The Kings Stir — and Greed

Aboard Black Bear No. 1.

Lu Yuan and Amy stared at the purple orb floating before them, faces bright with excitement.

"A Second-rank Lord Grade item — quick, see what it is!"

Amy's violet eyes gleamed with anticipation as she examined the orb.

Then her pretty face fell. She shoved it at Lu Yuan with a look of open displeasure.

"You look."

Lu Yuan took it with some puzzlement and checked its contents.

Inside was a Gene Armament.

A triangular plate of black metal, crossed with platinum-colored patterns that converged at the center into a four-pointed star.

*Shooting Star Insignia (Second-rank 40%): Lord Grade Gene Insignia.*

*Primarily amplifies Strength; secondarily amplifies Defense and Agility. When Spirit Power is injected, fires a Shooting Star Ray with power roughly equivalent to a Second-rank mid-tier Lord's full-force strike.*

Lu Yuan read through the effects and couldn't help bursting out laughing.

"Great timing, Amy — this one is right up my alley."

Amy rolled her eyes, expression thoroughly sour.

"Bastard Lei Feng! Keep running your mouth and I'm charging you for it!"

Lu Yuan's laughter stopped dead.

Anything else was negotiable. Money was not.

He was too broke for that.

He absorbed the Shooting Star Insignia. A surge of immense power immediately rose from within him.

Because it had dropped from a Second-rank mid-tier Lord Grade vessel, the insignia's tempering sat at only the Second-rank 40% level. Even so, it raised his Strength by roughly forty percent, his Defense by close to thirty, and his Agility — his original weakest stat — by a full fifty percent.

On top of that, the Shooting Star Insignia came with its own built-in offensive capability, just like a Talisman. A single injection of Spirit Power could unleash a mid-tier Lord Grade strike — power that already exceeded Lu Yuan's own full-force blow.

Beyond Black Bear No. 1, it was another trump card.

With the Shooting Star Insignia equipped, Lu Yuan and Amy turned to the five Chief Grade items.

Two were Gene Armaments: a spell robe and a Spirit Cannon.

The other three were single-use Talismans — all Shooting Star Ray type.

Lu Yuan gave everything to Amy.

What remained were the Boss Grade items. When they checked, they found enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid — Second-rank, at that. One bottle of Second-rank enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid was worth ten thousand Second-rank Spirit Crystals. Nine bottles total: ninety thousand Second-rank Spirit Crystals' worth.

*Lord Grade Mechanical Guardians really live up to their reputation,* Lu Yuan thought. *The Spirit Crystal value alone is this absurd.*

Still, the nine bottles of enhanced Spirit Power Gene Fluid went to Amy as well. The Shooting Star Insignia, as a Second-rank Lord Grade armament, was worth more than everything else combined.

Once the loot was sorted, Amy's eyes lit with anticipation.

"Lei Feng, how about we keep looking? There have to be more Lord Grade flying vessels out there. With Black Bear No. 1's firepower and your Mechanical Control, hunting them seems almost easy. This chance is too rare to pass up."

Lu Yuan nodded, a flicker of excitement crossing his own face.

"Agreed. If we run into any more Lord Grade mechanical flying vessels on the way, we take them down."

Black Bear No. 1 continued its course toward the Central Floating City.

After the encounter with the previous Lord Grade vessel, Lu Yuan had realized his own sensing range fell far short of Black Bear No. 1's detection capability. He had the ship run its sensors at full power with standing orders to alert them the moment any Lord Grade mechanical flying vessel appeared.

The strategy was simple: anything below peak Lord Grade, they engaged. Peak Lord or perfect Lord, they avoided.

Fortunately, flying vessels — like stationary Mechanical Guardians — patrolled fixed zones. As long as you stayed out of their assigned airspace, they wouldn't pursue you. A good thing, too. Peak and perfect Lords almost certainly had the detection range to find Black Bear No. 1 at a distance, and a chase from one of those would be an entirely different situation.

So as Black Bear No. 1 pushed toward the Central Floating City, Lu Yuan and Amy went on a rampage.

Combat erupted in the sky at irregular intervals. Lord Grade mechanical flying vessels tumbled from the air one after another, crashing to earth.

