Chapter Five

Not only those on the floor, even the ones in VIP wasn't as quiet as before. Excited calls was made to their respective higher up. Most of them were ordered to do whatever they can to get that puppet while some took a step back. Especially those in the military.

No matter which Legion it was, although it was a very, very tempting thing, they knew they couldn't hold it in their control because their empire heir would not let this puppet out even if someone bought it. They would only be taken away and be sealed somewhere far away in a hidden and dangerous place. The only reason why they were here was just to join in the fun but never would have thought they would hear such surprising news.

Meanwhile, in the VIP room where Darius ad the other two were, was in complete shambles.

"This, this-" even Lucas who could usually retort something, stuttered while pointing toward the stage in shock.

"This mad Puppeteer really took it to the extreme." Even the ever calm Liam couldn't help but took off his decoration glasses and wiped the glass with trembling hands a few times before putting it back on the bridge of his nose, restoring his calm.

Darius, who had been silent even now, although he didn't show it on the surface, him gritting his teeth showed his unrest and his inside was completely blown out with rage.

A puppet, once was completely made, it's level would not change no matter what was added, for a puppet is not alive. This is something that cannot be changed no matter what. Even a weapon would be upgradable with right material but a puppet will not for their existence itself is already a constant danger. Although they have no soul, they are like a robot that will follow it's owner's words. And half a millennia ago, puppeteers made new discovery that once they insert an artificial brain, it can act as a storage space filled with mana and can also store spells that it could use under their owner's orders.

Except for not having a soul, nor having an independent mind, they're almost no different from zorains.

Now, this puppet had completely overthrown what they knew and made a new mark in history. Perhaps, even Master Carson had not foreseen this situation and thus was the reason why he had to give up his treasure in this way. It was too dangerous to exist in this world. Especially dangerous if it falls int the wrong hands. Like what Carson had thought, if it was simply being given to the Empire, this puppet would not survive and will be destroyed once they found a way like they did to his 5S puppet in the past.

Although he understood since it had fallen into the enemy hand, it still couldn't wipe his regret.

The last time, a 5S puppet had already made trouble and now this out of the world puppet. If it got into the wrong hands… no Zoranian would want that to happen.

"The bid will start from 1 billion and and the bidding price must not be less than 10 million."

"Let the bidding, starts."

"38 billion stars…"

"65 billion stars…"

"79 billion stars…"

"84.10 billion stars…"

"This is crazy." Lucas muttered, watching the nonstop number counting up. "They're all crazy."

"Including us." Liam retorted as Darius, who sat on the seat next to him had just finished putting in the price.

"90 billion stars."

Lucas choked on his breath and looked at Darius with a 'you're crazy', 'you spendthrift', 'you crazy bastard' look.

Darius gave a lazy glance: "Give or take 3 years."

This time, Lucas wasn't just choked up. He directly fainted with anger! This crazy bastard is even richer than he thought!!

Downstairs, the host calmly looked at the hall with his hands sweating.

"90 billion stars once, 90 billion stars twice, 90 billion stars thrice!

VIP room 4 wins the puppet."

Slaine breathed a hidden sigh of relief. As an old time host of the Feldian, how could he not know who's room is it. Fortunately, their crown prince got it. This puppet would be in safe hands.

Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get the ship ready. We will leave at once." Darius stood and left the room. There was no time to lose. The faster they hid and sealed the puppet, the better. There was no time to lose.

"Yes, sir."

A month later, in a manor hidden in the middle of the forest.

The huge manor was built just a few months ago and Darius had planned to make it as a temporary residence while he took vacation on this planet. In the end, he didn't even have any time to use it and had to turn the manor as a sealed place for the puppet.

Walking along the way to the master bedroom, he could only spare a few thoughts that the manor was built very well but alas.

"Put her in this room." Darius told his subordinates that were carrying the metal capsule. "Have they finished setting down the runes?"

A soldier replied: "Major, they're almost finished."

"After it's all done, you can go."

"Yes, Major."

All the others left. Leaving only a puppet and a male zorain alone in the room.

Approaching the metal capsule, he opened the glass cover and took off the mask. Finally, he closed the glass cover and even used the added metal cover. The mask in his hand was then destroyed by dissipating in the air.

Taking a few steps back, he drew a sealed formation with the puppet on the center. The flowing golden lines, the thicker the color, the more powerful it is. As the last engraved word was formed, the formation was laid down and disappeared when it was set.

As a Sword Caster, although he doesn't dabble much in the Mage profession, he can still do some little tricks in rune and formations. But this is one of the few times he had to personally set up a powerful seal. Of course, the seal would only affect the opponent, it won't do anything towards the puppet. It would protect the puppet from the outside interference and the more magic particles were sent, the stronger it is.

No one can break or even touch the puppet unless the caster himself break it, only then will it disappear without a trace of magic particles.

There was one thing he didn't take into considertion though, was that the seal could be broken from the inside. Of course, he could never have guessed that a soul would be drawn into the puppet and live as a zorain.

