"What's your thought on this?" Raaha asked Vhalla as he observed a crying figure of Gannala being consoled by Asaeya, whose mental state wasn't any better.
"Had Gannala asked for Inala to stay, he would have obliged. We could have obtained the protection of the Royal Zinger. But, that would only be torture to Gannala." Vhalla sighed, partly irritated, but mostly frustrated, "As Inala had explained, his behaviour currently is dominated by the Brimgan Founder's disposition. His eyes were that of a human supremacist. Having her father look at her with such a gaze is torturous."
"I want to respect her decision. It hasn't been easy for her either." Vhalla stared at Gannala in pity, "She has been denied her birthright. Her dad changed from her closest individual to a stranger overnight, so it's hard for her to accept it. Her omniscient perspective has already progressed to a good extent, but this incident has affected her badly despite that."
"Had she been any younger, she wouldn't have been able to bear this." Vhalla felt anger the more she spoke, "Inala did her dirty."
"Worst of all, he has a solid point too. Had he not become a Royal Zinger, he wouldn't have remained sane enough to face Brangara." She analysed, "Gannala knows this too. That's why she's heartbroken. Because if not for this messed up situation with Brangara, Inala wouldn't have felt pressured to become the Royal Zinger."
"We have denied a relationship with Inala." Rhanalla asked Vhalla, "Does this make him our enemy?"
"No," Vhalla shook her head, "On the contrary, the Royal Zinger will remain our ally."
"What do you mean?" Asaeya stared at Vhalla in confusion, "How will he remain our ally?"
"What do you think is Inala's purpose?" Vhalla addressed everyone at the scene, "He became the Royal Zinger to kill Brangara. In all our history, Sumatra has always been ruled by a single Mystic Grade Pranic Beast. But now, there are two of them. So, whether they like it or not, the two of them will be enemies. Even though Sumatra continent is incomprehensibly massive, we're situated in a corner of it."
"The Celestial Boar's home is the Varahan Enclave while the Royal Zinger's home is the Dieng Canyon." She concluded, "Two pinnacle existences living close by, do I need to say more?"
"They'll do everything in their power to kill each other. So in that aspect, Inala is indeed our ally. Moreover," She stared at Gannala, "He's a changed man now, but the fact of the matter is that you're his daughter. That can never be changed."
"So, irrespective of how your relationship worsens, if you're in danger, he'll come to your rescue." Saying so, she pointed at a thumb-sized Biome Bomb on the ground, "He might not emotionally be involved with you any longer, but he'll continue to logically help you."
"This is…" Gannala stared down and observed the Biome Bomb, realising that when Inala was conversing with everyone, he dropped one of the two Biome Bombs in his possession.
Though hesitant, Gannala extended her hand towards it, watching the Biome Bomb sprout eight strings of Prana to run across her hand like a living creature and stop at her neck. The strings of Prana joined with each other after coiling around her neck, appearing no different from a necklace.
"What…is going in his mind?" She was unable to figure it out. But seeing the necklace gave her strength as she got up and stared at Raaha, having gathered her bearings, "Let's depart from Sumatra, Chief."
"Have you contacted the Mammoth Ancestor?" She asked next, "Inala wouldn't have told us to do so without reason."
"I need some time for that." Raaha nodded and stared at the Transcendent World with an ivory surface, "There's no guessing when she'll reply."
"But staying here is dangerous." He said next and announced to everyone, "We'll continue to head towards the border while making preparations."
"It's for the best you stay in the biome of your Empyrean Tusk." Raaha commanded Asaeya. But a moment later, he looked around in shock, "Where's Harrala?"
Flying high in the sky was Inala, his expression mellow as compared to before. Him behaving like he didn't care about Gannala and Asaeya was partially an act.
The Brimgan Founder's accumulations indeed affected him tremendously, so everything he expressed towards the Mammoth Clan wasn't a lie. But at the end of the day, he was still Inala. He retained his core values, despite the influences.
After all, through the Sumatra Gold Skeleton, Inala turned his core values into a fixed, nonchanging fact. Therefore, he still cared about Gannala and Asaeya.
The reason he acted cold towards them was to push them away from him. After all, he didn't want Brangara to use them as hostages against him.
Resha had used that against Brangara. This meant that the latter would no longer care about the methods he used for retaliation. Forget his pride as a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast. Brangara would go for the low blow from the get-go.
From now on, Inala would be readily targeting the Wean Clan. Hence, he wanted to prevent Gannala and Asaeya from being a target of Yarsha Zahara's schemes.
Even if Yarsha Zahara finds some method to infiltrate the Mammoth Clan, all she would find is that the Royal Zinger doesn't care about them. The only bond they had was the fact that Gannala was his daughter.
He didn't care about her. But, if her life was at risk, he would take action. When Yarsha Zahara finds this information, she would hesitate to target Gannala, for that would mean unnecessarily facing a full-blown war with the Quip Clan alongside the fleeing Mammoth Clan.
