Chapter 625: Receiving Avril
The feast was very lively. Practically all the Lionhearts who were staying in Black Lion CIty had attended it; it was actually the first time Xia Fei had seen so many imposing individuals all gathered together.
Xia Fei realized that the purity of a Lionheart’s bloodline would decide each one’s height and weight. The old Demonlord Oro’s great grandson Heathfield was of royalty and was also the tallest and strongest among all.
Of course, he was still far from Oro, for the Lionheart Emperor himself stood at an impressive height of eight meters! His weight was well over a ton, and all these descendants of his were no more than dwarves compared to him.
Heinrich was still not talking much, but there was clearly some change in his eyes. While it was still soft, it was a bit firmer, which gave off his desire for greater strength.
The happiest was Heinrich’s father, Heathfield. He drank plenty of alcohol tonight and had plenty to say.
He had already been the laughingstock of the royalty for his son’s softness, but now that Heinrich had become determined to improve himself, he was a lot more relieved. Though it was difficult for someone’s personality to change all at once, it was at least developing in a favorable direction. As time went by, he would definitely be able to make something of himself.
Deep into the night, after the banquet ended, Xia Fei remained in the manor, while others returned to their homes.
Everyone had received a gift from Xia Fei, and with how smooth a talker he was, he had managed to establish plenty of contacts among the Lionhearts in Demon territory.
The Lionheart Emperor Oro was quite moved by everything. Things remained the same, but the people were different; he could barely recognize any of these descendants from his own clan. All those years he spent trapped in the Law of Ternary Spectrum had created a significant generational gap between him and his clan, as well as the Law Realm at large, so he was somewhat out of tune.
However, having been able to return to the Demon Race and see some members of his clan alive, Oro felt quite a lot better. Not too long after, Xia Fei would be able to help him be reborn. Who knew how many more years of hard cultivation and training would he have to go through before he could return to the pinnacle? Revenge, returning to his clan, and standing proudly atop the Law Realm once more… These were all still his distant goals.
After sending off the guests, Heathfield brought Xia Fei to the study, seemingly wanting to speak to him about something. Meanwhile, Xia Fei was also wondering how he could get the Lionheart to help him search for the items he needed, which was why he followed him with alacrity.
The study was not too large, boasting very luxurious decorations. He was ultimately a direct descendant of Lionheart Emperor Oro, so he did not struggle with wealth. Even if he was sent by the clan to train in Black Lion City, he would not struggle.
A maid delivered some sobering hot tea respectfully and left. Xia Fei and Heathfield sat side by side. The tea tasted sour and had a hint of dried hawthorn. Xia Fei found it to be a tasty flavor and had three consecutive cups.
“I have something I can’t figure out, so I need you to clarify them for me personally.” After exchanging simple pleasantries, Heathfield dove into the reason he invited Xia Fei to the study.
Xia Fei set the cup down. “Please speak freely, planet master.”
“Today, you saved Heinrich and even told him a proverb as you did so.” Heathfield was staring at Xia Fei as he asked.
“That is true.”
“What you used was the language of the royalty, the most ancient and aristocratic type. Across the entire Black Lion planet, no one aside from me and my son can understand it. Even the clan members who attended the feast earlier don’t know of it. After all, they’re not royal descendants, yet you don’t seem too old. How come you know this language?”
Xia Fei was quite troubled. It turned out that what Lionheart Emperor Oro had said to relay to Heinrich proved to have quite a background. To think that it was actually the most aristocratic and sacred language among the Lionhearts… How could he, a human, come to understand it so well?
Smiling, Xia Fei made up some nonsense. “I won’t lie to the planet master. I once inadvertently met an expert of the Lionheart royalty, and the two of us formed quite a good relations.h.i.+p, so he casually taught me some.”
Heinrich shook his head. “That’s not possible. The language of the royalty is one of the greatest secrets and n.o.blest existences of the Lionhearts. Even if he were someone of the clan, there would be no reason for him to teach you if it had truly just been a chance meeting.”
