Above The Sky
Chapter 618 - 618 587 Ian-style Comfort 23

618: Chapter 587: Ian-style Comfort (2/3) 618: Chapter 587: Ian-style Comfort (2/3) “All objectives have been completed.”

After arming Lubeck and getting the team ready, Glorious Sword approached Ian, “Next, we need to prepare for a strategic withdrawal—the Huai Guang Church won’t get involved in the conflicts between countries, even if it’s ‘civil strife’ within The Empire or with Duke of Solin.”

[Ian, I suggest you withdraw.]

On the surface, it was just an ordinary notice, but through Mind Communication, Glorious Sword gave a quite serious suggestion: [The Deceased Monarch has those at the Fourth Level to deal with it.

No matter what experiments Duke of Solin wants to conduct, with the foundation of Avak’s laboratory, it’s unlikely to exceed The Empire’s expectations.]

[If he could keep it hidden until the plan succeeds, there might be a chance for rebellion, just like how Steep Ridge Fortress secretly developed the Great Labyrinth and obtained the ‘Apocalypse Armament’ from the previous era’s civilization, which allowed them to successfully become independent.]

[If Duke of Solin truly obtains the potential to reach the Fifth Energy Level from Inega II’s legacy, or some kind of Fifth Energy Level ability, that would only matter if it becomes a reality.]

— Simply for a possibility, it is not worth risking one’s life.

Glorious Sword evidently thought that Ian wanted to obtain Inega II’s legacy, which was why he was taking such risks.

And Ian…

Truth be told, he didn’t know either.

“Sio has been rescued, the Fae have all been saved, Lubeck has even become a Cleric.

As for Humans, Viscount Avak has taken away their souls…

Anyway, these are not matters I can attend to at the moment.”

That’s what Ian thought as he looked around the entire Thorn Plains, gazing at those ‘not dangerous’ choices in the distance.

If he wanted to leave, now indeed was the best opportunity.

But the problem was, the things he most wanted to know—the truth about the Deceased Monarch, Duke of Solin’s real intentions, and the legacy of Inega II—he hadn’t gotten close to any of them.

Fortune favors the bold, and so does knowledge.

But he couldn’t insist on the Huai Guang Rescue Team accompanying him on a hazardous venture.

So, after much consideration, Ian decided to wait and see.

After all, they were still to travel together for a while—since, according to the Spirit Wisdom Institute, the Deceased Monarch was firmly blocking the exit of the Subspace Labyrinth.

Although he now leads the team to subdue the final researcher’s stronghold in the laboratory, his lair was sure to be heavily guarded.

Actually, Ian could no longer even perceive danger.

In any case, after helping them break through there, he would then decide whether to stay or leave.

Thus, after agreeing to Glorious Sword’s plan to set off and leave, Ian once again took the lead, guiding the Huai Guang Rescue Team toward the exit, which was also the lair of the Deceased Monarch.

But it had to be said…

it was a very lengthy road.

Even for Ian, traveling from the entrance to the central area of Thorn Plains had taken several hours…

the road to the Deceased Monarch’s lair was almost equally long.

Ian didn’t need to rest, he had plenty of Origin Quality and stamina for battle, but the Huai Guang Rescue Team was different—they had fought their way through, and essentially were just ordinary people, albeit stronger and with more tenacious wills.

They needed rest.

So, Ian took them down another path—safer but also longer, with ample time for rest.

Subspace Labyrinth, Black Soil Farm, Land of Decay.

The phantasms in this geometric space were very weak, mostly plants and humanoid Phantasms, without a single Magical Beast.

Ian thought that this was probably the geometric space version of the experimental laboratory’s Magic Potion cultivation garden.

The black corrosive soil would gradually melt people’s shoes and Body, and the decaying meat mud had formed pits of Flesh and Blood mud here.

This was probably why there were no Magical Beasts here.

Of course, the members of the Huai Guang Rescue Team weren’t so easily affected by the erosive soil enough to lose their shoes.

Instead, this place was a rare resting point within the Subspace Labyrinth.

The rescue team set up camp here, and some who had been in many battles and were quite tired, such as those who had charged with Ian under the lead of Redemption Light, even fell into a deep sleep after eating some dry rations to restore their spirits.

After all, if there really was a need for battle, they could get up immediately.

Seizing the time to sleep a bit was crucial, and the more stamina they had, the bigger their chance of surviving the final breakout.

With the rescue team resting in shifts, Ian didn’t want to expose his uniqueness and decided to sleep during the second batch.

After all, with the protection of the Silver Chip and the warning from Foresight View, he anticipated that there would be no problems during this rest.