Seeing that the formation seal was working properly, Darius closed the metal hatch and left without a word. Hoping that he will not need to see the puppet again.

Of course we all know that request is something that is never gonna happen.

Three years later.

In the quiet office, Darius was working on the paper with the warm afternoon sun shining in his room. Such quiet peace were broken by the knocking on the door. The pen was put down and he lifted his head. "In."

Liam came in and saluted. "Major, the meeting time has come."

Walking along the almost quiet corridor, the two had a quiet conversation.

"Have you found out what those old fox are up to?"

Liam, who almost let out the thought that the biggest fox, isn't it right next to him, bit his tongue and said: "General and the other Legions are most likely concerned about the Five Years Academy Competition."

"Really now." He frowned . "Although I guessed that they would do something that are related with the academies since they've been contacting not just Weller and Meinz but also other big academy, I still didn't think that they would involve the competition held with all the other top military academy considering how important new blood are to the military."

Entering the meeting room leisurely without feeling hurry, Darius took a seat while taking a glance at the room and noted that all the higher ups Legions came to the meeting this day. Suppressing a vein that was about to pop, he could just feel that things aren't going in the direction he liked and he could do nothing but follow. And the reason for this intuitive feeling is because of one person who shouldn't be here and was supposedly taking a vacation right now.

On the head of the table sat a male zorain with the epaulet of a General, the leader who control all Legions and also, their former Emperor. Kaiden Ray Cirillo looked at everyone in the meeting room, smiled and said. "Now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting."

***

"Damn it! Those bastard think we're a fucking elementary kids! Using the Weller College exam as an excuse to invade someone private property is just plain ridiculous!" raged a young man with baby face in military clothes, Lucas, still feeling frustrated after the meeting.

"The majority trumps the minority in votes. Even if we don't agree, they won't let it go." The young man with gold glasses gleaming with a cold light in his eyes, calmly wiped the spilled tea on the table from the opposite young man's action of slamming his fists on the table in anger.

"Who's the one that started the idea in the first place?"

"It's the General."

Lucas snorted: "The older he gets, the more amiable his face, the deeper the well. I think he just want the puppet in Darius hand and get it for free."

he still couldn't help but bit the handkerchief in frustration every time he remembers how much that puppet was.

Sipping tea calmly, Liam took his time to reply. "It can't be helped. The puppet was ranked 7S level dangerous weapon that could rival the marshal. Who wouldn't want that destructive power in their hands.

But you also know that this may not be the case with the General.

The General probably just wanted to know if the puppet is really with the Major. Or are still in the hands of Major since we haven't taken a look at the puppet for three years now."

"Can't he just ask our Major privately?! Why did he had to do all this for?"

"And even if that is so, do they not want the lives of those students?! That planet is 5S level danger! Although it is a treasure trove but the whole planet is full of dangerous creatures that even High Master couldn't win alone when fighting! That was the reason why that planet was given to our marshal in the first place as a reward for defending the border from the Ouba's. Because he is one of the person who could use that planet to it's use." Lucas frowned irritably.

"Comparing the students with the safety of the puppet, we all know who would they pick." The man with glasses whispered softly. That puppet existence is a danger in and of itself. It shouldn't have been allowed to come into this world in the first place.

"Enough." A quiet voice said unhurriedly. The two people looked at the man who had been sitting quietly throughout the whole rant. They quickly calmed down under his gaze and looked at him, waiting for his next words.

"The old man probably has his reasons. If not, why would he do this only after three years the puppet has been sold."

"All we need to do is to follow the order and prepare everything we need to do to make sure that nothing will go awry. Pick suitable soldiers to protect the student during the exam from afar. Only when the students are in danger will they act.

Do not help unless when necessary.

This is an exam for the students. If they helped in any form, be it hunting, cooking or even just picking some unidentified fruit for those student." Darius smiled softly, making the two people shivers. "Cut their salary of five months."

Lucas held his hand out tremblingly, knowing how their soldiers are, he tried to fight for them. "I think five months is a bit-" he bit his tongue as soon as that smiling face turns toward him specifically. He stood in the corner and cried noodles. Sorry boys, I did my best. You're gonna have to handle your maternal instinct tightly this time.

Darius continued and ignored the mushroom in the corner of the room. "Ready 100 units of high grade healing pod for emergency in case there are too many patients for the healers to attend."

Both stood and saluted towards him. "Understood, Major."

***

"General." Darius saluted.

The man who still looked young despite being a few thousand years old and the heroic, powerful aura was gone and what appeared was only a handsome young man sitting leisurely. Kaiden smiled softly. "Come now, Zander. We are not in the office."

He looked imperceptibly behind him.

Darius took a seat opposite him, and pour tea for himself. "If you're looking for Lucas, he didn't come."

Kaiden twitched.

The air around him visibly turned from sunny to cloudy in just a few second.

