It was already the next morning by the time was done violently questioning the drug dealer. They had brought him into one of the Nan"s torture chambers below their estate.

As for why they had multiple of those, let"s say it was part of their job.

Cole put his blood-soaked robes into a basket for washing later and immersed himself in his bath to get off any dirt or grime that may have stuck to him.

He was a bit surprised at how easy he was to crack.

Cole focused for a bit and thought to himself.

"If that person is the future instigator of war, what would be his exact motive for doing so?"

There were 8 main reasons why a country or person would start a war.

1. Economic Gain

2. Territorial Gain

3. Religion

4. Nationalism

5. Revenge

6. Civil War

7. Revolutionary War

8. Defensive War

Cole was a lot more familiar with the first 2 since that was what the〈Intergalactic War〉was mostly about.

Many great clans could influence the power balance of the〈Zone〉and considering that there was also the possibility of those powerful secluded cultivators but the fact that they were secluded in the first place meant that they had cared nothing for the outside world.

It wouldn"t be strange for a Clan Leader to start a war. And it could be any of the four reasons listed above. But the fact that they had the power and ambition to start one in the first place meant that they needed to either be a Clan or organization.

It had to either be a clan with an enormous amount of funds so they could supply the needs for war or a clan that was already filled with strong, loyal people.

As for why Cole focused on clan heads and not Emperors. It was because he was asked to look for an "Instigator"

While it did mean "a person who initiates or start something", it can also be treated as a person who encouraged something which caused the start of that something.

Not for which country would start the war. If that was the case, Aries probably would"ve specified such.

But then again, Cole didn"t have much faith in Aries due to their first encounter and the fact that during the mission briefing, she said it was a simple feud between two clan heads but it turned out to instead be a war.

It was also because of the way she briefed them was extremely sucky. Well, at least they got them started in the right country.

But anyway, the man last night had uttered out a name instead of a clan or organization which would mean that the suspect was planning to start a war for revenge.

He had Felicia look through the suspect files again while the twins continued to torture the man in case he was lying. I mean, you never know after all.

Cole got out of the bath and had dried his body a bit and put on his lower garments but while changing, he could sense a presence coming closer to the room he was in.


It was coming at the regular running pace of a normal person and it was probably a male so Cole a.s.sumed that it was probably a servant Nan Fuqin.

*BAAM*

The door was opened without any kind of a warning. Cole had guessed right, it was indeed a servant.

He was breathing heavily and seemed to have rushed his way over here.

"Esteemed Guest! My master has called for you!"

"What for?"

"I do not know but he said that your presence was needed immediately."

Cole unhurriedly put on the rest of his clothes and followed the servant.

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Cole was brought to Nan Fuqin"s courtyard and when came there, he was greeted with a Nan Zhujiao who was brutally beaten up and had bruises all over his face.

Zhujiao"s originally as white as a lotus face was riddled with bruises here and there. The face that once sent streets of young ladies into moans was now...

Well, Cole couldn"t care less.

"...Corporal punishment..."

Cole momentarily forgot that such a thing was extremely common in Ancient China. It was also extremely common for fathers to do it to their sons. Especially if their son had made their family lose face.

"...I have a feeling that if Father had to do that, he would somehow cause the whip to hit himself instead."

But then his attention was grabbed by the conservatively dressed woman who was applying some kind of ointment on Zhujiao"s face.

Her clothes had a deep purple hue to them which made her look wise and knowledgeable. Her face didn"t carry many wrinkles even though she should be at the age where stress was getting to her. It was still beautiful and kind and it had now gained a maturity that probably wasn"t seen in her younger years.

She probably had a lot of pursuers in her day though.

Noticing his gaze, the woman looked up and stared right back at him. Her face tinged red a bit before she regained her initial composure and stood up to greet him first.

"Ah, greetings. My name is Lao Lanhua. The wife of this numbskulled old man and the mother of this useless son."

Cole switched his gaze slightly to the aforementioned numbskulled old man and useless son.

Fuqin and Zhujiao seemed to be used to such behaviour from her seeing as they didn"t react in the slightest.

Cole then gave a very charming smile and bowed respectfully just as he was supposed to do so for common etiquette in the era.

"I am extremely honoured to make your acquaintance, Lady Lanhua."

"This humble one"s name is w.a.n.g Shu."

"Still, thank G.o.d that there aren"t so many complicated honorifics I have to say in this place."

As Cole was thinking that to himself, Lanhua seemed pleased by his manners.

"Ah, what a pretty name. Anyhow, what brought you here to the estate."

"Has your dear husband not yet explained the circ.u.mstances to you?"

Lanhua put her hand on her cheek and shook her head in denial. When Cole moved his gaze to Fuqin for a bit, his eyes were telling him that he didn"t want to involve her in matters from other Zones.

