Secret revealed...

'The body of Adi? That pumpkin animal...' Thinking about that, Aiden couldn't help but shudder with fear. Yet, he was most surprised about one thing, 'Why didn't they absorb me? Could this have been because of the devil?

No matter how much Aiden thought about it, he couldn't find a reason for that. However, he was curious about something else. "What could have happened to the trees?"

Kaiser shook his head, "I don't know how the first city lord killed the first. At that time, we were living under the control of that thing."

Kaiser pointed to the giant tree stump and went on to say, "He had cut down the tree, too. It was a fierce battle. Something that no one had ever seen before. One swing of his sword raised a thousand winds."

Kaiser pointed to the distant mountain and said, "The mountain was cut by him, too. But after fighting so many beasts, he died at the very next moment, leaving behind nothing but a skeleton."

"That skeleton, in the forest?"

"Oh, you've seen it?" he was surprised, but nodded, "It was because of him that we can now live in peace. The daughter of the previous lord is the new lord of the city. She's got a similar power."

But Aiden wasn't worried about it at all, "What happened to the third tree?"

Hearing the question, Kaiser took a deep breath before adding, "We knew that the third tree was in the heart of the forest of Nozama, and we sent numerous expeditions to locate it, but we failed."

"The forest of Nozama is too dangerous. Too many strong beasts were living there. Like the mutated human, there were many dangerous beasts in the forest, and on top of that there was the devil."

Those last words have never reached his ears. But Aiden understood it all. The thing called 'Adi,' the reason why he couldn't find the so-called paradise, and... 'Could that be why Adi had taken thousands of people to the city of Irupax?

Looking at the frightened Aiden, Kaiser comforted him, "Don't worry. As long as the lord of the city is here, nothing can happen to the city."

His voice shrank a little as if he were whispering, "There are some Oracles in the city. There's nothing that could escape the eyes of them. Some say that the lord of the oracles even fought alongside the first lord of the city. So, as long as he's here, there's nothing to fear."

Aiden paid little attention to his words, though. There was no way that Kaiser could understand what made Aiden so anxious. 'It would be a good thing if Adi were to take those people for food, not to make an army.'

'Let's hope that's the case. But if he was preparing an army, could he be behind the disappearance of the beast in the forest? 'Aiden could understand that something big was about to happen, but he couldn't explain it to Kaiser.

*Trrrrrrr*

The sudden sound shocked him so much that Aiden almost hit his head on the roof. Looking at the jumpy Aiden Kaiser, he smiled as he picked up the receiver.

"Kaiser, where are you? Did you find Remi? Is she alright?" Aiden recognized the voice. This is Jewel.

"Uncle I'm all right," said Remi, the first one to shout from the back seat.

"You little, you're so ..." Even if the voice was angry, Aiden could feel that his tone was much more relieved now.

"Don't worry, it's going to take some time to get to the city," Kaiser said.

"Don't go to the mountain town, I've come to the valley, come to the store, I'm here."

"Okay, we'll get there by the evening. " Looking at Aiden, Kaiser added, "and we've got a guest. You're going to have to prepare a banquet."

"Who is it?" Kaiser did not explain, though Jewel sounded curious. He just said, "You'll know when you see him," and he ended the call.

"What was that?" Aiden knew there was something like this, but he wasn't sure of the name.

"This is radio. A communication device. It's the best thing inside a certain distance. After the satellites were rendered useless due to mana interference, it's the best thing we could use."

Aiden continued to ask many questions, and Kaiser continued to answer them as they moved towards the Valley City.

Time has continued to pass. Other than stopping once to take some rest, they never stopped again.

It may have taken two or more hours, but when they reached their destination, the sky had already changed colour.

'Is that one of the four colours of the Earth's sky?' Aiden wasn't sure, but the orange sky was too mesmerizing for Aiden.

"We're almost there." It was only when Kaiser said that Aiden realized he had come close to the giant tree stump.

In the end, Aiden felt that it was too big. But more than that, Aiden was most surprised by the tree guard.

"Why are they guarding a dead tree?" Aiden couldn't help but ask.

But looking at Aiden, Kaiser gave a silly smile. "Forgive me, Aiden. I can't answer that question."

'There is something they can't talk about? Could there be chaos ore mine?'

