Above The Sky
Chapter 562 - 562 531 Major Trouble for the Knight Order of Inspectorate 23

562: Chapter 531: Major Trouble for the Knight Order of Inspectorate (2/3) 562: Chapter 531: Major Trouble for the Knight Order of Inspectorate (2/3) Just as Pansha had mentioned, Ian himself wasn’t eager to meddle in these muddy waters either.

It wasn’t that the exposure of his Dragon Worship Cult identity was an insignificant matter; rather, it was because he could only display the strength of a Fae of the First Energy Level in front of others, which was too limiting.

But if he didn’t follow along with The Empire’s side, acting alone would be too dangerous.

What exactly had happened in the Western Territory, the young man knew nothing, not even what to prepare for.

Although Sio was indeed a good person, or rather a good dragon, expecting Ian to risk his life and the possibility of exposure to save him…

Even Sio himself would probably find that preposterous.

“But I can’t just do nothing; it would bother me,” Ian thought to himself: “At the very least, he gave me a piece of jewelry; I should at least offer some help.”

“Plenty of information should suffice for Elder Mantle and the others.

There probably wouldn’t be much difference if I went there personally.”

If others were kind to him, he would naturally want to reciprocate, unless doing so would put him in danger.

This was Ian’s principle in dealing with the world.

The Knight Order of Inspectorate, the lower city, the Garrison Fortress Area.

The place was bustling with activity, with many squads assembling, various transport vehicles, and even hovercraft coming and going, and the incessant noise of communications never ceased, indicating significant operations afoot.

And it was here that Ian saw a familiar face—Tres was also assembling his team here.

Having just finished giving orders, the knight noticed the young man.

“Ian?

Haven’t seen you around lately,” the tall knight said with a hint of surprise, waving at Ian with a smile, “What, did you get the notice too?”

“No.”

Ian observed the fully armed appearance of the other party, from the Armored Clothing, weapons, Alchemical Firearms, to the emergency potions hanging at the waist, clearly ready for an immediate mission.

He shook his head and said, “That’s actually why I came to see what’s happening.”

“You don’t know?”

Tres was also somewhat surprised, but he quickly realized, “It seems the Order doesn’t want to interrupt your research.

The deputy commander personally instructed us not to disturb you unless absolutely necessary, to let you conduct your experiments in peace.”

“Is it important?”

Ian asked, “I was actually planning to continue my experiments, but then I found out there’s something going on with the association— they’re not reviewing my paper, and there’s something big happening with the Knight Order— I’m feeling a little isolated.”

“Isolated?

More like protected.

After all, it’s not an especially important matter.”

Tres touched the hilt of his sword at his waist and gestured towards the southwest, “In a nutshell, the Spirit Wisdom Institute has really messed up.

You know about the recent conflict between Count Phoenix and the Spirit Wisdom Institute, right?”

Of course, Ian thought.

He was the one who had stirred up this mess from the start.

Could it be that this matter had set off a chain reaction?

Was he indeed like the butterfly’s wing?

“Recently, under Count Phoenix’s leadership, many have discovered that besides the Imperial Capital Grand Library, many other private book collections and related archives have suffered similar thefts.”

“Some thefts were the work of the Spirit Wisdom Institute, while others were carried out by unknown forces under the guise of the Institute, leaving their minister in utter distress,”

Tres, oblivious to Ian’s subtle expression, looked in the direction of the Imperial Capital with a schadenfreude grin, “All the stolen books have one thing in common—they all possess the special ‘Spirit Energy’…

and the information we’ve tracked down suggests that the final destination of these books is in the Avak region of Duke Sorin’s Domain.”

“But what a coincidence?

Just two weeks ago, the Avak region within Duke Sorin’s Domain lost all contact with the outside world.

The area’s several cities and dozens of towns, nearly a million people, fell completely silent, with no refugees and no sound—Huai Guang Church stated that it was not a natural disaster but a man-made calamity, hence they could not have predicted it.”

“Guess what?” Tres had an expression of one holding back a secret.

