550 News from Nihari
Above the steep hill - the reception hall of the headquarters facility
"Theo, this is the last chance. There is news saying that Robin is almost here. Speak up and put both our minds at ease!"
"Uncle Billy, please wait until His Excellency comes and ask him yourself."
"Damn it, why the same answer again? Are you a parrot? It's been days and you've only answered with those same damn words. Do you think I'm a suspect by the Shadow Swords or something like that? I'm your uncle!!" Billy came forward in confusion and grabbed Theo's ear
But Theo's features did not change one bit, as he repeated the same sentence again, "Uncle Billy, please wait until His Excellency comes and ask him yourself."
When he saw that his attempt was of no use, once again, Billy let go of Theo's ear and went back to sit in front of him, "You know that that stubborn bastard won't say anything for fear that I will blame him. Just tell me what's going on in Planet Nihari and I won't speak again until he comes!"
"Uncle Billy, please wait until His Excellency comes and ask him yourself," Theo repeated without showing much emotions
"...Listen, I heard from the Burton family's merchants about the incidents going on there. They say that seeing a street without blood on the ground or an ongoing battle has become a rare sight. In fact, they say that the situation is a hundred times worse outside the sect cities, and this is what forces the Nihati Giants to stay inside in the sect's cities despite being unwanted, this has something to do with the sudden disappearance of the Shadow Swords from Planet Jura, right? What have you done there and what is your goal?"
"Uncle Billy, please wait until His Excellency comes and ask him yourself," Theo repeated again, his eyes half closed, his hair covering half his face, and his thick, cold voice making him sound like a robot.
"...Why don't you at least tell me about Richard? Robin is cold-hearted, but I won't believe that he would ignore Richard all these years. You have been monitoring him, right? Have you tried to contact him? How is he now?" Billy's voice became a little softer and he looked towards the ground, "You know that I raised Richard like he was my own son, just tell me anything about him.."
"...He is fine."
"Aha! So you're really in Planet Nihari!!" Billy jumped up and pointed at Theo excitedly. This was the first real information he had come up with in the past few days
"So what if the Shadow Swords have missions on the planet Nihari? Stop bothering the child, Billy. This is not befitting your standing."
At that moment, the hall door opened and a person wearing a white dress entered, placing one of his hands behind his back
"Your Excellency." Theo quickly stood up and bowed slightly, placing a hand over his heart and a hand behind his back.
"Robin? How did you arrive without anyone noticing you?!" As for Billy, he looked behind him in surprise
"I didn't want to engage in receptions and formalities. I'm in a bad mood right now." Robin walked forward with an emotionless face until he reached Billy's chair and sat down directly on it, then pointed outside, "Billy, wait outside until I call you."
"But--!!"
"Wait outside, Billy, don't make me order your return to Planet Jura immediately." Robin spoke harshly again, "When I'm done with Theo, come and say whatever you want."
"Tsk~" Billy didn't add a word and left the room muttering insults
Robin then motioned for Theo to sit down, "...So?"
"The meeting plan worked. But as you expected, Richard refused to receive help. He said he would escape by himself."
Robin sighed and nodded a few times. There was nothing surprising here. "My blood and Mila's blood runs through this boy's veins. It would be strange if he accepted."
Richard's hatred was clear when we first met him. His psychological state was also very bad. It would be strange if he agreed to receive help so simply.
If a child was abandoned by his father -who went to buy milk- when he was young and then returned to him after he grew up, the son will not acknowledge him and may attack him out of hatred regardless of the reason for that father's departure... And what happened to Richard was much more than just a lifelong separation.
In fact, if Richard had accepted this help on the first try, this would have shown that his spirit had been broken and that his personality had ended forever. Robin would then have thought of a way to get him out and bring him to live a comfortable life in the countryside somewhere.
As for his refusal now, it means that he still has some dignity, he still has some hope, and his spirit has not fully collapsed yet... Richard's refusal to cooperate made things extremely difficult and confirmed his hatred toward him, but it also made Robin somewhat happy as well.
After giving Robin a few seconds to digest the previous information, Theo spoke, "The good thing is that he has not been able to reach the third stage of the Life Fire Law cultivation technique, his cultivation speed is not lower than me or Peon, and the Thousand Valley Slayer also said that Richard's actions were strange and that he noticed Energy vibrations around him while he was taking him to his residence, I think he was really planning something and was not talking in vain."
Robin smiled contentedly when he heard this. He knew how difficult it was to create a technique for a law that did not exist in nature. Even if Richard had the first two stages as a reverence, it would still be very difficult. Knowing that his son had such a talent was a source of joy and pride... But He didn't say anything, and his smile was accompanied by slightly downcast eyes.
Then Theo spoke again when he found that lack of response from his foster father, "...There is another thing worth mentioning, he knows that you are his father, he said that he knew who you were since he saw you." Theo spoke calmly
"What-...?!" Robin furrowed his eyebrows tightly for a moment, then rested his head on both hands, "I should have expected this... I should have expected this... I was too afraid to say a word... instead of reassuring him and swearing to get him out immediately... I left him again and disappeared for years to plan and scheme... He must think I'm a coward now... He must hate me more than before now..."
Theo spoke hurriedly when seeing the foster father acting like this, "And what would you have done? I spent many years there and know how tight the protection around him is, if you made a move you would have been killed and Richard would have been tortured even more. He's a smart boy, he'll understand sooner or later."
"...." Robin remained silent for a few minutes, placing his head on both hands without making a sound, and Theo did not dare to say a word either.
"...What brings you today?" Robin finally let a few words out of his mouth, feeling that he would have been better off not hearing those words today
"The first part of the news has spread throughout Nihari and chaos is happening every day. We can no longer reach a better outcome, so I ask for permission to start the second step of the plan earlier." Theo spoke emotionlessly
"The next step already? How long do we have until the invasion?" Robin replied, still not looking up yet
"There are 18 years left according to the time your Excellency gave us, but we want to start now as we must be prepared in case the invasion occurs before the specified date."
"18 years… Alright, you can start spreading the cultivation techniques now." Robin waved indifferently
Theo nodded and stood up, his foster father clearly not in the mood to speak further
"Oh wait." Robin took out paper, pen, and ink from his space ring.
The pen dipped himself in the ink bottle and began to dance freely on the paper, writing a long letter by itself. Then an imperial seal came out and stamped on the paper, before the paper rolled itself up and fell into Theo's hand, "This is an official decree that you can use to withdraw all the troops you want to support you in Planet Nihari, take at least a few hundred Wind troops with you, they will help you in the second and third parts of the plan."
Theo bowed in the same way he had greeted his foster father, then disappeared into the dark spot beneath his feet
Knowing full well that all of Planet Nihari would also be plunged into darkness very soon with the start of the second part of the plan.