Heaven, Earth, Me

Velamir didn’t know how Yasenia took these seven boxes. However, he didn’t ask about it. He had noticed that these people were far above himself. Instead, he asked with curiosity. “Lady Yasenia, may I look inside these boxes to see what you’ve taken? That way, I’ll tell my treasurer to cross the items off the list.” 

Yasenia nodded indifferently. “Go ahead.”

Velamir nodded and approached the first box. These boxes were black in color with orange borders. The size of the first five was around one cubic meter, while the last two were not boxes but containers. The World Lord first opened the first five boxes. When he saw the contents, he wanted to curse. The first box was filled with cultivation manuals. He abandoned a few of them since they were weak ones that he had used before becoming a World Lord. Still, that didn’t mean that they were worthless. On the contrary, each of these manuals was valuable enough for Velamir to feel regretful about giving them up.

As much as it hurt him, he decided to swallow his protests and moved to the second box. The contents were curious, as it was an ore of some kind. “Hm…” He had some recollection of the bluish-red mineral inside of this box. “This is a meteorite that we found. However, no amount of research told us how to use this one.”

Yasenia commented nonchalantly. “That’s normal. This is a low-level Transcendent Realm material. Even if you wanted to do anything to it, whether you could even deform it remains to be seen.”

The girls were surprised by Yasenia’s revelation. However, Velamir’s words made them understand that the origin of this material was from outside this Solar System. It probably roamed space and coincidentally arrived here. Velamir didn’t understand what it was, but seeing the surprise in the group of women that had remained nonchalant, he understood the value was beyond what he could imagine. ‘They didn’t even react to the pile of manuals, and this piece of metal is making them look surprised…’

He shook his head and moved toward the third box. “This…” The item in the box was a plant that had been slightly cut. The plant had long brown roots and was placed horizontally in a terrarium reserved just for it. The intent was to avoid the plant rotting away. “Um. Lady Yasenia…”

“Why? Reluctant?” Yasenia caught his tone and asked with a hint of threat. 

Velamir bit his tongue. This plant here was a miraculous plant that could heal any wounds, according to the doctors. It had a strange substance inside that temporarily increased the healing factor of even mortals, being able to extend lifespans. Of the whole plant, there was around two thirds left, the rest having been used in the past.

Kali approached and smiled. “Oh! It has been a while since I saw a [Thousand-Year-Old Root Dracaena]. How did you get this plant?”

Velamir opened and closed his mouth, hesitating to speak. Yasenia looked at him for a while and asked flatly. “It is a plant that appears near the Nascent Spring, isn’t it?”

The man’s eyes opened wide, looking at Yasenia as if she were a monster. “You… How?”

Kali also blinked twice, looking at her dragoness adoringly. Yasenia was not going to answer Velamir at first. However, when she saw Kali looking at her with such a tender gaze, she felt compelled and blurted it out. “It’s logical. The only place in this Solar System that harbors Energy seems to be that spring. For this plant to grow in this forsaken location, that’s the only explanation.”

Kali hit her palm with her fist, her fox ears straightening in realization. “Of course! Such an easy detail, and I missed it.”

Yasenia hummed and extended her hand, caressing Kali’s fluffy ears.

The girls blinked twice at that unexpected movement. Not to mention, Kali froze, her face blushing as she looked up at Yasenia’s emotionless face. “U-Um~, is it comfortable?”

“Hm. When I saw your ears move, I felt like touching them.” 

Kali laughed bashfully. “Hehehe…”

Yasenia stopped her touches and commented, not wanting to lose much more time. “The other two boxes have the only items with energy signals that I’ve located in your warehouse. They are a sword and an armor piece. For the two large containers, there is one of those armored metal moving cases with a cannon and a thing that has strange rotating blades.”

Velamir listened and answered. “You took a tank and a helicopter? Why is that?” 

Yasenia answered with disdain. “Is your brain malfunctioning? I have just said that it is because they have energy traces on them.”

The girls coughed and turned sideways, trying to hide their laughter. Velamir was not used to people mocking him, so he felt his anger increase for a moment. Still, Yasenia’s intimidating self was too much, so he swallowed the anger. Standing up, he cleared his throat and commented. “There is no need to name-call, right? It should be beneath you, Lady Yasenia.”

Yasenia waved her hand, storing all the items, and answered icily. “What’s beneath me is needing to explain myself to you. Yet here we are.” Then, she turned around and ordered. “Now, prepare and guide us toward the [Nascent Spring] location. I want to arrive there as soon as possible and speak with one of those Supreme Lords.”

Velamir’s heart was tumultuous. Still, he managed to answer. “Lady Yasenia, there is only one Supreme Lord.”

