Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 1993: Picking Up Brown

Grey spent five hours in the room reading about the history of the Royal Family. Apparently, this was not the original Royal Family of the Gnome World, they rose to power during the Gnomes’ first conquest of a foreign World. After they defeated the foreign World, their World devoured the World, and over time, some of the inhabitants slowly started to become Gnomes. Some Families have tried to usurp power over the thousands of years this Royal Family has been in power, and they have all failed to achieve their goal. The Royal Family had a very strong foundation, making it almost impossible for other Families to take their position. Not just that, but they are the Family with the highest number of God Plane experts over the years. According to what Grey read, there have been exactly a hundred and seventy-two Gnomes that have become God Plane experts from the Royal Family in their years of history.

After completing his reading on the Royal Family, he went on to read about the other supporting Families. He saw a familiar name, the Family residing in Velin City that bought the Principal. Surprisingly, they were one of the Royal Family’s most trusted allies. He did not expect something like this, to say the least. Given the strength of that Family, he thought they might be secretly vying for the position of rulers. Most top Families would not want to be controlled.

It was late in the night when he finished reading up on the Families. This gave him a clear understanding of the strength of the Gnome World, and it scared him. The difference in number of experts was shocking when compared to the Human World. Additionally, one has to remember that the Gnomes could also control Puppets, which gives them an added boost to their numbers. Even if these Puppets do not retain the overall strength of the individual before their death, it was not far off. Engaging in a war against such a Race was almost a guaranteed defeat.

Leaving the room, he noticed that he could still sense the presence of the Emperor nearby. The Emperor should be in one of the rooms present, and from what he could sense, he was not alone. Not wanting to further engage in more interactions with the Emperor, he decided to leave and complete his initial objective.

On the way out of the Palace, he could not help but wonder how he was going to get the Seventh Prince to at least know that he would be crowned as the heir in a month’s time. Once the Seventh Prince shows any sign he forgot about the entire conversation with the Emperor, it might give him away. After careful consideration, he decided to leave a scroll in the room pretending it was from the Emperor, informing him he would be crowned in a month’s time, and also to make preparations. He did not forget to add that he should not disturb the Emperor since he was busy with the war.

Luckily, the Emperor was still in that underground chamber, so he was able to get the Emperor’s seal which is usually kept in the Emperor’s room. This was the only way he could make the Seventh Prince believe the message truly was from the Emperor.

It took him eight more hours before he completed the check he wanted to do. Confirming the area where Brown was kept did not have any issues, he went straight to visit a familiar Gnome. He had only met this Gnome once, and that was during the period he was searching for the Principal in the marketplace. This was the Gnome who was trying to create a new method for Gnomes to bypass Grey’s ability to cut off their connections with their Puppets. The Gnome might still be weak, but given his thought process and how he was trying to make life difficult for Grey, he wanted to deal with him now that he still had control over the Seventh Prince.

He felt after this period, he would not want to control the Seventh Prince for a period of time given how close it was to the day of his coronation as the Crowned Prince. Not just that, he also felt there is a possibility that his control over the Seventh Prince would soon be exposed given the conversation he had with the Emperor. If during the next encounter between the duo and the Seventh Prince showed how unaware of the situation he was to the Emperor, the Emperor would get suspicious.

….

Hundreds of kilometers away from the Capital City.

Grey opened his eyes, his face turning as pale as a sheet of paper. He almost passed out from the exhaustion. He hurriedly bit the tip of his tongue to rouse himself with the pain and make sure he did not faint before slowly recalling everything he did with the Seventh Prince. When he thought about the conversation with the Emperor, he could not help but show a look of confusion. According to the Emperor, the Gnome World’s origin essence was incomplete, and that is the reason behind their attack on the Human World. From what he could tell, devouring the Human World is not even a permanent solution, just a temporary one. This meant that millions of people were losing their lives over something that could not even be fixed.

“Must they produce God Plane experts?” He muttered under his breath.

There were currently no God Plane experts in the Gnome World, although he found out that the God Plane experts had a hand in breaking the barriers between both Worlds and creating these portals, there were no God Plane experts present, even the Emperor confirmed this. Since there were no God Plane experts present, what was wrong with not being able to produce God Plane experts?

Shutting his eyes, he adjusted his breathing and focused on meditating. He had spent a lot of his Mental Energy in controlling the Seventh Prince, energy he needed to recover before leaving this place.

An hour later, his complexion was no longer pale, and he no longer felt the dizziness from before. Standing up, he adjusted his bearings before taking to the sky. The sooner he leaves this World, the better and safer he will feel.

A few hundred kilometers was not too far nor too near. It took Grey almost an entire day for him to get to the area where Brown was kept. He was the one that brought Brown there, so it was not hard for him to locate the place, which was an abandoned building in the middle of a forest not far from the Capital City.

When he got to the place, he could sense the auras of living people there. Raising a brow, he did not show himself, hiding behind a tree, he waited patiently.

He could overhear the sounds of people arguing, realizing Brown had been discovered, he frowned. When he came here to check with the Seventh Prince the previous day, this place was untouched. He never expected that in only a day, he would meet Gnomes here. As he sensed the auras of these Gnomes, he heaved a sigh of relief. The strongest Gnome there was only a Seventh stage Sovereign. Given his current strength, he did not have any problems with dealing with a Seventh stage Sovereign Gnome. In fact, even in a face to face battle, he was confident he would crush his opponent.

The only thing that made him wary was the fact that this place was located only a few kilometers from the Royal City, any sort of clashes here would most likely be noticed. If any Peak Sovereigns rushes over to check on them, then he would be in a lot of trouble. With this thought in mind, he decided it was time for him to make use of the Seventh Prince’s token he had with him again.

This is an item that has saved him from hassle during his stay in the Gnome World, and he did not mind using it once again, especially since this was going to be the last time he would most likely use it.

Covering his face, he jumped down from the tree and walked into the building in a calm and collected manner.

As soon as he walked into the building, one of the Gnomes turned to face him and pointed the spear in his hands at him, “Who are you?”

This Gnome was only a Peak Venerable and he was in charge of guarding the door. He did not sense Grey’s presence until the latter had already entered the building which frightened him. Remembering he was not alone, he summoned courage.

“I have some business of the Seventh Prince to deal with, leave at once.” Grey replied in a haughty manner, not even sparing the Gnome a glance. The Gnome was about to respond when he flashed the token in his face.