The Gene Warriors below watched with eyes green with envy.

**Boom!!**

Another thunderclap rolled across the sky. A triangular flying vessel slowly spiraled down from the heights.

Gene Warriors within dozens of kilometers all looked up.

One Kaman warrior's eyes looked ready to fall right out of his head.

"Another Lord Grade mechanical vessel... just how many have those two killed?!"

"Counting just what we've seen, that's already the second. Add the ones before and it's probably seven or eight."

A Baro nearby wore the expression of a man watching someone else win a lottery.

"The entire sky is their hunting ground. That young human can control mechanical lifeforms — the heavens themselves built this battlefield for him."

Another Baro nodded vigorously. "Exactly! High-tier Lord Grade firepower paired with Mechanical Control — that combination is just broken!"

A Gnoll stared at the sky with naked jealousy. "The real kicker is that Lord Grade machines are only in the air. On the ground in the core zone, Chief Grade is the ceiling. You'd have to go straight to the Central Floating City to find anything Lord Grade!"

The first Baro picked up again:

"The aerial vessels were probably designed to restrict flight and protect the Floating Cities — that's why Lord Grade ones exist up there. But who could have imagined someone would show up with a treasure that controls mechanical lifeforms? And yet..." He chuckled. "The ones who really can't sit still must be the Three Kings. Even they can't fly, they can't control mechanical lifeforms, and there's nothing Lord Grade on the ground. They've still got hours before they can reach the Central Floating City, and they're stuck watching someone rack up Lord Grade kills right under their noses."

"Now that you put it that way... even if a Lord Grade machine showed up on the ground, only the Three Kings could beat it anyway. So this really doesn't have much to do with the rest of us."

At that, the crowd of Gene Warriors watching Black Bear No. 1 knock yet another vessel from the sky felt a little better about their own situation.

Outside the Central Floating City. The ground-level city below.

On a rooftop five thousand meters up, not far from the high tower, Bai Lin read the message on his Communication Crystal. The face that normally betrayed nothing furrowed, just slightly.

He narrowed his eyes and let his gaze drift toward the distant heights — as though he could see straight through the drifting aerial vessels to the battle playing out somewhere beyond.

"Those two humans..."

White mist curled and flowed around him. The White Frost warriors in his company quietly stepped back. None dared stand too close.

"Quite the stroke of luck." A pause. "I wonder — after they meet me, will that luck of theirs hold out?"

On a different rooftop five thousand meters up, on the other side of the tower, Barton received his subordinate's report. Those brutish eyes filled with greed.

"So they've already killed at least eight Lord Grade vessels."

"Yes, Boss!"

A Green Demon in leather armor confirmed it.

"Heh heh heh." Barton bared his teeth. "Those two humans really have fortune on their side — time and place both. Keep this up, and even after the Central Floating City opens, my haul might not match theirs."

"Boss — should we go rob them?"

Barton's ferocious gaze snapped to his subordinate. The man's face immediately drained of color. He hunched his shoulders and began to shake.

"Idiot! Do you even need to ask?! Find out where they are now. If they're far away, they can count themselves lucky this time. If they're close—" his lip curled, "—we move early. After they destroy a Lord Grade vessel, we rush the crash site and wait. Let them walk right into us."

The subordinate hesitated. "But... what if they sense us and won't come down?"

Silence.

Barton stared at him. Then his massive battle axe swung — and the Green Demon was cleaved in two.

"Worthless trash! I'll deal with you once we're out of the Land of Origin!"

He turned away, still cursing, and looked at the rest of his company — all of them trembling like leaves.

"Well? What do you think?"

A Green Demon in a spell robe was shaking so hard it was a wonder he stayed upright. "Boss is absolutely right! If they won't come down, we take whatever drops from the Lord Grade vessel they destroy. Every time they make a kill, we move in and collect. The only way to stop us is if they stop hunting entirely."

"Hmm." The scowl eased a fraction. "Not bad, Corby. More brains than that idiot Pulan ever had."

Barton fixed Corby with a look, then swept his gaze over the others.

