Chapter 274 - 208: The Uncharacteristic Truth Association

Chapter 274: Chapter 208: The Uncharacteristic Truth Association

It wasn’t until Isaac reached the crossroads that he understood the source of the familiar sense of déjà vu.

It turned out that Nebula City’s overall layout was an imitation of Lake Town. It also had two wide avenues that ran through the entire city in a cross shape, dividing it into four districts.

The difference was that Lake Town was a town that served Wizards exclusively, so its layout was more standardized and professional, with different streets dedicated to specific types of goods.

Nebula City, on the other hand, was a commercial city with a much more diverse clientele. As such, it wasn’t so meticulously organized—at least not on the four main avenues, where you could find a little bit of everything for sale.

This created a much more bustling and prosperous scene.

Of course, if you were looking for something specific, you could go to one of the four major districts. Those were sectioned off, and there were plenty of signs to guide you. Soldiers also patrolled the streets at all times, and every one of them was a living map, ready to give directions to anyone who couldn’t read the signs or got lost.

In truth, this kind of layout wasn’t very popular in this world, at least not for the main avenues. It made the city seem enormous but created a lot of dead space that didn’t generate much profit, while also increasing the burden on its defenses.

This was a huge difference from the commercial streets of his previous life.

The productive capacity of this world, when factoring in the power of Magic, was not inferior to the technological civilization of Isaac’s past life—in fact, it was much stronger. However, the landmass here was far greater than in his previous world, and the population was much smaller. As a result, there were no skyscrapers like in his past life. The population density wasn’t high, so that model of commercial streets had never really developed.

Only a commercial giant like Nebula City could pull off such a model. He just didn’t know how it had managed to develop this way.

Isaac curiously sized up the inconceivably prosperous city.

He didn’t delve too deeply into the reasons, however. ’It’s not like I’m planning to develop a domain, and the Wizard Organization’s growth plans have no conflict with a city like this. At most, we might set up a branch here once the organization is more developed.’

’As for anything else...’

’I don’t even need to shop here!’

’Could the Magic Materials here possibly be more comprehensive than in Lake Town?’

’What a joke.’

So, even as Isaac curiously took in the surrounding scenery, his pace didn’t slow in the slightest. He walked with unwavering steps toward the Truth Association’s local headquarters.

’As a High-level Mage, no matter how well Siwal Itelas has hidden his identity, there’s no way the Truth Association here wouldn’t have noticed something, right?’

If that really was the case, then Isaac would just have to take his time gathering information.

Of course, it would have been best to ask his own Sect about this, but unfortunately, the Sect had no base in Nebula City.

That was right. Although Nebula City was the most prosperous commercial city in the Empire, the Sect had not established a base here because there was no need.

The Flesh Sect was an ancient Wizard Organization. They had their own recruitment channels, their own main base, and even a Magic Material Market (Lake Town) more comprehensive than Nebula City’s. Therefore, there was naturally no need to set up a post here.

Basically, aside from the capitals of the various Great Empires, the Sect only established outposts in a few special towns. Nebula City was clearly not one of them.

So if Isaac wanted to find Siwal, his only hope lay with the Truth Association.

Soon, Isaac arrived at the Truth Association’s headquarters in Nebula City. It was located on the left side of the very middle of North Street. As the branch of the Truth Association in this commercial hub, its headquarters, unlike those in other regions, wasn’t filled with the mysterious air of Magic.

Here, there was only the mysterious aura of Magic Power...

...because what greeted him was an array of Magic Gemstones bright enough to blind a person!

Just looking at the great door, which shimmered with a Seven-Colored Radiance, Isaac felt a dense wave of Magic Power wash over him. However, while there were many Magic Gemstones, they only served to intensify the air of a nouveau riche...

Isaac’s lip twitched. He checked the banner hanging over the door again and again, and only after confirming that this was indeed a branch of the Truth Association did he slowly step inside...

Walking through the entrance that reeked of new money, Isaac was immediately dazzled by an even more brilliant glimmer of treasures. He stopped, somewhat speechless. ’The big spenders here are even more extravagant than I imagined...’

’This almost makes me want to set up shop here myself.’

It was just a passing thought, though. Doing business was different from doing research; it required a certain talent. So, after that brief thought, Isaac quickly walked over to a reception desk to the side. He addressed a young, round-faced female Wizard with rimless glasses standing behind it. "Hello, I’d like you to help me schedule an appointment with High-level Mage Siwal Itelas. Is that possible?"

The round-faced Wizard glanced at Liu Li, who stood behind Isaac in her strange attire, and a faint blush appeared on her pretty face. Her professional training quickly took over, however. She snapped back to attention, gave Isaac a respectful bow, and said, "Esteemed High-level Mage, may I ask what business you have with him?"

Hearing this, Isaac smiled faintly. ’Looks like I came to the right place.’ Her response would have been an outright rejection otherwise, not an inquiry into his purpose for seeking the man.

This was to be expected. After all, they wouldn’t want to offend Isaac, a High-level Mage, but Siwal was also a High-level Mage they couldn’t afford to offend. This was the only way they could handle it.

Isaac, for his part, had nothing to hide. He took out his research proposal—well, only the last page with the approval signatures and the list of recommendations. He kept the specific research contents, and even the title, hidden. It wasn’t for the sake of secrecy; Isaac simply didn’t want to frighten anyone.

The young, round-faced Wizard, in turn, displayed a high degree of professionalism. She only glanced at the information that could verify the document’s authenticity: the few signatures on the application, the list of recommenders on the back, and the Wizard emblem of the Flesh Sect in the corner. She didn’t look at anything else, her gaze never wavering for a moment.

"Alright, I will contact him for you. Where are you currently staying? Once we get in touch with Wizard Itelas, we will send word to you." The young, round-faced Wizard quickly made a note in her register and spoke with a smile.

"I haven’t settled on a place to stay yet. If you reach him, just use this to contact me." As he spoke, Isaac handed over a piece of Parchment with a Magic Array drawn on it. It was a magical document used for sending messages. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Its advantages were that it was cheap and fast. Its disadvantage was its poor security, making it suitable only for routine communications.

True, in this world, it was possible to communicate over long distances—even across planes and dimensions—using certain Magic Books. But those Magic Books were more like a local area network; only a fixed group of people could contact each other. The convenient communication methods of his past life, like cell phones and the internet, did not exist in this world.

The root cause was that the related technology had poor security and there was little point in popularizing it. The communication capabilities of Magic Books were already sufficient for Wizards, so there had been no further development in that area.