Just like the unusual sense of novelty brought by the architectural style of that legendary old ship, the hotel’s decor, though seemingly similar in quality to some hotels he’d seen before,
in reality—from the items arranged on the counter, to the wall behind it, the carpeting, the wallpaper patterns, and even the way all the surrounding accessories were matched—all of it gave him feelings he had never experienced.
Especially the manager at the counter.
Seeing the other praising him as “the great scientist, ” Motav—his lips constantly stretched in a grin—was genuinely pleased inside.
“You’ve heard of our Taufucci Electric business too, huh? “
“I’ve heard of it. ” Mus replied with a smile on his face. “Some of our guests are your witnesses. “
“Oh, that must be Chairman Yang Buchen then. ” Motaff’s left palm was tucked inside his sleeve, and his fingers swiftly tapped the counter a few times in a blur.
“Well… ” Motaff hesitated for a moment, about to say something.
The manager Mus, behind the counter, said, “We were wondering if we might have the honor of seeing a Motaff-brand Tvision machine with our own eyes? “
“Oh-ho? ” Motaff’s mouth let out a light hiss as he stared at this strange humanoid creation.
“The newly-born Tvision machine has piqued the curiosity of our inn manager, Ms. Xueli. Although our guests participated in its creation and first public unveiling, none have shared one with her, leaving her in the dark about what it actually looks like. “
“Ah! ” Motaff’s eyes narrowed as he looked down at the table with a click of his tongue. “That’s indeed a bit… Well, I seem to have overlooked the atmosphere around here. “
As for what kind of atmosphere that was, Motaff couldn’t quite put it into words.
He glanced once more at the front hall, partially hidden by the wooden wainscoting.
This inn-like hotel was clearly a very magical place for the residents of the Mist. Motuff mused to himself that President Buchen and the formidable individuals around him all had rooms here. His own TV set was the greatest invention in the world; not having one placed in this seemingly mysterious inn would feel a bit… incongruous.
Motuff, with his neatly trimmed, thick upper lip, nodded.
“No problem, I’ll greenlight this decision. On behalf of the TuffCor Electronics and the World Ark’s Chairman Yang Buchen, I hereby present the Fee-Chi Inn with the largest Motuff-brand television set! “
“We are truly grateful to our great scientist. “
The manager’s tone was slightly subdued yet relaxed as he continued.
“I believe Miss Sherry, along with our inn’s bar band crew, will all be eagerly anticipating the arrival of this visual machine. “
“Ah ha ha. “
After a moment’s thought, this diminutive folk researcher let out a chuckle, glanced towards the direction of the main door, then turned back.
“But, can you actually receive a signal here? “
Assistant Manager Mus rarely made the gesture of raising an arm to his jaw in a pose of contemplation. After a brief pause, he lowered his arm again and said,
“Well, as it stands, it should be possible. It’s just that we might need to leave the door to a certain room permanently open. “
“Leave the room door open… ” Motuff pondered, a cast supporting his right hand looped around his neck. He let out a yawn.
“Let me first ask those friends on the World Ark who has time to help practice bringing the TIW style engine over. “
Manager Mus watched the somewhat weary-looking gentleman scientist, his elbow leaving the counter, as he headed upstairs. Afterward, the android’s entire form returned to a calm standing posture.
……
The wind whistled through the tree branches outside the window.
“Sir! “
The sound of running footsteps echoed on the floor outside the room. A figure in a tightly buttoned black coat, wearing a hat, ran to the doorway, panting for breath.
The newcomer saw, deep within the spacious room, a large, paneled wooden casement window. Inside stood a man in a grey-checked linen vest over a linen shirt, feeling a pocket watch in his hand. The gentleman, with his back to him, was now standing by the window, admiring the outdoor scenery.
“Sir, I’m sorry, ” Kong Qi said internally, feeling tense.
The figure by the window paused slightly, then turned around, revealing his bright, intent, deep Prussian blue eyes under bushy black eyebrows, and that face—ordinary in a way, somewhat long and lean.
Seeing the elusive expression on that face, which seemed naturally grave yet perpetually locked in thought, the newcomer by the door lowered his head slightly and walked swiftly inside, carrying a leather briefcase.
“Both teams that went to Tarko have failed. Here is the transit report. “
As Kong Qi, standing near the wooden table, felt that the moment he finished speaking, an unsettling and elusive turmoil and oppression seemed to be born in the room.
This gentleman had long known about the situation in Malenlint Fort, but had no one yet told him about the World Ark headquarters’ surprise attack?
“What are the specific circumstances? ” the man by the window moved two steps closer to the table.
