New Game+

Lanterk kept murmuring and cursing as he went. He lost so much on this trip.

He wanted to find a way into the World Governing Trading Hub but knew that it was very difficult to pull off.

Ever since the death of Crostfree, all Presiders now viewed the WGP as a group that could threaten them. The illusive Lost Primordial and another mysterious group had also begun to put a stop at the dominant confidence that the Aragarians had. The Presiders that Lanterk had dealings with even began to change their attitude and views towards the earth.

As such, Lanterk didn't recklessly assume that he could easily bypass the sensors of the WGP. 

And so, Lanterk turned to Feyor to give him away into the World Governing Hub. Lanterk had no Pioneer connection on Earth as he initially had no interest in Earth, but as the chaos on Earth grew, Lanterk found several items that interested him.

The appearance of the Almetal hybrid steels purchased and acquired by bulk urged him to move.

While he had techs that could easily eclipse the combined technological possibility of several nations, the young Presider had limited resources to use.

He planned to purchase or pillage these items in the World Governing Trading Hub.

He had detected a large number of raw materials being transported by several subs. But knowing that there were just too many witnesses, and since a Leviathan was near, he decided not to take drastic actions but wait for them to reach the Trading Hub.

But then, the war in the Pacific happened. The submarines he had been attacked and were slowly sinking to the bottom of the sea.

The specific submarine carrying the materials that Lanterk wanted also sank.

The Leviathan didn't move to the location where this submarine sank. So Lanterk proposed to the Pioneers to fake sink.

He had the techs that could protect them and issued orders to make it look like the submarine received great damage and make the sub pretend to sink. They would chase after the falling sub, and he would secretly grab the items and retreat. This would save him a lot of effort and even minimize his earthy expenses.

Once retrieved, he would use his techs to make it look like the submarine managed to recover from the damages, and they would be their merry way.

But as they tried to initiate that plan, the torpedoes just didn't seem to connect with them.

As Lanterk grew impatient, he urged the submarine to move into a daring route as if it was trying to save one of its allies.

But who would have thought that he would suddenly get caught in the crossfire? The submarine ally even shot a rouge torpedo that was struck by several roaming Exoskeletons causing it to veer towards their submarine!

The sudden and consecutive attacks forced Lanterk to act and used some of his techs. But then, a Big Bang Boom disguised as a normal torpedo was launched. Lantern's careless estimate of that rocket led to the brutal destruction of the submarine he was in.

The Pioneers all died, and he was forced to escape.

He saw the Leviathan harvest the spoils and got the Almetal Hybrid he was after and could only make his way back to the newly established Prime Zealand whose leaders were humans, and Aragarian's that Feyor placed.

Lanterk was retreating and cursing as he swam through the sea. Since he couldn't activate most of his techs as there were several powerful ships nearby, he could only use the bare minimum of his techs.

"What am I going to say? Will Feyor believe that how those submarines used new techs that the Pioneers can't withstand?" Lanterk wondered.

"That's it! I'll say that I couldn't use my techs because of a Leviathan and several Emperors were present! Still… it's a waste… Those Almetal hybrids would have been useful to build that Titan…" Lanterk sighed.

He continued swimming, not knowing that several kilometers, Titan was discretely following and used Australian hearing techs to amplify to hear things.

"Feyor?" Titan was stunned.

"It's a good thing this kid is talkative…" Titan kept reporting the things he heard.

Titan was linked to the Leviathan that was deep down the Pacific Ocean. The Leviathan, now under the command of the former Admiral of the Kraken, Muspi Merol, immediately cascaded the information to various channels. 

"We have another confirmed Presider name. Presider Feyor seems to be a level higher than this Presider. So is this a Mid-Tier Presider? Or a High Tier Presider?" Muspi wondered.

"Admiral... Inform the team on the border to be alert. The target seems to be heading there. Have them ready their scanners in case the target escapes." Titan relayed the instructions.

"What's the situation over there at the barricade region?" Muspi asked as he checked on the location where the fleets of various ships remained situated. These ships were at the border of the discussed boundary the WGP had placed.

"War, Admiral. What else?" A chuckle was heard, and Muspi recognized that voice. It came from one of the Unlocked who met him the earliest and was responsible for making him suffer an agonizing nightmare when he was still in control of the Kraken.

"Roselyn, you're already there?" Music gave an almost hateful reply.

"I rode a long-ranged rocket to get here. The submarines began to fire several escape torpedoes, and I managed to hang on to one. It got me here as fast as I could. Try to hide your hate, Admiral. I still technically outrank you, you know."

"Please be informed that Titan is tailing a person of interest, and they should be headed there. Have your team prepare their sensors in case that person uses his techs." Music changed the topic.

"Roger, Roger." Roselyn happily replied as he began to move within the other ships in the barricade to perform more of her mission which was aligned to train the various experiments and the Gryphon squadron.

As for Titan, he kept his distance from the leisure stroll of the Presider.

"He sure is taking his time..." Titan couldn't believe how relaxed the Presider was.

As the trip continued, Titan had been more relaxed as he could tell that the Presider was immature and even unguarded.

"This is one of those Presiders that Seeker told us to leave alive as they would be useful..." Titan recalled Seeker's lessons.

