Chapter 55: The Sky Fortress

"What happened?" Andrew asked.

"Chesnaught~ Chesnaught~"

Chesnaught tried to explain with gestures, but Andrew couldn't make sense of it.

"Diancie! Come quickly, something serious has occurred!" Andrew called out into the house.

After shouting, he looked back at the pile of people and Pokémon and finally recognized them as Alva's subordinates, Levi and Cherie.

At that moment, both the people and Pokémon were still unconscious.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! What's going on?" Diancie hurried out of the house, flustered.

"Look." Andrew pointed down the steps.

Seeing the heap of people and Pokémon, Diancie was also startled. "What happened?"

Chesnaught then explained everything that had transpired the previous night to Diancie, who relayed the information to Andrew.

After hearing the explanation, Andrew thought, "Alva is indeed up to something shady."

Just then, Munchlax groggily walked out. When it learned that someone had attempted to harm its master, it was enraged. Clenching its fist, it thrust its other arm into Diancie's hand and yelled loudly:

"Munch~ Munch~" Let me go! I'll teach them a lesson!

Diancie pushed it away, "I'm not holding you back, go ahead and punch them!"

How dare someone try to harm Andrew? They must have a death wish.

Andrew decisively took out his phone and called Kimia.

When Kimia heard that Andrew had been attacked by Alva's people, she didn't hesitate. She immediately piloted her aircraft towards Nebel Plateau and arrived at Andrew's doorstep in no time.

"Your Highness!" Kimia disembarked from the aircraft, looking anxious. "Are you alright?"

Andrew waved his hand, "I'm fine. They were subdued as soon as they arrived last night. I slept through the night and didn't notice anything."

Kimia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!" Then, with a serious expression, she said, "Your Highness, leave this matter to me. I will ensure you get the justice you deserve."

In fact, ever since Andrew had called Kimia about Alva secretly meeting him and spouting nonsense, Kimia had been secretly investigating Alva.

But Alva was a sly old fox, and besides his daily duties at the royal palace, he rarely left his home, making it difficult to catch him in the act.

Today's incident finally gave her a breakthrough.

Andrew nodded, "I'll leave it to you. I don't want to be on someone's hit list every day."

Kimia nodded in return and then instructed her Gardevoir to move Levi, Cherie, and their Pokémon onto the aircraft.

"Your Highness, I'll be heading back now. I'll keep you updated on any progress." Kimia said.

Andrew nodded and watched as Kimia flew away from Nebel Plateau in her aircraft.

After Kimia left, Andrew walked over to Komala's small house, picked it up from the bed, and thanked it, "Thank you for last night."

However, Komala just rolled over and continued sleeping.

"I'll get you a good bottle of wine later as a reward for saving my life."

Hearing this, Komala's ears twitched slightly, and it slowly rolled back over.

Andrew couldn't help but laugh at its antics.

"Chesnaught, thank you too for last night, for coming to rescue me in the middle of the night." Andrew then turned to Chesnaught.

"Ches~ Ches~"

Chesnaught shook its head. They had only come to watch the show and hadn't actually helped.

Andrew laughed, "What matters is that you were willing to help, and besides, you kept watch over those two all night. That wasn't easy, was it?"

"Ches~ Ches~"

Chesnaught scratched its head, feeling a bit embarrassed by Andrew's praise.

Time flew by, and five or six days passed quickly.

During these days, Andrew lived and worked as usual. He went to the Munchlax's House in the morning, came back to plant trees with the Pokémon in the afternoon, and had dinner with everyone in the evening.

His days were busy yet fulfilling.

Of course, money was flowing out like water.

Feeding so many Pokémon every day was no small expense, and Pokémon could eat a lot more than humans.

Take Aron, for example. Its one meal could easily surpass the meal for ten people.

But it was a hard worker too.

This afternoon, Andrew assigned a new tree-planting task to everyone.

The number of Oran Berry, Sitrus Berry, and Mago Berry trees had reached the required amount, so Andrew purchased two new types of saplings.

One was Occa Berry, and the other was Babiri Berry.

