Chapter 1118: Forcus
However, when Forcus heard this, his expression suddenly changed, and he said, “If I remember correctly, the commander of the Fifth Fleet seems to be Delano, right?”
“Yes, Lord, the commander of the Fifth Fleet is indeed Delano, the son of High Priest Poer,” the person beside him answered with some confusion. Although Delano was the son of the high priest of the Gilded Kingdom, there was still a difference between him and Forcus, Elder Zumar’s disciple. He reckoned that Forcus wouldn’t feel scrupulous.
However, Forcus’ reaction was completely beyond their expectations, and his tone was full of anxiety. “Quick, don’t waste any more time. Charge forward immediately at full speed.”
Forcus appeared again this time because of his teacher Elder Zumar’s orders. He was there to meet the guests from the Breezy Plains, especially the young president of the Tower of Dusk who was his top priority during this mission. He could not neglect it at all.
It was not only because of his teacher Elder Zumar’s instructions. In fact, Forcus was also involved in the battle on Cage Island. Hence, it was clear to him how terrifying the strength of the young president was. He was a Sanctuary powerhouse whose strength wasn’t inferior to that of his teacher Elder Zumar, and who was definitely a powerful existence that was at the pinnacle of Anril.
That was the reason that Forcus had been checking the battleship dozens of times along the way, not daring to neglect any details at all. He was afraid that the Tower of Dusk might think that he was being negligent. Besides, more importantly, Forcus knew that the relationship between the Tower of Dusk and the Gilded Kingdom was not too cordial. Thus, it was possible for the Tower of Dusk to find a random excuse to make things hard for them.
Now, Forcus was really flustered. If the Tower of Dusk encountered pirates, the pirates would be doomed, and the Gilded Kingdom would just be mocked for having poor security in their territorial waters. However, if they encountered Delano, there would be a huge issue.
Since Forcus was part of Delano’s circle, he was naturally well aware of Delano’s personality. Although he was the commander of the Fifth Fleet in name, he was actually just a scion who liked throwing his weight around and abusing his authority because his father was the high priest. If an arrogant man like him would receive guests politely, pigs would fly. Besides, the president of the Tower of Dusk was extremely young, and no one would believe that he was a Sanctuary powerhouse upon their first meeting. Delano might really cause issues.
Finally, with the battleship sailing at full speed, a fleet that had set up a battle formation finally appeared in front of Forcus. After looking at the situation, Forcus’ heart sank, and he immediately sprung up from the deck of the battleship, flying towards the side. While flying, he also kept praying in his heart that things would not develop in the direction he feared.
However, as the scene ahead became clearer and clearer, Forcus’ heart sank further and further. He could already see the tension on the battleship in the middle. It seemed that a conflict between the two parties had already broken out.
However, there was one thing that made Forcus feel comforted—there was at least some room for easing the tension. That meant that the young president of the Tower of Dusk had yet to fall out with the Gilded Kingdom. Otherwise, with the strength of the high-level Sanctuary powerhouse, they would have defeated and annihilated the Fifth Fleet at any time.
“Everyone, please calm down, don’t do anything!” Forcus shouted loudly while flying down to the deck of The Star.
“Lord Forcus, please be sure to avenge us. Not only did this group of people refuse to accept our inspection, they even shot and injured our commander!” Delano’s deputy commander exclaimed, greeting Elder Zumar’s disciple Forcus joyously as soon as he saw him landing on the deck.
Since Forcus could become the disciple of Elder Zumar, he naturally had great talent too. Although he couldn’t compare to Cantory yet, his strength was also close to the peak of the Legendary-realm. Hence, when he saw Forcus, the deputy commander of Delano immediately became more confident.
Initially, Forcus felt rather thankful when he saw that the people on The Star were alright. As long as there were no casualties, verbal disputes could still be settled and resolved. However, he immediately heard the deputy commander saying something about taking revenge for Delano, and his heart tensed up. He thought Delano was killed; no matter what, Delano was the son of High Priest Poer of the Gilded Kingdom. If he died there, it would definitely be troublesome.
However, Forcus soon heard the deputy commander saying again that Delano was merely wounded, which was to his relief. However, the worry in his heart did not vanish because of it. Everything seemed to be fine on his side, but the main thing was not his own side, but what Lin Li and his people thought.
Regardless of whether Delano died or not, it at least showed that both parties had already made a move against each other, and that was indeed troublesome. They were facing a Sanctuary powerhouse whom not everyone could offend. If they really angered Lin Li, there would definitely be a huge disaster in the Gilded Kingdom.
“Master Felic, I am here to greet you and your guests from the Breezy Plains on behalf of my teacher, Elder Zumar. They do not know your identity, and have caused some misunderstanding, please do not take it to heart.” Forcus didn’t bother to look at Delano who had already passed out. Instead, he went forth to apologize to Lin Li respectfully.
Initially, the people from the Fifth Fleet were thinking that Forcus was there to give them support and back them up, and they didn’t expect Forcus to behave in such a manner. It truly made them dumbfounded.
As a disciple of Elder Zumar of the Illuminati, Forcus had a higher status than Delano. Why did he apologize to the outsiders without even getting a clear understanding of what had happened? Besides, they were even more surprised by the meaning of Forcus’ words. It seemed that Elder Zumar was very familiar with the outsiders, otherwise he wouldn’t let his disciple come to greet them on his behalf!
On the other hand, Lin Li heard Forcus’ words on The Star, but he didn’t have much of an expression, and instead nodded very calmly. In fact, he did not have much of an emotional fluctuation. To him, Delano was just like a mob who wasn’t significant enough to affect his mood.