Yasenia looked back and nodded. “Understood. Now, guide us to that person. Sadly, the cultivation methods you had were only perfected basic methods. There are no attributed ones, so I want to see if this Supreme Lord has them.”

“Y-You… you want to plunder the Supreme Lord!?”

Yasenia turned around and answered nonchalantly. “Yes. Now, can we go?”

Velamir strangely stood his ground. “I won’t guide you.”

Yasenia paused and looked at the man in silence. Velamir’s heart suddenly sped up. He had thought that she would fly into a rage or show him her power. Yet, the answer was completely unexpected: silence.

When you are expecting something and something else happens, there is an uncanny feeling that cannot be put aside, gnawing at one’s heart imperceptibly yet profoundly. Yasenia didn’t speak and continued looking at the man, her face expressionless. 

This time around, even the girls felt somewhat nervous. They knew that Yasenia didn’t show the most anger explosively when true anger bloomed in her heart. Instead, she would become calm, like a deep ocean of wrath that wanted to swallow everything. Of course, they knew that their dragoness was not angry. Her emotionless state prevented that. Still, they were sure that Yasenia was currently balancing in her mind whether killing the World Lord was more or less beneficial.

After a while, when Velamir felt his own heart about to burst, Yasenia’s gorgeous lips moved. “Velamir. I’ve been giving you enough face by not coming here and plundering everything without saying a single thing. In a world where the strong eat the weak, one must know how to balance their words and not offend the wrong person.”

Velamir was about to answer, but the second he blinked, Yasenia’s figure had disappeared and reappeared in front of him. Everything that could enter his sight was Yasenia’s gorgeous and icy face. “Velamir. The only reason you remain alive is because going to another one of the worlds and going through what we’ve gone through again is too bothersome. So, I’ll give you one more chance. If you don’t answer, dealing with you will become the bothersome option.” 

Her tone and cadence left it more than clear that if Velamir denied her wishes one more time, there wouldn’t be any more chances. Yasenia ordered, her golden slit eyes weighing down on Velamir. “Gather your people and prepare to guide me toward the [Nascent Spring]. I’ll give you five days. I’ll be waiting in the desert that’s around two thousand kilometers from here.”

Then, Yasenia disappeared together with the rest of the girls. 

Velamir looked at the empty spot and took a deep breath. Yasenia’s sweet and lingering scent entered his nose, but he didn’t feel any pleasant emotions. Only a deep chill permeated his heart. He knew that he had been a step away from death. Yet, what other option did he have? If he had guided them there, even if they hadn’t caused chaos, plundering important resources would have been a matter of course. Once they got what they wanted and left, Velamir would be judged as a scapegoat by the entirety of the world. So, his current options were death by the dragon woman or death by the other people. 

He placed his hands on his face and sighed. “What do I do?”

He didn’t know. He felt like he had kicked a steel plate this time around. “I was too arrogant. Too many centuries of domination and being at the top of the world dulled my senses to the point I didn’t understand how big of a threat these people were.”

He returned to his office room and looked at those gathered there. Seeing their leader return, many released a sigh of relief. They had been monitoring the situation through the cameras, but they couldn’t be at ease until they saw him safe and sound with their own eyes. Once he entered the room, he asked aloud. ”What should we do?”

He knew that they had heard everything, so he asked. The people in this room were all his closest confidants and those he always relied on. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do. One of them suggested, his voice meek. “My Lord, do you think that our strongest weapons are unable to damage them?”

Velamir frowned deeply. “What do you mean? Are you really suggesting we fight them? Haven't you seen the ridiculous strength they have?”

“Wait, lord. Haven’t they said that they will be waiting in the desert? While it is risky, we could nuke that zone with our most destructive arsenal. The climate and the world would suffer, but-”

“Enough.” Velamir lowered his tone and glared at that person. “Even if we could launch all of our warheads at them, it wouldn’t change a thing. Have you seen their speed? They would probably notice the missing incoming and dodge them as if it were normal. Not to mention, they might have ways to make them detonate before they even touch them. Fighting them would not only condemn us but the entire world!”

Everyone became silent. Eventually, one of them started speaking somewhat meekly. “How about deceit, My Lord?”

Velamir frowned and looked at that person. “... Speak.”

“Yes. My Lord.” The man who spoke up continued. “We could try and guide them into a location that’s filled with explosives of the highest grade. They don’t know the location of the spring nor what it looks like, so…”

Velamir sighed and shook his head. “What a disappointment. It seems that arrogance has gone to your heads over the years, and you can’t think straight.” Velamir looked around with pity. “Sigh. The answer I wanted is this one: Call the Supreme Lord and inform him. For us, Lady Yasenia and the rest are invincible for us.”