Everyone fell silent once again. What Drake said was true, and they all knew it—Orion Darkwood, the most wanted criminal, had surpassed them all.
Even if they wanted to ignore it, they couldn't.
"Oh, well, forget about that guy," Orion tried changing the subject, noticing how tense the atmosphere had beco. "Let's talk about the geniuses of the Human Federation Realm. Who is the strongest genius in our domain?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Victor looked at him from the corner of his eye.
"Who?" Orion asked.
"Neil Reed," Erza answered. "He's considered the strongest genius of our domain, and many say he might even be stronger than the top genius of the Martial Domain, Zhao Tian."
"No, Neil Reed is strong, but he couldn't be stronger than Zhao Tian," Victor disagreed. "Zhao Tian is slightly stronger, if I'm not mistaken."
"Neil Reed, Zhao Tian," Orion muttered their nas before turning to Victor. "Any other strong geniuses?"
Victor laughed wryly at Orion's question. "There are many geniuses who could easily defeat us without even trying, and the number of such people is huge. So, forget about it for now. You'll eventually et them when we reach the Federation Council."
Orion nodded with a smile. In truth, he wasn't interested in them anyway. He just wanted to steer the conversation away from Orion Darkwood for now.
He was drawing too much unnecessary attention to himself, which was a little awkward.
"Ray, are you going to talk to her or not?" Erza whispered sothing only he could hear.
'Damn!'
Orion almost cursed. He had just gotten out of one tricky situation only to get stuck in another.
"Henry is here, so I can't right now," Orion whispered back.
In fact, he hadn't looked her way once since arriving, unsure of how to respond to her hopeful and emotional gaze.
Orion felt guilty every ti he saw her, which led him to avoid her even more.
"I see everyone's doing well." Billy arrived at that mont with his usual smile.
"The trip will take so ti, so enjoy your stay here until then," he said, still smiling.
"How long, exactly?" Orion asked.
"Half a day, give or take," Billy replied after a mont of thought. "But don't worry, you won't even notice the ti passing in this void shuttle."
"Oh, and one more thing." Billy added a warning. "A piece of advice that'll help you for a long ti: don't go to Grimshore while flying or traveling from one place to another. When you return, you won't be in the void shuttle—you'll be at the exact location where you disappeared. So, it's advisable to avoid traveling to Grimshore during transit. Understood?"
Orion and the others nodded in agreent. So were already aware of the situation, while others, like Orion, were hearing it for the first ti. Now that he thought about it, everything made sense.
The last ti he had gone to Grimshore, he had vanished from his room, only to reappear in the exact sa spot upon his return. In hindsight, the clues had always been there, but he hadn't connected the dots until now.
"Hmm, I'll be in the other room with the others. If you need anything, just knock." Billy left after saying those words.
The mont Billy left the room, Erza stood up and walked toward Henry.
'Damn, why is she so serious about this?!'
Orion sighed deeply, hoping things wouldn't go south.
"Henry, what is your guild doing by taking away soone's freedom and keeping them as a slave?" Erza confronted Henry directly.
Everyone in the room stared at Henry, their expressions a mixture of shock and disbelief. The Black Reaper Guild had always been known for its neutrality and chaotic tendencies, but if what Erza said was true, it was far worse than they imagined—bordering on pure evil.
Even Tracy, who usually kept her emotions hidden, couldn't help but widen her eyes. She hadn't expected anyone to bring up her situation, let alone confront Henry so directly. Her heart started beating faster as the unexpected unfolded.
Henry's expression darkened. "Don't talk nonsense," he said, his voice gloomy.
"Nonsense?" Erza smiled, anger evident on her face. "Who is she?" She asked, pointing at Tracy. "Do you know her?"
Henry's expression turned grim as he glared at Erza.
"Henry, is this true?" Victor asked solemnly.
Erza looked at everyone and explained. "Tracy is Ray's sister. She was believed to have been killed in a dungeon raid about a year ago, and Ray believed that until recently when he found out she was still alive and held captive by the Black Reaper Guild. That's the only reason he participated in the assessnt—to et her and try to do sothing about it."
Everyone was shocked once again and turned to look at Orion, only to see him with his head down. Seeing him like that, they thought he was sad and ashad of what had happened to his sister, making them feel a tinge of sympathy.
"Henry, is this true? Tell !" Victor asked, his voice rising slightly.
Henry remained silent, his gaze shifting between Erza and Orion, his expression growing uglier.
The tension in the room escalated again.
'Wait a minute!' Orion suddenly realized. 'Why didn't Mark do anything to save her?'
Now that he thought about it, Mark should have known about Tracy all this ti, yet he hadn't done anything.
Did he not care about her?
'No, that's not it.'
Orion rembered how Mark had gone berserk when he threatened her with Tracy's life the last ti they had t. So, it wasn't that he didn't care.
Orion turned slightly and saw Mark clenching his fists tightly. He couldn't tell if Mark was angry about what had happened to Tracy or sothing else.
"This is all your fault!" Mark suddenly stood up and shouted at Orion.
Orion was slightly surprised by Mark's outburst but understood the anger and hatred behind it. He could see it in his eyes.
"Yeah, it's my fault," Orion replied through gritted teeth, his face full of anger. "I'm so weak. Too weak to protect her."
Everyone looked at him with pity. They understood how Orion felt. One man couldn't fight an entire guild, and soone as young as Orion certainly couldn't.
"It's not his fault," Tracy stood up and stepped in front of Orion. "It's not my brother's fault."
"You!" Mark trembled with anger seeing Tracy defend soone impersonating her brother. He was furious at Orion for pretending to be Ray and for giving Tracy hope—a false hope that would only make her already difficult life even worse.
Sooner or later, that illusion would shatter, and when it did, it would destroy Tracy. Her fragile life, already on the verge of collapse, would beco a living hell.
Mark's heart ached at the thought, but his fury overpowered his compassion. He couldn't stand by and watch soone play with Tracy's emotions like this. Not her—not after everything she had been through.
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