Seeing that Lin Li did not seem to blame them, Forcus finally felt secretly relieved. Hence, he apologized and turned around to get them to wake Delano up in a bid to make Delano apologize to the other side. He thought that that would be a good solution.
Actually, Delano did not suffer any severe injury, and he was mainly just too weak as he simply passed out. Of course, if he had been stronger, the counterattack would have been more powerful, and perhaps he would have been killed in one fell swoop.
With everyone’s joint efforts, they splashed water and slapped Delano, and the latter finally snorted before opening his eyes with some confusion. He was still a little puzzled about the situation as he didn’t know how he’d suddenly fainted. Only when he saw the faces of his subordinates around him did he suddenly remember where he was.
Delano suddenly stood up and hollered at his subordinates without even noticing that Forcus had arrived. “What are all of you doing? They actually had the audacity to attack the commander of the Fifth Fleet, and that’s an act of war against my kingdom. Hurry up and take them down!”
If it had been in the past, the subordinates around Delano would have definitely carried out his instructions without hesitation. However, to Delano’s surprise, they seemed to be in a dilemma after hearing his order. Those people were not fools, and they weren’t willing to attack Legendary powerhouses in the first place. They could tell from the fate of the pirates how they would end up.
“Delano, what are you talking about? Hurry up and apologize to Master Felic!” Forcus was frightened to the point of turning pale after hearing Delano’s words. He was initially already troubled by the invitation, and yet Delano thought of continuing to stir trouble. That was adding fuel to fire.
Seeing that his subordinates were not listening to his orders, Delano was about to lose his temper, but at this moment, Forcus’ voice came through the crowd and reached his ears. Delano was first stunned, after which he rubbed his ears hard, thinking that he was hallucinating because of the injury that he had just sustained. However, in the next moment, the people around him quickly flashed and darted to the sides. He saw Forcus walking towards him furiously.
Although Delano’s father was a high priest, and Delano could be considered one of the top figures among the younger generation of the Gilded Kingdom, he did not have supreme status. For example, Cantory, the disciple of the priest of the Illuminati, was not only of high status, but was also known as the best genius of the Gilded Kingdom. That was far from what Delano could compare to. Another example would be Forcus, the disciple of Elder Zumar, who definitely surpassed him in terms of status and strength.
Therefore, when facing Forcus, Delano also had to lower his pride, and deferentially ask, “Lord Forcus, what brings you here?”
“Delano, Master Felic and these representatives of the various forces of the Breezy Plains are our distinguished guests who have been invited to attend the founding celebration. Delano, it’s fine if you did not know before, but now that you do, you should be going over to apologize for offending them!” In fact, Forcus was giving Delano an out on account of Delano’s father.
However, Delano refused. Succumbing to Forcus did not mean that he was willing to submit to just anyone else. Besides, in the situation just now, he had fainted because of Lin Li’s defensive spells. How could he be willing to be embarrassed in front of so many subordinates?
Hence, Delano cringed, and said, “Lord Forcus, you probably do not understand the situation. This group of people got into a conflict with others on our territory. We just wanted both parties to stop and accept the judgment of the Naval Court. However, they not only refused to listen to our arrangements, but also shot and injured me. It doesn’t matter that I got injured, but this is an insult to the Gilded Kingdom!”
“Shut up!” As soon as he heard Delano’s words, Forcus stopped him from speaking. He then said to the people around him, “Take your commander away and check his body. He probably isn’t back to his senses yet!”
Although Forcus was not a member of the fleet, the status of the Illuminati still had a great influence on the people of the Gilded Kingdom. Besides, those warriors were initially not willing to fight with a group of Legendary powerhouses anyway. After hearing Forcus’ command, they immediately pulled the noisy Delano away to the Fifth Fleet.
Soon, almost everyone of the Fifth Fleet had already left the deck of The Star. Only then did Forcus approach Lin Li again with a wry smile. “Master Felic, I’m really sorry, Delano has been spoiled rotten by his father, and he made a fool out of himself here.”
By saying this, Forcus made Delano seem like Lin Li’s junior, thus making it inappropriate for Lin Li to blame him.
Of course, using such tricks depended on the subject. If it was the past Lin Li, he might not give in. However, as a Sanctuary powerhouse who stood at the peak of Anril like a god that looked down on the living beings, Lin Li found Delano’s actions to be like a joke. Hence, he naturally wouldn’t take it to heart.
After some pleasantries, Forcus explained his agenda. At this moment, the opulent battleship also sailed over. Although Lin Li had The Star, he still led the representatives of the forces of the Breezy Plains and stepped onto the luxurious battleship that was supposedly meant for welcoming them out of courtesy.
Of course, after stepping on the battleship of the Gilded Kingdom, he inevitably faced some diplomatic conversations. The Gilded Kingdom applied the standards of international meetings in receiving Lin Li and the representatives of the forces of the Breezy Plains, thus making the representatives of the forces of the Breezy Plains feel a bit flattered. However, Lin Li did not feel much about it. Clearly, be it the Gilded Kingdom or the Illuminati, they clearly hoped that they could maintain peace with the forces of the Breezy Plains, and the Tower of Dusk in particular, for a period of time.
On the battleship of the Gilded Kingdom, Forcus enthusiastically introduced the customs of the kingdom to Lin Li. Whenever the battleship passed by an island, he would have a lot of legends to tell Lin Li. Besides, the closer they got to Four Seasons Island, the more islands there were in the sea. Some were larger, and thus had cities that were as large as Anril[1] built on them.
[1] That’s what the raws say, obviously a typo of Alanna or some other city.