Lanterk didn't even bother to use sensory techs and mask his sound with his suit. Lanterk knew that it was humanly impossible to hear him anyway, even with Australian-level hearing techs.

But for the Unlocked, it was a different thing. With Richie's sonar ping that could carry sounds, hearing Lanterk's whispers was very clear and audible.

Lanterk suddenly stopped as he detected another energy that was unique to Presiders.

"Is this Zeraphine?" Lanterk gave an exhilarated realization. He then began to move towards the submarine.

The moment he said those words, Titan quivered.

"Zeraphine? She really is Zeraphine!" Titan immediately began to relay the information he found.

Lanterk also began to move immediately. This time, his speed was faster than his previous speed.

"Score! I can still enter the Trading Hub with her!" Lanterk laughed as he raced towards Zeraphine's location.

"Admiral! Target is moving towards Priority personnel Ares!" Titan reported immediately.

Admiral Muspi cursed and immediately sent out a distress warning on all Tier Three and up soldiers in that region.

One of them was the Presidents of Pangea, SPU, and the Prime Minister of Australia, who initiated their fist-fighting plan to hide the suspicion of their gathering.

"Notify the Tier Zeros. Ares is Ares. We have confirmed with audio, Ares is Ares!"

Admiral Muspi immediately did as instructed.

Seeker and his group were listening to Cliff relay the reports.

"Zeek… This kid Presider also confirmed it. Zeraphine is indeed Lara." Cliff confirmed.

While Seeker believed that Lara is Zeraphine, there wasn't any other solid evidence to prove that claim.

"Ah… So she really is." Seeker didn't have much of a reaction but simply gave a mysterious smile.

"Then I guess I don't have to hold back anymore." 

While Seeker's expression remained the same, everyone in the room felt the dreading anger that was rising from within.

"Sin is lurking at the door, and its desire is for you. But you must master it. Especially you, you who Tread in Truth." Eagle spoke.

"You want me to conquer evil with good? Even though the atrocities she committed in the future are plenty?" Seeker glanced at Eagle with a cold glint in his eyes.

"I want you to convert her. She loved you. If you play your cards right, she may just end up being our ally." Eagle smiled.

"If she committed those atrocities in your past, she can save herself in this one. Love covers a multitude of sins, Seeker. If you can learn to love her and find the truth of her betrayal, then perhaps in this life, she will betray them. And I'm no prophet, but having a Presider helping us behind enemy lines could spell out our victory." Eagle kept wearing the same smile he had as he looked at Seeker. Despite the raging anger of Seeker, Eagle managed to look at his eyes without flinching.

Even Lynd was starting to get worried. 

"I'll put that into consideration." Seeker finally backed down.

The anger that covered the room disappeared.

Even the Emperors were confused at what happened.

While that was happening, an exasperated Lara was at the brink of going mad.

"Hey, Zerap- I mean… erm… Lara!" Lanterk smiled.

"What are you doing here?!" Zeraphine shouted with great anger. She first used her power to solidify the space around the room to make sure that no sounds would leak.

"Well… hello to you too." Lanterk frowned.

"You are an idiot, Lanterk! You don't know what's going on!" Zeraphine screamed.

"Look... I was careful. No one knows I'm here. You're too fidgety." Lanterk complained.

Zeraphine wanted to rip the face out of this naive presider, but decided to contain her anger.

"If there are two Presiders, won't that mysterious Progenitor hesitate? Even if this Progenitor is Crostfree, he wouldn't recklessly challenge me! And Lanterk is the first disciple of Principal Merrik. With the two of us, he shouldn't have the guts to fight..." Zeraphine thought for a bit.

A knock suddenly happened at the door.

Zeraphine felt her heart tremble.

How was it possible? Lanterk just entered the submarine, and a knock at the door happened.

She glared angrily at Lanterk.

"What? Do you think that I brought him here? Geez. It's a coincidence!" Lanterk complained.

"Just open the door. Pretend that I'm your brother or something!" Lanterk laughed.

Zeraphine opened the door.

As the door opened, it was a rather tall and mustached man who was startled when he saw Lanterk.

"Oh! Miss Lara Diamon. I'm sorry. I didn't know you have guests. Hi!" The gentlemen smiled.

"Miss Lara, I was just coming here to give you this gift." The old man smiled as he handed Lara a beautiful portrait of herself.

"Why-Why thank you! To have such artwork from an esteemed painter! Thank you!" Lara bowed as she accepted the painting.

"I'll be upfront... I am just a painter that was invited. I'm... honestly horrified at the news of what happened in the Pacific... I have no allies... And..."

"The Diamon's value culture and progress. Artworks painted from your eminence will always be valued. Rest assured, the Diamon's will be your ally." Lara curtsied.

"Thank you!" The old man bowed.

"I will leave you now, Miss Diamon. May we have a safe trip." The old man bowed.

Lara offered a bow as well, and as the old man left, she closed the door.

"See? It was just an old man looking for an ally. Honestly... I was scared too. I was sort of jittery if that was a soldier!" Lanterk laughed.

Zeraphine wanted to skin Lanterk! If he only knew what horrors surround them.. But Zeraphine couldn't trust this oaf and kept to herself the experiences she had a few weeks ago.