"What are you all standing around for? Find me the location of that flying vessel — now!"

"Yes, Boss!"

A third rooftop. Five thousand meters up, on the far side of the tower.

Two Cat-kin girls were grilling fish. Yeye sat nearby, gaze locked on the cooking fish. Beside her, the white-haired Cat-kin girl watched her mistress with quiet resignation.

*Her Highness is exceptional in every way. It's just this one thing — she's hopelessly obsessed with food.*

*Good thing His Majesty sent me along. Left to her own devices, Her Highness would absolutely get herself into trouble over something edible.*

*But... if she's this devoted to food, could someone actually lure her away with it someday?*

The thought made her want to laugh and groan at the same time.

*What am I even thinking? No matter how much Her Highness loves food, she couldn't possibly be tricked like that.*

Just then, her gaze sharpened. She reached for her Communication Crystal.

After reading the message, her eyes went wide.

She turned immediately to Yeye. "Your Highness — something major has happened!"

"Mm?" Yeye's attention didn't leave the fish. The sound was purely reflexive.

The white-haired Cat-kin had long since stopped being surprised by this.

She spoke quickly. "Our spy has reported in. Your friend Lu Yuan is piloting the diamond-shaped flying vessel and has entered the core zone. The vessel is extremely powerful — on par with a Second-rank high-tier Lord — and combined with your friend's special treasure for controlling mechanical lifeforms, the entire sky has become their hunting ground. Every Lord Grade vessel below peak tier is their target. As of the spy's last update, your friend has already killed at least eight Lord Grade flying vessels."

Even as she said it, her voice carried an undercurrent of disbelief.

Their own group hadn't killed a single Lord Grade Mechanical Guardian. Not for lack of ability — there simply weren't any on the ground, even in the core zone. Only the Central Floating City had them. Without a way up there, hunting Lord Grade was impossible.

And yet here was someone clearing them from the sky.

In all the years the Aier Mechanical Ruins had appeared, no one had ever done something like this.

Yeye listened in silence until the report was finished. At last, her attention peeled away from the fish. A trace of genuine surprise crossed her dark eyes.

"Is that so? He can already hunt Lords?"

The white-haired Cat-kin nodded. She hesitated, then ventured:

"Your Highness... aren't you friends with him? Why not ask him to bring you along?"

*With Her Highness's appearance, no man with normal taste would turn that down, right?* Though it did feel a little like leveraging Her Highness's looks... but since they were already friends, it didn't really count, did it? *Cough. It doesn't count. Surely.*

Yeye didn't respond to the suggestion.

Instead: "What about Bai Lin? Are we watching him?"

"Yes, we are."

Yeye nodded and returned her gaze to the fish. "If he makes any move, let me know."

The white-haired Cat-kin, seeing Yeye making no move to contact Lu Yuan, was about to try again — when the Communication Crystal flashed.

She looked at it. Her expression shifted.

"Your Highness — something's happened!"

Yeye turned to her.

"Barton has left his position. Based on the direction our watcher describes... it's toward where your friend is."

Yeye's brow drew together slightly. "Barton?"

The white-haired Cat-kin nodded.

The Communication Crystal flashed again.

Her expression changed a second time.

"The spy reports that Bai Lin has also departed — same direction as Barton. They're almost certainly both moving on your friend. The fact that he can hunt Lord Grade Mechanical Guardians is turning too many heads. They're probably planning to rob his drops."

Yeye gave a calm nod and rose to her feet. "Then we move out as well."

The white-haired Cat-kin blinked. "Your Highness — us too?"

"Yes."

Yeye walked toward the rooftop door.

The white-haired Cat-kin stood there for a moment, then glanced at the grill and quickly called out:

"Your Highness — your grilled fish!"

Yeye froze mid-step.

She stood with her back to the fire. When she spoke, her voice carried the faintest tremor — but underneath it was resolve.

"I... I'll eat it next time!"

One of the Cat-kin girls at the grill blinked innocently. "But, but Your Highness, it just finished cooking..."

She never got to finish.

Yeye had already materialized before her. By the time the girl's thoughts caught up, the grill rack was bare, the rooftop door stood open, and Yeye was gone.