An hour prior, Alex was searching through the entire cave, not leaving a single thing other than the two he had excluded prior.
It was quite a nice grab since he had gotten more than a hundred of them. Unfortunately, he still had yet to find a Divine Rank material, so he felt a bit disappointed.
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the tunnel and reverberated in their ears.
"What?! The barrier has been found?"
There was no Sound Barrier, so he could listen to the voice clearly. He appeared right at the gate before sending a thought transmission to Aria. "Stay here. My fire element will still protect you here. Just make sure you don't make a noise."
Aria halted her step and looked at him with a serious expression before nodding.
Alex then leaped upward, coming out of the special realm.
Atlas obviously sensed a presence coming to him and raised his hand. Three Rune Swords appeared near him. "Who are you?"
Waiting for two seconds and the presence kept coming closer, he decided to shoot the three swords toward the presence.
When Alex saw three blue swords, he slashed them apart with his Triple Draws before finding the energy coming from someone above him very familiar.
When he arrived, he recognized him. It was Atlas.
Obviously, the latter didn't want Alex to get close, so he sent another attack, but Alex already anticipated this attack and disappeared.
Atlas was baffled for a second before he turned around but was too late. Alex's sword was already on his neck.
"Ya, it's been a while," Alex said, trying to immediately melt the misunderstanding. "Do you remember me?"
"Who are you?!" Atlas couldn't recognize Alex, especially with how he changed his appearance and voice.
"Alexander Sirius. Due to some reasons, I use something to cover up my face and voice." Alex smiled.
"Alexander Sirius?! No way!" Atlas was shaken. It was just too ridiculous to hear that name coming to this world.
"I am. What?! Do you want me to tell you everything regarding our agreement where I saved you from a special realm so you could return?" Alex smiled.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAs soon as he heard that agreement, he instantly recognized it. There wasn't a single person knowing about this other than the respective tribe's leader.
"Then, you must know our name, right? What are the names of the three leaders you met in the past?"
"Atlas, Zekhram, and Igor." Alex smiled.
Atlas then took a deep breath before letting out a sigh of relief. "To think you are really Alexander Sirius. I thought you were enemies that wanted to annihilate us. But how are you here?"
"I come here together with the Unsurpassed Blade Sect."
"Are you going to kill us?" Atlas knew that Alex didn't have a special attachment to them, considering their relationship was based on benefits, so he became worried when seeing Alex here. His cultivation seemed to be only 7-Star Martial Saint, but his power far surpassed that since he could defeat him this easily.
"Nope. I am neutral." Alex smiled. "Besides, why do you assume I am going to kill you?"
"I mean…" Atlas hesitated for a second and remembered what Zekhram told him and Igor in the past about Nelson's invitation. He thought for a moment and told him their current condition, including the agreement between them and the Unsurpassed Blade Sect.
After around fifteen minutes, he sent a message to Leka, saying that they could continue for a while. He then looked down and stroked his chin, falling into deep thought. "I see. The Unsurpassed Blade Sect wants this world, but you managed to fight back, leading the entire situation into an agreement.
"And you can leave this world after receiving them for one year according to your custom. Then, you want to leave the planet to search for another place to live."
"Yes." Atlas nodded, hiding nothing from Alex.
"The timing itself is indeed the same, so I know that you are not lying. You—" Alex suddenly stopped when he saw the notification from Lin Xingzhi.
She started telling him about the deal she asked Nelson to pass when they were there. It seemed she wanted their power to create a more solid defense in their territory. After all, their territory itself consisted of many planets, not just Eulja. There were still many planets and stars around it that were usually used to cultivate plants and other things.
After knowing her real purpose, Alex finally asked inwardly, 'So, you want me to recruit them?'
[Yes. I actually learned about this plan a few decades ago when that world wanted to expand their territory. Since I know the three races you met stayed on this planet, I decided to recruit them, but they just wished to live peacefully.]
[Hence, I gave up and only offered them this suggestion. It was simply asking them to help us while we offer our protection. That's all. Still, I never expected to see the invasion had arrived.]
'Why didn't you tell me about this?'
[I never planned to. I mean, this could be completed without your presence, so I chose this option to advance. And with how they wanted to think about it and your personality, I thought to leave you alone for the time being. If they joined, I would tell you, but I never expected to see you coming to them. That's why I have been silent during the whole trip, thinking whether I should tell you about the agreement or not.]
'I see. I am not blaming you, but I wish you can be more open to that. I mean, you are not alone anymore.'
[I am sorry.]
Lin Xingzhi realized that she had ruled over Eulja for so long that she took everything on her own hand. She could only sigh and regret, knowing that she could do better than this.
