned to patrol the garrison, check the damage to each squad, and then assemble the remaining forces. Together with the elites of the Order Rapier Corps—who were already on their way after receiving her report—she would patrol and suppress the entire airspace, disarm all Imperial forces, detain those involved, and begin investigating the truth behind the scenes.

This was a standard procedure. Li Ang continued: "There are a few things I want you to pay attention to."

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

"This is the mark of a faction. The Empire's ability to command combat power at the Excellence realm has everything to do with them."

The young commander's small hand took the helmet, gently stroking the surface. A silver ripple sparked, accompanied by a faint sound of thunder; she had already used her magic to analyze the helmet, an ability unique to her race and profession.

"Truly strange."

She put on the helmet. The helmet, which belonged to a two-and-a-half-meter giant, looked enormous on her—like a young girl—making it look somewhat comical, but no one present dared to laugh.

"The structure doesn't use many precious materials; it's just pure magic matter solidified in the material world. But these eyes are drawing in spirituality in a way I cannot comprehend."

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

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

Removing the helmet, Aelafia nodded: "It is indeed worth noting."

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

Li Ang recalled the envoy he had seen in the secret passage talking to Count Finat. He had valued the two Annihilation Knights highly before, yet he hadn't shown himself when they were destroyed.

That person's status panel also contained many terms he had never 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 Sky Knight in terms of merit?"

"A little."

The blonde girl looked up sharply: "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 in the past, 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 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 suppressed so easily.

Since they were the villains blocking the world's protagonist in the *Newbis Fantasy* game plot, the Empire would certainly continue to execute its plans until the truth behind the scenes was fully revealed and the mysterious power they wielded was defeated.

Why didn't Li Ang assemble his "friends" and "all the Heavenly Corps" 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 Heavenly Corps were either conquering the forbidden zones of the Demon Disaster Domain or eliminating magic disasters, re-incorporating islands of the material dimension into the natural cycle to create usable land for the world.

Occasionally, the arrival of a demon disaster also brought enemies beyond what mortals could imagine.

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

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

Investigating the Empire, even under the leadership of Aelafia, a member of the Knight Council, would take time for reinforcements to arrive. This process might also involve issuing commissions for scattered Sky Knights and Sky Cavalry Corps to accept.

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

This world was just like that, which was why he wanted a team of his own so badly.

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 reached far and wide. Since it had existed in the darkness of this world for so long, it would certainly not be destroyed by mere superficial suppression.

Zoe was a person connected to the fate of the world, and the Empire was closely linked to this.

Without Li Ang, she would be facing the Empire's pursuit. In the future, she would fight the Empire while growing stronger, eventually facing the mastermind in a final battle.

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, allowing her to become stronger sooner and be better prepared for the fateful moment of the decisive battle against the Empire, might be the better solution. It might even spare her from suffering and sacrifice along the way.

Thus, Li Ang had to temporarily entrust the affairs of the Empire to Elaphia.

He composed his expression and said earnestly, "Elaphia, this is a solemn request from me personally; I am using that favor I owe you right here."