Ryan had undergone massive changes. By the time Anbaixiu heard the news, he had already left Ryan's borders and crossed into the domain of the Emerald Dream Forest.
Cade Watson had contacted Anbaixiu via magic mirror to tell him he had found buyers for the flight packs, and shared this news at the same time.
Ryan's young emperor seemed like a changed man. Not only had he persuaded the Shield of the Empire to drop his impeachment, but he had also cowed the rest of the Ryan royal family, firmly securing his seat on the throne once more.
At the time, Anbaixiu had remarked in bewilderment, "That brat has that kind of capability?"
If Price Ryan truly had that kind of skill, how could he have performed like such an idiot on the battlefield?
Something must have happened. Unfortunately, Cade Watson was Anbaixiu's only insider within Ryan, so he could only have him keep digging.
However, after the recent crushing defeat of the air force, Cade Watson had been demoted once again. Now he was merely a squad captain guarding the gates of the imperial capital, making it difficult to snoop into royal affairs.
The young emperor had brought the Shield of the Empire back to his side and subsequently penned a heartfelt letter of apology to Ryan's citizens, offering an explanation for the earlier military defeat and shouldering the blame himself.
Sometimes, when you stubbornly refuse to admit fault, your opposition will only press you harder. Before the young emperor's apology, many citizens of Ryan had been ready to revolt. Yet after his formal apology, much of that simmering resentment seemed to dissipate.
Even though Price Ryan had not suffered any real punishment, an imperial apology was enough to stabilize Ryan's internal situation. In the short term, sharp conflicts were unlikely to flare up again.
Anbaixiu was somewhat curious as to which master was directing the young emperor from behind the scenes, but it was not terribly important.
Ryan's fractures were not something a simple apology could mend. Once extreme fanaticism met defeat, discordant voices would quickly surface. Delaying the inevitable would not change this empire's future.
What was more, Alan was still active within Ryan. Rumor had it that he had already secured the backing of several influential figures and commanded an elite unit of a hundred men.
Truly worthy of a chosen one—the boy's power was snowballing so fast that, sooner or later, he would plunge a dagger into the Ryan Empire.
Meanwhile, Anbaixiu piloted the Black Tide into the Emerald Dream Forest. This time, he avoided alarming the druids as usual, picking an out-of-the-way spot on the perimeter to slip into the dense woods.
He had originally intended to step straight into the dream realm, bypassing the druids to converse with the Lady of Mists and check on how her divine power was recovering.
Yet the moment the Black Tide touched down, the druids appeared, as if they had been lying in wait for him.
Anbaixiu did not order the Black Tide to open fire. Instead, he led Melina and the others out of the cabin, having a premonition that these druids had not come to fight.
Sure enough, as soon as he stepped off the vessel, Anbaixiu spotted an old acquaintance: Brandir, the youngest legendary druid.
Brandir looked at Anbaixiu with an ugly scowl, yet he still greeted him respectfully. "Master Ultraman, welcome."
Anbaixiu asked quizzically, "Welcome? I hope you aren't being sarcastic. If you know my name, you probably know that I was the one who knocked you out from behind."
The first time Anbaixiu visited, he had used the persona of Mengge Grayriver.
The second time, he had deployed directly in his mecha form and given Brandir a sound thrashing.
Neither occasion was connected to the name Ultraman Tiga, so for Brandir to blurt it out meant he likely knew quite a lot.
Sure enough, hearing Anbaixiu's words brought veins popping onto Brandir's forehead.
Brandir gritted his teeth. "Indeed. I have already heard about our previous misunderstanding from the Lady of Mists. You clashed with me to resurrect a great deity. I will not hold it against you."
Judging by that reaction, he was holding it against him quite a bit—it had practically become a millstone around his heart. But Leira had told him the truth?
This was abnormal. The druids had used Leira's remains to sustain the barrier blanketing the entire Emerald Dream Forest. It was only because Leira bore no grudges that she had not settled scores with them; otherwise, she would have turned on them long ago. How could she possibly share her secrets with these druids?
And by all appearances, the druids had tacitly overlooked Anbaixiu breaking in and injuring their people?
"Brandir, give it to me straight," Anbaixiu said solemnly. "What have you done to the Lady of Mists?"
At Anbaixiu's change in tone, Melina's right eye beside him flared with golden radiance, casting light over vast shadows in the woods. Every single one of them was a druid shapechanged into a bird, fully laid bare under Melina's gaze.
Hastings's mechanical body began to hum, primed for battle at a moment's notice.
As for Hares in his quicksilver form, he lay concealed inside his brother's mechanical frame, ready to spring a surprise on these druids whenever needed.
Though Anbaixiu was surrounded by druids, he was not the least bit afraid.
Leaving aside how Melina's antimagic barrier hard-countered these druids, the Black Tide alone behind them could bombard them until they wept for mercy. Anbaixiu himself was no longer the sham legend of the past either. With the Golden Throne's amplification, no mage in the world could match his casting speed and mana reserves.
The atmosphere grew tense with drawn daggers. Brandir clearly wanted nothing more than to fight Anbaixiu in a fair and honorable duel right now, but in the end, he held back. He said to Anbaixiu, "Master Ultraman, we have come to deliver the Lady of Mists' instructions, not to fight you. Please come with us, and you will see the goddess."
Sensing carefully, Anbaixiu found that Brandir was not lying.
Could Leira have reached some sort of agreement with these druids?
Anbaixiu told Brandir, "Very well. Lead the way, then."
Only then did Brandir exhale in relief and turn to guide them.
Anbaixiu did not let down his guard. He let Melina ferret out every druid hiding along the route, which thoroughly humiliated them, yet they merely scowled without making a move, as if restrained by some command.
Deepening their trek into the Emerald Dream Forest, Anbaixiu discovered that the Dream Barrier's effect had vanished entirely; he could not enter the dream to meet Leira directly.
Something was definitely off.
After walking a long way, Anbaixiu arrived before that massive banyan tree from before.
It was here that he had soundly thrashed Brandir, and beneath this very tree that he had unearthed Leira's remains and resurrected her with the Portfolio of Darkness.
Revisiting the scene, Brandir looked even more displeased, yet said nothing, merely guiding Anbaixiu up to the banyan's crown.
Here stood a magnificent statue of the Oak Father, Silvanus, the holy site of pilgrimage for all druids.
And before Silvanus's statue stood the Lady of Mists, Leira, clad in black robes, looking as if she had been waiting for a long time.
"You've arrived," Leira greeted him with a smile, not acting like a goddess in the least, but rather like Anbaixiu's friend.
"Honored Lady of Mists, what on earth is going on here? You and these druids..."
Leira said calmly, "I received an invitation from Silvanus to become his subordinate deity."
Chapter 364