"Of course, I understand the importance of regulations. However..."
Her tone carried a hint of suggestion:
"Lady Cassandra once mentioned that the Observation Station provides some... convenience policies for participants of the New Star Plan?"
"I don’t care what deals are happening behind the scenes."
Uther directly interrupted her, the air around the shadow began to distort, emanating a suffocating pressure:
"Under my jurisdiction, everyone must follow the same rules. The name of the Blood Moon Clan holds no special meaning here."
The old professor’s voice turned more severe:
"Moreover, I must warn you, the Abyssal Observation Station is not a place for your theatrics. If you’re here for some shameful task, I suggest you leave now."
This blatant hostility stirred a surge of anger within Uphemia.
As a genius of the Blood Moon Clan, she rarely faced such blunt rejection and humiliation.
Yet she quickly suppressed this emotion.
As the "creation" carefully nurtured by the King of Blood, she naturally possessed extraordinary mental control abilities.
"I have no malicious intentions, Professor."
Her voice remained gentle:
"I’m just a young wizard seeking breakthroughs, hoping to gain stronger power in the Abyss. That motive shouldn’t be problematic, right?"
"Then proceed according to normal procedures."
Uther’s attitude did not soften in the slightest:
"But I must remind you, exploring the Abyss involves great risk. Given your level of strength, you might never return."
His words carried a hint of implication:
"I hope you can act within your limits and not make decisions you will regret. Though the Blood Moon Clan’s influence is vast, before the Abyss, everyone is equal—equally fragile."
Although this sentence appeared as a well-meaning reminder, the sarcasm within was very apparent.
Uphemia, of course, heard the underlying meaning, but she only nodded gracefully:
"Thank you for the reminder, I will be careful."
As she turned to leave the reception hall, her gaze casually swept over Chloe.
The pure aura emanating from the blind girl reminded her of something she had long since lost...
A fragment of memories from when she was still a normal human before being "created" by the King of Blood.
Back then, she also possessed such pure emotions, but now...
Once Uphemia left, the reception hall returned to silence.
But Chloe’s expression turned serious:
"Professor, that woman is surrounded by extremely dangerous threads of fate."
Her voice carried evident unease:
"In my perception, she is like a walking curse, bringing chaos and death wherever she goes. And..."
Chloe paused for a moment, her voice turning softer:
"She has causal entanglements related to Ron Ralph.
Those threads are ominously dark red, foretelling a bloody disaster."
"I know." Uther’s voice carried deep revulsion:
"People from the Blood Moon Clan are never anything good, especially this Uphemia and that..."
The old professor stopped himself, the shadow grew dimmer, revealing deep exhaustion within the silver light.
Chloe gently stroked the Celestial Ball Crystal in her arms, sensing the warning signals within:
"I can feel her true purpose in coming here. In the threads of fate, her intersection with Ron has been deliberately arranged by some powerful will. This is not a chance encounter, but a meticulously planned trap."
"Then we must be even more cautious." Uther’s expression turned grave:
"Though Ron is cautious, he is still young. Faced with such specifically designed ’weapon,’ even an experienced elder wizard might lose judgment."
As the two were discussing, the magic communication device in the reception hall suddenly rang.
Upon Uther’s connection, a tense voice came through:
"Professor! There’s an emergency! A large-scale energy fluctuation has occurred at the junction between the fifth layer and the fourth layer, the intensity reaching Apostle Level! Moreover... the center of the fluctuation is moving towards Ron’s planned route!"
This news made Uther’s face turn pale in an instant.
He immediately activated the observation equipment, projecting a real-time image of the Abyss Fourth Layer in the center of the reception hall.
The image showed a tremendously indescribable figure slowly swimming in the Sea of Darkness.
That was "Eye of the Abyss" Nari, its mountain-like gigantic tentacles stirred up energy storms capable of destroying cities with each movement.
But most unsettling was that this ancient monster seemed to carry a strange excitement.
Its gigantic eyes continuously turned, as if searching for something extremely important.
"Oh no..." Uther’s voice carried obvious worry:
"Nari rarely leaves its lair, unless it encounters something particularly interesting. And the direction it’s moving..."
He quickly retrieved the location information of Ron’s team:
"It’s exactly Ron’s exploration route!"
Chloe’s face also turned pale, the Celestial Ball Crystal in her hand fiercely flashed with ominous red light:
"The prophecy is coming true... the convergence of blood and chaos is about to unfold."
Her voice carried despair:
"I saw... flames, death, and a result more terrifying than death."
Upon hearing this prophecy, Uther immediately began mobilizing the power of the Void Remains.
Silver light danced wildly around him, preparing for remote emergency intervention.
But at this moment, a cold voice came from the door of the reception hall:
"Looks like I’ve arrived just in time."
Uphemia reappeared at the door, but this time her expression was entirely different.
The guise of gentleness disappeared, replaced by cold calculation.
"You haven’t left?" Uther’s shadow instantly turned towards her, the silver light sharpening like a blade.
"Of course not." Uphemia gracefully walked into the reception hall:
"I’ve been waiting for the approval of my exploration permit. But now it seems..."
Her gaze fell on the projection of Nari’s figure, revealing an intriguing smile at the corner of her mouth:
"It seems someone is in trouble.
As someone equally concerned about Ron Ralph’s safety, I believe I can offer some... assistance."
"What do you mean?" Uther’s voice carried obvious hostility.
"It’s simple." Uphemia took out a blood-red crystal ball from her storage bag:
"I have a way to safely extract Ron without alerting Nari. Of course, this requires some... exchange terms."
Greed flickered in her eyes:
"For example, allowing me to join his exploration team and collaborate closely with him in the upcoming operations. I believe this benefits both parties."
Uther instantly realized the sinister intention behind this proposal.
This woman clearly wanted to seize the opportunity of the rescue to get close to Ron and exert some form of control over him.
But the situation was indeed critical, Nari was drawing closer to Ron’s location, and his own Void Remains state had yet to fully recover...
"I cannot agree to your terms." Uther finally shook his head:
"But if you’re genuinely willing to help rescue Ron, I might consider reducing your exploration commission."
"That’s not enough." Uphemia chuckled softly: "My help is irreplaceable, but..."
She looked at Chloe:
"Since the astrologer is also here, why not let her do a reading? To see if without my help, Ron’s chances of survival are significant?"
This proposal plunged Uther into a dilemma.
Chloe sensed the tense standoff between the two, she spoke softly:
"Let me perform another divination, perhaps we can find other solutions."
She took out the Star Disc, beginning an urgent divination.