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"no need."

Ron immediately rejected the suggestion upon hearing it.

"The number of people should not be too large when going there."

If there are too many people, it will be easier to expose our whereabouts. Three people are just right.

Moreover, Ron has an external ally, namely Leo, the first sign of the Zodiac in the Protoss Keys.

If we need an extra person to help with the search and expand the search area, we can call him to come and help. Anyway, I have a temporary contract with him now, so I shouldn't have any complaints.

Seeing that Ron was so averse to it and didn't think about increasing manpower, Mirajane had no objections.

"Since you've already made all the arrangements, I'll go back and pack my luggage."

Mirajane waved and turned to leave the study quickly.

Ron looked at Ultear, who also had no objection, and they sat there looking at each other, saying:

"I'll wait for you, take your time."

……

Meanwhile, at the headquarters of the Magic Council.

As usual, after the meeting, Speaker Crawford Heem walked slowly back to his office in the headquarters corridor with his hands behind his back.

Just then, the approaching young figure made him frown slightly and stop in his tracks.

The person who arrived was Wulu, who had just finished her work.

Upon seeing Crawford, Ulu stopped and greeted him with a smile:

"Hello, Speaker."

"Oh, it's Uru."

Crawford responded with a sound of agreement, then shook his head insincerely and sighed.

"It's a pity about this year's selection of the Ten Wizard Saints. Although you made great contributions to the Paradise Tower incident, your qualifications are not enough. It's a real shame."

"Ah, thank you for your concern, Speaker."

Wu Lu smiled slightly, her tone very calm.

"Let such empty fame take its course. I don't care about these things. The most important thing is that those children were saved."

Seeing Ulu's calm yet not disappointed expression, Crawford's eyes twitched slightly.

Is this for real? This is the title of one of the Ten Wizard Saints! If you take it, you'll be practically my equal, and you still won't get angry?

This woman's cunning is truly unfathomable; I couldn't detect a single flaw in her. I'll have to be much more careful in the future.

Although Crawford thought this to himself, he just chuckled on the surface.

"It's good that you think this way. Keep this mindset, and you'll be a shoo-in for the next Ten Saints selection. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you for the Speaker's recognition. I will continue to work hard. I'll take my leave now."

After saying that, Ulu bid farewell to Crawford and they passed each other by.

As Crawford watched Ulu leave, his fake smile vanished. Just as he was about to return to his office, a soldier suddenly rushed over from the other end of the corridor.

"Excuse me, Speaker, this is an urgent intelligence report just delivered by your personal unit."

The speaker frowned slightly, took the encrypted scroll from the soldier, and then ordered the soldier to leave.

Crawford hurried back to his office, and after casting a soundproof barrier as usual, he opened the scroll with a spell.

When he saw that the contents of the document contained the last whereabouts of the remaining five Oración Seis, his expression changed drastically.

"The Albares Empire?!"

Chapter 201 The Albarees Empire

Time flew by, and they arrived at a cargo ship between the continent of Ishgar and the Western Continent. Ron was resting in a cabin.

After everything was ready, Ron took Urtia and Mira on a sea voyage that lasted for more than half a month.

To keep a low profile, they avoided ports that would alert the Albares Empire, instead investigating more discreet sea routes through the Magic Council, and thus boarded the transoceanic cargo ship discreetly.

Before setting off, Ron was thinking of bringing Mirajane and Ulutia along, fearing that there would be some friction on the long journey. However, unexpectedly, they still followed the direction agreed upon with Ron and were surprisingly harmonious.

Perhaps because all three of them chose to have separate rooms, apart from going out for meals at regular intervals and the two of them silently gazing at each other, they spent most of their time in their respective rooms meditating or resting, thus avoiding the trouble Ron had anticipated.

Ron sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, reviewing the various arrangements made before departure.

The daily operations of the Pure White Theatre were left to the troupe's elders and clones. Although the theatre's popularity had exploded again and it was starting to expand once more, they were already used to Ron's frequent trips away from home, so they didn't say anything.

Moreover, the Pure White Theatre currently has a surplus of manpower, and with the help of Ron's clone, they are confident that they can complete a perfect performance while maintaining multiple shows.

Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild, Ron had informed Guild Master Makarov that he had accepted a new commission and that he would be taking Mirajane and Ultear with him, reassuring him not to worry.

Makarov just laughed it off, and after seeing them off at the Magic Train Terminal, he boarded the cargo ship.

"Judging from the estimated time, we will probably arrive in the Albares Empire very soon."

Ron slowly opened his eyes, then activated the panel system, brought up the God of War card pool, and looked at the two newly integrated character cards.

In the past six months, perhaps due to a stroke of good luck in my career, I miraculously drew two S-rank potential cards, which have now been added to the God-tier card pool.

Although the two new cards had somewhat hindered his ability to draw [Rubik] and [Gojo Satoru] during the past six months, their strength was naturally comparable to theirs, and they also made up for some of his weaknesses. As long as he didn't encounter any too strong people on this journey, he should be confident that he could completely escape their pursuit.

When Ron was halfway through his investigation, the room suddenly started to shake.

Ron activated his six eyes and looked out of the cargo ship. He saw land gradually appearing on the coast, indicating that they were not far from their destination.

boom!

