Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At this moment, Grina of the Giant Shark Clan, Harquess of the Octopus Clan, and some other important figures of the other clans had all come forward to greet the Siren Queen Halleleah and Prince Cleve. Even though there were many young and outstanding talents, as well as authoritative and esteemed elders, none of them dared to be disrespectful to Halleleah and Cleve.
Halleleah and Cleve returned the bows gracefully, and even chatted with those they were familiar with from time to time. Although they were vastly different in terms of appearance, others felt joyous when facing them, and in fact, they even felt that they were valued by Halleleah and Cleve.
After greeting those people, Halleleah and Cleve noticed Prince Monterey who was standing near them, and thus weaved through the crowd to walk over.
Before Halleleah and Clifford said anything, Prince Monterey took the initiative to walk towards them, and greeted them smilingly. “Queen Halleleah, Prince Clifford, I didn’t expect you two to come here in person this time. You should have informed us in advance. His Majesty would have definitely welcomed you with the grandest ceremony.”
“Prince Monterey, you don’t have to be so polite, it was a last-minute decision of ours to come to the Gilded Kingdom. We’re just here to shop at the Sea Market to unwind and relax, so there’s no need to engage in such complicated diplomatic etiquette,” Prince Cleve said indifferently while shifting his gaze from Prince Monterey to Lin Li, who was admiring the art piece beside him. He asked, “Prince Monterey, aren’t you going to introduce your friend to us?”
Indeed, birds of a feather do flock together! Prince Monterey should be considered a famous and powerful figure in the Gilded Kingdom who had talent and strength. His friends should also be similar to him, and it was impossible that he would have friends that were too far off. Hence, when they saw Lin Li who was beside Lin Li, Halleleah and Cleve were both curious, and thus decided to go and find out.
Seeing this, Prince Monterey hurriedly called out to Lin Li, and introduced him to Prince Cleve and Halleleah. “This is President Felic of the Tower of Dusk from the Breezy Plains, who’s also the fourth arbitrator of the Supreme Council. He’s only in his early twenties, but he has already reached the Sanctuary-realm, and he’s just as talented as Geresco was back then.”
Prince Monterey was not stingy with his compliments for Lin Li, and he was singing praises about him to no end. In fact, he was stating facts, but it sounded a little unbelievable to others.
Of course, Prince Monterey introduced Lin Li not simply to gain Lin Li’s goodwill, but also to save himself some pride. No matter what, he was still the prince of the Gilded Kingdom, after all, and he couldn’t make friends with just anyone. If he merely stated that Lin Li was the president of a small and nameless force, no one would know who he was, but things would be different if Monterey made it clear that Lin Li was also one of the four arbitrators of the Supreme Council.
Indeed, after hearing Prince Monterey’s introduction, Halleleah and Cleve couldn’t help but be surprised. Lin Li’s identity as the fourth arbitrator of the Supreme Council was indeed able to shock others. Others might not have heard of the Tower of Dusk before, but the Supreme Council was one of the forces that were on the pinnacle of Anril.
Although there were only three Sanctuary powerhouses in the Supreme Council, the strength of a force was not determined by the number of Sanctuary powerhouses. Otherwise, given the numerous Sanctuary powerhouses of the Illuminati, the latter would have long exchanged positions with the Supreme Council. The three arbitrators of the Supreme Council who were at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm might have already comprehended the mysteries of the Divine-realm, which was something that ordinary Sanctuary powerhouses absolutely could not compare with.
However, in this place, the Tower of Dusk might not be less famous than the Supreme Council. The two major incidents that Lin Li had caused since his arrival in the Gilded Kingdom had already become known to all by now. Compared to the Tower of Dusk, the Supreme Council seemed a little distant, and they wouldn’t quite think about the two incidents that were caused by the members of the Tower of Dusk here.
“So you are President Felic, I’ve heard about you, and I have to say, you’re very interesting,” Prince Cleve said to Lin Li smilingly. Although his hideous appearance made him seem a little ghastly, his tone was kind and full of goodwill.
