Chapter 245 - 210: Shortsightedness and Vision

The towers of Upper City pierced the clouds.

Barge Ports of steel and concrete were scattered across every district of the Stereoscopic City.

Ships visiting from all over the Ash Soil Star Zone arrived in an endless stream.

Merchant Families, Knight Warlords, Wizard Lords... even the ships of Interstellar Pirates could be found hidden among the traffic.

Occasionally, one could see official ships bearing the insignia of the Imperial Administrative Region streaking across the sky, docking at the Barge Ports of the Upper City District.

During the Old Empire Era, the Merchant Nobility had to accept the rule of the Regent Council and pledge loyalty to the Empire and the Divine Emperor. But after the Great Rebellion, the Capet Family and the Imperial Administrative Region were merely allies.

The Thirteen Worlds, with Hurst at their core, constituted the Capet Family’s commercial dynasty. They accepted the family’s direct rule, unconstrained by the laws of the Administrative Region or the Old Empire.

Even officials of the Imperial Administrative Region and Provincial Governors had to abide by their laws when they came to the territory of the Capet Dynasty.

From a personal perspective, a spaceship crash was undoubtedly catastrophic.

But from the planetary-level perspective of a Governor, the crash and attack that befell Reinhardt and his party were like a single grain of sand falling into the ocean—utterly insignificant.

What’s more, small-scale conflicts were practically commonplace on Hurst.

As long as these outsiders visiting Hurst didn’t interfere with the massive commercial operations of the Golden City and didn’t violate the highest laws of this Stereoscopic City, no one cared if they lived or died.

Reinhardt’s party’s ship had just docked at the Barge Port, and the noisy clamor of the outside world already washed over them.

Looking through the ship’s window, one could see hundreds of customs checkpoints, densely packed a hundred meters away, on the only path leading to the Golden City.

"Welcome, welcome! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time..."

"That Wandering Mage, if I ever see him again, I’ll make him spit out double what he took from me!"

"Stop them! Those damn Interstellar Pirates, my cargo—!"

In less than a minute, this magnificent Barge Port had already seen two vicious incidents of Interstellar Pirates double-crossing their partners after a deal. The Capet Dynasty’s Clan Knights and hired Wizards led a large number of Mortal enforcers in a reckless charge through the crowd. But they were a step too slow, and the double-crossing pirates leaped onto their ship and escaped.

Reinhardt even saw Scaya Dragon Descendant slaves in a Space Alien caravan not far away.

According to the plan, their ship was supposed to land at the highest-grade Barge Port in the Upper City District.

That place was usually reserved for receiving Knight Warlords, Wizard Lords, or Battle Group Commanders from the Administrative Region. Landing there wouldn’t have attracted attention, which would have helped them minimize the mission’s impact.

Unfortunately, the plan had changed.

The Mortal on board who was responsible for contacting the Capet Family and helping them secretly enter the Upper City District had died in the Spiritual Storm attack. Or rather, the Tier One Mage had been targeting him specifically.

Also, because they had registered with completely fake identities at the Orbital Port, once they showed their faces at this Central City District port, they would certainly be seen as malicious intruders.

A legal identity wasn’t really a problem for Reinhardt and Robie, as no Mortal would be suicidal enough to stop one of the Emperor’s Angels, let alone a Judge.

If they wanted to, they could march right into the Governor Tower.

But the political fallout from doing so could be disastrous.

Although Lady Catherine’s faction was allied with the Administrative Region, it didn’t mean the Capet Dynasty had fully sided with the Imperial Administrative Region.

Allowing an outside force to interfere in the family’s internal affairs would be a major blow to Lady Catherine’s prestige. Such a scandal could even affect her status and power as the family’s leader.

This was also why she didn’t have the Assassin Court carry out the assassination.

Whether out of reverence or fear of their martial prowess, Reinhardt and Robbie Hiling held a supreme status that shady assassins lacked. As one of the Emperor’s Angels and a Judge, they could stabilize the situation after purging the rebellious factions within the family.

Oil Girl, who had taken control of the ship, watched as a trio of enforcers walked toward them. The pressure she felt at that moment made her oil pressure skyrocket.

"My lord, what do we do now?"

Raphael frowned slightly. With his power, he could easily warp the memories of the tens of thousands of witnesses near the Barge Port. However, the vertical drop from here to their originally planned port was over five hundred meters.

The distance to walk there was even harder to estimate.

His current power was far from enough to achieve the terrifying feat of warping the memories of the tens of millions of Mortals in the entire Stereoscopic City. What’s more, the city was filled with a large number of Wizards and Knights.

He couldn’t guarantee that his methods for altering memories wouldn’t be detected by others.

Perhaps due to being influenced by Reinhardt for a long time, the solution Raphael subconsciously thought of was the most brute-force of all the viable options.

Although it wouldn’t work, as an elite member of the Vengeful Angels’ Think Tank, Raphael still had plenty of other plans.

He raised his hand, signaling for the slightly flustered Oil Girl to sit down, then looked at Reinhardt.

After receiving a nod of approval, faint white lightning flickered in the depths of his eyes. He activated a backup plan and attempted to contact another inside agent within the Golden City.

...

「Meanwhile.」

「Upper City District, Governor Tower.」

Inside a room as luxurious as a palace, a tall, slender middle-aged man dressed in magnificent clothes, his eyes having undergone alchemical modification, stood with his hands behind his back before a window in the Governor’s Mansion that overlooked the entire Stereoscopic City.

Not far behind him, a man and a woman—a Four-star Earth Military Rank Knight and a Master Level Tier Two Wizard—were seated on a leather sofa.

The Earth Knight wore a suit of Power Armor, his Knight’s Broadsword resting flat across his lap.

The Red-haired Witch stared at the middle-aged man’s back and said meaningfully, "So, Lady Catherine knows about your meeting with Grand Lord Kles?"

The middle-aged man sneered, turned, and sank into the sofa opposite the two.

"That fool has always wanted to completely bind the family to the Administrative Region. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen.

My friends, my hand was forced."

The Witch’s smile was bewitching, and her words carried a hint of someone fanning the flames.

"So she’s planning to kill you?"

Speaking of which, a smug smile spread across the middle-aged man’s face as he spoke with gusto, "Kill me? Heh, she’s not strong enough.

Besides, if I die, the family will be completely torn apart.

Catherine has probably forgotten that she was never the true Overlord of the dynasty, just a leader we temporarily elected in the Ash Soil Star Zone.

Right now, the mutts she sent to kill me are probably down in the port below, struggling because they can’t find their way, haha."

Although the two had been flattering this second-in-command of the Capet Dynasty, the family director, the Earth Knight inwardly felt nothing but contempt for the so-called director.

If it weren’t for Catherine’s hardline stance, forbidding the family from having too many business dealings with Grand Lord Kles, they wouldn’t have settled for second best and sought out this short-sighted fool to cooperate with.