Markham’s shout jolted everyone’s mory: they had completely forgotten about atball.
The Real Estate Heir had been standing quietly beside Ethan and the others the whole ti. Unlike the rest of the group, he hadn’t joined the frenzy of beating the sixty-eight traitors who had sold them out.
"Uh... Kiara can only use her zither once every seven days. How about we just use the mory Wipers instead? The side effects aren’t that bad!" The little girl stuck out her tongue, clearly having forgotten there was still one ordinary person left among them.
"Not that bad? It can turn people into idiots! You—you—you... I gave you my chocolate yesterday when you were starving!" atball, dragged over by the scruff of his neck by Markham, was so furious that the fat on his belly shook.
"Uh... I’ll buy you ten bars when we get back," Kiara said, making a face before darting behind Starfall for cover.
"You... Boss, I don’t want my mory wiped!" atball turned to Ethan with a pleading expression, nearly in tears.
"You don’t have to," Ethan said calmly, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Thank you, Bo—" atball started to sigh in relief.
"Ten ocean-view condos." Ethan’s next words stopped him cold. He knew atball was a real estate heir who owned more properties than he could count, all managed by so brokerage while he sat back collecting rent.
"What?! Why don’t you just rob ?!" atball’s face turned pale.
"I am robbing you," Ethan said with a grin.
"Two condos!" atball snapped through clenched teeth.
"Deal. Let’s go ho. Blackie, tow the yachts back to the US at maximum speed. Make sure everyone’s ho within three days. We can’t delay the Fortress Wars. Shatterstar, keep the Stealth Shield active until they land. I don’t want anyone spotting them."
"Got it, Boss! Don’t worry! This donkey—"
"Uh... Blackie’s fast. We’ll reach the coastline in less than half a day!" soone cut in quickly.
Ethan issued his orders decisively, and the group sprang into motion.
Kiara took a slow breath and gazed out over the open sea. From her sleeve, she drew out a palm-sized, miniature Zither of the Ancients, and plucked a single, delicate string.
Ding...
The sound echoed faintly across the waves. The people under her control turned in unison and began walking toward the water. Though the surface shimred under the sun, it was as if a transparent film covered it, allowing them to walk across without sinking.
"Hey, kid! Let’s go!" Markham called over his shoulder.
"Uh..." atball blinked, still lost in thought. Ethan’s sharp, calculating look replayed in his head, and he suddenly wondered if he’d just been completely swindled.
"Stop with the ’uh’s. You were definitely swindled," Markham said dryly, seeing right through him.
atball froze again, mouth open. Leo, walking past, clapped a hand on his shoulder, barely holding back a laugh.
"Co on, let’s move."
"No, wait, I need to renegotiate!" atball protested, twisting around to look back.
But then his eyes went wide. Ethan’s body was being enveloped by the sleek armor of his Personal Combat ch. In an instant, he shot upward into the sky.
"Holy cow... Iron Man!" atball shouted, eyes sparkling with excitent.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled after him, "Hey, Boss! Ten ocean-view condos for one of those things to play with, okay?"
Ethan’s figure wavered slightly as he hovered in the air.
"Get lost!" His voice thundered from within the ch, hollow and tallic.
He couldn’t stand atball. He had been trying to protect him from the risk of turning into an idiot with the mory Wipers, and the man wouldn’t even agree to pay the price. Yet the mont he saw the ch, he was ready to offer ten condos just to ’play with’.
This atball’s brain is quite sothing even without the mory Wipers, Ethan thought grimly.
He halted high above the ocean, scanning the horizon as Regis and Ery Shaw ascended to et him.
"Which way?" Ethan asked curtly.
"Uh... back to Ascension Isle," Ery answered hesitantly. "It’s... right beneath the island’s waters."
"What? Under Ascension Isle?" Ethan’s brows rose. "Well... alright, let’s go."
He hadn’t expected the Abyssal City to be hidden beneath the island itself. Perhaps this was another case of the safest place being the most dangerous.
With the coordinates already logged by Shatterstar, Ethan engaged the ch’s engines.
Whoosh!
His body vanished from sight. To ordinary eyes, he was gone in an instant. But Regis, Dragon Child, and Starfall Caelum were not ordinary. The three of them followed, flashing through the air and covering vast distances with each blink.
---
Gazing east from the high platform, the Immortal Isle is veiled. Within the cosmos of the isle, the Void lies concealed.
Attain the path of the ethereal; break through the primordial seal.
Far to the east, hidden within a spatial pocket a hundred miles beyond Crescent Isle, a small island drifted in silence.
Inside a wooden cabin, a young woman sat before a shattered table. Her body was bound by invisible restraints, her face pale but defiant.
"Alaric! I am the next Matriarch of the House of Zane! How dare you imprison ? Aren’t you afraid the House of Zane will co for you?" Amber’s voice rang out, filled with fury and pride.
"The House of Zane?" Alaric leaned back, his tone dripping with disdain. "What can your family possibly do to ? Besides, you’re my intended concubine. What’s wrong with bringing you ho?"
He stood slowly, his eyes narrowing. "You’re the one who was unfaithful, toying with other n and ruining your Sacred Body. I’m being rciful by not killing you on the spot. When your family learns that your Sacred Body is gone, do you think they’ll still let you inherit the Matriarch’s seat?"
Amber’s breath caught. "You... how do you know I had a Sacred Body?"
Alaric chuckled, low and cruel. "How did I know? I’ve known since before you were born. Why do you think your precious House of Zane has taken so many benefits from all these years? Do you think it was generosity?"
His expression hardened, and his voice grew colder. "They all knew. You were my intended property. Every resource spent raising you ca from . I was simply waiting for your Sacred Body to mature so I could claim it. But I miscalculated. Soone else got to it first. Tell —who was he?"
He slamd his hand down. The heavy pearwood table exploded into dust under the impact.
Amber flinched, then slowly lifted her head. The initial shock faded from her eyes, replaced by calm defiance.
"Forget it," she said softly. "I won’t tell you. You didn’t kill because you couldn’t find him on that island, could you? As long as I keep my mouth shut... you’ll never find him."
A faint smile curved her lips as she spoke. In her mind, a certain figure flickered.
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