CHAPTER 472: NEW PLOY

The very short time off ended with Lane having done... quite a lot, all things considered, with Damien’s suit, the rings, and Ava’s new experiment, but not much in terms of his role as the boss of the secret organization. He barely skimmed through ’his’ email exchange with Blanc and Vulcan (that is, the emails that Ava exchanged with them in his name) to catch up on the situation... And he didn’t really have time for anything else.

The Association had no regard for the elite team members’ right to rest, after all. Even after having dragged them through two months of practically non-stop raids, they still had to engage them in the preparations for the summit.

Well, not like they had that much of a choice. Some things could only be done by them.

Such as the task they were given two days later. For this year’s tournament, the Association planned to use three monsters from the Lapis Lake as the final obstacle. They were going to be placed in special cages, which were Mana-proofed, blocking some of Mana, therefore reducing the effect of their abilities, and making it safer for the participants.

Of course, it didn’t block ALL the effects, especially with S-rank monsters. That’s why the elite team was needed to assist with the capture, and then with transporting the monsters to the Eldenveil, where the tournament was going to be held. Even though most of the work was going to be done by the Allen Guild anyway, the Association wanted to at least make it look as if they weren’t useless, so they had to send their strongest members. Any weaker team would have just succumbed to the hypnosis, becoming a burden on the Allen Guild instead.

And that was the last thing the Association wanted. Especially when their competence was increasingly questioned online...

"Everyone, please be careful," Damien warned, as they got off the minibuses, ready to enter the Restricted Zone. "If anyone starts feeling hazy, inform me immediately. Watch over your teammates, and if you notice anyone moving toward the lake, call for help."

The members of the team all nodded with serious expressions on their faces, especially the A-rankers. Only they were going in, and they had already experienced being hypnotized by those monsters before, thus they knew exactly how dangerous and hard to resist it was...

Damien’s eyes swept over the group one more time, pausing for a moment on Lane, before turning around and entering the Zone, heading straight to the beach where the Allen Guild was already waiting for them. Although he was worried about what might happen, with the monsters, the Allens, and Lane all gathered in one place, there was nothing he could do about it. Orders were orders, and he had to follow with the task... And leaving Lane behind wasn’t a viable solution, unfortunately, as he had no way to justify it to the higher-ups (and the man himself wouldn’t agree to it either). He could only hope that Lane would behave, as he asked...

"Team Leader Lennox," one of the members of the Allen Guild greeted him as soon as they arrived at the restaurant by the beach, currently being used as a rest point. "Welcome. We’ve been waiting for you."

"Mn. Thank you." Damien nodded his head politely, even though his frown deepened.

Waiting for them? Clearly not! He could hear the splashes and the sounds of fighting coming from the lake. The Allen Guild had already started the operation to capture the monsters, even though they were not supposed to.

He was going to let it slide this time, though. The Allen Guild was already doing the Association a favor by taking charge of so much of the summit’s preparations without asking for much in return. And it’s not like their team was going to assist with the capture... They were there only to oversee the operation and transport of the monsters into the Eldenveil, that’s all.

"May I ask who’s in charge of the capture?" he just asked the Allen Guild member in front of him.

"Guild Master is leading the operation. He’s currently at the beach. Should I lead you to him?"

Miles Allen himself?

Damien’s eyes instinctively drifted towards Lane. He had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this, but...

He held back a sigh. "Yes, please."

The Allens cared about their reputation, he already knew that much. Thus, it was unlikely that Miles would engage in any argument with Lane in public.

Sure enough, when Miles noticed them come, he put on a light smile, barely sparing his son a glance, before turning to Damien. "Ah, Team Leader Lennox, you’re finally here. We’re almost done capturing the monsters. I hope you don’t mind that we started ahead of time?"

Damien stared at the man for a moment. There was something different about Miles’ attitude. He was still polite, at least on the surface, but he seemed less respectful than he used to be. Possibly because of Damien’s relationship with Lane, which made him think less of the man? Either way,

"I don’t mind," he said. Even though he DID mind, since it was against the protocol, and against what they had agreed on. But it worked in his favor, since that meant that they would have to spend less time together. And, "We’re on a tight schedule. I’m glad that there won’t be any delays."

"Yes." Miles nodded his head, before turning his eyes back to the lake, where a series of loud splashes was coming from, as one of the monsters tried to free itself from the net. "Nyla, it’s your turn!" he called out, causing both Lane and Clara to freeze, instantly turning their heads.

Just in time to see Nyla raise her arms, her brows furrowing as she focused her attention on the monster... Then, using her ability, she lifted the monster out of the water, tossing it into the tank waiting on the shore.

"Good job," Miles smiled at her as she approached, even though his eyes said something else. ’Too slow.’ He didn’t want to criticize his heir in front of the outsiders, though, so instead, he went over to the tank to check on the catch.

"Miss Nyla..." Damien was about to greet the woman. However, before he could even say much, Nyla had already passed him by, approaching...

"Miss, are you alright? You l-look as if you’re about to be h-hypnotized..."

"?!"

Both Lane’s and Clara’s jaws dropped.

Just what was going on? Nyla was approaching... flirting (?) with Clara?

...Could it be the Allen’s new ploy?