Chapter 725: Daruun Congratulates Jack (1/2)
”Thank you, Garlok…” Daruun sighed, looking back to the man on the ship.
Already turned around and waving goodbye, Garlok chuckled, ”Thank Silas. Otherwise, I would be under contract and you'd be coughing up blood from my price alone…”
The moment the man reentered the ship, the thrusters at the ship's front turned slightly. After a moment of adjusting trajectory, the night-black ship rocketed away as quickly as it had arrived.
Daruun was left alone above his mand-crafted world. A sense of fulfillment and satisfaction washed over him. Finally, after millennia of patiently sticking to his plans and readjusting everything time and time again, Daruun had managed to accomplish his greatest, most-recent goal. The district leader smiled as he rushed through the turbulent energy surrounding the planet, which couldn't even tickle his six-star body.
”Dad!”
Although Oli was the first to notice the incoming cosmician, Skaryn was the first to shout to the man. ”It's about time! We've already done all the hard work, so you can rest easy.”
Chuckling, Daruun showed a tender smile at his long-lost son. Seeing Skaryn and Sterfen together again brought back many pleasant memories while seeing Tralbok and Halmut in their current conditions created new pleasant memories. Daruun stepped up and hugged Skaryn, getting a hug in return. ”I'm glad you're finally back…”
”This means we can finally open Kartonia, right?” Skaryn asked, grinning like an overly-excited child.
With a nod, Daruun replied, ”Yes… but I'll talk with Jack about that first. Unlike you, he managed to beat Duorda first-try.”
”But he wouldn't have gotten past Halmut so easily in Glacier Keep without me…” argued Skaryn.
”And who unsealed you and set you up to ambush Halmut in the first place?” reasoned Daruun, getting a half-hearted chuckle from Skaryn and laughter from the others. ”Without Jack, you would still be trapped in that seal, though your plan to escape it would've eventually worked. But it would've been far too late to stop Halmut and Gem, let alone save Kylon.”
”Fair… I'll admit to that. I'm not sure I can thank Jack enough for that…” Skaryn humbly sighed, admitting to his greatest weakness.
Daruun smiled and shook his head. ”Don't be mad. I'm glad you've retained your compassion after all this time. That's something many cosmicians loose throughout their long lives. And congratulations are in order! You're the first Kartonian to reach two-star!”
”I'm still unstable, so don't hold me to it just yet. But I'll admit, it was fun watching Halmut ruin himself with those stimulants. In a way, I have to thank him. Had he trained properly, he wouldn't have destroyed his potential and might've beaten me to the punch. So, thank you, Halmut!” Stomping on Halmut, Skaryn chuckled some more.
”Hmm… No wonder he always hid when I visited… But this makes sense now that the ISA's involvement is confirmed,” Daruun sighed, overlooking the amputee dragon.
Oli laughed and added, ”He had to be ISA, likely from the intelligence division. As a late four-star, killing him would've been much harder if he was from any other division.”
”Late four-star, huh… Then you must be a median four-star, right?” Skaryn asked with a raised eyebrow. ”Or were you good enough to take him out as an initial four-star?”
”Who said I'm a four-star?” Oli laughed some more, walking weakly and slowly toward Daruun. ”Mind sending me back? I've got to--”
”We'll all go back,” stated Daruun, surprising everyone. ”I want to thank Jack personally, and I might as well meet the others. If we're opening Kartonia, Jack may want to celebrate with everyone back in Gilga. That would be a good moment to explain everything… And Oli, there's no need to tease them. They'll likely be working with you in the future.”