Previously, when planting the three kinds of berry trees, they had started from the lake shore directly opposite Andrew's house, extending along both sides of the lake shore. This part of the shore was connected to Nebel Plateau's grasslands, so the terrain was flat.

But past this section of the shore, the terrain around Nebel Lake began to become uneven and hilly, with numerous small ponds and puddles appearing nearby.

Andrew planned to plant Occa Berries and Babiri Berries around these small ponds and puddles.

Occa Berries, unlike regular berries, were perennial herbs rather than fruit trees, and their cultivation was similar to pineapples. Andrew planned to plant them around the western ponds where sunlight and water were abundant.

Babiri Berries, on the other hand, were different from typical fruit trees. They were shrubs with vines and thorns, similar to raspberries. Andrew planned to plant them near the eastern puddles.

After assigning the planting tasks to the Pokémon and leaving Diancie to supervise them, Andrew took Munchlax and headed home.

Upon arriving home, he first went to the vegetable garden. The green onions that he had asked the Dugtrio brothers to plant some time ago had already sprouted, so he decided to take a look.

Seeing the neatly growing green onions in the newly cultivated patch of land, Andrew nodded in satisfaction.

Leaving the vegetable garden to the Dugtrio brothers was definitely the right decision.

Just as Andrew was about to pull up a few young onions to use as garnish for tonight's meal, his phone suddenly rang. It was Kimia calling.

After the call, Andrew hurried back home and said to Munchlax, who was busy in the kitchen, "Munchlax, I need to go to the palace. Can you handle things on your own?"

"Munch~"

Munchlax poked half of its body out from the kitchen, grinning and making an "ok" gesture at Andrew.

Andrew smiled and waved goodbye before heading up to the third floor, carrying Komala with him, and used the spatial passage to go to Azoth Kingdom.

When Andrew arrived at the palace gates, he saw Flamel already waiting for him.

"Your Highness," Flamel greeted Andrew and said, "The princess is waiting for you. I'll take you to her."

"Alright, thank you." Andrew nodded.

On the way, Andrew asked Flamel, "Why did Kimia call me to the palace?"

Kimia had called him urgently but hadn't explained the reason.

"It concerns Lord Alva. The Princess will give you all the details," Flamel whispered. As a personal secretary, she couldn't go into specifics about such sensitive political matters.

Andrew nodded, not pressing further.

Soon, Andrew was brought to Kimia's office.

As he sat across from Kimia, the first thing he heard was, "Your Highness, Alva has been arrested."

"Really?" Andrew was surprised. Was it so quick?

Kimia nodded. "Levi and Cherie have confessed that they were acting on Alva's orders to capture you, and they've provided evidence. The charge of kidnapping a royal is enough for Alva's arrest. Moreover…"

"Moreover?" Andrew asked, puzzled.

"Moreover, he attempted to overthrow the kingdom," Kimia said with a serious tone.

"Overthrow the kingdom?" Andrew's eyes widened in shock.

It turned out that after Alva's arrest, Kimia searched his home and uncovered some startling revelations.

Five hundred years ago, during a civil war, there were attempts to seize a secret weapon created by Sir Nikola using Magearna. Alva was a descendant of those rebels.

For years, he had been searching for Magearna, trying to repeat the events of the past.

Crucially, he held significant information passed down from his ancestors, including details about some of Sir Nikola's inventions and invention notes.

The notes clearly indicated the location of the secret weapon, which explained why Alva had been so persistent in his quest.

Recently, he even tried to influence Raleigh to gain control of the kingdom.

Raleigh was one of the heirs to the throne. By controlling Raleigh and helping him ascend, Alva could dominate the kingdom, which would significantly aid his search for Magearna and his plans to overthrow the kingdom.

This was why he had always been at odds with Princess Kimia, as she was the only obstacle to Raleigh's ascension.

After Andrew's appearance, Alva even considered supporting Andrew in a rebellion to make him a puppet emperor once he controlled Sir Nikola's secret weapon.

Hearing Kimia's story, Andrew thought: Who would want to be a puppet!

"I didn't realize Alva had such… ambitions."

