The hatch suddenly released with a controlled hiss, as Redy stepped out first. Adam followed, boots landing on damp ground just as the vessel sank silently back into the river.
He scanned the surroundings and noticed they were in a forest.
From one forest base to the next, I guess.
"You really love forests," he said evenly.
Redy looked at him, confused for half a second before understanding.
"Oh. No. This isn’t a wild zone."
He paused. "It isn’t?"
"No it’s not, It’s part of the estate."
Adam let that settle, as he spread his senses in the next mont but sensed no monster signatures within his sensing range plus he also noticed a paved path beneath the foliage.
Who grows a forest inside an estate?
He did not voice it. Instead, he followed her along the paved path. The trees were placed with intention. Even the spacing suggested design rather than chance.
They were already in Tristan and that implied sothing larger.
She had transported them across sector boundaries and bypassed alliance security protocols. Either she owned clearance at a level above standard administration... or she operated outside the system entirely and with either option it was achieved in one month.
Are all regressors like this?
But his thoughts were interrupted as Adam stopped walking for half a step.
The manor stood ahead and its scale was comparable to a small fortress, but modern in construction. It had clean lines and was made of reinforced materials, with secondary structures positioned strategically around it.
"By the way," Adam said calmly, eyes still on the structure, "what did you do before awakening your mories?"
Redy did not slow.
"I ran the family business."
There was no elaboration as Adam processed that.
Ran?
If she had that level of background, then her presence in the low-tier regions had not been accidental.
Which raised the real question.
Why was soone like her stationed in a backwater sector before awakening at sixteen?
That, Adam decided, was a more important mystery than the manor in front of him.
****
The manor doors opened without resistance, revealing an interior that matched its exterior reputation.
Polished marble floors reflected the chandelier light in controlled symtry. The walls were adorned with restrained gold trimming, expensive, but not loud. Every object had spacing and nothing cluttered the room.
Adam registered the layout automatically. Wide sightlines. Multiple exits. A high ceiling that allowed sound to carry.
Redy stepped ahead of him into the living room.
"I’ll show you around later," she said calmly. "But let introduce you to the team."
She left before he could respond.
Adam remained where he was, gaze moving slowly across the space. Furniture positioned for conversation rather than defense. Large windows to the east. Reinforced glass, most likely. No visible defensive chanism, but that ant nothing.
Hidden systems were always more important than visible ones. Suddenly a door to the side burst open and a woman stepped in, she had dirty blond hair, amber eyes slightly unfocused, a bottle of beer dangling loosely from her hand. Her clothes were wrinkled and her posture unstable, but the air around her felt heavy.
Adam activated Analyze.
╭───────────╮
〖Na: Felecia〗
〖Rank: Heavenly Expert〗
〖Cultivation Talent: S〗
〖Physique: Blessed Purgatory〗
〖Affinity: Force〗
╰───────────╯
[Star Power: 49]
[Existence: 5000]
[Martial Spirit: Heavenly 4 Star]
Forty-nine star power.
Higher than what he had expected.
Her existence count matched the standard ceiling for this tier, hence it was not irregular. But the Physique entry stood out.
Blessed Purgatory.
Felecia’s eyes narrowed at him.
"I don’t like the way you’re looking at ."
She took one step forward but collapsed mid-stride.
The bottle slipped from her fingers as she hit the floor, unconscious.
Adam did not move.
What exactly was that?
Redy’s voice ca from behind him.
"Oh. I see you’ve t Felecia."
He turned slightly. "Is she always like that?"
"It’s a consequence of her physique," Redy replied. "You’ll get used to it."
Adam considered the information and filed it away for later, deciding to focus on the two figures standing behind Redy.
The first appeared to be a girl, she had whitish-pink hair, matching eyes, and a small fra that made her look no older than fourteen.
But Adam knew that was impossible.
The awakening threshold required one to be at least 16.
The second was a boy with black hair dyed red at the edges. His gaze was direct, unblinking and evaluative with hostile curiosity.
Adam activated Analyze again.
╭───────────╮
〖Na: Scott〗
〖Rank: Holy Expert〗
〖Cultivation Talent: SS〗
〖Bloodline: Royal Red Demon Lv1〗
〖Affinity: Fire〗
╰───────────╯
[Star Power: 32]
[Existence: 3500]
[Martial Spirit: Holy 4 Star]
Thirty-two star power.
Lower than Felecia, but still significant and not only did he have an SS cultivation talent, he also had a royal demon bloodline which ant he wasn’t human.
But Adam didn’t need to interpret facial tension or body language. The soul-fla around Scott burned with sharp fluctuations, indicating compressed aggression masked beneath restraint.
Scott was trying to evaluate him.
Unfortunately for him, Adam’s assessnt was already complete.
He then shifted his focus to the pink-haired girl.
The panel ford directly in front of Adam.
╭───────────╮
〖Na: Ivy〗
〖Rank: Heavenly Warrior〗
〖Cultivation Talent: S〗
〖Special Talent: Play ❖ Simulation〗
〖Affinity: Lightning〗
╰───────────╯
[Star Power: 10]
[Existence: 568]
[Martial Spirit: Heavenly — 2 Star]
Adam read it once.
Then again.
Each line disrupted a different assumption.
But the real inconsistency was the existence count.
Five hundred and sixty-eight.
Not even at the structural ceiling of her tier.
His attention then shifted upward to her special talents and it was obvious she had re-awakened as he studied them.
Special Talent: Play ❖ Simulation.
Play.
He didn’t need a description. The naming convention alone already gave him an idea on what the talent did.
His focus then narrowed to the second special talent and he pulled up the description of this one.
[Simulation: With appropriate amount of data the bearer is able to simulate instances]
Adam processed it carefully before glancing back at the star power.
Ten.
He felt nothing from her aura that contradicted it. If Scott’s stare carried weight, hers barely disturbed the air.
If fire boy stares daggers at like that, I wonder what he does to her.
Either she was protected.
Or she was far more dangerous than her numbers suggested.
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