Xia Fei did not know how else to explain this, so he could only glance at his spatial ring, consciously telling Oro, “You’re the one who told me what to say then, so now that someone doesn’t believe it, how should I explain this?”
Oro scoffed. “It’s fine. Just relay what I’m about to tell you.”
With that said, Oro taught Xia Fei what to say.
Xia Fei took this with a pinch of sort, using the secret language of the royalty to say, “I originally stayed in the Lion Emperor’s pyramid, towering at 384 in height and spanning over 1.1 in width. I have no name or parents, pledging a lifelong service to the emperor who lived on the 383rd floor. When this emperor went missing, this attendant could not return for the rest of his life, so he ended up a drifter…”
Heathfield was extremely shocked upon hearing this, his two legs shaking, as if provoked.
Xia Fei finished saying this before asking, “This was what that royal elder told me. As for what it meant, the elder never did tell me back then. Do you have any thoughts about this?”
Heathfield was stunned for a good while before saying, “N-Nothing…”
“That’s the secret words of the Lionheart. The emperor of the 383rd floor was of course me, because I was the 383rd patriarch of the Lionheart royalty. Towering at 384 in height and spanning over 1.1 in width as well as possessing no name or parents… This particular line refers to my personal guards. They are loyal to me, never to marry for the rest of their lives, which is why they’re known as those with no names or parents.
“Right now, he’s come to an understanding that you met one of my guards, became friends with them, and were taught this particular pa.s.sage. From here on out, he will no longer question your ident.i.ty,” Lionheart Emperor Oro explained.
Xia Fei sort of half understood what had just happened. Did that not mean that the personal guards of Oro were also immortal experts? The Old Demonlord sure had quite a grand time among the Demon Race!
Despite all that, he still ended up heavily injured and sealed within the Law of Ternary Spectrum’s isolation, which just went to show how insanely powerful this enemy of his was!
“Ask him further about the current situation the clan is in,” Oro asked, concerned.
After such a long time since he heard news of his family and clan, it would be a lie to say he did not care. In fact, he cared about this more than anyone else, which was not truly his fault. At the end of the day, there was not any clan patriarch who would not care about their disciples or descendants.
“Oh, that’s right. This royal expert told me that if I have had the chance to meet anyone from his royal lineage, I should ask them about their wellbeing. For some reason, he can’t return, so whatever cares he has can only burden him in his heart,” Xia Fei said.
Heathfield hurriedly gave a detailed rundown of the current situation that the Lionhearts were in. Actually, Xia Fei was not particularly interested to learn any of this, but because Lionheart Emperor Oro was very interested in this, Xia Fei became like a middleman of sorts, helping Oro learn news and stories of who knew how many generations of descendants.
Without even realizing it, dawn broke.
…
Out in s.p.a.ce where it was always night, a huge wars.h.i.+p was the first to shed off its stealth. The size of this s.h.i.+p was no smaller than the carriers in the Panhuman Alliance; in addition, the design of this wars.h.i.+p was a lot more intricate and the materials used were many times more expensive, with an even greater firepower!
The next to fade into view swiftly were countless wars.h.i.+ps. Carriers, dreadnoughts, battles.h.i.+ps, cruisers, frigates… Their numbers went well past ten thousand!
Such a prominent fleet seemed to be performing a special mission out in the stars, silently appearing in s.p.a.ce just beyond the Panhuman Alliance.
Indubitably, this fleet was immensely strong. If such a well-equipped and uniformed fleet were to launch an attack on the Panhuman Alliance, it would inevitably cause heavy losses to the humans!
*Whoosh*
All of a sudden, a short and agile wars.h.i.+p appeared right across this immense fleet. Hovering, the capital s.h.i.+p slowly opened up its boarding bay and allowed this small wars.h.i.+p to land inside.
Soon, the fleet, which was in the tens of thousands, departed, heading to the darkness of s.p.a.ce without leaving a trace of what had just happened.
Could such a powerful superfleet appear just to fetch that small s.p.a.cecraft, sending a military force which could wipe out an entire star region all for the sake of escorting a wars.h.i.+p?