Queen Halleleah, who was at the side, remained silent, but her gentle smile made everyone else a little dazed, including Lin Li. However, Lin Li had powerful mental strength, so he had a high resistance and immunity to bewitching Spiritual Spells. Hence, he came back to his senses in an instant.
Of course, Lin Li also knew that Queen Halleleah didn’t have any ill intentions. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to break free from the spell easily. Queen Halleleah might be a little less powerful than Prince Cleve, who was at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, but Spiritual Spells were always the most difficult to defend against. The actual threat that Queen Halleleah posed to an enemy during a battle was probably even greater than that Prince Cleve posed.
Lin Li knew how he should act around others, and was well aware that he should return friendly gestures. He immediately smiled, and said, “I can’t help it, I’m young and full of vigor. I won’t let myself suffer any losses, and I can never change that habit of mine. However, I’ve also heard a lot about you, Prince Cleve, I’m truly in awe of you.”
Their friendly exchange consisted of just a few simple pleasantries. After all, they had just met each other. However, in the eyes of many sea people, the Siren Queen Halleleah and Prince Cleve were legendary figures, yet they took the initiative to get to know Lin Li, which made the jaws of the people around them drop.
In fact, not only could those people of the Sea Clan not figure it out. Even Lin Li was a little confused himself. He didn’t think that he was a domineering and formidable person. In that case, the behavior of Prince Cleve and Queen Halleleah was somewhat intriguing. However, if they didn’t state the exact reason, there was no way Lin Li could guess it. Hence, he had no choice but to just say a few polite words before watching them leave.
“Are you Felic?”
Immediately after the Siren Queen Hallelujah and Prince Cleve left with their subordinates, Grina of the Giant Shark Clan also approached Lin Li, and sized him up with a hostile gaze.
Although he had long born a grudge against the Tower of Dusk, it was Grina’s first time seeing Lin Li. When Grina asked for the seahorse slaves previously, Lin Li didn’t intervene himself at all. He merely sent a few subordinates, who managed to land Grina in a disheveled state. Now that the mastermind was right in front of him, Grina was furious.
However, this was the exhibition hall of the Gilded Kingdom, and Lin Li was accompanied by Prince Monterey of the Gilded Kingdom. Regardless of how arrogant Grina might be, he knew that it wasn’t the time to settle scores with Lin Li now.
After taking a glance at Grina, Lin Li continued to act like he didn’t know Grina at all. He asked, “Yes, I’m Felic, and you are?”
Seeing Lin Li’s slightly confused expression, Grina was so enraged that he felt as if he was about to develop some internal injuries. He had been treating Lin Li as his archenemy. Yet, Lin Li didn’t even know who he was, which was simply the greatest contempt for him!
Seeing the situation, Monterey hurriedly stood between the two of them, and said to Lin Li with a smile, “President Felic, this is just a minor misunderstanding. Since you two have now met, I think it’s Heaven’s will that you two should clear up the misunderstanding and bury the hatchet. What do you think?”
As a politician, Monterey was obviously good at lying through his teeth too. He actually called the meeting something that was arranged by fate according to Heaven’s will. If Lin Li and Grina really intended to make up with each other, but couldn’t bring themselves to lower their pride, they would be able to use this excuse to do so.
Unfortunately, Grina did not want to patch things up with Lin Li at all. On the one hand, it was because he couldn’t give up the seahorse slaves for some reasons, and on the other hand, it was because of the humiliating incident that occurred in front of the embassy of the Tower of Dusk, which made him feel extremely ashamed. At this time, the fact that he did not immediately take action against Lin Li was already enough respect shown for Monterey. How could he possibly accept that it was just a misunderstanding?
On the other hand, Lin Li felt that there was no need to make up with Grina, since the latter was the one who’d created trouble at the Tower of Dusk’s embassy in the first place. If trying to snatch the seahorse slaves by force could be considered a misunderstanding, everything in this world could probably be considered a misunderstanding. However, Lin Li didn’t take it to heart, either, because if the Giant Shark Clan wanted to continue behaving insensibly, he wouldn’t mind letting them know that he was not to be trifled with.
