Derek let out a long, tired sigh as he glanced at William. The young man was walking beside him with an unmistakably satisfied expression on his face, and Derek genuinely could not understand why.
After everything they had discussed that morning with Chief Jun of the Mistwalker Tribe, satisfaction was the last emotion Derek expected to see.
The meeting had gone smoothly enough, unlike their previous encounter; Jun had greeted them respectfully and cooperated throughout the discussion. There had been no hostility, no resistance, and no attempts to conceal information after William had dealt with him.
Unfortunately, the revelations that followed had created a completely different problem. Derek felt as though every answer they received only led them to new questions.
When William and Derek had finally asked Jun why he had repeatedly refused to cooperate with the Empire, the tribal chief had revealed something neither of them had expected.
He told them that his children had been the reason; both of his children had been born with Naga gems.
According to Jun, a Naga Gem was a special crystal embedded within the glabella, the area between the eyebrows. Such crystals appeared naturally at birth in individuals who possessed the potential to awaken a true Naga Physique later in life.
The explanation had only become stranger from there.
The Mistwalker Tribe, despite appearing entirely human, did not consider themselves ordinary humans at all. Their people worshipped an ancient serpent spirit known as Mistwalker, whom they regarded as both their patron deity and their original ancestor.
According to them, they were descendants of the ancient Naga race. Jun had explained this fact with complete confidence.
In the tribe’s history, Nagas were described as a powerful humanoid race that possessed serpentine traits and supernatural abilities. They were said to command extraordinary serpent-related powers and could even transform portions of their bodies or assume the form of gigantic serpents entirely.
To support his claims, Jun had even produced a detailed family lineage record that had apparently been preserved within the tribe for countless generations.
According to those records, the Nagas had originally been a sister race to the Long Dragons.
At one point in ancient history, they had possessed tremendous power and influence. However, over time, their race had declined. Their strongest ancestors had eventually departed from the realm entirely, leaving only weakened descendants behind who mixed with humans and diluted their blood over time.
For Derek, the story sounded like mythology. It felt no different from listening to an old tribal legend passed down through generations.
William, however, viewed the matter very differently.
Unlike Derek, he possessed a much broader understanding of what existed beyond Aris. The possibility of a race like nagas existing somewhere beyond the known world did not sound ridiculous to him in the slightest.
In fact, the story seemed entirely plausible.
To William, Jun’s explanation simply suggested that a genuine Naga race probably still existed somewhere. Whether they lived elsewhere within the Scarred Realm or an entirely different plane of existence, all this remained unknown, but he saw no reason to dismiss the possibility.
More importantly, the existence of the Naga Gems meant that Jun’s children possessed extraordinary bloodline potential.
That discovery alone had put William in an exceptionally good mood.
The moment he realized what their future potential could be, he had already begun viewing them as ideal candidates for his system binders, and so he offered them chocolates.
Both children had happily accepted the treats and devoured them with obvious enthusiasm while William casually completed the binding process.
Unfortunately, the discussion afterward had once again become serious. Jun eventually explained that the existence of the Naga Gems was supposed to remain a closely guarded tribal secret.
Somehow, however, the information had leaked. Someone within the tribe had betrayed their trust and revealed the existence of the children to outsiders.
That information had eventually reached the other two tribes.
From there, it had somehow found its way into the hands of a mysterious organization.
According to Jun, members of this organization had repeatedly visited the Mistwalker settlement over the past several months.
At first, they had approached politely, but later, they had become increasingly aggressive. Their demands had remained consistent throughout every encounter.
They wanted Jun and his children to become affiliated with their organization.
They wanted custody over the children to train and raise them, promising a bright future to Jun.
Jun had refused every offer. He did not trust them.
The more those individuals pushed for control over his children, the more suspicious he became.
Eventually, their patience ran out. During their most recent visit, they had given an explicit warning to Jun.
If the Mistwalker Tribe aligned itself with the Empire, Jun’s children would become the target of the organisation. That threat alone explained nearly all of the tribe’s strange behavior.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Jun had not been protestring against empire without a reason. He had been protecting his children.
The strange staff William had confiscated from him turned out to be an ancient naga artifact.
According to Jun, the artifact was an ancestral spirit weapon that had once belonged to an ancient Naga shaman. It had been discovered within the tomb of one of their distant ancestors and preserved by successive tribal chiefs.
As Derek processed all of this information, the entire situation seemed increasingly complicated to him.
William, on the other hand, was quite unbothered by all this.
In his mind, the whole situation seemed to make sense as he connected the dots.
William strongly suspected that the impostor woman he had caught in the iron tusk tribe earlier, and the creature hidden inside her, had been members or perhaps tools of the very organization Jun described.
As for discovering their true identity, William believed that would only be a matter of time.
In fact, he already had a rough plan forming in his mind.
By the time the discussion concluded, both he and Derek had already reached the gates of Veridian Capital. The massive walls of the city stood before them as merchants, guards, and travelers moved through the entrance.
William suddenly broke the silence.
"Tell everyone that the negotiations with the Mistwalker Tribe failed."
Derek immediately turned toward him.
"What?"
The response was so unexpected that he wondered if he had misheard.
William’s expression remained calm.
"The negotiations failed. That’s the story."
Derek stared at him.
"Are you serious?"
"Completely." William’s voice carried absolute certainty.
"Tell them Chief Jun rejected every offer we made. Tell them he openly defied the Empire and refused to acknowledge the Empress’s authority, and now the Empire considers him an enemy."
Derek blinked several times. The more he listened, the less sense it made.
"But why?"
William looked at him directly. "The more misinformation that spreads, the better."
Derek continued staring at him. He clearly did not understand.
William merely smiled faintly. "Trust me."
There was enough confidence in William’s tone that Derek eventually stopped questioning him.
If William was setting a trap, he likely had a reason. An hour later, they arrived at the City Lord’s Manor.
Following William’s instructions, Derek gathered the imperial delegation and began discussing the meeting; he intentionally exaggerated his frustration and used his talent, Sage of the Moon, to influence and convince the people around him.
His voice was loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
He made sure that the city lord, the officials, the guards, and the servants and maids passing through nearby corridors heard every word.
Derek made certain that his anger sounded genuine.
He repeated his words often enough that nobody could miss them.
More importantly, the rumors would spread naturally. By the end of the day, half the city would probably be discussing the failed negotiations.
Soon, Dereck’s briefing was over, and the city lord moved to stand in front of William. "My lord, we have gathered them."
William nodded with a smile, "Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go."