Above The Sky
Chapter 1107: 154 Ian's Friends (Second Update, Happy New Year!)

Chapter 1107: Chapter 154 Ian’s Friends (Second Update, Happy New Year!)

Ian and Chairman Yafada locked eyes for a moment. This chairman possessed the strength of the peak Fourth Energy Level, and it was said that Canaan Moore’s Fifth Energy Level was managed by the two strong individuals of World Tree City, with specific governmental duties handled by the chairman. Essentially, it’s similar to how The Empire’s governance was handled by several princes and princesses along with ministers, with no one able to oversee what the emperor was actually doing.

Soon, Chairman Yafada’s gaze did not linger. He swept his eyes toward Master Glarvie and Sio on the other side before returning to his original position.

If not for Ian, no one would have noticed such an imperceptible observation from the other party.

Something’s not right.

Ian thought to himself. He had clearly shifted part of the credit to Master Glarvie, and Captain Elden must have reported about Sio’s presence as well… In this way, his presence should be quite inconspicuous, and no party should pay too much attention to him.

Yet Chairman Yafada’s target was clearly himself—this guy was coming for him! He ignored both Master Glarvie and Sio.

“Could it be because of relationships on Anfa’s side?”

Chairman Yafada’s eloquent speech was nearing its end. He was quite adept at speaking and displayed a remarkably sincere attitude, dissipating much of the discontent and anger in passengers who originally held grievances upon seeing a national leader apologize so sincerely… Ultimately, they hadn’t suffered any losses, had they?

Under the guidance of the Torchbearers, the passengers of the Siren disembarked in turn and were transported to the Floral Cage Grand Hotel in Blackstream Port. Canaan Moore’s officialdom had reserved the entire hotel for the passengers involved in the Siren incident for free.

The city structure of Canaan Moore was somewhat different from The Empire, or rather, as an international metropolis, Blackstream Port was unlike many cities Ian, a rural noble, had seen before.

The roads were spacious, the sidewalks free of trash, and there were rather beautiful flowerbeds adorning the roadside. Occasionally, one could see Elf pedestrians sitting on benches savoring the street view, along with many fountains as scenery.

In the sky above, clouds drifted serenely, with bright sunlight casting over the sea, subsequently reflecting back into the azure sky— the fresh sea breeze made Sio beside him take a deep breath. Although this dragon often roamed the Southern Sea, evidently, the sea’s scent was different here.

The urban planning was reasonable, and most of the street buildings were square and visually pleasing. Compared to those in the South Ridge, which were clearly cities converted from fortresses and settlements, Blackstream Port was evidently designed as a livable ‘modern metropolis’ from the start.

Seeing it, Ian actually thought of the Lower City District of the Imperial Capital… Indeed, although being an Imperial, Ian only saw similar urban layouts around the capital.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that The Empire was backward compared to Canaan Moore. It was more that Ian hadn’t visited other major cities in The Empire. As for South Ridge, since it was a newly developed area, it was practically a whole era behind by comparison.

Ian and the others were taken to the grand hotel via an alchemy vehicle, with everything arranged by Canaan Moore’s authorities, with no need for them to organize anything themselves.

The vast majority of passengers, upon arriving at the hotel, went to the communication devices to report their safety to their families. The sea storms were severe, causing poor signal and intermittent communications, which had greatly worried them. Now on land, they naturally wanted to quickly ascertain their safety.

“Master, don’t you need to?”

Ian thought to offer, but Master Glarvie let out a deep sigh: “Forget it, I have no relatives left. Even if I did, I wouldn’t want to meet them.”

Having said that, the old man rather desolately turned back toward his room—since meeting Chairman Yafada, Master Glarvie had been in this state.

“…Does he know Chairman Yafada?”

Ian squinted, watching the old man’s back. In actuality, he somewhat guessed that Master Glarvie’s journey to The Empire back then was probably not simply for ‘immigration’… Despite being a renowned biologist across the Whole Terra, he didn’t return with great fanfare when the two nations allied, which was very suspicious.

Adding to the master’s demeanor, Ian thought… Could Master Glarvie have been an agent Canaan Moore embedded in The Empire during the Dark Moon upheaval, with Chairman Yafada serving as the contact person back then?

Initially, everything seemed fine, but as Master Glarvie’s achievements grew and Canaan Moore’s internal political strife became more intense, few remained connected to Master Glarvie, and as sharing of information increased with burgeoning amiable relations between The Empire and Canaan Moore, espionage missions became untenable… Master Glarvie’s spy identity was exposed in The Empire, making life difficult, and in Canaan Moore, there weren’t many who could vouch for him being a spy rather than merely a researcher who enjoyed the perks in The Empire back in the day and returned to Canaan Moore in his later years to snatch resources…

“That’s really melodramatic.”