In the end, no one responded to Monterey’s words, which made him feel embarrassed and extremely helpless. He had no choice but to say, “Okay, the auction is about to begin. No matter what, I think we should all calm down before waiting for the opportunity to speak later.”
“Hmph, I’ll let you have an advantage this time. If you’re smart enough, you’d better send them to me obediently. Otherwise, if anything were to happen to you at sea, don’t blame me for not warning you.” After issuing a stern warning, Grina left with his subordinates, and headed straight to the entrance of the auction hall.
Seeing that Grina had left, Monterey secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and then turned to helplessly say to Lin Li, “President Felic, I’m not scaring you, but if you don’t have a pressing need for those seahorse slaves, it’d be better for you to do the Giant Shark Clan a favor, and send the slaves to them. After all, this is the Endless Ocean, and the Gilded Kingdom only has rights over this area of the sea. We have no authority to interfere with what the people of the Sea Clan do out there.”
“Thanks for the kind reminder, Prince Monterey, but you don’t have to worry about this matter, I can handle it myself,” Lin Li said indifferently, waving his hand. So what if the Giant Shark Clan was the overlord of the ocean? Once he released the Sky Castle, there would be nothing they could do. In fact, even with The Star alone, Lin Li wouldn’t have to be afraid of Grina’s threat at all.
Hearing Lin Li’s response, Prince Monterey couldn’t help but sigh secretly, knowing that his efforts were futile. Hence, he had no choice but to set this matter aside for the time being, and take Lin Li and Connoris to the auction venue.
At this juncture, almost all the seats at the auction venue had been occupied. There were humans and all sorts of Sea Clans. If any timid people were to barge in, they might just get frightened to death. Among those present, Lin Li also recognized some familiar ones, such as the representatives of the forces of the Breezy Plains—Claus, Joseph, and the others.
The representatives of the Felan Kingdom and Ledin Kingdom, as well as the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine, on the other hand, were seated in the VIP private rooms on the second floor. Due to the fact that the side facing the auction stage was open, the people in the private room could be seen at a glance. Lin Li also saw some of the representatives of the Elven Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom in the VIP private rooms.
Lin Li could tell that the Gilded Kingdom had created quite a stir this time. Almost all the top forces of Anril and the Endless Ocean were gathered at the auction this time. In addition to the ones Lin Li could recognize, there were several other people in the private room who seemed rather peculiar.
All the pure humans in Anril looked exactly like the ones from the world that Lin Li was in before he transmigrated. However, the few people in the private room Lin Li saw had yellow skin and black hair, which he felt was something familiar, but Lin Li knew that they definitely had nothing to do with the world he was from. Rather, they were from some secret continent of this world that was faraway from Anril.
Of course, that also made Lin Li a little interested in that mysterious continent. He wondered if the situation there was similar to the one in the world that he had come from before he transmigrated. He hoped that he would be able to travel to that mysterious continent on The Star, and have a look when he had the time to someday.
Under the lead of Prince Monterey, Lin Li quickly arrived at a VIP private room on the second floor of the auction hall. It had a luxurious and extravagant decor that didn’t consist only of a wide variety of precious decorative materials, but rather there were also art pieces on the walls, which should have been displayed in the exhibition hall. It made the private room seem opulent, but not tacky.
“President Felic, are you satisfied with this palace?” Monterey asked Lin Li with a smile. He had put in a lot of effort into decorating the private room, and although the room number was not one of the first few, it was decorated according to the standard of the private rooms that were exclusive to royals.
Monterey had used his wits in this instance. Those who were outside the private room wouldn’t be able to tell that it was Prince Monterey’s preferential treatment for the Tower of Dusk, but the interior decor of the private room was a complete display of the Gilded Kingdom’s utmost sincerity towards Lin Li. Anyone who wasn’t blind would be able to tell how sincere the Gilded Kingdom was.