Chapter 725 - City of Lemuria (2/2)
”Get your mind off the gutter,” Ben coughed, ”And she isn't that hot.”
”What do you know, rock eyes,” Johnny snorted as Ben gritted his teeth, the sound of which echoed quite loudly, attracting the attention of the guards.
”But Ben is right,” Nik held his chin with his index and thumb, ”Leanne is more like... wild, you know. The kind of image that models pose just for the cover of a magazine. She's a queen who follows ancient customs, right? Maybe she has her own room of young boys or something like that.”
”You don't say...” Reed sighed while Janet and Henry looked towards each other.
”Might I add,” Henry spoke up, ”We're not here for vacation... so why are we even talking about the queen in such manner? If she heard us, it might affect our mission.”
”I agree with Hank on this one,” Janet nodded.
”Finally, the voice of reason,” Sue huffed softly as Nik looked towards Johnny and Ben. The human torch still wasn't satisfied with the argument, well, Nik noted that persistence might even pay off. After all, Leanne seemed more interested in blondes for some reason.
”Ehm,” Leanne finally returned, ”Excuse the delay. I needed to make preparations for your arrival. Everything is done, please follow me,” Leanne smiled as the gates opened up, revealing a posh city. The streets were built from some unknown rocky material while the houses looked tribal and modern at the same time. Instead of mud and haystacks covering the roof, the small houses were built from rubber-like material with, well, Nik definitely sensed even the tiniest of houses having all sorts of facility.
”Although we have kept the structure of the past,” Leanne spoke up as the procession attracted a lot of citizens, a lot of them n.a.k.e.d at that, making the 'outsiders' feel uncomfortable. Well, some of them at least.
”But the facilities in the city may even surpass one of the best cities of the outside world. However, in such a warm city, we don't like too much clothing, so you must excuse our dressing sense.”
”Not at all,” Janet smiled, ”It's refreshing to see such a city. I might even get bold enough to get one of the dresses for myself.” Her words surprising others for a moment but Henry took no note of this peculiar request of Janet.
”Of course, it would be my pleasure,” Leanne smiled towards Janet before looking at the group of bowing citizens. The group's attention finally turned towards the large castle made of glowing gold rock but one observation from Henry denied the presence of any gold. Instead, the castle was simply formed of a material unknown to him but Nik was quite familiar with this one.
'Rock castle... coated with gold-tinted Vibranium...' He touched the outer wall of the castle in admiration as Leanne let the outsiders observe the castle as they saw fit unless any damages occurred, which, fortunately, did not take place.
Finally, Leanne broke off from the procession and led the group to the inner courtyard of the castle. Like any castle would have it, the inner courtyard was full of wonderful and aesthetic decorations which even included the exotic plants unknown to the world. Taking a seat near the marble table, Leanne gestured others to sit with Johnny snatching the chair next to Leanne, much to Reed's frustration while Ben simply standing awkwardly.
”Is something the matter?” Leanne inquired while looking towards Ben as Reed explained, ”It's just that his mutation has severely increased his mass and density. So he will probably end up breaking the chair...”
Leanne furrowed.
”We can't have one of our guests standing during the entire discussion. Let us all sit on the ground instead,” she stated while standing up and walking towards the grassy section of the courtyard, making others look a little surprised while Ben only felt appreciation for the queen.
Once settled down, Leanne finally began, ”While our chef prepares a banquet for the heroes, let us discuss the main issues of your arrival.”
”First and foremost,” Reed began, ”We hope to free the savage land from whatever contraption that has currently covered it. Our agents are still inside that portion of land and might be in danger.”
”And the next point of focus is setting up a trade route that can access the City of Lemuria by water,” Leanne completed. ”I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few agents and denizens of the Paradise,” Leanne smiled, ”One of them is hailed as the hero of Paradise— Ka-Zar, however, it later came to my attention that his real name is Kevin Plunder. And, I have discussed plenty trade with the agents of the headquarter based near the tribe of fall people.”
”Whose Ka-Zar?” Susan inquired.
”He's...” While Leanne thought of a better way to describe the man, Johnny spoke up, ”If he's called a hero, then he must be an awesome guy. What else do we need to know about him? Oh, does he have any superpower?” He looked towards Leanne as she shook her head.
”He is a slightly stronger human. Once... I was almost caught by the other tribe but he saved me back then,” Leanne smiled while Nik seemed to have finally realized why Leanne was into Blonde men. One of the kind saved her, after all.
”I see, it must have been a harsh experience,” Susan stated, making Leanne smile weirdly, ”In a way, yes.”
'Ah... I know a dirty smile when I see one,' Nik realized while Susan looked a bit confused.
”She means she rewarded the hero handsomely,” Janet leaned towards Susan and whispered.
”Oh, ehm,” Susan nodded while looking down.
”Can you tell us about the barrier? What might have caused it?” Henry inquired.
”We don't know the cause of barrier but we do know of the source. The ancient text of my predecessor describes their travel to this land and the discovery of a civilization called Nuvali. They found that the entire Paradise was artificially built and modified to... preserve the prehistoric lifeforms and even enhance some of them. The barrier is probably a function left by the Nuvali men who once arrived on this planet.”
While others furrowed at the revelation, Nik inquired with curiosity. He now controlled the alien tech but there was no journal or any information on the lifeforms that left the island itself. Heck, he even understood the Nuvali language through the temple but knew nothing of these lifeforms.
”Why were your ancestors so sure that Nuvali came to the planet and simply did not originate here?”
”I don't know it myself,” Leanne smiled, ”And I cannot give out too much information written in our sacred texts. But this pertains to the survival of our land. So, what I am willing to inform is that deep within the Paradise is an old temple noted to have the environment control function that keeps the island tropical in nature. So... if there is anything about the barrier, it must be there.”
Nik nodded at her words as Leanne continued, ”Although I understand the need of protecting one's identity, it would still be pleasant to talk without any masks or helmets covering our faces. If it isn't any problem, of course.”
Henry thought for a moment and took his helmet off while Nik shook his head.
”I'm more comfortable like this,” Nik replied as Johnny gratefully turned towards him, a happy expression on his face for reasons even unknown to Nik as he didn't wish to even respond to such a look.
'He's probably interested in you...' Lola muttered, her gaze a bit interested as Nik furrowed, 'Really? I always thought that I couldn't land a guy like Johnny.'
'Of course, you can,' Lola replied.
'Honey, he's pulling your leg,' Asmodeus snickered.
'Oh... I see,' Lola mumbled with a soft hum before going silent as Nik smiled to himself.
'Maybe he's grateful that you didn't show your utterly bewitching face and seduced the woman he is trying to aim for,' Pickle resounded a sound judgment as Sky hummed curiously.
'Bewitching is a strong word... I mean, Asmodeus can be bewitching.'
'Thanks,' Asmodeus chimed.
'She's a slimy s.l.u.t,' Lilith growled.
'Sigh... who wants to be called bewitching. I'm just godly,' Pure sighed, 'With no one to match my appearance.'
'Pfft!' Every other being within Nik chuckled simultaneously.
'Not that godly... you're like a—' Before Asmodeus could continue, Nik instantly shut her up.
'Woah, don't you describe Pure to me. I'm this close to completing her first test.'
He sighed as a group of female servants quickly brought covered plates full of dishes with the thick aroma wafting out as Ben sighed once again, picking a nearby rock and munching on it as the workers realized that the cuisine is needed to be set on the ground.
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