Kong Qi uttered an “Oh, ” placed the briefcase horizontally on the table, opened it, and took out two envelopes, their paper bulging from hard objects inside, handing them to the man behind the desk.
The gaunt-faced man turned the received envelope over, revealing a common seal imprint with elegant patterns on its back.
Below, it read, “To be opened personally by Gong · Rivia. “
As a faint, grayish-white ethereal flame flickered to life on his fingertip, the color of the seal quickly dimmed, seeming to consume energy, brightening momentarily before sinking away. The intangible aura of the envelope also vanished with it. Subsequently, a small pendant bearing a gemstone slid out.
He touched the small pendant and, with his other hand, snapped open the pocket watch lid. He used the transparent, curved crystal cover to align it with the gemstone on the pendant.
A small glint of light upon it began to spin rapidly, gradually expanding.
An image, visible only to Rivia, began to appear on the crystal cover. It was a view observed by someone through a distant high-powered telescope, resembling the perspective of a stage performance.
“Witness personally the crisis at Malenlint. “
In his murmur, Rivia’s gaze dimmed sharply and quickly swept across, then his fist clenched the pendant and he propped himself on the table.
“All the keys to opening the Divine Hotel have appeared, and the plan is progressing smoothly and perfectly. “
With a thud, his fist slammed the table.
The man straightened up and turned to look out the window.
Feeling the suffocating gloom in the room, the visitor across the table dared not linger long and could only say, “Sir, there is another letter. “
“We Fogfolk have an old saying: misfortunes never come singly. But at least don’t bring bad news to me every hour. “
Rivia turned around and tossed the unopened envelope and the gemstone pendant into the small leather chest.
Kong Qi knew it must be the person who had been sent to report on the raid on the World Ark headquarters who had been driven out of the room earlier. He glanced at the ‘Sir,’ whose chest was filled with barely suppressed anger and whose face had grown cold, and murmured to himself:
“It’s been confirmed: entering the Divine Hotel grants foresee events over a certain span. “
“Sounds similar perhaps to Ferrymen exiled into a Mists out there, a trick. “
“Probably not. ” Gong·Rivia rolled his sleeve more and thought for while during gesture too with finger pointed straight at thought; then said:
“That Head of the entire ‘World Ark’ back at Marlintum Fort—not entirely foolish bloke apparently. ” Further clarity shown sharper tone came, “Turns out drastically underestimate how well control timed chronological sequences as his separate aspects go, hum, before noting my sensing sensitivity too. “
“Yes, this chairman of the World Ark, who doesn’t even have a Blood-line Circuit, is really just slightly stronger than ordinary people aside from his use of prototypes. But… “
Having witnessed how last night the ‘Mr.’ effortlessly dealt a fatal blow to both the World Ark and the Golden Shell legacy operation, Kong Qi felt quite ashamed as he said:
“Indeed, we failed to notice that this chairman’s grasp of the current situation could be so precise. “
Facing yet another failed plan, Rivian felt a hint of anxiety stirring within himself as he sat at his desk.
“Why is this happening. What exactly is the information they’ve obtained. Even the most powerful precognition couldn’t possibly acquire so much intelligence just through an inn. Otherwise, why haven’t the people who previously entered the inn shown any sign of such information. “
After contemplating the information he had gathered about the hotel, Kong Rivia quickly dismissed the notion that obtaining the key would allow one to foresee future events.
Then, with a flicker of movement in his eyes, he pulled open a small drawer beneath the desk and took out some written descriptions from within.
These were about the timing financing deployed last night by Chairman Yang Buchen of the Sea. The increasingly distant light spot within reminded him of some ancient information. However, he did not readily believe such information.
Because he knew that the so-called news about opening the one-millionth slot was not true.
Kong Rivia looked again at the writing above, and a slight tingling sensation stirred faintly within his heart.
Then he examined it thoroughly from beginning to end.
“This… hah, what is this? An invitation to cooperate? Or a declaration of war delivered to me?“
“Sir? ” Kong Qi looked up somewhat startled at Gong·Rivia behind the desk.
Rivia slapped the dossier onto the desktop.
“Now I think I understand not the function of the Key, but the function of that document concerning the ‘Golden Scepter.’ “
He took a deep breath and exhaled, “Chairman Yang Buchen of The World Ark has people like Zhao Anlong—powerhouses who rise rapidly in strength—and he also has many fellow townsmen who have been making their way in this world for a long time. Thus, he knows that when forging the Ring of Fortune, he must birth a new possibility for this world that didn’t exist before, as a foundation. “
“Yes. ” Kong Qi nodded. Others might not know the lies hidden in Yang Buchen’s words, but for people like them, it was crystal clear—the investment might very well have been a play staged by the Chairman of the World Ark.