Ian muttered to himself, coming to grasp why Master Glarvie’s situation was so awkward and why he had such a good attitude toward himself.

This was the inevitable result of being a long-term spy for decades—not fully trusted by either side, leaving one with cooled passions and aged. Consequently, one could only pour all efforts into their final research—incidentally, he, Ian, as a groundbreaking genius, could perceive Master Glarvie’s true goals and even lend a hand.

In that case, help he shall.

“This is what happens when an individual becomes embroiled in the politics of great powers…”

Ian shook his head slightly; he, however, had several people to contact, Yisen Gard being one, and he also needed to reach out to Anfa.

Oddly though, Ian found he couldn’t reach either of them once he connected the call.

Yisen Gard left a recording, saying that upon hearing about the Siren’s mishap, he immediately set out for Blackstream Port, estimating he’d arrive by the time Ian was free to contact him.

But Anfa — he was completely unreachable—an unusual occurrence. Even Sio remarked how strange it was, as in her knowledge, Anfa was quite idle, spending his days in research or leisure, so how could there be a situation of being unreachable via communication devices?

“Strange.”

Ian shut off the device, leaving it for the next passenger wanting to contact family, pondering in doubt as he left: “If Yisen Gard is in Blackstream Port, contacting me should be easy—Anfa, even more so, is a local big shot, and the Ashlight Family is one of the Ten Great King-Blood Divisions.”

“Where have they gone off to?”

Thinking thus, just as Ian was about to inquire of Master Gossay later, a Golden Candle Torchbearer strode into the hall, stilling the entire hotel.

The Gold and Silver Torchbearers were both of the Third Energy Level, but held different posts, with Gold Torches leaning towards protecting VIPs and Silver Torches focusing more on purging evil. Both were highly respected, with roles equivalent to a Grand Knight Commander.

Even Master Glarvie wouldn’t hold significantly higher status than a Golden Candle Torchbearer.

“Ah, you’re here.”

The Golden Candle Guard immediately spotted Ian in the crowd, courteously walking up: “Chairman Yafada requests your presence on the skyship for a chat.”

He spoke with a smile, resolving Ian’s confusion: “Your friends are waiting for you there.”

“…So they’ve been invited away.”

Ian nodded slightly, now understanding where Yisen Gard and Anfa had gone: “I understand, please lead the way then.”

…

The skyship of the Yinmen Household.

Yisen Gard sat on the sofa in the VIP room, idly flipping through an alchemy book, somewhat distracted.

Ever since he left World Tree City, preparing to head toward Blackstream City, but then was asked to accompany by the Torch Guard, he had been waiting within the Yinmen Household’s skyship.

During Chairman Yafada’s earlier speech, he had already seen the Siren and was clearly aware that Ian was on board.

—Why wasn’t I allowed to disembark from the skyship to meet Ian just now?

Though this question desired voicing, Yisen Gard, being the scion of a great noble family, of course understood it must be related to Chairman Yafada’s plans. Since the other party specifically approached him, requesting the assistance of his junior self, it was best to cooperate while on their turf.

After all, the skyship’s services were comprehensive, offering any book you wanted; waiting wasn’t unbearable.

The only issue remained…

The blond boy raised his head, puzzledly looking at the green-haired girl sitting across him in the VIP room.

This green-haired, golden-eyed Elf girl… or rather, an Elf ‘princess’ with some Dragon Blood in her veins, wore a white dress with a delicate collarbone adorned by a small silver pendant representing the Ashlight Family, confirming her noble status.

Her hair, imbued with vitality, was gracefully gathered, revealing a snow-like slender neck.

One could faintly see slight traces of dragon scales.

The Dragon-Blooded Elf Princess sat expressionlessly, holding an ancient relic studying tome in her hands, evidently awaiting someone’s arrival as well.

Yisen Gard didn’t feel it was impolite to sneak a glance at her, considering she had already taken three secret glances at him, prompting him to return the look.

And this time, their gazes directly met.

Emerald eyes met golden ones, both carrying a tinge of puzzlement.

—Surely this guy, too, is here waiting for Ian?

Whether it was Yisen Gard or Anfa, aside from suspicion, a peculiar sensation welled up in their hearts.

—Who is he/she? When did Ian get to know him/her?