Chapter 912 (2/2)

Mrs. Hamilton clicked her tongue to bring everyone’s attention back to the current conversation. “And Zone One? Is everything still peaceful?”

Now Clarissa grimaced. “Well, it’s going to be rough in the next three months. The Senate has been doing alright after President Howard was found to be a vegetable, but elections are coming up. A lot of people are waiting to see if the Senator who built the Orchard is going to run.”

Mrs. Hamilton nodded absently. Sam scratched his chin in irritation. Although he wasn’t very much interested in these discussions, it was good to keep abreast of current affairs. And Sam could tell now was not a good time for Donnyton’s political power to be waning.

Donny leaned forward. “Anything out of Ghost?”

“Nothing much,” Clarissa said with a shake of her head. “Since the Senate passed those privacy laws, Ghost was forced to really curtail his observation drones. But there have been a lot of talks between Erickson Steel and West Providence. It’s clear that they are preparing to roll something out. Maybe a new Drone model.”

“I hope that means the old models will be cheaper,” Sam grumbled. He was always fascinated by the drones, but there just didn’t seem a point to spending the exorbitant sum that Erickson Steel demanded for them. Better to just purchase the raw steel.

But that didn’t mean Sam didn’t want to get his hands on one any less.

“Finally…” Donny spoke in a low voice. He folded his arms. “Were you able to get anything from inspecting the energy traces left by the Winged Serpent…?”

“A bit,” Clarissa said with a frown. “The formulae were complicated, but that was until I realized that all the component parts drawn with energy were actually 3-D figures imposed upon this plane-”

“Clarissa...” Donny sighed.

Clarissa jabbed her finger at him. “Very few other people would have thought of it! I’m just explaining so you can appreciate what I do for all of you. But yes. Nothing specific, but the origin is clearly East of Donnyton. Likely somewhere in the unexplored North part of the sea.”

Sam grimaced. If it was in the sea, they would need to rely on the locals in order to get there. As a landlocked entity, Donnyton didn’t have any navy. And the only real port they had access to was in Scant, which was a bit...

“The Royal Sea,” Mrs. Hamilton said with a curl of her lip. “That is what their… king has taken to calling it. The Royal Sea.”

Ed, who had blessedly been quiet until now, snorted loudly. “That man certainly has some balls on him, now doesn’t he?”

“He can back it up,” Mrs. Hamilton said calmly. “As far as we can tell, that Zone is almost five times the size of ours. Even now the edges of it continue to expand, although we have been stuck at our current size. The Royal Sea itself is about as wide as the rest of New Earth combined. Even if he doesn’t have the natural resources now, as his population grows he will inevitably become rich.”

“Why? Most of the sea hasn’t been explored. They can’t claim to be using it.” Alana said bluntly.

With an elegant gesture, Mrs. Hamilton shrugged. “Maybe, but I don’t want to be the first Zone to claim a portion of another Zone’s land. Besides, there is a lot that we can still do here, to improve Donnyton-”

“We aren’t claiming their land right now,” Alana said with flashing eyes. “We are tracking down these fucking Nemesai and putting them down. Even if the Ghosthound killed two, that still leaves-”

“He killed two?!?” Ed said, completely aghast. Sam sighed inwardly. The poor fool didn’t realize how out of his depth he was.

“Not that I think he won’t postpone, but we still have the challenge against Randidly in two days,” Mrs. Hamilton pointed out, ignoring Ed’s digression. “We also received word that we have been cordially invited to the first meeting of Zone Leaders in the Peerless Capital of Zone Seven.”

“Pretty bold of them to send out invites for the first world meeting after so recently joining New Earth,” Regina said quietly. Everyone’s expressions turned grim.

All except Mrs. Hamilton. She simply shrugged. “Honestly, someone had to. And I didn’t want it to be us. Because whoever did it, these sort of resentful feelings would have emerged toward us. We don't’ need that right now. Better that they take on this thankless task.”

“Ah, there’s one more thing,” Clarissa said. Everyone turned to her. After taking a long gulp from her glass of water, she spoke. “It wasn’t confirmed… but Ghost did say that he believes that another Zone connected Southwest of Zone 1.”

The table went silent for several seconds. The distant pressure of the System that they had been aware of for quite some time suddenly loomed over them.

“Which means…” Mrs. Hamilton finally said. “That only one more Zone connecting means the First Calamity will descend.”