“So this is the planet Darton? It’s smaller than I expected,” Lily snorted.
“Their balls are bigger, though,” Almond chuckled with a bit of coldness.
Admiral Rudra wryly smiled. “Let’s see how it goes. If they are stubborn, we have to break their balls.”
“Humph, it’s clear they want to pick a fight with us.” Lily narrowed her eyes. “Do you think any top clan directed them to test our limits?”
“It’s possible.” Almond’s eyes glinted. “But well, it doesn’t matter.”
Standing up, Almond said, “It’s time.”
The train entered the planet’s atmosphere and slowed down while a portal appeared one kilometer away.
The trio appeared outside with Almond’s teleport while the train went inside the portal and vanished.
“Welcome to the Darton Blaze Clan.”
A voice resounded as they saw a man with shoulder-length dark-red hair arriving in front of them, wearing a red robe with golden embroidery.
‘Space mastery…’ Almond blinked. ‘At Ascent-rank.’
“I am the current head of the clan, Augaran Darton. The feats you displayed have left everyone in awe.” The man smiled and cupped his fist. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Respect is given to those who give.
Almond, Lily, and Admiral Rudra cupped their fists with a nod.
Side-stepping in the air, Augaran conjured a portal and gestured with his hand, “Please come into our clan.”
Almond flatly smiled and said, “If it wasn’t for your demand to get us here after imprisoning my people, I would’ve assumed you called us for a banquet or something.”
“I hope nothing unbecoming happened to our people.” Lily’s eyes narrowed, her voice laced with ice.
“They are fine. Just some minor injuries,” Augaran chuckled. “Younger generation fought over small issues, but they brutally beat my grandson and nephews to half-death, so we had to imprison them.”
“What did your grandson and nephews do to deserve that?” Admiral Rudra raised his eyebrows.
“Why don’t we talk in a more comfortable place?” Augaran smiled as he moved his hand slightly, gesturing at the portal.
“Fine.” Almond flew in with Lily and Admiral Rudra behind, arriving in a garden extending outward from a big palace’s upper floor.
There was a rectangular table there with four people sitting already.
Augaran appeared there already as the trio arrived and gestured to them with a smile, “Please sit.”
The maids arrived, bringing food and drinks, and placing them before everyone.
‘Two Supreme Emperors and three Immortal Emperors. But there are other Immortal Emperors not too far away.’ Almond could clearly feel the aura as he used Unbound Eyes with Living Veil, encompassing 100 kilometers of area and making everything bare.
However, he couldn’t detect Regalons.
As the trio sat at the table, the Supreme Emperor, with fiery red hair like a lion’s mane, spoke with a smile, “House of Regalon. Your reputation is thundering everywhere in the second layer as we speak.”
‘Darling, I sense some scheme.’ Lily immediately felt her guts churning as her Soul Trait began working. ‘They are hiding something. Something is very fishy.’
Hearing that, Almond’s eyes turned cold.
Smiling icily, he said, “Thanks, but let’s cut the crap. Where are my people, and how are we going to resolve this?”
The other Supreme Emperor was a woman with long black hair. Hearing Almond’s words, she frowned, “At least accept the courtesy we are giving. Your people came here and made trouble.”
The atmosphere at the table became tense.
“Five minutes,” Lily said with an indifferent expression. “Bring them here in five minutes, please. This is our sincere request.”
The more Lily observed them as they spoke, the more she felt something was wrong.
“Please wait a bit. We have invited an Arcadia Spectrum judge to resolve the issue in a simple manner,” Augaran said with a chuckle. “We’ll hold a simple contest of strength with ten of your people and ten of ours. Once it is over, you can take your people.”
“Naturally, the winner will receive a certain amount of important resources from the loser.”
The Immortal Emperor, who was a chief commander of the clan, spoke next, smilingly, “Why don’t you eat some of our specialty? For Immortal-rank powerhouses such as you, they will actually increase your Body Constitution and even solidify the foundation immediately after the increment.”
Meanwhile, these Darton Blaze Clan people were also talking internally in their soul network.
‘How long until Bryan and others wake up?’ Augaran asked.
‘They were injured quite badly. Multiple energies had boosted the poisons within, but since the ancestor healed them, they just need one to two hours of rest to wake up.’
‘One to two hours, and after that, one more hour so that Bryan and others can finish the task,’ the female Supreme Emperor coldly said. ‘We have to keep them occupied for three hours.’
Out of them all, only the second female person looking in her thirties at the table, a blue-haired immortal emperor, was worried as she relayed her concern, ‘I still think that’s not a good idea, seniors.’
‘It’s not an idea, Marilyn. ‘It’s how we must do things,’ the red-haired Supreme Emperor relayed with a snort. ‘We would have lost our direct descendant with potential, you know?’
‘Indeed. It’s clear that people of this force became arrogant after these two displayed their powers. And don’t forget that this is also the wish of that person and our opportunity,’ the red-haired Supreme Emperor said.
‘Once we have taught a lesson to this House of Regalon, I will get the favor of that clan, and it won’t be long before I am qualified for the Ascension Games,’ the female Supreme Emperor said.
‘You can already see the arrogance in their bones. Despite being in our presence and outnumbered, they have a revolting attitude towards us,’ the chief commander coldly said. ‘They need to be taught a lesson or they’ll walk over our heads.’
‘The judge will be here in five minutes, and we have to occupy them for three hours…’ Augaran thoughtfully said. ‘Just ten battles won’t take that long. We have to think of something else.’
‘We invited three of them and now told them they need seven more people, so that’ll give us some time.’
‘That would be half an hour only because of the Big Dean’s Star Trains. Tsk.’
‘Seniors, what if Big Dean supports them later and we get on his bad side?’
‘So what? Big Dean is powerful, but he still can’t go against the Big Ten clan.’
‘Shit, they gobbled up everything.’
While they talked internally, Almond, Lily, and Admiral Rudra finished the food and drinks without hesitation. Calm, clean, and fast with blurry hands.
‘Heh, they’ll need time to absorb the energies properly. That’s another ten minutes at least.’
However, Almond cleaned his face with the cloth and calmly said, “Now, would you bring my people here first? We can still fight battles after that.”
“Unless you have no intentions of giving them back,” Lily coldly spoke as everyone briefly lost all colors from their vision and senses, including Supreme Emperors.
“Please don’t give us a hard time,” Augaran wryly smiled. “The trouble occurred in our turf, and our people almost died. If we just let things go like that and listen to you, our prestige and reputation will take a hit, which could make us lose some opportunities and deals with other clans, you know?”
“You wouldn’t know since you just recently arrived here and haven’t had any deals with the major clans,” the female Supreme Emperor indifferently said.
“I really wouldn’t test their patience,” Admiral Rudra said with a dry chuckle, but his eyes were as icy as his words. “Let’s not escalate the conflict if possible and get us our people back. We need to see them…now.”