Inside the Blackboard Academy courtyard.
In a corridor within the battleship navy base with silver walls and ceilings, a young man in black with a red disc insignia on his back walked slowly down the corridor. His tall, slender figure, calm expression, and shiny black hair tied in a ponytail gave off a sophisticated air.
As he turned around a corner, the young man reached a fork in the path. The right corridor led down a pitch black path while the path forward was a long-winded silver corridor, with only a couple of light bulbs blinking on the walls.
Sssst…
Suddenly, a white screen extended out from atop the ceiling at the corridor in front of him. The electronic screen expanded automatically and unfolded from one screen to three which aligned with one another, in a similar fashion to unfolding paper.
All three screens suddenly blinked to life, the middle screen revealing a face of a platinum-haired beauty.
“Blacklight 11, please directly head towards the meeting room. The three professors are in a discussion regarding the newest intel,” the beautiful girl spoke to the young man in a lowered voice.
“I understand,” the young man nodded, “Can you guide me please, I am unfamiliar with the newly configured layout.”
“Not a problem.”
The beautiful girl smiled. She pressed a few buttons on the control panel before her. Suddenly, the silver metal flooring below the young man rose panel by panel automatically. These panels reconstructed themselves into a curved-shaped, mini silver hover car. The young man was then lifted up by it.
“Careful with your words, my grandfather is not in the best of moods,” the platinum-haired beauty gently reminded.
“I know, I know,” the young man with the ponytail smiled and waved his hand. He was carried by the mini hover car and traveled deep within the corridors at high speed.
As he swiftly traveled in the empty and quiet battleship corridor for half an hour, white light beamed out from the front of the hovercar and lit up the dark corridors.
The ponytailed youngster observed the changes in his surroundings.
“Why is there a need for headquarters to be this big? What is this? A labyrinth? It’s about the size of a city!”
Soon, the hovercar reached a crossroad. As he exited from the path he traveled, two hover cars exited from two other paths simultaneously. Both had passengers onboard as well.
A black-haired girl and a brute, both wearing the same black shirt with red disc insignia.
“Borus, it’s been a while,” the young man greeted the brute.
“Ah, Matthew and Allie. For all three of us to be summoned, wonder what kind of mess we will be tasked to handle? A rare occasion indeed,” with mane-like yellow hair and a small yellow beard below his chin, he bore a wild appearance.
The black-haired girl remained unmoved; she seemed to be the quiet type.
The young man with the ponytail chuckled. He waited till the three hover cars had converged and entered the wide corridor in front of them before speaking again.
“I heard there was trouble at the borders. Heard anything?”
“Oh.. trouble? What kind of trouble? I’ve been spending most of my time on the battlenet lately,” Borus took out a piece of chocolate out of nowhere and popped it into his mouth.
“A rather irksome one. There’s a military camp in the outer plains, and all of its members are former elite students. If they can’t even handle this, then it’s obvious as to why we’re all summoned here,” Matthew nodded. “Enough chatter, we’re almost there.”
Their hover cars soon entered a ring-shaped, silver grand hall.
A halo of yellow light glowed above them and crimson crystal lining was spread across the floor, resembling a vast completed circuitry.
The halo directly lit up the ring region below, which consisted of three hovering seats levitating high above the ground. A thin layer of light from a white screen surrounded it. A seated person could be seen through the screens.
“You’ve arrived?” an aged voice sounded from beyond the screen. “Please be seated.”
The way to the corridors around the grand hall was automatically sealed shut and replaced by sturdy metallic silver walls.
Boom!
After the walls had descended, the surfaces of the grand hall pulsed with a vibrant layer of silver light, disappearing as quickly as it appeared.
“To have urgently summoned you all this time around, the purpose is to address the attack from unidentified forces in the outer plains,” the old man spoke in a lowered voice.
Matthew looked at the three hovering seats before him. The three seats were positioned ten meters away from one another in a circular formation, yet they only took up a tenth of the grand hall’s entirety. Located in the central area of the grand hall, it had a vast and chilling atmosphere.
“Unidentified forces in the outer plains? Is there any updated intel?” he adjusted himself and answered.
“Although I’m aware it’s not good to bother any of you on your days off, only the three of you are the closest to that point,” the old man sighed.
As the meeting started, the entire flooring of the grand hall had lit up unexpectedly, emitting a slightly dazzling light which shone through the circuit-like crimson linings.
A moment of hissing sounds passed before the entire flooring then transfigured into a huge display screen. A view of towering mountains and rivers was revealed before the three people.
Between the intertwining lush ravines, two human-shaped mechs, one red with white and one red, soared in a high-speed pursuit to kill. Gauss rounds and red laser beams were fired all around the area. A gigantic ax weaponry and wings lined with chainsaw blades on the red mech continuously clashed with the opponent, inducing piercing sounds upon impact.
Boom!!
A grenade was lobbed from the person below the engagement, leading to a sudden explosion. It engulfed a large, ten-meter area in a sea of flames.
Matthew instantly recognized the red-winged mech.
“Fiery Kaizen Zabrook, a graduate from the previous batch. Who could possibly be a match for him at this level?”