Kimia sighed deeply. "Neither did I. I suspected Alva was inciting Raleigh, but I didn't know he was plotting to overthrow the kingdom."

"We owe it to Your Highness. Without capturing Levi and Cherie, we wouldn't have discovered Alva's conspiracy."

Andrew smiled. "As a member of the royal family, it's my duty to protect the kingdom and its safety."

"By the way, Your Highness, would you like to come with me to check out the secret weapon left by Sir Nikola? I'm about to go there for an inspection."

"Sure! I'm curious about what Sir Nikola left behind that made Alva and those rebels so obsessed," Andrew agreed.

"Let's go then."

Kimia took Andrew in her aircraft, and they headed out.

When they arrived, Andrew learned that part of the ancient city wall of the royal city was actually Sir Nikola's secret weapon!

After five hundred years, most of the original city walls had disappeared, leaving only a small section standing outside the city.

This section had been preserved as a relic, and the kingdom neither managed it properly nor considered demolishing it. Who would have thought that it held Sir Nikola's most valuable legacy?

Currently, besides Alva, who was in prison, only King Edward, Princess Kimia, and Andrew knew about this secret weapon.

To prevent others from targeting it, the King decided not to inform anyone else, not even other ministers.

Kimia explained that the secret weapon left by Sir Nikola was called the "Sky Fortress," and the key to activating it was Magearna's Soul-Heart.

It made sense why Alva was so desperate to find Magearna.

Without Magearna, the Sky Fortress was just a decoration.

Looking at the towering wall, Andrew asked, "Have you figured out what to do with this?"

The wall had been neglected for years and was covered in moss.

Kimia shook her head. "Father hasn't decided yet."

Andrew agreed that it was a tricky situation.

Just then, Andrew's phone rang. He checked and saw it was a call from Diancie.

"I'll take this call," Andrew said to Kimia.

Kimia nodded.

Andrew stepped aside to answer the call. Diancie's voice came through, "Andrew, there's a mission."

"A mission? At this time?" Andrew asked.

"It's a temporary mission," Diancie replied.

"What's the mission?" Andrew asked.

Diancie explained the details of the mission.

[Temporary Mission] Acquire the Sky Fortress. Accept?

Yes

No

Andrew was taken aback by the mission. What would he do with it? Without Magearna, it was just a useless object!

"Please accept the mission for me," Andrew said.

Whether it was useful or not, he decided to accept it. There was no harm in trying, and rewards were always welcome.

"Okay."

Diancie's response came through, and Andrew soon received a system notification. He checked the task list, which now included the new mission.

[Daily Task 1] Train for 1 hour in the cooking training room—Pending.

[Daily Task 2] Entertain 10 Pokémon—Completed, rewards pending.

[Recruitment Task] Recruit a new assistant chef—Pending.

[Temporary Task] Acquire the Sky Fortress—Pending.

After ending the call, Andrew returned to Kimia, who was still troubled by the Sky Fortress. He suggested, "If you and Edward are struggling with this, why not let me handle it?"

"Let you handle it?" Kimia asked, puzzled. "But how would you manage it?"

Andrew replied, "I can transport it to the Nebel Plateau and hide it there. No one would expect it to be in such a remote place."

Kimia's eyes brightened, but then she worried, "But how will you transport such a massive Sky Fortress to the Nebel Plateau?"

Andrew smiled slightly. "I have my methods. It will be discreet, and no one will notice."

Kimia thought of Andrew's methods for transporting Pokémon and trucks and began to believe he might have a solution.

"Then I'll discuss it with Father."

"Great!" Andrew agreed.

They then returned to the palace by aircraft.

Once at the palace, Kimia hurried off, and Andrew planned to return to the Nebel Plateau. At that moment, he noticed Raleigh crying in a corner of the garden.

"Raleigh."

Andrew approached and gently sat next to him.

Raleigh, startled, quickly wiped his tears and snot.

"Your… hic… Your Highness."

Caught crying, Raleigh looked embarrassed and panicked.

"Is it because of Alva?" Andrew asked gently.

Raleigh didn't respond but continued to sob.

(End of Chapter)