Pillar of Yita

Loya’s gaze swept over the fourteen people sitting here, the world knows those glamorous names by heart, but often overlooks the essence.

Because people are often deceived by appearances, indulging in superficial information.

”Is that so, but I have a witness report here.” He spoke calmly.

”Oh, what does it say?” The middle-aged man straightened up slightly, like a puddle of meat flowing on the sofa.

”This is an investigative report about that combat.”

The fat man rudely interrupted him, ”I heard they were attacked by Constructs, and there were many of them?”

But Loya didn’t get annoyed, answering methodically:

”It was sixty-three units, the first wave of attacks arrived at the Onoi with seven attack formations, each formation consisting of seven Constructs. Later, at least two more formations were added, yielding a consistent conclusion based on descriptions from various witnesses on the battlefield.”

”Sixty-three units, this is not something that kid could manage, what does this imply?” the obese middle-aged man asked, ”Was someone from the opposite side on that ship? Blazing Silver? Virus? Or He Wen?”

”Virus is with Elite.”

”Alright, I remembered wrong,” the middle-aged man slapped his forehead, ”But that girl was quite something, I remember her.”

At this point, a steady voice asked, ”Could it be that woman?”

Loya looked in that direction, the speaker was a middle-aged man as cold as a statue, he shook his head, ”Loofah has not returned from the Second World.”

”Then is it—?”

Loya answered, ”The origin of those Constructs is still under investigation, but some witnesses pointed out their appearance is somewhat similar to Shield Bearers, I have already directed them to investigate in that direction, but for now, it is difficult to draw any definitive conclusion.”

It was only then that a murmur of discussion arose below.

Someone spoke up, ”...Regardless of who was on that ship, but this tactic is actually nothing novel, just that no one in the past was able to make Constructs cross a ten-kilometer control distance... if it’s in line of sight combat, then this tactic loses its significance...”

”A control range over ten kilometers, could it be a Signal Amplifier?”

”Even a Signal Amplifier couldn’t achieve that, the best can only enlarge the control range by ten percent.”

”So it means the other side possesses technology we are unaware of?”

”What is it...?”

”In fact, the combat lasted for an hour, during the entire process two airships were sunk, three were injured, yet the local guild couldn’t even touch the other side.”

The hall suddenly quieted down a bit.

Everyone exchanged glances, almost all of them thought of that possibility:

”Could it be that thing?”

”It must be it—”

”But what about the Witch of the Sea...?”

”She was never to be trusted anyway.”

”But can it be confirmed?”

The discussion grew lively, an old man with black spots on his face coughed lightly, lifted his eyelids to look at Loya in front, ”Is this the reason you gathered us here?”

Loya nodded.

”So is there any way to confirm it? You should know the plan is at a critical juncture, we do not have the luxury of diverting our attention to other matters.”

”I’m afraid there’s no way, but I must remind everyone, this is not just Origin Power. You should also know, he is the only one who has seen that thing.” Loya calmly surveyed the crowd, speaking slowly.

This sentence seemed to have an effect, silencing everyone present.

The fat man turned around, ”But we’ve already missed one opportunity, is there another chance?”

The old man shifted his gaze to Loya, ”Since it’s your idea, why don’t you tell us?”

Loya spoke with confidence, ”The sudden military exercise is suspicious, I suspect someone is helping them from behind, but it’s a pity I can’t catch their handle. However, help is only temporary, I have already gathered some intelligence, roughly guessing their next destination.”

”What place is that?”

Loya uttered a place name.

The atmosphere seemed eerily quiet, only the crackling of the bonfire could be heard.

The old man pondered for a while, then asked, ”So is the information reliable?”

”There’s never anything entirely reliable in this world,” Loya coldly replied, ”But this intelligence was provided by those people—”

The old man squinted his eyes, ”Those people...?”

Loya nodded.

The fourteen people on the sofa exchanged glances, but made no comments.

Only the fat man showed an unwilling expression, ”...But again against the military? Didn’t you guys forget how last time we nearly got exposed, and the issue with the Dragonfire Guild is not over yet.”

The fat man kept prattling, but a voice, as if covered in a layer of frost, suddenly interrupted him, ”Anyone wanting to quit may freely do so.”

Loya’s cold gaze swept over each person, ”Just consider the consequences, think of the fate of those few traitors.”

The fat man shivered, his face turning pale in an instant, ”...I didn’t mean that, but haven’t you been up to some shady dealings lately? What exactly have you been doing at Stargate Port, only you know.”

Loya stood still, staring at the fat man with such a chilling gaze that he gradually forced the man to retreat.

Finally, he spoke calmly:

”That has nothing to do with you.”

”You—!”

”Alright,” the middle-aged man who had remained silent and resembled a statue finally spoke up again, ”Don’t bring up these useless things, everyone’s time is precious, just tell us, what needs to be done?”

Loya then retracted his gaze, answering directly, ”Very simple, I need to mobilize Gray Shadow.”