In front of the huge airship, over a hundred people gathered.
They all wore adventurer's outfits and had weapons ranging from Royal Weapons to Holy Weapons. There were even some who wore expensive full-plate armor of equal rank.
The airship had a big inner space which could easily accommodate a thousand people. There were private rooms for the passengers and also a place for practicing their skills in public.
This airship can easily withstand attacks from two dozen S-ranks simultaneously. The speed of this huge flying colossal can exceed the speed of sound during normal operation and in emergency it can burst up to three times the supersonic speed.
The council has spent an astronomical amount of resources to build this famous airship, Soaring Wings. Before the Great Catastrophe there were airplanes and jets which could be used as transportation medium in the airspace of Azure Planet.
After the game descended, any non mana-related equipment and devices started failing till it became completely useless due to not being able to adapt to the increasing mana in the air. So, after a hundred years had passed humanity long since changed their craftsmanship to get on with the time.
This airship was built with numerous mana-related materials and items. This is also the only functioning airship in the entire human territory. Why is there only one?
Well, humans live in the extreme north of the continent which is poor in resources. There are also many flying monsters in the airspace which will target any flying object if they catch sight of it. When the airship is weak in defensive property or has slow speed then it can only be a big target for those monsters' relentless attacks.
Because of such fundamental reasons there's only this one built successfully.
The airship is usually stationed in the Hope City where council's headquarters are located. When there's an emergency for an urgent rescue or a need to send quick reinforcements this airship is deployed.
Today is the day when it's the only exception to those two conditions.
The global competition ended a week ago and the hundred quota for the Orc Champion Labyrinth has been decided. Today they will set off from the human territory and go southwards. The location of this labyrinth is very far from the borders of any peripheral country.
In order to arrive quickly and prevent external intervention to the lowest limit the airship will be used for transportation. Only S-rank can fly in the air. This is the reason why the council dares to deploy the Soaring Wings.
There are two dozen S-rank adventurers who will be onboard and more than three dozen who will guard in eight directions from the outside. Anyone who dares to attack the airship needs to be at S-rank to be qualified for such midair battle. The battles at S-rank are usually fought near the cloud line of the sky.
Sometimes even above the clouds.
Orion was very busy.
He has been checking the interior of the airship earlier and now he finished inspecting the exterior. As a Level 7 evolver, he can completely see through if there are any equipment problems or any hidden devices planted. Anything used in this secret realm won't exceed Top-grade First-order quality so he has full confidence in his judgement.
Before the five nobles entered inside he had already swept through everything and anything that may cause displeasure to them. Orion attaches great importance to those nobles' moods. It would be a huge tragedy if he was punished because of some negligence.
He also looked at the list of two dozen S-rank adventurers who will be inside the airship. If there is a traitor among them then five of them will definitely be targeted at the first opportunity. He took out a small handbook and carefully reviewed the intelligence his five party members had gathered about them.
Seeing no suspicious involvement reported about their past life he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
"I have already made arrangements to be among the two dozen who will board the airship so it doesn't matter if there really is a traitor hiding deep."
He muttered as he put away the notebook. The biggest insurance is that he guards the five nobles personally. No matter how many variables appear he has the confidence to crush it.
The Human Evolution Codex that all imperial citizen practices, even if they aren't the complete one and same quality as the authentic one Five Founding Families practices, it was still the race-guarding technique which is written by Saints themselves.
There's no need to say how far the gap is between one who has been practicing it and those who aren't. There are actually many techniques in the market that have been circulating freely. Those could also be used as the main technique for one's evolution journey but the problem is that the quality of the two are clear at a glance.
This is the reason why Five Founding Families lets different practice techniques circulate in the market as long as it was verified to have been authored by a human. The more one sees the difference between other techniques and the codex the more humans feel the generosity of the five families.
The codex available in the market allows an evolver to practice up to Level 9. To get the subsequent part about Master Realm one needs to make sufficient contributions to the human race before they can exchange it for their merits.
As for Grandmaster Realm, it is impossible.
Orion heard from an information channel that only subordinate nobles, who are also known as nobles of vassal clans in the empire, are allowed to reach the Initial Stage of Grandmaster Realm as long as they have the talent to achieve it.
The status of a subordinate noble is higher than a commoner and second only to the nobles of five families. A commoner who had the fortune to follow a future Saint is given the title of subordinate noble and all of their past and future bloodline are elevated as a vassal clan of that Saint's family.
