The Almighty Ring

“Of course! Have you ever seen the palace before? It’s beautiful! Grand! Posh beyond anything in the universe!” the short one bragged as if the palace was his own home.

“I’ll come clean. This is my first time setting foot on the capital planet. I’ve flown across this system many times and never had the chance to land!” Technically, Jiang Fei was telling the truth. He had never visited this planet before.

“Let me tell you, the emperor’s palace is so grand that no other civilization could ever build anything like it!” the short one continued to brag.

“I’m hyped! I think I will take this chance to visit the palace!” Jiang Fei said.

“Don’t bother. Security will be tight since there will be a wedding. Don’t wander around too much or you’ll be thrown in prison! If you want to see the palace, you should just wait until the entire thing blows over,” the tall one said.

“Oh…” Jiang Fei sighed.

“What do you expect? For them to let you in just because you have never seen it? There will be too many royalties and nobles attending as guests. Civilians like us should just stay at home and watch the broadcast,” the tall one added.

“Damn. I would not be here for long. Might as well… could the two of you be so kind enough to point me to the direction of the palace? I’ll just have a quick look from afar and be on my way. I could go home and brag about it to my friends and family!” said Jiang Fei, pretending to be desperate. That was his goal; to get information about the location of the palace.

“You’ve asked the right people. This monkey here is a private transporter! You can take a ride with him!” said the short one as he promoted his good friend.

“What about it? You want to hire a ferry?” asked the tall one. There was a certain glint in his eyes that reflected greed. Security around the palace had been tightened for a few days, so there was no business for him to conduct there. In fact, there weren’t many passengers for him. That was the reason why he would rather spend his free time talking to his friend than roaming the planet for potential clients.

As a city dweller, the tall one had been scamming many people into paying a higher price for his service. Now that Jiang Fei was obviously revealed to be a first-timer on this planet, he had blatantly presented himself as the most gullible customer for the tall one. He would spin the city for more than enough times to cheat unsuspecting travellers for extra money. He had been doing this for more than tens of years.

“Yes, please. Thank you for the trouble,” Jiang Fei agreed even though he was practically broke.

Jiang Fei had literally zero local currency but he had a mountain-filled worth of aetheryte. Aetheryte might be the standard universal currency used in many civilizations but such a currency was not used by the common folk. It was similar to gold on Earth. Alone, it held certain value but have you ever seen anyone using a gold bar to pay for groceries in a supermarket? Jiang Fei had been trying to figure out a way to get himself to the palace until these two came along, offering a means of travel. It would be wrong to reject such a helping hand in times of need.

The tall one was as common as anyone could be. His combat level was so low that he could never be a combatant. Such a character could never hide his real intentions in front of Jiang Fei; when he had malice intent brewing inside his head, Jiang Fei noticed it immediately.

“Come on then. Watch your head,” said the tall one as he invited Jiang Fei to his taxi.

“How long would it take to reach the palace?” Jiang Fei asked.

“Mhmm… Hard to say. If it all goes smoothly, it would be around three hours. But since the wedding is so close now, there will be security checks here and there so…” said the driver as he didn’t bother to finish his sentence. Alderaan had always had tight security placements but it took a competent driver to know how to get around things.

“I’ll leave it in your good hands,” said Jiang Fei as he leaned back. He had no intention to hand over any kind of currency to this cheater. He’ll let him do whatever he wanted as Jiang Fei sat back and relaxed. There was still time for him to do what he wanted since the big day was two days away.

“Enjoy the ride,” said the driver as he started to move. He leaned out of the side window and waved his short friend goodbye before zooming away.

Along the way, as he noticed Jiang Fei had fallen asleep, the driver slowed the vehicle down and smiled like never before. If Jiang Fei was awake, the driver still had his way to “navigate” around the place. Fortunately for him, Jiang Fei was asleep, thus saving him the time and effort needed to explain himself.

The tall, skinny driver took his sweet time, driving around and about aimlessly. What was supposed to be a three hour journey became a whole day’s trip. By the time they reached their destination, it was already late evening.

“Young man, we’re here!” said the driver as he turned around and nudged Jiang Fei.

“Mmmm. Thanks for waking me up,” Jiang Fei said as he pretended to be half-awake. When he noticed that the sky was already dark, Jiang Fei could not help but silently curse the driver for being so cruel. He had pretended to be a common civilian from another planet and he was cheated to this extent. What were his daily activities then? Was he making a living by cheating good, honest folks like this?

“Shoot. It’s late!” Jiang Fei gasped.

“Sorry for all of this. I didn’t want to wake you up since you looked like you needed the rest. It’s been a terrible drive as there are just too many restrictions here and there. I literally had to take many detours to reach this place,” said the driver, pretending to be aggravated. It was his way to cheat Jiang Fei, seeing as how he saw him as another common folk.

“Alright then!” Jiang Fei nodded.

“The fee will be 3,652 Clox. Well, since we started off well and friendly back there, I’ll make it cheaper. You can just pay me 3,600.”

“Sure!” Jiang Fei said. He had never been to Alderaan and had never owned the currency known as Clox or knew its value compared to Aetheryte. Nevertheless, Jiang Fei was sure that the fee was blown out of proportion.”

“Thanks for everything!” said Jiang Fei as he pretended to lean forward to pay. Instead of reaching for his “wallet”, Jiang Fei’s right hand flew toward the man’s neck, holding it with a vice-like grip.

“What are you doing?” the tall one said as he gasped for air. The last thing he had expected from an out-of-town commoner was a robbery. Even though it was already dark, they were literally parked close to the entrance of the palace. Royal guards would storm the taxi if there was even a little suspicious activity.

“Relax. You’ll be sleeping for a bit,” said Jiang Fei. He was calm and composed and not influenced by any forces then. He was not one to immediately kill anyone that wronged him. Hence, to merely put him to sleep, Jiang Fei injected a microscopic amount of Qi energy.

“I’m here at the palace but how am I supposed to know where Aurelia is? Sheesh… I just hope that my alter ego knows what he is doing…” said Jiang Fei with a heavy sigh. Based on his powers alone, it would be reckless to charge into the palace. If he was stronger than all of the guards, he might walk in and out without even a scratch. But that was just a childish sentimental thought. It was unlikely that the palace would not hire powerful fighters to defend the place. Right now, the only hope for Jiang Fei to get inside the palace safely was to let the Umbral version of him take the helm.

“Captain, I think you should do what comes to mind. If he dares to bring you here, he must have some plan in mind. Even though I do not know what or who he is, I believe he would not put you in a fatal situation,” said 0541.