Ashley simply patted their hands, signaling them not to worry. Without wasting another second, Arthur strode out of the room. Ashley quickly gave Spencer and Nancy a few rushed instructions before hurrying after Arthur. The others, seeing how confident the two of them seemed—even if they didn’t understand what was going on—could only shout after them, urging them to stay safe and to call if anything happened. Ryder also hurried to catch up. Tamaria was an independent island nation, small in both population and territory. But ever since its founding, Tamaria had made enemies with its neighboring countries, always scheming to conquer foreign cities. Over the past few centuries, Tamaria had carried out multiple massacres against its neighbors, and Lioran had suffered greatly at its hands. It wasn’t until the past hundred years, after repeated defeats and the global push for peace, that Tamaria finally ceased its wars. But Tamarians were naturally deceitful and malicious. Though they hadn’t waged any large-scale wars in the past century, they had harassed Lioran more than a few times. Heaven’s Cult had intervened against Tamaria multiple times as well. However, considering the innocent civilians, Heaven’s Cult had never gone so far as to annihilate them completely. President Holland was the first Tamarian official to set foot on Heaven Island. Tamaria had suffered many losses at Heaven’s Cult’s hands, and they were eager to mend relations. That’s why they sent their Prime Minister, President Holland, as an envoy. What they didn’t expect was for Heaven’s Cult to show such blatant disrespect. Because of Arthur alone, they had dismissed President Holland so dismissively. As the Prime Minister of Tamaria, President Holland had been humiliated and gained nothing in return. Neither he nor Tamaria could swallow that insult. They couldn’t go head-to-head with Heaven’s Cult, but they could target Arthur to vent their anger.Even before President Holland returned to Tamaria, he had already given the order to lure someone close to Arthur to Tamaria. After weighing the options, they decided to go after the most influential person in his circle—Mia. Ordinary people like Taylor might not be able to draw Arthur in, but Mia’s father was the head of the Lovaris Group’s legal team in Lioran. He had power. He had connections. He could force Arthur to act. Tamaria’s top universities sent Mia an invitation letter, asking her to attend an academic discussion. Unaware of the trap, Mia accepted—and was promptly tricked into going. As soon as Mia arrived in Tamaria, she was taken into custody by President Holland’s people. By the time she realized she had been deceived, it was already too late. On the coast— This was a trade port built by Heaven’s Cult on the Lioran side near Tamaria. At that moment, a massive and highly advanced armed force had assembled there. Wind stood with several others in front of Arthur, standing tall as they reported one by one. “Reporting! Navy Unit One is assembled!” “Carrier Unit One is ready!” “Missile squad ready!” “Submarine squad ready!” ... Their reports rang out loud and clear through the evacuated port. Ryder stared, wide-eyed, at the massive armed force before him and the terrifying military hardware behind them. He was so stunned, he couldn’t even speak. Once the reports concluded, Arthur looked out at the endless ocean and gave a deep, commanding order. “Move out.”“Move out!!” The repeated shouts grew louder and louder, ringing in Ryder’s ears. Arthur and Ashley stepped onto the enormous aircraft carrier, while Ryder stood frozen, unable to react. Seeing this, Wind stepped forward and guided Ryder aboard. It wasn’t until Ryder stood on the massive deck, with the sea breeze blowing past him, that he finally snapped out of it. He swallowed hard. An... an aircraft carrier. An aircraft carrier! An aircraft carrier! An aircraft carrier! Missiles! Submarines! Navy! Weren’t these supposed to be state-level weapons of war?! He—he, Ryder—was standing on a carrier! Oh God! He still didn’t understand what was happening. What the hell was going on? Just a second ago, he was still discussing with Hugo how to sneak into Tamaria and rescue Mia, and the next thing he knew, he was standing on a real-life aircraft carrier! A real aircraft carrier—not the model he had at home! Oh God! Ryder pinched his thigh hard. The jolt of pain told him he wasn’t dreaming.He looked around in a daze at the fully armed navy personnel and the tall flag waving proudly—emblazoned with the words Heaven’s Cult. Still stunned, Ryder pulled out his phone and called Hugo. “Hey, Hugo, I’m on an aircraft carrier.” At the hospital— Hugo had just picked up when Ryder’s voice came through the line.