'This world keeps on surprising me.' Noah thought as he studied the peculiar human surrounded by the heroic assets.
The man looked as if he was about to faint under the innate pressure radiated by the group. Still, none of the cultivators on the scene cared about his well-being.
There was something that they had yet to make clear about their mission. The four nations had deployed their assets to explore new Mortal Lands and find valuable resources, but they didn't agree on what methods they would use to achieve that.
They were invaders, but they had yet to decide how far they were willing to go.
"Can you speak?" Gray Fury asked while trying to convey his questioning tone as much as he could.
The rank 2 cultivator shook when he heard those words, but he didn't answer. There was only fear in his eyes, and that feeling was stopping him from doing anything that wasn't trembling.
Silence filled the group at that moment. The man was unresponsive, and they didn't even know if he could understand their words. Questioning him in that state was pointless and would just waste their time.
"I have to ask everyone to leave me alone with this human." Gray Fury said. "I just need one time to make him speak."
The leaders of the other factions obviously rejected that offer and began to express their complaints.
"Any heroic cultivator could make him speak." Elder Austin said while shrugging his shoulders.
"We have a lot of experience in torture in the Papral nation too." Elder Estelle said before revealing a cold smile.
"The Elbas family has come prepared even for similar situations," Cecil concluded and pointed at his golden space-ring.
Each faction had considered the possibility that humans habited those lands and had prepared something that could help them with the interrogations.
The leaders couldn't leave Gray Fury alone with such a valuable source of information. The monopoly over the knowledge concerning the political environment of the new world would give to the Shandal Empire complete control over the mission!
Yet, the Empire was prepared in ways that not even the three rank 5 cultivators could imagine.
"I'll turn him into a slave and let everyone interrogate him." Gray Fury said to answer the complaints. "I just need to be alone to create the inscribed chains."
There was another moment of silence after his words in which the leaders reconsidered his offer.
Any type of torture or coercion would inevitably taint the words of the rank 2 cultivator, and that was something that every faction wanted to avoid.
However, all those issues would be solved if they enslaved the native.
"From what I know, cultivators don't remember much after the Empire's chains take away their freedom," Noah said, and the gazes of everyone on the scene went on him at that point.
Noah had just joined a conversation among rank 5 cultivators, and he did that while criticizing the approach advised by Gray Fury!
Nevertheless, Noah didn't care about manners, especially in that critical mission. Also, he had already proven that his battle prowess reached the fifth rank, which further improved his status in the exploration team.
Noah continued to speak when he saw that Gray Fury failed to answer him, "I've analyzed the mental spheres of your slaves. They are empty, broken, and barely able to formulate simple thoughts."
His comment forced the other leaders to reconsider Gray Fury's offer once again.
The Empire held the monopoly over the inscribed chains, and the other nations could only learn something by purchasing slaves.
Of course, the Council and the Elbas family had done that in the past, but they didn't discover much. Also, the cultivators there weren't specialized in that field, so they even lacked the basic knowledge that concerned those items.
Instead, Noah had needed to question slaves when he was searching for the remains of the demon sects, and that made him aware of their miserable state.
"I will create something slightly different and fitting for the situation." Gray Fury said after the second complaint. "You have my word that he won't lose any of his memories."
Noah could only turn toward Elder Austin at those words and leave the decision to the other leaders. He could point out flaws, but his status was still lower than the other rank 5 cultivators.
The leaders began to speak through their consciousnesses, but they still decided to trust Gray Fury in the end. The possibility of learning without any effort was too appealing, and refusing his offer would just ruin future collaborations during the mission.
Also, his idea was perfect if it worked as intended.
Everyone except for Gray Fury left the area and waited for the two hours to pass. Then, they returned to the territory where they first found the native.
What they saw when they arrived there pleased them.
The rank 2 cultivator had a collar around his neck attached to chains filled by inscriptions, but his expression wasn't dull like that often worn by the slaves. Instead, he appeared quite energetic as he spoke in a foreign language that didn't exist in their world.
"What did you ask him?" Cecil asked as he descended toward Gray Fury, who was attentively listening to the slave while sitting in a cross-legged position in front of him.
"I just ordered him to speak." Gray Fury answered without moving his focus from the slave.
The strongest cultivators simply sat around the chained man at that point and began to focus on his words. They needed to learn his language before they could start to question him, but that wasn't so hard for beings with such powerful minds.
Noah maintained part of his attention on the surrounding areas as he listened to the slave. Still, those territories had emptied after so many heroic existences had gathered there.
An entire day had to pass before the cultivators grasped the basics of that foreign language and began to question the slave to improve in that field. Then, when they reached a decent level of mastery, the leaders started to interrogate him on crucial matters.
The slave didn't hesitate in his answers due to the inscribed chains, and the group quickly discovered more exciting features about that world.
The first questions concerned his lack of a dantian, and, to the leaders' surprise, the native didn't need an explanation to know what that center of power was.
It turned out that not all the humans of that world had only two centers of power. There were specific bloodlines that managed to give birth to humans with a dantian, but the slave only knew that such beings existed.
According to his words, humans with three centers of power were considered akin to nobles and were given prominent positions in their society.
Their world was different from Noah's.
The humans weren't overlords there. They only controlled a third of those Mortal Lands, while the other territories were domains filled by magical beasts.
'It seems that bloodlines are a crucial aspect here.' Noah concluded in his mind.