After reaching the Saint Realm the new Saint of the empire will give an empire-wide lecture about the journey of evolution. This lecture benefits countless evolvers and there are cases where those who were stuck at the Final Stage of a certain level directly breaking through in mid lecture.
Basically, it is an expression of generosity for celebrating the advent of a new Saint.
After the lecture, the new Saint will reward the commoners who followed them before attaining sainthood and managed to win their favor. This is when new subordinate nobles are born and vassal clans are established. This is also the only way to rise from the status of a commoner in the Pangaea Empire.
The ancestors of Five Founding Families started this tradition after the First Big Rip and it still continues to the present sixth generation Saints of five families. The empire follows an ironclad hierarchy of class.
The highest status in the empire belongs to the clansmen of Five Founding Families. Below them are the subordinate nobles of vassal clans who won the favor of Saints. The second lowest position are the commoners, the imperial citizens who are the 99% of the population. The lowest position are the alien slaves who have been captured from numerous battlefields or during their infiltration.
Orion suddenly remembered the hot alien slave he had bought from the slave trading website. It has been some years since he entered this secret realm for official work. He couldn't help but feel a bit hot-blooded when he remembered the squishy feeling he loved so much.
"Focus on your work!! I still have to guard the five nobles, I shouldn't be distracted now, damn it!"
He reprimanded himself for having such distracting thoughts. No way, he has been a lonely man for over two years. After getting the taste of that alien he can't feel arousal towards other humans.
This is also a frequently discussed issue in the mental health magazines. Many humans lack attraction for another human after being intimate with an alien slave. Experts suggest that evolvers limit such habits and maintain a strong self-discipline.
The empire isn't keen on increasing the demi-human population. There are also cases of treachery when some evolvers became too emotionally attached to alien slaves or to their demi-human offspring.
The offspring born to an alien slave will not be considered a commoner. They will carry the status of a slave. This is the law of the empire which prefers human blood purity and advocates human supremacy. One must not forget what kind of hell hole Pangaea used to be before humans rose up.
Orion pondered if he should visit a psychiatrist after the work in this secret realm ends. Putting such concerns aside, he guided the five nobles to their private rooms inside the airship.
Since he had to maintain the facade of a master in public he simply said a few words about showing them their rooms and asking if they wanted to change to a better location thus acting as a master who doted on his disciples. Those who saw it didn't find anything strange about it as those five's apparent talent is well-known.
Anyone who is the master of them will treat such disciples as treasures.
None of the five bothered to reply or act with him. They simply entered their rooms and closed the door. Orion didn't find it strange so he simply brought a stool from somewhere and sat down at the only corridor leading to their rooms.
He took out the spear which made him famous among the adventurers as Ghost Spear and rested it on his thighs. His sharp eyes looked at the figures of people who walked past or greeted him from time to time.
He only nodded at them and remained still as a statue in other times.
The airship took off in the air after all the passengers boarded. Its speed entered supersonic as soon as it floated above the clouds. The S-rank adventurers who guarded outside followed closely in the eight directions.
Swoosh!
It disappeared from the horizon of Hope City and headed south.
Inside the Soaring Wings, two figures glanced at the corridor guarded by Orion with gloomy eyes before looking away. They didn't stare at it directly as he would naturally notice such blatant gaze.
"This guy is too cautious! Actually sitting there like a gatekeeper, where is his dignity as a S-rank strongman!?"
One of the two complained in the sound transmission after they walked some distance.
The figure next to it replied: "We already expected such situations. People in the council naturally understand that those five will become the main targets for elimination alongside the A-ranks. We will just have to follow the plan. In the end, there is only a single him. Heh, two fists can't defeat four palms. And they have invested more than just four palms of us two. There won't be a surprise in the final result."
The figure chuckled a little before adding, "So what if he is the contemporary strongest adventurer? He and his disciples have become the top threat to our purposes. They have already found their way to die."
The other figure also felt confident again after remembering the web they had laid out. He sneered a bit while thinking back to that guy's indifferent expression whenever he communicated with others. That hateful guy's five A-rank party members also had that disgusting feeling.
You really like to pretend to be a big shot on weekdays, huh? I will see your expression when you watch your disciples being chopped to pieces later. Just wait for the signal and then the carnage will begin. So what if he is called Ghost Spear Orion? Heh, he will become a real ghost today. A resentful ghost who will die with his eyes wide open from despair and rage.
The figure thought viciously as murderous intent rose in the heart.