Well, Cole was fine with that. Although 20 years had pa.s.sed since the fusion of the Zones, he expected that there would be people who were still scared of the unknown or people who denied and covered up the existence of the Zones to their loved ones completely.

Although he hadn"t finished going through the records in the library, he could make up the gist of what happened. And apparently〈S.T.E.L.LA〉was one of the major saving graces of the period. So, although many people didn"t trust the outside world, they gave some of their trust in the organization.

However, only people from the upper circle of society in the Zones knew about it.

Maybe they saw that the public wouldn"t be prepared for it yet or that〈S.T.E.L.LA〉hadn"t fully set its roots and wasn"t fully prepared if the public were to hold a rebellion if they were to learn of the methods〈S.T.E.L.LA〉used to unite the Zones.

"I hope I can finally finish the library soon. I still haven"t found the time to fully experiment and understand the abilities I have with me yet."

"Well, just think of us an important task force sent by the Emperor. Unfortunately, our mission is top secret. If it wasn"t for the fact that you"re husband was a trusted official. We wouldn"t even be showing our presence to you."

Cole"s eyes turned a bit cold and serious while his mouth was still wearing a smile. Hearing the words that Cole had to say, Lanhua scurried over to her husband and whispered into his ear.

They exchanged a few more words before Lanhua stood up and took her to leave.

"Well, I see. I must take my leave now. I have a tea party to attend with one of my close friends."

Cole could have easily eavesdropped onto their conversation but he didn"t see any need to. And he was already wasting so much time just by being there.

After Lanhua had left, Cole took a sit on one of the vacant seats and crossed his legs.

"So, why did you call for me?"

"...I heard you found out who the instigator is."

"Yeah. Why are you asking? Do you want to know their ident.i.ty?"

"No, I just have a feeling that you guys will cause extreme chaos in the Tournament so please brief me before anything irreversible happens."

"If that was all, why is your son here and why did your servant seem to be in such a hurry?"

"Ah, well apparently the twins wanted to play with him midway but he had to deliver the message first. And as for my son..."

Fuqin"s words trailed off slightly and he turned to his son. Zhujiao was doing his best to avoid the gaze of his father but he would occasionally send glances Cole"s way.

Fuqin then let out a tired sigh and asked Cole.

"You didn"t actually take him as your disciple, did you?"

"...?"

Cole"s mind blanked out for a bit until he remembered the incident they caused so that they could "safely" get into the city.

"Did I say something like that?"

Cole"s memory could be described as excellent. But that was only when referring to things that he found useful or things that could be potentially important in the future.

If it was an empty promise that he didn"t intend on following, he might remember it.

His brain was loaded with the minute details of every place he"s ever been in as well as numerous different languages and all sorts of different stock knowledge and skill he"s learnt in his life.

If it wasn"t for the existence of an added memory chip in his brain and the fact that he was now a Mechanica, his brain would have long overheated.

"Ha? Of course not."

Hearing Cole"s instant answer, Zhujiao"s already miserable visage looked like it was soaked in whatever kind of sad juices it needed to absorb to make such a sad face.

It was the kind of face a person would make when they saw a litter of either cute dogs or kittens or whatever kind of small animal that appealed to the viewer got brutally run over by a truck.

However, he immediately got back up and he now looked at Cole with a wronged face.

"B-But you said that if I were to--"

Cole raised his hand and stopped Zhujiao mid-sentence.

"I mean, even if I wanted to take in a disciple. You would have to follow me to the〈Neutral Zone〉since I won"t be here forever. I"ll also have to make you learn new customs and a language you"ve probably never heard before in order to cope with the unfamiliar environment."

Hearing such a sound and reasonable explanation, Zhujiao deflated a bit but then he sank into thought.

Like the young youth he was, the idea of exploring a new world excited him. But with excitement also came fear. Going to a new place he had no knowledge

"I also don"t want to have to take care of such a kid."

That was another reason why Cole didn"t want to bring Zhujiao or take him as a disciple. And the fact that it would mean that he would have to expand the house. Well, he was thinking of doing that anyway.

He also initially tried to kill the dude (sort of). There was also the matter that he wasn"t sure how Eva would react to a sudden stranger. So far, she seemed alright and actually felt more indifferent to strangers but he was still worried. There was also the matter of expenses increasing.

He would have to buy more stuff. Which would mean more trips to the〈Times Zone〉

Which would mean he would have less time on his hands which would mean that he would have less time to finish reading through the library which would mean...

"I"ll have one of the twins send you a detailed description of what we"ll be doing during the Tournament so please rest a.s.sured. I have to go do something now so... Please excuse me."

Cole then stood up and hurried to find the rest of his team.

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