The real ruler of Eulja was Alexander Sirius, not her. She didn't wish to rule to begin with, so he gave most of the tasks to Korzan, but it should be the time where she should stop doing this alone and work together with Alex for Eulja.
'Well, we can talk about this when I am back. And don't blame yourself, I know that you were just doing your best.' Alex smiled. 'Besides, you want to recruit them? Do you think it's possible?'
[Yes. It's possible. We will give them the peace they want. In exchange, they will help us to create a better defense ring with their own specialty.]
'Do you want me to recruit them? I think my words will give a boost to this, right? They are planning to leave this world anyway.' Alex asked.
[That…is up to you.]
'I will recruit them then. This will only benefit Eulja anyway, so I don't mind.' Alex smiled and looked at Atlas. "I have an offer."
"What is it?" Atlas tilted his head in confusion before realizing he wanted to talk about the secret deal. Knowing that the one before him was Alexander Sirius, he thought he should be the one asking, not him offering the suggestion, so he kneeled on one knee and asked. "Please, can you save this planet and let us under your wing?"
Alex was startled to see him this way. He was just about to ask it himself, so he couldn't help but wonder if the situation had become this desperate.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. Although I am not a representative, I can ask my brother to think about this. I am sure he will agree. As for the other two leaders, I will definitely convince them."
Alex felt a bit weird but still maintained his silence. He thought for a moment and asked. "Can I meet your leader? I would like to talk about this with him."
"Of course."
"There is one more thing. I have broken this thing, so what are we going to do?"
"Actually, this is our main tower that can activate all towers around the world, giving us a big opportunity to stop the humans from killing any of us. Unfortunately, the tower can't absorb any energy since there is nothing flowing."
"Oh. That must be the work of my Array. I will remove it right away. And I want to say that I have gathered a few things inside there other than Spirit Crystals. Should I place it back?"
"No, no. You don't need to. Actually, in the agreement, they didn't tell us anything about our technology and such. Hence, my brother wanted to destroy our buildings and runes in this world by using our towers. In other words, we give them a perfectly new world without any of our house and building.
"Of course, the main reason is to stop them from stealing our technology. As long as we have that agreement, they can only be mad at us, so it's a perfect situation.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"If you want everything inside, you can take everything other than a few Spirit Crystals to sustain the tower."
"I see. I have no plan in getting all of it, but I have taken a few gems and metals." Alex nodded.
"Yes, I don't have a problem with that. It's simply our payback." Atlas nodded.
"That's good." Alex nodded. "I am planning to meet your king, but I would like to excavate all the things first. Do you mind waiting?"
"There is one problem. If you can, please remove the barrier…Maybe, not remove it, but make a few holes, so the Spiritual Energy won't leak to the top of the mountain, giving them enough evidence to start mining this giant mine."
"Fair enough. How about you making a rune for that?"
"I am afraid I couldn't."
"Alright." Alex didn't waste any time and nodded. "I will create something to let the Spiritual Energy flow so the tower can be activated. Meanwhile, can you prepare something to lock this thing up so no one realizes it?"
"I understand. I shall go to the top and do the fixing. When you returned, I would simply put it there to camouflage the whole mountain. Besides, it's not like this place will still be here since everything will be blown up." Atlas nodded.
"In that case, I will leave it in your hand." Alex nodded and descended again. He took another look at the array and created a few small holes to let a portion of the Spiritual Energy flow to the runes, powering it up.
Alex looked to the top before making his way back to the cave. When he saw Aria's worried face, Alex only patted her shoulder and said, "You don't need to worry about anything. I will ask them to protect your brother when he is here. I don't think your brother wants to be the sect master, so I will also ask them to not give any currency to them."
"Thanks." Aria smiled before remembering what Alex said. "Eulja, huh. It seems your planet is very popular."
"Haha…I am just letting you listen to it, so you know where you need to go when leaving this world." Alex shrugged.
"Yes, yes. Whatever you say." Aria smiled before looking around. "I think we have excavated most of the materials here. Do you still not want the Spirit Crystals?"
"I am not sure. The people from this world still need it, so I won't touch it for the time being." Alex shook his head. "Of course, we can ask their leader and make a bank."
"Haha…You are very funny." Aria laughed. "Anyway, I will be searching again."
"Yes, I will too. We will end this in thirty minutes and head straight to their place."
Aria nodded, and the two started working again.
After mining everything they could, Alex and Aria made a small platform at the gate of their entrance before Alex used monster blood to create the same barrier. This time, he kept a few holes there, so the Spiritual Energy would flow, but not to the point it would give away the mine's location.
Alex and Aria then went to Atlas. They closed the gate first and flew to the Teleportation Crystal that led the trio to the castle where Alex's and Atlas's fight had just begun.