The guards looked at each other. After the aliens, the biggest enemy to their faction was the Immortal Legion; if someone from there wanted an audience with the King, it could mean only two things.

Either a great problem was arising or they were plotting something.

'We are just Grandmasters. Besides, if the King could be harmed that easily, he wouldn't have risen to that position.' They thought, allowing the newcomer to enter.

If someone were to hear how the mighty Grandmasters, renowned by all humanity, were thinking of themselves as 'just,' no one could anticipate their reaction.

"King Arthur." The newcomer spoke coldly; despite being in the presence of such a powerful individual, he remained standing on two legs.

There were only two people that he would ever bow down to.

"Quite the displeasure seeing a member of the Immortal Legion at my quarters." Arthur spoke nonchalantly. Despite the lack of hostility in his voice, he was clearly threatening the newcomer.

"Despite the feeling being mutual, I had little choice in the matter." The man admitted.

Arthur heaved a sigh; he wasn't about to kill a person from the Immortal Legion without a good reason. No one wanted the spark of war to be ignited.

Should the two strongest factions clash, humanity's defense would plummet, giving the aliens the opportunity to press on. This was an outcome that no one wanted to pass.

"Don't waste my time. Tell me what the Immortal Legion wants now."

Somberly the man shook his head.

"As much as it pains me to admit I am not here due to the orders of my faction… A presence has requested the leaders of all renowned factions to gather."

A deep frown appeared on the King's face. There was only a single entity that could gather the leaders of the biggest factions.

"The Emperor?" Arthur mumbled.

Back at base #1, Michael had returned with his squad from the competition.

"Finally, I really want to rest." Leo said tiredly, massaging his shoulders.

"Are you crazy?! Michael is willing to give his Rare cybernetic to the one that proves themselves the most!" Enzo said, puffing out his chest. He saw this as a chance to narrow the gap between them.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am the one that will be reaping the reward." Ava proclaimed, her two hands resting on her thin waist.

Amelia shook her head. "With all due respect, Ava, the most worthy will be me."

Leo sighed; if the others were going to train, he would be left behind if he slacked off.

"Daredevil, couldn't you just let the others win?"

Instantly Ava hit him behind the shin. "How could you call a creature as cute as me a devil?!"

Victoria observed the friendly banter with great interest.

"You said that you don't have much experience when training a lot of troops at once, but you seem to be doing fine." She pointed out, seeing how each member of his faction was eager to train.

Michael could only shake his head. "Training thousands of people is different from training a few individuals."

Victoria could only shrug. Unlike Michael, she found it easy to train an army as a unit.

'It must be the difference between approaches.' She figured before bidding farewell.

Since no one wanted to be outdone by the others, they began to train up to their limit. Michael, wanting to lead by example, did as well. The state of his body was far from satisfactory.

Their training bore fruit; as the days passed, everyone was slowly getting used to the power of their bodies. Since they didn't have much time to get used to their power after increasing their cultivation, now was the perfect time.

That progress was halted when they received an urgent message from Evelyn. She was gathering every Master and Expert in the base.

"She must have reached the Grandmaster realm!" Was the conclusion most came to.

It certainly was faster than expected but welcomed.

When everyone gathered, gasps resonated once she showed herself.

By the aura Evelyn was emitting, it was clear she had managed to reach the Early Grandmaster realm.

"With this, no base in Triton can stand as our equal!"

"As expected of the most renowned general!"

"The strongest to the very core!"

The Masters were impressed by Evelyn's cultivation speed; the Experts, meanwhile, had faces laced with admiration and respect.

As a side effect of her growth, everyone's hearts lit ablaze. With this, reaching the next realm seems more possible than before.

Among the faces filled with joy, Michael was the only one that grasped the meaning of this meeting.

'The time has come, it seems.' He sighed, anticipating tough days ahead.

"I didn't call you here because of good news." Evelyn said, slicing through the chatter like butter.

To the dismay of the others, she didn't seem in a good mood. Quite the opposite, in fact; her face, which had become even more beautiful than before, had a deep frown on it.

"Sadly, our plans to help Neptune will be put on hold for now." Evelyn said, observing the gathered personnel.

Most weren't aware that their leader was planning to help the gas giant, but in hindsight it made sense considering that this was their original purpose in the first place.

'Now it makes sense why she didn't spare any effort to train the troops and advance her cultivation.'

But that poses the question: what could have gone wrong? Everything was proceeding smoothly.

"What seems to be the problem?" One of the Masters asked

"There has been a breach in the asteroid belt. The higher-ups are not going to risk it and are calling the majority of the personnel back to the four inner planets of the solar system."

Despite the many differences of everyone present, one thing united them. They all had families, and most of them were stationed on Earth and the planets near it. They had come here to gain strength to protect them.

But now their loved ones were at risk of being attacked?

"... I am going back." One Master instantly declared he couldn't fight with the looming threat of the death of his family.

Like a domino effect, many of the personnel instantly voiced their desire to go back.

Michael could only sigh; it made sense why the common soldiers were absent from the meeting. If they witnessed their superiors demand to be set back, morale would plummet.

'Who would care for Neptune when their home planet was in danger?' Michael shook his head.

The inevitable had happened; now with this, liberating Neptune was bound to become much harder.

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