Chapter 2507: Arrival

The Hollow Ship entered the Nethum Clan’s territory without running into the slightest resistance. Its enormous body sank toward a harbor that seemed to stretch across an entire continent.

Alex watched the docking formations start interacting with the ship, their Runes scanning its hull before sending a string of instructions to the central console.

He could have refused the connection. However, considering where they were, there wasn’t much point pretending he could hide anything from the Clan.

More importantly, now that they had officially arrived, it wouldn’t be long before an advisor showed up to register his return. Alex glanced toward the back of the ship and hurried off the command deck.

He’d been hoping to get through registration without showing too many of his cards. The problem was that the Nethum put a lot of weight on the followers their descendants brought back. Walking up to an advisor without anyone impressive at his side would put him at a disadvantage right from the start.

Saniah and Seuseu were obviously out of the question.

He had spent 5,000 years developing their Bloodlines. Sylas had already helped him hide their secrets, but that didn’t mean he wanted to parade them in front of a Clan full of people who specialized in digging up exactly that kind of thing.

That left him with one rather troublesome option.

Alex found Fanelei outside Sylas’ chambers, leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"Fanelei! My beautiful, wonderful, extraordinarily talented friend. Just the person I was looking for!"

Fanelei looked at him without the slightest change in expression. "No."

Alex stopped. "I haven’t even asked anything yet!"

"You want me to follow you outside."

Alex blinked, then broke into a grin.

"See? This is exactly why I came to you. Beautiful, powerful, intelligent, and so perceptive that I don’t even have to waste time explaining myself. Honestly, Sylas doesn’t appreciate you nearly enough."

"Why don’t you use those two women you brought back?"

Alex’s grin stiffened. She had gone straight for the one question he didn’t want to answer.

"Ah, well, you see, that’s a little complicated. They’re still adjusting to the Real World, and I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on them before they’ve had a chance to settle in. Besides, neither of them has your experience, and I was thinking that someone of your extraordinary—"

"You want someone strong enough to impress the Nethum, but not so valuable that you’re worried about exposing them."

Alex’s mouth snapped shut.

Fanelei looked at him for another moment before going on.

"And since I’m an A-tier, I’m probably just impressive enough to make a decent first impression without revealing any of the cards you’re planning to keep hidden."

Alex stared at her as his expression slowly collapsed into one of complete despair. Then, he dropped to his knees.

"How could you accuse me of something so cruel?! After everything we’ve been through together, after all the trust we’ve built, you really think I’d treat you like some sort of disposable decoration?"

Fanelei rolled her eyes. "Get up."

"But my heart—"

"I’ll go. For Sylas’ sake."

Alex’s tears vanished instantly.

"Thank you! I knew there was a reason you were my favorite!"

Fanelei pushed herself off the wall. Before Alex could start celebrating, though, she turned back to him.

"There’s something you should understand first. I’m Sylas’ woman, and I don’t particularly care what sort of ridiculous games your Clan likes to play. If someone pisses me off, I’m not going to stand around smiling while they insult me."

Alex’s expression froze.

"And if you can’t handle whatever trouble that causes, then Sylas is going to have to intervene earlier than he wants to." She smiled. "You understand what that means, right?"

Alex looked at her for several seconds, and his shoulders slumped. He understood perfectly.

Fanelei didn’t bother waiting for an answer. She turned and walked toward the exit, as though she hadn’t just told him that his life might depend on the temper of a woman he barely knew.

Alex wanted to cry for real this time. Unfortunately, he’d already used up all his tears.

Why was everyone around Sylas such a pain in the ass?

He hurried after her.

By the time they reached the hangar, the Hollow Ship had finished docking, and the enormous doors were opening onto the harbor beyond.

Several other vessels sat on the surrounding platforms. Some looked like enormous palaces, while others seemed to have been built from the bodies of extraordinary beasts.

However, none of them came close to the Hollow Ship’s size. The difference was big enough that Alex noticed several distant gazes turning their way.

Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean much. A ship’s size wasn’t a reliable sign of its owner’s strength, especially in a Clan that had spent countless generations piling up wealth. Even so, Alex was quite pleased with the impression his ship was making.

A woman in a simple silver robe was standing outside the hangar, watching the two of them approach with a cold expression.

She was extraordinarily beautiful. Though, her eyes took away a good chunk of that beauty.

There were no whites and no irises, only two swirling spheres of darkness that seemed to soak up the light around them.

It was unsettling enough that even Alex paused for a moment. Then again, the fact that he could still tell how beautiful she was in spite of those eyes only made him more interested.

He grinned.

"Well, hello there. I was starting to think this homecoming was going to be all work and no pleasure, but it seems the Nethum know how to welcome a man properly."

The woman looked at him without reacting.

"Name."

"Straight to business? I like that. But surely we can get to know one another a little first. I just spent quite a long time traveling, and I’d hate for our first conversation to be nothing more than—"

"Your name."

Alex sighed. So much for charm.

"Alex Reynolds."

For the first time, the woman’s expression changed.

It was only a slight pause, but Alex caught it right away.

Despite how many descendants the Nethum scattered across the Heavens, it was very rare to come back with a different surname. In a lot of cases, descendants didn’t know who they really were until their Gene Locks started unwinding, but that didn’t stop their last names from being recognized as Nethum by the system even if it was hidden from them in many situations.

Alex didn’t seem particularly worried about it, though. There was no point hiding his origins when the Clan would recognize his Genes the moment he registered, and he had no intention of wasting time on games that wouldn’t get him anywhere.

The woman’s dark eyes swirled before she went on.

"How many individuals will require accommodation?"

Alex thought about it.

"Let’s say thirty million for now. There might be a few adjustments later, but that should cover most of us."

"Understood."

The woman didn’t even blink, and Alex raised an eyebrow.

He’d expected at least some kind of reaction to that number. Clearly, putting up 30 million people was such a trivial matter to the Nethum that she didn’t think it was worth a comment.

"Your accommodations will be prepared within the hour. You will receive instructions regarding the registration of your followers once the arrangements have been completed." She paused. "However, there is something you should be aware of. This generation’s assessment will be different from those conducted previously."

Alex frowned. "Different how?"

"The ancestors have decided that the returning descendants will not be tempered solely through competition with one another. This time, the assessment will also include extraordinary talents gathered from the other Heavens."

Alex’s expression turned a lot more serious.

"Other Heavens? You’re telling me the Clan is going to invite outsiders to participate in our generational assessment?"

"That is correct."

The woman carried on, as though she hadn’t noticed the weight of what she’d just said.

"Further details will be announced in the coming days. However, the ancestors believe that the current circumstances require a broader understanding of the talents possessed by the Real World as a whole."

Alex’s eyes narrowed. "What circumstances?"

The woman looked at him, her swirling pupils as indifferent as ever.

"War with the Skai Heaven is approaching. The ancestors have decided that this generation must understand the strength of the other Heavens before that conflict begins."

Alex’s gaze sharpened.

The Skai Heaven, where Sylas had already established dominion over the Towers.