Looking at the old man with a glint in his eyes, if his grandpa would lift his head, he would definitely see the glint of watching jokes and amusement in Darius eyes. Having a subordinate of the opponent's partner sure is amusing. But it's a pity to see his friend torn between his lover and his friend so seeing the cause of it feeling uncomfortable is refreshing. He sipped the tea while enjoying such wonderful feeling.

"Let's talk." putting down the cup, he folded his fingers and stared at the old man. "Why suddenly make this choice? There was no news of anything before this."

Kaiden lifted his head and decided to focus on business first. "Because the 'neighboring' galaxy are making a move and the forefront of it is the Leizu, Humans and the Gilannu."

"They are aiming for the puppet. The Leizu priest seems to have spied on our past and saw the puppet.

You know how the Leizu feels about us. Once their is a chance of one upping us, they wouldn't hesitate about it."

"He is also the initiator for the operation. Now, the Humans and Gilanu are working together with the Leizu magician from Uroha Galaxy to where the puppet is now. Although Leizu magic are not on par with us but without someone guarding it and only the formations and runes are keeping the puppet, it won't be enough to keep the puppet."

"From what I got, they're not far from us and will soon arrive in our galaxy. The star beast may be able to hold them but not for long. Luckily, the time coincides with the competition time."

"So, sending those students to a 5S level dangerous planet is just an excuse to retrieve the puppet?" he retorted.

He calmly said. "Not really just using them as an excuse but also to help them exercise."

Darius paused. He put the lid of anger back in place and laid back in his seat. It took him a while to bring back his thoughts and looked at his grandfather. "The Galactic Tournament."

"Yes."

"The young cubs are curious and lively. This is the trait of Zorains. Our kind does not have the word intrigue. Only after contacting the outside of our galaxy do we know and understand the meaning of this word. And we still retain our trait because, well, it's too tiring to think or even do those things.

But that doesn't mean that 'others' won't."

"Because of our strength, our own existence has become BUG in the universe. Many of them have tried to induce an infighting, all sorts of trickery and failed, it still doesn't stop them."

Kaiden's words were right. In the previous tournament, the 'others' tried every possible way to test their bottom line and strength.

Years ago, when he was a senior in Weller Academy, the Galactic Tournament happened to be at that time and he had the honor to honor their galaxy.

At first, all the new things from the outside galaxy was novel but when 'they' kept testing him and the Zoranians bottom line and tried to trick him to lose but still failed, all he and the other Zorains felt was bored. There wasn't many things that he could say memorable except beating those vermin half dead.

"Sending them there won't prove anything. In fact, they might not even meet them." Because before that, he would make sure to 'sweep' those intruders.

"Leave those intruders to those kids, Zander. It's a good exercise for them." Kaiden said nonchalantly. "Despite those kids being young, they won't lose easily. After all, Zorainian are hard to die. Even if they lost half of their body, with timely treatment, they would be able to run and jump in a few months."

"Besides," Kaiden smiled with a glint in his eyes. "With the live broadcast, nothing will happen. Maybe something unexpected would happen."

Darius pinched his temple. "I still don't think this is a good idea."

"Unfortunately, we have no choice." Kaiden sighed helplessly. "The information we got from someone is that in this Galactic Tournament, 'they' are planning to start a war by killing our students. All of them without leaving a single one alive."

"This was privately agreed by 60% of the members."

Darius elongated pupils constricted with murderous intent. "They dare." He spit out from his gritted teeth.

The General fisted his fist on his lap calmly continued. "War brings more benefit for them than peace. And our existence has always been a nuisance to them.

Their plan was that once they've won—I don't even know how they thought they could win in the first place—they wanted to divide the resource in our galaxy and kill off our kind from the face of this universe."

"I think they've been in heaven for too long and that we've been too soft on them that they would think they could deal with us." He sneered. When the zorains was labeled as a BUG existence, it wasn't an exaggeration. It was definitely a laugh that they think they could kill the zorains. After all, what they showed to the world was just the surface, which had already given the 'others' a headache and yet, they dare to pick a fight with them.

Kaiden laughed with amusement. "Indeed. We could deal with it but our students who had never faced conspiracies are like a dragon showing his underside belly to the enemy. Despite how powerful we are, we will still be killed when unguarded. Especially the kids in this generation. They are strong but soft like a marshmallow. I'm worried that they would be undefended towards the 'other'. After all, in their recognition, there are no bad or evil in this world.

Even with the history from the past as their guide, it still only exist in textbook for them."

"Let the students see the meaning of infighting, intrigue, conspiracies and backstabbing. Let them learn that the outside world is not always friendly to zorains." The old General squinted and smiled slowly. "You know what to do, don't you."

At this point, Darius chuckled and also smiled dangerously. From here, we can see where Darius devilish trait came from. "Of course. Since the competition has live broadcast, we can also use it to show it to our kind." Since they dare to target the zorains, they won't treat it playfully by beating those beings to half dead anymore. Their patience has already come to the limit. This time, they can't be soft when it comes to the safety of their existence.