Chapter 678 Preparations Before Setting Off

Chapter 678 Preparations Before Setting Off

Now that Melanie had gone missing, Larry had to go to Europe himself to investigate.

Her stepfather was the head of BlueTech Corporation and a key figure in the Ward family incident. Everyone knew the full story and understood why Larry was heading to Europe.

Chloe looked at him. "How long will you be gone?"

Larry shook his head. "Not sure. If things go smoothly, I'll be back in a few days. If not, it might take longer, but no more than a month."

He looked around at everyone in the room. "Keep things running at Aurora Citadel while I'm away. We can't afford any chaos right now. Paisley, you're the head of the Bennett family and you carry real weight in the super-powered community. While I'm gone, make sure Chloe and Abigail are protected. Nothing can happen to them."

Paisley pressed her lips together. Protect Chloe? Chloe was the last person who needed protecting these days — if anything, everyone else should be glad she wasn't going after them. Still, she nodded. "Fine. I'll keep an eye on things."

"Also," Larry continued, "Vaughn is deep in secluded training somewhere in Aurora Citadel. If something comes up that you can't handle, go to him. I'll stop by before I leave and ask him to stay alert during this time."

"Got it." Everyone nodded.

With everything said, Larry let out a long breath. "No time to waste. I'll go see Vaughn first."

"Go ahead."

"Be careful."

"Don't worry about Aurora Citadel for now. The Grand Selection is still a ways off. And even if it comes around, it can be pushed back — the results are in the hands of you core leadership anyway."

The three spoke up one after another.

Larry said nothing more, turned, and left. He found Vaughn and the two talked at length.

Vaughn swore up and down: "Larry, just go. With me holding down Aurora Citadel, nothing's going to happen to those girls."

Larry had complete confidence in Vaughn's strength. Without fusing a beast crystal core, Vaughn could arguably be called the most powerful person on the surface. He had already reached the third rung of the evolutionary ladder — a tier that only appeared after hitting the peak of the eighth energy level, and one that could only be truly surpassed by climbing all nine rungs to break into the ninth energy level. Even if other powerful fighters obtained and successfully fused with Spirit Turtle's core energy, they still might not match Vaughn.

"By the way," Larry remembered something and asked, "what do you think of the current king of Summer Nation?"

Vaughn blinked, a little puzzled. "In what sense?"

"Every sense."

Vaughn gave a slight shake of his head. "Honestly, I don't know much about that. I've been in deep seclusion for years and haven't been out in the world much, so I'm not really up on current affairs. But from where I stand, Summer Nation's prosperity today is the result of several generations of kings. Overall, I'd say it's been pretty good."

Larry gave a small nod and didn't press further. He changed the subject. "I'll leave Aurora Citadel in your hands. I'll head to Europe, and the moment I find her, I'll come straight back."

"Don't worry. Nothing will go wrong." Vaughn promised again.

"I'm heading out."

Larry turned and left, making his way straight to the military district. For this trip to Europe, he planned to bring Frank along.

"What?" Frank looked up, caught off guard. "Boss, you want me to come with you? I don't know if that's a good idea. Legion of Flame Surge is a mess right now — those old guys won't listen to a word I say. If I leave, who's going to hold things together?"

Larry smiled. "That's exactly the point. Aurora Citadel is already unstable, and it's showing signs of breaking into full chaos. So why not let it get a little more chaotic? We both leave, come back after a while, and use that as the perfect chance to do a thorough cleanup starting with Legion of Flame Surge."

He wanted to see exactly who would crawl out of the woodwork once he and Frank were gone. His guess was that someone would try to get Brad out. Brad had no more value now, and Larry had been waiting for the right moment to move against him. If someone dared to spring Brad free, he'd have all the justification he needed when he got back.

Frank thought it over. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Larry said, "Don't worry. I know exactly what's going on inside Legion of Flame Surge — who's clean and who isn't. I've got it all figured out."

He'd been sitting on a file of classified information about key military figures, given to him by General Chao some time ago. He just hadn't made his move yet.

Frank asked, "When do we leave?"

"No rush." Larry was thoughtful. "I don't want to slip away quietly this time. I want to make it loud and obvious. I'll go see the king shortly and have him reach out to Seraphim to arrange a bilateral military exchange. I'll go as the joint commander of Southwild Black Dragon and Aurora Citadel's Legion of Flame Surge, leading elite troops from both forces to Seraphim for the exchange."

If he left without a word, those people might not dare to act. Only by making a big show of it — making it crystal clear to everyone that he was leaving Aurora Citadel — would the hidden troublemakers lose their patience and tip their hand.

"Alright, I'll get things moving on my end and reach out to Southwild to pick the best fighters." Frank nodded.

"Good. I'll go find the king."

Larry left the military district and headed for Dragon Palace. After a full day of running around, he was starting to feel the faint edges of exhaustion.

He arrived at Dragon Palace, met with the king, and got straight to the point.

"What? Reach out to Seraphim for a bilateral military exchange?" The king looked surprised. "Larry, the situation in Aurora Citadel is already murky. You leaving right now seems a little..."

Larry raised a hand to cut him off. "That's exactly why I'm leaving — and I'm leaving loudly, so word spreads across the whole city. The whole point is to let people know I'm gone and force whoever's hiding in the shadows to make their move. Once they show themselves, I can come back and follow the thread, dealing with them one by one."

"Are you sure you can keep control of the whole situation? Are you sure you can handle whatever breaks out in Aurora Citadel? Are you sure it won't spiral into something unmanageable?" The king fixed his eyes on Larry and fired off three questions in a row.

"Everything is under control." Larry's face was full of confidence.

Reassured, the king let out a breath. "If you're that sure, I'll contact Seraphim right away. But nailing down the details will take a day or two — go home and sit tight for a few days."

"Make it fast. I can wait, but the situation can't." Larry stood up and walked out.

After he left, the king sank back into the sofa, lost in thought, muttering quietly to himself: "What is Larry actually up to?" He found that he couldn't quite read him anymore — heading to Seraphim of all places, at a moment like this.

"Shadow." The king called out.

Shadow pushed open the door and stepped in, bowing respectfully. "Your Majesty."

"Look into Larry's real reason for going to Seraphim," the king said. "This isn't about a simple military exchange. He's got something else in mind."

"Understood. I'll get on it right away." Shadow accepted the order, turned, and left.