But now… a look of confusion flickered in Kong Qi’s eyes. “Could it be that the Chairman of the World Ark has been hiding the fact that he possesses the Ring of Bloodline and has never used it? Is he planning to forge his own Ring of Fortune? “
Gong·Rivia remained silent for a long time this time.
“Borrowing someone else’s timeline to forge the Ring of Fortune—a matter like that… “
He let out an irritated sigh, “It shouldn’t be that. Everything else is just false information that the World Ark bunch planted to disrupt our intelligence. “
“Disrupt our… Sir? Can Yang Buchen and that group really have that kind of ability? ” Kong Qi showed a hint of fear at the hidden power of the other side.
Only by being within this organization did he know how long it had taken Mr. Gong Rivia, the Full Moon Angel, to plan the casting of his Ring of Fortune by borrowing the natural end of an era, secretly gathering intelligence and formulating plans, and then lying dormant for decades.
But now…
Thinking back to last night when the Mr. seized the opportunity, launching a strike that nearly plunged the world’s three most influential flashpoint events into a crisis of upheaval.
But now, precisely because of this exposure, everything his organization had planned for today seemed as though someone had silently placed countermeasures ahead of time, like pieces prepared in advance on a chessboard.
“This, how can this be? Where on earth did we leak the intelligence? ” Kong Qi’s face trembled with some visible nervousness.
“Don’t worry, it’s not that we have a spy on our side. “
Kong Qi looked unconvinced.
Gong Rivia propped his hands on the wooden table, pondered for another two seconds, and after repeatedly convincing himself in his mind, said:
“I remember the names we know about, of those controlling the Golden Scepter. Do you remember them? “
“Yes, Sir. From the reading archives of land leases across various regions over the years, we’ve uncovered names like ‘Track of Fate,’ ‘Circuit of Fate,’ and ‘Traveler of Thorny Foot’—belonging to the last Track of Fate and some stories. “
“Also, from the data repository of an ancient organization, we found the alias ‘Path Without Thorns.’ But the organization using this name publicly at that time was eradicated not long after. “
“The people from this organization are extremely difficult to record and track down. Let alone finding where their organization is based. “
Gong Rivia let out a snort and said softly:
“Deliberately informing me of this intelligence in such a form—ha, a well-calculated scheme. Not only does he gain a perfect Radiance from my creation, but he also seeks to potentially obtain my cooperation in dealing with this organization.“
Kong Qi stood up straight in shock.
“Sir, is this… Chairman Yang Buchen capable of… formulating such a tentative probe for intelligence through this transaction?“
All traces of contempt for the World Ark vanished from Gong Rivia’s eyes, and the atmosphere in the room grew significantly more serious and formal.
“Whether he can or not remains unknown, but at least his goal was achieved. Though the possibility was only slight, I indeed… no longer have absolute confidence in total victory.“
The gentleman gently lifted his hand from the edge of the desk, his movement accompanied by the swaying of treetops outside the window in the wind.
……
The United Republic of the Twin Lions of Odriven.
Inside a brick-and-stone courtyard of modest size, its outer decoration simple yet surprisingly spacious.
General Ang Odriven’s weary eyes gazed intently from beneath guarded, retracted pupils at a world map spread across the desktop.
“Reporting for duty! ” A messenger saluted at the entrance. “Two colonels from the General Staff have arrived, sir. “
Beside the messenger appeared two figures, both dressed in standard-issue staff officer uniforms, each carrying a leather briefcase in hand.
“Enter, gentlemen. “
They quickly made their way into the room where only the Acting President remained.
“Ang Pailisi. “
“Iska! Reporting in. “
Two stalwart figures exuding a masculine presence walked towards them, and shoulder to shoulder, they blocked the light from the doorway.
Oldrev behind the desk on the lacquered wooden chair glanced at the two and said in a calm voice,
“There’s a mission here for the two of you. “
Sensing something, the pair looked at the map spread out on Oldrev the General’s desk. Whenever something was up, he would turn his gaze to these things, deep in thought.
“Give us your orders, General. ” Pailisi said.
“In the coming days, I’d like the two of you to assist two people. “
“Two people? ” The lean-faced short-haired Iska glanced at the young man beside him, whose features were square and strong. “Who? “
“Chairman Yang of the World Ark, and his friend, a man named Zhao Anlong. “
The General sighed and leaned back in his chair, “Take your pick, one for each of you. “
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