From the starry-sky-like portal stepped out a golden-haired youth—it was Aether, whom Nolan knew well.
"Your Highness, the Prince."
The Abyss Herald and the Abyss Mage both knelt on one knee, offering a respectful salute.
"Mm."
Aether nodded, then took several pitch-black hexagonal objects from his storage space and handed them to his two subordinates.
He continued,
"Go. Place them as far apart as possible."
"Understood, Your Highness." Both Abyss creatures nodded.
Relocating an entire secret realm was naturally not so simple. These were devices used to stabilize space.
Only after they were installed could the secret realm be moved with the aid of certain secret techniques tied into the teleportation network.
"So that's the leader of the Abyss Order? He feels like an ordinary young man—doesn't seem particularly special," Faruzan said in surprise from beside Nolan, still invisible.
"He does look rather mild, but there's no doubt he's the leader of the Abyss Order," Nolan replied as his eyes gradually took on a golden hue.
[Level: 105]
Seeing Aether's level, Nolan clicked his tongue slightly.
As expected of the Abyss Order's leader—his growth rate really was fast. Could it be that after losing to him last time, he went back and trained intensely?
Nolan was a little surprised, but it didn't really matter.
Level 105 was indeed high, but for Nolan, it was still well within the range he could toy with at will.
Even if Aether had hidden strength, it would make no difference.
That said, just in case his brother-in-law possessed some absurdly overpowered item, Nolan was determined to strike without warning and take him down in a single blow.
After all, Aether was the leader of a mysterious organization that played a pivotal role in the game's storyline—whatever trump cards he might pull out wouldn't be surprising.
To be safe, Nolan moved closer while invisible, stopping less than a meter away from Aether.
A massive amount of mental energy gathered, coiling and ready to strike. Normally, at such a close distance, locking onto someone with mental power would definitely be noticed.
But all of that was concealed by the Void Star Sea.
Even if he stood right in front of Aether and revealed hostile intent, it would be impossible to detect—unless Aether had the ability to see through Nolan's unobservable state of invisibility.
Which was impossible.
Just as the two Abyss creatures rose to carry out their task, and Aether took out an even larger black device, preparing to install it—
At the moment his attention was focused on that device, Nolan released the mental force—powerful enough to knock out an ordinary Archon.
At less than a meter's distance, with such overwhelming speed and magnitude.
Aether sensed absolutely nothing. As he bent down to install the device, the next instant—clatter—the black apparatus slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
The youth's vision went black. His consciousness snapped, and he collapsed without the slightest resistance—without even realizing what had happened.
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Obtained 251,231 Adventure EXP.]
Seeing the Adventure EXP notification pop up on his status panel, Nolan let out a small sigh of relief. Aether had been taken down smoothly after all.
No accidents. No chance to react. No hidden trump cards had come into play.
"Y-Your Highness?!" The Abyss Herald and the Cryo Abyss Mage stared at their fallen leader, collapsing out of nowhere, their faces filled with shock and panic.
Just as they moved to rush over and check on him, a sweep of mental power struck them as well. Their minds jolted—and they too fell.
[Defeated Powerful Enemies ×2. Obtained 16,348 Adventure EXP.]
Only after confirming that all enemies had been subdued did Nolan and Faruzan reveal themselves from invisibility.
"Standing in front of you like this, he really doesn't seem like the leader of the infamous Abyss Order," Faruzan said softly, gazing at the figures on the ground with a hint of emotion.
Despite possessing overwhelming strength—enough to crush them head-on—he still chose the cautious route of an ambush.
The leader of the Abyss Order had truly lost without injustice.
Nolan smiled and said, "Next, I'll control them first. If they wake up, it'll turn into a direct confrontation."
He first placed a Command Seal on Aether. The content of the seal was largely the same as those he had placed on others before.
The only difference was that the object to be obeyed had changed—from himself and all the girls who possessed a Waymark, to Nolan alone.
That way, even if Aether realized he had been controlled, the only person who could command him would be Nolan. Perhaps that would lessen the sense of humiliation a little.
After all, he was his brother-in-law—some consideration was still due.
Once he was done with his brother-in-law, Nolan went ahead and placed Command Seals on the Abyss Herald and the Abyss Mage as well.
The former was at least in the ninety-plus level range, while the latter was over level sixty. Since they could be completely controlled without worrying about backlash, then naturally, the more he controlled, the better.
Nolan didn't rush to wake Aether. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network.
When he and Faruzan revealed themselves earlier, it had been on the verge of activating and launching an attack, but Nolan had restrained it with spiritual threads.
He looked at Faruzan and said:
"If you want to research the Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network, I'll have them teach you the method for controlling Primal Constructs later."
Although the Command Seal could control enemies he had defeated, the target still needed to possess consciousness—to be a living being.
Creatures like wild boars with no intelligence, or inorganic life forms in interstellar civilizations, also counted.
But the Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network was neither of those.
Like a computer program, it acted and attacked intruders purely according to preset instructions—it did not possess consciousness.
In essence, it was no different from a rock. And since the Command Seal was not some conceptual-level ability, it simply couldn't control such an object.
After all, the Command Seal required the target to be in an unconscious, knocked-out state.
A rock had no concept of being unconscious, so naturally the seal couldn't take effect. Otherwise, he'd be able to control the entire planet of Teyvat itself.
Clearly, the ability wasn't that absurdly powerful.
"Mm, then I'll be counting on you," Faruzan said, nodding excitedly.
Compared to smashing the Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network apart and studying its remains, a complete specimen was obviously far more valuable for research.
[Faruzan Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 640 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.8 (500/800)]
"Not a problem at all."
Seeing Faruzan gain even more affection for him made Nolan very happy.
Affection Level 8—already close to Level 9. He wasn't far from unlocking the next affection skill now!
Continuing to restrain the Semi-Intransient Matrix of Overseer Network, Nolan then woke Aether—his brother-in-law—as well as the Abyss Herald and the Cryo Abyss Mage.
"Who's there?!"
Aether woke up rubbing his head, only to find himself lying face-down on the ground. As memories of the sudden blackout returned, he jolted fully awake.
"Relax, brother-in-law."
A voice—unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar—reached his ears.
(End of Chapter)
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