Ian narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, then said, “It’s the doing of Fiery Flame Land, right?”

“Correct.

You really are smart!” Tres laughed heartily, then sighed, “After a long investigation, we found that the Spirit Wisdom Institute has an unregistered giant laboratory there, conducting many illegal experiments contrary to the Empire’s laws, and the silence of the Avak region resulted from one of their experiments.”

“It has been basically confirmed now that the entire Avak region has turned into a human inferno.

Many scout teams went but never returned, and those who came back were driven mad, screaming about corpses everywhere, the city blanketed by the shadow of death… It’s indisputable that this catastrophe was caused by some form of Spirit Energy.”

“But here’s the problem, even the Spirit Wisdom Institute has no idea what went wrong and is just as clueless.

However, they believe that all this is a conspiracy by Duke Sorin and Fiery Flame Land.

The institute suspects that Duke Sorin had long secretly made a pact with Fiery Flame Land, intending to rebel!”

“So…” Ian wore a look of sudden realization: “Is this your mission?

To figure out the goals of Duke Sorin and prevent the conspiracy of Fiery Flame Land?”

This was indeed the very duty of the Knight Order of Inspectorate.

“Yeah.” Tres turned to look at his squad, he shrugged, “Becoming the squad leader finally got me a significant task.

We need to investigate the abnormal situation in the Avak region.”

“Moreover, speaking of which, it’s related to our original mission—didn’t we stop the hijacking by Fiery Flame Land on the train?

The target of the Fiery Flame Land spies, the ‘Earth Pulse Source Crystal,’ is a powerful Natural Spirit Energy Agglomerate.

Ancient people often used such precious treasures to create perpetually active Spirit Energy objects… and these Earth Pulse Crystals can also connect Natural Spirit Energy.”

“The Knight Order conjectures that the Spirit Wisdom Institute’s suspicions may not be unfounded, Duke Sorin has betrayed his country and is now collaborating with Fiery Flame Land to create a massive Spirit Energy Ritual detrimental to the Empire!”

At this point, Tres’s expression became solemn.

Despite his dissatisfaction with many things, this knight sincerely wanted to defend his country: “Although we don’t know exactly what kind of ritual they are planning to conduct, whatever it is must be stopped.

Protecting this nation is precisely the honor of our Knight Order of Inspectorate!”

However, at this point, Tres changed the subject, “Not to mention, the mission is dangerous, but it’s also a good opportunity to earn merits…”

“After all, we are not like you; I’m not educated and can’t just earn recognition by doing experiments in the Imperial Capital.”

Tres’s latter words carried a tinge of jealousy, but he didn’t mind showing this envy, and Ian wouldn’t mind the other’s reasonable jealousy either.

“Thank you for telling me all this.”

Having said that, Ian earnestly thanked him, and from his belt pouch, he took out two potions, handing them to a somewhat surprised Tres: “These are potions I’ve recently made… one is an enhanced version of the Demonic Weapon Potion, and the other is a Focus Potion, both are especially effective against Spirit Energy and curses.”

“Rest assured, this Demonic Weapon Potion is different from those on the market; it will definitely surprise you.”

“Then let me thank you in advance.”

Tres solemnly took the potions from Ian, thought for a moment, and then sincerely thanked him, “What I told you is not a secret; you could get answers from anyone you ask.

But I’m willing to owe you a favor, Ian.”

“I was not doubting your strength or mocking you earlier; I know that the work of an alchemist like yourself is often much more arduous than that of a knight like me, it just seems easier since it requires brainwork after all.

But why do you care about this?”

“Well…”

From some point on, a watery glimmer shined in Ian’s eyes, reflecting the mist in front of him, which was slowly fading from black-red to blood-red.

After dispensing the potions, the deadly signs on the knight before him began a significant transformation; now it was merely a fatal danger instead of a deathly crisis.

So, the young man with white hair paused for a moment, then said: “I’m thinking, maybe I should give you a few more potions.”

“That way, at least for this mission, you could save your life.”

Tres: “?”