Honestly, his detachment from the Mammoth Clan might not help them much in the long run, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
For the time being, Inala would occupy the entirety of Brangara's focus as a fellow Mystic Grade Pranic Beast. During that time, he would try to find a way in which he could transform Gannala and Asaeya into being part of the Zinger Race.
As the Royal Zinger, he would have plenty of methods to protect them once that happened. Changing one's race wasn't impossible. As long as the necessary conditions were satisfied, it was possible.
The accumulations necessary for it would be ginormous, probably outweighing the entire arsenal of resources in the Mammoth Clan's possession. But the possibility existed. After all, Inala was already able to do it for someone.
Wittral!
As Wittral currently possessed Inala's heart, preparations were already underway. The moment Inala produces a piece of Sumatra Gold in his heart, he could use that to fundamentally transform Wittral into a Zinger equivalent.
He was already aware of everything necessary to complete this. Hence, Inala was deep in thought, thinking of what he wanted to do next.
"Wait!" A voice resounded from below as Inala looked down and observed the figure of Harrala flicker across the trees to keep pace with him.
"What happened?" Inala landed on the ground and watched Harrala arrive at a stop before him.
"Uncle, please save my dad!" Harrala pleaded, not missing a beat, "I can only request this of you. Please!"
"I'm ready to pay any price!" She kneeled on the ground, planning to keep begging until her request was accepted. "He has been captured by Yarsha Zahara."
"Tell me more." Inala coiled a string of Prana to form a chair and motioned for Harrala to take a seat, "Do you want some tea?"
"Eh? Tea?" Harrala was surprised by the change in his behaviour, feeling that the Inala before her was somewhat familiar. Though not as familiar as before, he was around ten percent familiar, which was a lot better than the alien self he displayed to the Mammoth Clan, "Uncle, was everything you said before an…act?"
"Nope, only a small portion was an act," Inala patted her on the head casually, "Don't worry too much and grow well, alright? Leave the problems to the adults."
Secondary Nature—Perfect Biome Domination!
Prana flowed out of his body to erect a dome that was transparent in nature. It could only be detected by one's Prana detection means. All one would feel is a mild prickle. If they weren't alert enough, they wouldn't notice that they were stepping into a region that was under Inala's absolute control.
Even their bodies, Prana, and memories weren't an exception. Inala would be able to control them all. Depending on their strength, they could resist the effects. But yes, all they could do was resist.
Inala found a suitable tree and plucked its leaves. The leaves were ground into a paste, their extracts heated up and condensed into a stream of fluid through the moisture in the air. Inala performed everything through his Secondary Nature, brewing tea in less than ten seconds.
A piece of wood—moulded into a cup—carried the tea and flew towards Harrala, "Drink up. It'll help you relax."
Technically, he could access Harrala's memories, since she was in his Spirit Weapon range. But the process would hurt her, since he was currently a Silver Grade Royal Zinger, so Inala refrained from doing so. Instead, he took a seat on a stool made from coiling his Prana string and faced Harrala, "Explain everything to me."
"Yes," Harrala felt relaxed as she drank the tea and began to speak everything she knew.
"Dammit," Inala cursed at the end, "Not just Yennda, but Grehha too is in her possession?"
'The Mammoth Clan's defensive means using the Bone Vipers would be leaked to her, including information related to what I had given the Mammoth Clan.' His expression became serious as Inala stared at Harrala, "Has Orakha returned?"
"No," Harrala shook her head.
"Currently, Gannala has Virala's child?" Inala concealed his shock, "And she was birthed by Yarsha Zahara?"
"Yes, he named her Ruvva." Harrala said, "Gannala was pretty shocked to find her. She's currently using a brainwashed body of Virala to take care of Ruvva in her stomach biome."
"Yes, he doesn't have a Spirit Container." Harrala said in a hurry, "She didn't give it to him after you extracted it."
"Alright, leave it to me." Inala got up and motioned Harrala to return to the Mammoth Clan, "I'll rescue Yennda and Grehha."
"Thank you, uncle!" Harrala expressed her relief and got up, intending to return when she stopped and stared at Inala hesitantly, "Can I…continue calling you uncle?"
"You have every right to." Inala waved his hand, "But don't reveal anything about our conversation to the others."
"Gannala was crying." Harrala said, "She was heartbroken."
"I know," Inala said and stared at the sky, "But you see, she's Brangara's number one target, even after what Resha did to his children. The hatred Brangara feels towards Gannala is pretty much part of his genetic makeup now."
"If Gannala continues to express care towards me, she'll be tortured while used as a hostage against me."
"So, I'm merely doing my duty as a father to protect her. If Gannala truly behaves in a way that depicts that she doesn't have her father's support, then it'll make Yarsha Zahara drop her guard while scheming, even if for a moment." He smiled wryly, "It's a necessity for what I'm about to do next."
His smile widened subtly, "I'm going to change Brangara's hatred ranking. Eventually, Gannala won't even be top ten on the list."
"How…are you going to do that?" Harrala asked, regretting it immediately upon seeing Inala's cold-hearted smile.
"How else," Inala waved his hand and took flight, "I'm going to fill up the list."