“That’s Phantom Steps, alright,” the yellow-haired brute at the side rubbed his small beard and said. A glint of interest in his eyes. “Just as I couldn’t find a worthy opponent, then this fellow came along? How convenient….”
“Your mission is to stop this assault mech which has entered my borders. They all share the same red and white distinction in appearance,” the old man’s voice resounded through the screen.
“If possible, ascertain their origins,” another old lady answered from beyond the lit up screens, carrying a note of concern in her voice.
“I have no problems with killing, but I’ll be leaving the fuss of gathering intel to Allie,” the yellow-haired brute plucked a strand from his beard and fidgeted with it.
“Not a problem,” the black-haired girl finally voiced out.
Matthew remained silent. He continued to spectate the combat between Kaizen and the opposition with his head lowered.
“Did you just say the opposing ‘squad’? How many people are there overall?”
“For strengths of this caliber, there should be three people at least.”
“Three, eh? Should be around four or five if that’s the case. I can have some fun this time around. Hehe…” the yellow-haired brute snickered.
“From the looks of things, they still have an ace leader in their ranks. I’ve already dispatched Medero.”
“Huh? Medero…”
As the three of them heard this name, the yellow-haired brute reacted the most strongly.
“Not to worry, Shadi. The opposition is fairly strong. The three of you alone wouldn’t necessarily be enough to handle them,” the old man assured them.
“Booooooriiiiing! There’s no need for us now with Medero sent out!” the brute, Shadi, clutched at his hair in frustration. “Damn it, I might as well return to the battlenet!”
“There will be opportunities for us, I’m sure,” Matthew gazed at the intense battle visualized below and spoke in a lowered voice. “The opposition is no ordinary force…”
“Do not underestimate your enemies. Go now,” the old man ordered. “The mission points amount to fifteen million, following level three protocols.”
“Aww yeah! This I like!” Shadi shouted aloud.
Matthew couldn’t help but whistle in response. Allie, however, lowered her head in silence with fists clenched.
Rumble!!
In that instant, in the screen below, Fiery Kaizen in his red mech had finally found an opening and fired a merciless strike at the red and white mech. It directly struck the red and white mech at the chest region.
In the end, it was a tie with both suffered severe damage. The two mechs fell from the sky, thick clouds of smoke following their descent.
This instant suddenly caught everyone’s attention. The three individuals within the grand hall were astonished at what had transpired.
“What happened!? Wasn’t that last hit supposed to be Senior Kaizen’s opportune strike!?” Matthew said in a lowered voice.
“This is where I’m asking you all to be wary of.” The old man answered in a lowered voice, “Best if you could salvage the wreckage of their mechs. This can be considered a training for all of you. It can’t be helped, but your instructors are needed to be dispatched.”
“Understood.”
**********************
“It’s a pleasure meeting you, I am Carlos Raymundo Bojack Mishka. This is my full name, and as you can see, I am noblemen from the Angela Kingdom.”
In Garen’s watch terminal, the screen displayed a curly-haired man dressed in a golden-brown, extravagant garment. The man in his extravagant robe wore long socks of white. His head of curly golden hair gave off the impression of a golden retriever.
Even more cringe-worthy, however, was the immediately obvious, fake and distasteful smile on his face.
Such a distorted smile completely ruined his initially dashing appearance. He resembled a hilarious, comedic clown.
“Pleasure meeting you. I am Nonosiva, your current long-term contract business client,” Garen replied with the same manner of speaking, a calm smile on his face.
This must be a minor person of territorial nobility that took great lengths in establishing contact with him. The White Rainbow Stones production sites in his territory were conveniently much more profitable in terms of cost performance index and transport costs.
Earlier, Garen had looked him up through the information provided by Kendall for a clearer understanding of the man. He then immediately called the man’s number.
At first, he thought that this man would be the same as the graceful nobles in the Totem World. He didn’t expect to meet this sort of character.
Looking at the man’s appearance, it felt like he was trying to mimic someone’s composure, yet never quite managed to bring it into effect. In the end, the result was a look of giddiness and that of a complete fool.
Did all minor nobles of the Angela Kingdom act in this manner?
Garen had rated him very poorly in his mind. Judging by the man’s getup, he was most likely someone who thought highly of himself.
The Angela Kingdom was actually the Polar Region in the outer borders of Blackboard Region. Famously known for their aurora residue production, various Rainbow Stones were byproducts of aurora residue borders, similar to how soot was produced from burning fuel. Due to costly chemical production methods, their value of application was fairly low. As such, they were treated as mere trinkets and accessories by conventional businessmen.
Rather than a constitutional monarchy, the Polar Region still followed the imperial preference ruling system. The king belonged to the highest nobility with absolute command over the militia and the lands of the kingdom.
“Regarding the issues of White Rainbow Stones… could you lower the price on your side a little more…?” after affirming the man’s identity, he began to flex his silver tongue.
Carlos acted as such on the opposite end as well. The business deal this time around was different from past dealings. In one month, the interest rate within the entire territory would rise by fifty percent. The White Rainbow Stones were small stones scattered all around in their area. As they were in abundance, they had little to no value. From Carlos’s perspective, he would gain this pile of money in exchange for nothing from this deal.