Was there such a need?
Of course, there was!
This was because onboard that small wars.h.i.+p was one person—the person whom Xia Fei held in the greatest importance. Avril.
Forget sending a superfleet to fetch her, the t.i.tan superwars.h.i.+p had yet to be completed, but if it were built fully, Xia Fei would not hesitate in the slightest bit to send that out as well!
Avril had already changed into a comfortable and fresh tracksuit, her golden flaxen hair tied up in a ponytail, being aboard the capital s.h.i.+p absolutely bewildered.
The mechanized guards flanking her on both sides unnerved Avril. They were standing at attention, their heads held high with their chests thrust out. Not one of them glanced at the side and merely held their gazes straight ahead, receiving Avril even more cremoniously than their own king.
Along the way, Avril received the absolute attention and care from robots. At that moment, she finally realized that Xia Fei’s might was actually far greater than what she had imagined!
Just the fact that he sent a superfleet to escort her, even the Panhuman Alliance president would not have such a grand reception, with such stringent security measures.
In the distance, the fourth in command of the robots, Warstar, and the third in command, Dimsky, could be seen walking toward her.
Though Xana was dead, and Pod had been promoted to become the king of robots, the retired Sentinel G.o.ddess was second in command, so their positions remained at third and fourth.
“Lady Avril, I’m Dimsky. This is General Warstar. We’re under orders from Xia Fei to come fetch you.”
Dimsky had already abandoned his mechanical c.o.c.kroach frame and was now in a body resembling an old scholar. One of the advantages robots had was in their ability to swap frames whenever they wanted as long as their cognition system remained intact.
“h.e.l.lo, you two.” Avril very graciously greeted both mechs as they made their way to the main cabin.
“I’m just one person; is there a need to go to such an extent?” Avril somewhat awkwardly asked.
The kind lady that she was never treated the robots around her as machines. Instead, she treated them like humans, constantly waving and greeting the mechanized guards they pa.s.sed by.
These robots, who were standing at their post, also very politely nodded back to Avril, their favorability toward her increasing somewhat. Dimsky and Warstar, of course, saw all this and were very moved deep down. Xia Fei had not treated the robots like machines, and they had not expected Avril to be the same as well.
“Lady Avril, you may not know this, but this is an order that Xia Fei made back then. If we couldn’t ensure your safety, then he’d take this old man’s head. How could any of us afford to not take this seriously,” Dimsky jokingly said to Avril.
He was different from the ever-serious Warstar and was a scholar of the mechs; he was p.r.o.ne to cracking jokes.
“Xia Fei always enjoys scaring people; don’t mind him,” Avril said.
Thinking back to that impressive fleet from before, Avril could not help but feel moved, “Are you all Xia Fei’s friends?”
Dimsky answered, “Xia Fei’s Pod holds the prime authority of the robots, and Pod is loyal to Xia Fei. To be precise, we are considered his subordinates.”
Avril stuck her tongue out somewhat cheekily. She knew how great Xia Fei was and that he wielded great might, but she had never imagined that it would be to such a degree! He had actually been secretly hiding a trump card like an army of robots.
“Hmm… To think the emergency response plan that Xia Fei had set would actually be used. Wonder what’s happening over there that he needed to mobilize us like this for the first time?” Warstar sighed.
Avril was suddenly transported in the middle of the night and rendezvoused with the robot army out of nowhere had all been priorly arranged by Xia Fei, all in an effort to prevent any untoward accidents from happening to her. It was only because of the distance between them that everyone had no idea behind the reason for this order from him.
Avril was evidently quite worried as well. To which, Dimsky chuckled. “Xia Fei’s very wily. Nothing’s going to happen. Instead, all this effort has Lady Avril suffered, instead.”
“It’s nothing. Being Xia Fei’s woman means that I’m already mentally prepared for this,” Avril simply replied.
Warstar and Dimsky were startled. What she had said was contagious, so much that even these robots could not help but be moved by it.
The superfleet began their journey across s.p.a.ce after receiving Avril. Their destination: The Hidden Realm of Mechs.