[Unable to detect it. Mana fluctuations are too high.]

Even if ESS hadn't said that Aiden might feel the change in mana as they progressed. Even though he was curious, he no longer dwelled on the matter.

As soon as the remains of the 'world devourer tree' were crossed, the view in front of him changed.

There was a real road, so now the journey was a lot smoother. And the road led to a wall stretched from east to west. The ten-metre-high wall stopped everything from crossing.

He saw walls bigger than this, but somehow this one feels different. Painting of their glorious past or mana beast scratches, everything made it more vibrant.

And more than that, what was more eye-catching were the people who were riding the beasts that Aiden had never seen before.

Whether it was a giant worm-like beast with a human face or a simple horse with six legs. Everything was new to him, and even the ESS could not identify them.

But no matter if it was humans who were riding cars or unknown beasts, they all made a perfect queue in front of the gate.

The queue was long, and they had to wait half an hour before they could get in. That was when the guards were bribed by Kaiser. Otherwise, Aiden wasn't sure when they were going to enter the city.

As soon as they entered the gate, Kaiser said with a smile, "Welcome to the city of the Valley." Aiden smiled back, before turning to watch the view outside.

By the time they had entered the city, the night had already covered the city, yet it was bright. The light source was not a fire. It was mana crystals.

Aiden sucked the lungs full of cold here when the ESS had identified them. Mana crystal was so scarce on the planet Will that he almost lost his life because of it, and here they use it to light up the road.

"Where have they gotten so many mana crystals?" Aiden couldn't help asking. But Kaiser smiled again, choosing not to respond.

'Can this be related to the tree, too?' Although he was more curious about it, he had no way of knowing it. He had to turn back to the road.

It wasn't long before the destination was reached. As soon as Aiden got out of the car, he was greeted by a giant warehouse.

'Now that I'm thinking about it, the warehouse is the best place to keep the slaves.' Soon Aiden found that it was exactly what he had expected.

Slaves were taken out of the cages under strict observation. Most of their eyes were dead as if they had lost all motivation to live.

Yet few did not want to give up. A man with no left hand. Even if he didn't have a left hand, he pounced at the guard closest to him.

To Aiden's complete surprise, the armed guard was unable to subdue the slave. To begin with, the guard's swing was long and the body had a lot of unnecessary movements. The slave ducked to avoid the swing of his swords and punched the guard's chin.

After making the young guard useless, he ran to the next one. But he was not given a chance.

One of the guards walked in and said something in a language that even the ESS could not identify. At the next moment, something shone in his hand, and the slave's body stopped.

The neck collar of the slave shone in the same colour, and the paralyzed body of the slave fell to the ground.

Aiden's eyes met the slave's for a second. It was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

"Nobody wanted to be a slave," someone said from behind. Aiden turned to find that it was Kaiser. He smiled at Aiden, saying, "Let's go, Jewel is waiting for us."

Aiden nodded, followed him along with Remi. They've reached their destination soon enough. A two-storied building with a front yard. And there was a man in front of it that ESS could identify.

"Hey, what has taken you so long?" Jewel's smile froze as soon as his eyes fell on Aiden, "oh, what a rare guest? Please come in."

Even if he said that with a smile, Aiden felt something different. Still, Aiden smiled and followed him.

After a few words, Remi parted with them as Aiden was taken to another room with Kaiser.

"So what brings you here?" Jewel asked in a serious tone as soon as they sat down.

Aiden smiled and said, "I was following the city-light when it brought me to Remi, who was fighting the bandit at the time."

Hearing the words, Jewel turned to the Kaiser, who confirmed it with a nod. But the next word didn't just come as a surprise to Aiden, but also to Kaiser.

"Why?" There was no emotion in his face, as Jewel asked.

'It's not like I could say that I want to make a connection to Kaiser.' All Aiden could do was give him an awkward smile.

"What the hell are you talking about, Jewel?"

Yet Jewel ignored Kaiser 's words and looked at Aiden, "Tell me, Aiden. Who are you?"

'Can he think of my origin? 'Aiden frowned in his heart but did not show it on his face. He said, "I am a human being from the western mountain. What else could I have been?"

"Yes, yes, you're human." In a blink, he pulled out a firearm and pointed at Aiden, before adding, "You're human from another planet."