[Ian, do you think mom will scold me this time?]

During the vigil, Sio’s Dragon Soul let out a rather pitiful sound—only now did It come to understand everything that was happening.

After deeply appreciating the Huai Guang Rescue Team and Ian, It instead started to feel anxious, “I bravely volunteered to help Mom deal with the troubles in Fiery Flame Land, but instead, I was captured…

Now, I’ve become the trouble for my mom…”

As Sio spoke, the fear and pitifulness in Its voice were just like that of a little dog about to be abandoned.

—Essentially, Sio is very self-conscious.

Listening to the voice of his True Dragon friend, Ian silently thought, “Because It has been cared for by Its mother for many years, It feels like a burden to her…

This overly weak Flesh and Blood makes It unable to even move freely, becoming the weak point of Its mother, the King of the Mountain.”

“Sio must have been very afraid all this time, right?

Afraid that Its mother would abandon the weak It…

Maybe it’s the dragon’s instinct to do such a thing, to abandon the unfit offspring, optimizing the Bloodline of future generations.”

So Sio wanted to be useful, to help Its own mother, and do as much as possible for the Dragon Worship Cult.

But…

According to the Silver Chip’s description, Ian knew that Sio was a child that the King of the Mountain went to great lengths to save.

It wasn’t even supposed to be born alive, destined to be stillborn—It was the King of the Mountain and fate’s struggle that saved her own child and safely nurtured Sio until It grew up.

Until now.

But…

perhaps out of dragon’s pride, or simply never having thought about it—the King of the Mountain did not show Its deep love, causing Sio to have a sense of inferiority about Its own existence.

“Eighty percent of the problems in this world are probably due to the education issues in one’s original family.”

Ian thought, “This is tough, should I tell Sio about it?

I feel it’s better to wait until the King of the Mountain is present to speak of it, my words alone won’t have much effect.”

Having made up his mind, Ian reassured the frantic Sio, “Don’t worry, Sio, your mom will definitely be proud of you—It was your own will to help your mother.

If it weren’t for the intelligence failure and the ambush set up in advance in Fiery Flame Land, you would have definitely been successful.”

“Besides, your presence exposed the Avak Central Research Laboratory completely, attracting the Empire, Fiery Flame Land, and Duke of Solin to the power struggle.

The Dragon Worship Cult just needed this opportunity to collaborate with the Empire on the pretext of developing the ancient dragon Labyrinth of Canaan Moore in the future; your mother will surely be overjoyed by this excuse to take action with the Empire.”

“Moreover, haven’t I already rescued you?”

Ian’s comfort was well-reasoned, and according to his thinking, Sio should now be turning from worry to joy.

But unexpectedly, Sio’s mood sank even lower, “Don’t be happy for my mom, I already knew that, I wanted to do many things for my mother, but whether I succeed or fail, she won’t even pat my head.”

“She won’t even hit me or scold me, which makes me feel so uncomfortable inside.”

Ian frowned, a little strangely, “Pat on the head?

Hit you?”

“Sio, what defeatist talk are you spouting?

Your mom is a True Dragon—look at your head, if Her Highness smacks it down, won’t all these inversely growing scales and spikes make your head bloody?

And as for hitting you, She surely doesn’t want you to die!”

Ian assured resolutely, “Listen to me, next time use your human form to talk to your mom, then maybe She’ll even be willing to embrace you.”

“Really?”

Sio was somewhat tempted.

It had never done this before—the King of the Mountain indeed had a humanoid surrogate body, but that was only used for meetings with the Dragon Worship Cult and for negotiating with some powerful forces.

Sio had never used the human form to chat with Its mother.

“At least you have to try.”

Ian smiled, beginning to understand why Anfa and Sio were pen pals—This little dragon’s personality was indeed quite endearing.

For someone like Anfa, who obviously had many secrets and much on her mind, having such a friend would definitely ease her heart a lot.

“You should rest now.”

It was almost Ian’s turn to rest, so he prepared to pretend to sleep, while also urging Sio to rest, “Your condition isn’t very good right now; don’t expend too much energy, lest I rescue a soul-damaged crippled dragon later, making everyone unhappy.”

“Mm mm, I’ll sleep then.”

Sio obediently went to sleep, and Ian moved to the adjacent rest camp, lying on the sleeping mat and closing his eyes.

He thought it would be just a feigned slumber.

But for some reason, Ian actually fell into a real sleep within the Subspace Labyrinth.

Even to the point of…

Resonating with a soul.

Resonating with many, many souls.