As the cargo ship docked, Ron, now cloaked, leaped onto the deck and stepped onto the territory of the Western Continent.

Following closely behind Ron were Mirajane and Ulutia, both also wearing cloaks.

The three of them discreetly blended into the disembarking crowd and, using forged documents prepared in advance, passed the border guards' identity check and arrived at this border port town.

At first, Ron and his two companions did not feel any significant difference between this place and the continent of Ishgar when they first entered the town. It looked like a bustling port, after all, the streets were lined with shops and there were many people.

However, as they ventured deeper, Mirajane and Urutia couldn't help but show surprised expressions as they scanned the scenery along the way, no longer having time to engage in aerial combat.

"There are quite a few mages in this town..."

Mirajane's eyes showed a hint of surprise, and she whispered to Ron, "..."

"Even in the Kingdom of Fiore, it's rare to find a port with a good magical atmosphere in such a remote border town. Could it be because there's a large magic guild stationed nearby?"

"Indeed."

Ultear, who was wearing a mask, nodded slightly. With her ability to sense things, she could naturally perceive that the pedestrians coming and going on the streets all possessed a good foundation in magic.

Upon hearing their initial impressions, Ron didn't choose to answer. Instead, he led them around the market and taverns to gather information.

Upon learning that there was no guild here and that the port's development was rather slow, the two of them gradually showed expressions of confusion. Then Ron led them into a rather secluded street corner.

"It's normal for you to have these doubts."

Seeing a patrol of soldiers passing by in the distance, Ron said slowly:

"There is no magic guild in this town, or rather, magic guilds have disappeared from the entire Western Continent."

Upon hearing this, Mirajane and Ultear were both stunned. For them, who had grown up on the continent of Ishgar, mages and magic guilds were inseparable.

Ron explained slowly:

"This is the biggest difference between the Albares Empire and Ishgar."

Back then, more than 730 magic guilds on this continent were forcibly unified and incorporated into the Empire's army, thus establishing Albares, a highly centralized and powerful empire.

The magical range you are experiencing is not caused by the guild, but by the presence of a powerful imperial army here.

As they listened to Ron's words, Mirajane and Urtia gradually became shocked and couldn't help but gasp.

Urutia asked softly:

"Why did they assemble such a powerful army?"

Ron shook his head and gave a helpless, wry smile.

"This is none of our business for now; let's continue searching for our goal."

All I can say is that we still need to continue improving ourselves.

After hearing Ron's answer, their expressions turned serious.

When they turned to look at the streets and the troops again, the previous sense of prosperity was gone, replaced by a deep sense of pressure.

After looking at the two of them, Ron took out the previous photos for comparison.

It's not appropriate to tell them too many details now, not only because it's inconvenient to explain the source of the information, but also because I don't want to undermine their confidence.

Hopefully, by then I'll be fully developed and ready.

"The port inspections were more thorough than I expected, and there was no need to waste time here."

After gathering initial intelligence at the street corner, Ron compared it with the previous photos of Hermit Purple and concluded that this port was not their target.

After Ron explained things to the two of them, they both nodded. After Ron's explanation of the place, they didn't want to cause any more trouble.

So Ron and his men immediately left the port and headed toward the interior of the Empire.

Chapter 202 Pink Short Hair

After leaving the heavily guarded port, Ron, Ulutia, and Mirajane discreetly traversed the remote wilderness and forests of the Albares Empire.

They followed the directions and searched along the way, passing through several villages one by one.

With the help of Mirajane and Urutia, exploring these villages didn't take too long.

Ron had shown them the routes and methods for gathering intelligence at the port, and they had learned a great deal from it.

However, their investigation of these villages yielded no results, as none of the villages along the route matched the factors and geographical features in his photos.

Looking at the unfamiliar mountain forest before them, their clues seemed to have hit a bottleneck.

"It feels like sunset is approaching. Should we go back to our old village for the night and then make further plans?"

Mirajane asked.

"Let's go to the next village, but let me make a decision first."

Ron and his team found a secluded corner, pulled out a Protoss Key, and opened a door in the void.

"Come forth, Leo Gate, Leo."

Clang~ Clang~

The magic circle, shimmering with golden light, revealed a helpless-looking Leo.

Looking at the desolate forest around him, free of any enemies, Leo glared at Ron, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Why did you call me out... huh?"

He was about to continue complaining when he saw Mirajane and Ultear behind Ron, and his eyes lit up instantly.

"Oh dear, so you should have two such lovely young ladies with you."

Leo reached up and tossed his hair, flashing a professional gigolo smile as he tried to approach them.

"This long journey must be boring for the two young ladies. Would you like your big brother to be your personal protector...?"

Faced with Leo's sudden change to a greasy appearance, Mirajane and Ultear took a step back in unison, their eyes revealing a hint of strangeness and doubt.

"Enough is enough..."

Ron, who was standing still, ruthlessly grabbed Leo by the collar and forcibly pulled him back.

Don't mess with minors, or I'll be the first to electrocute you.

When Leo was brought back, he looked at Ron with the same expression one would give to someone from the same sect.

"I didn't realize you, this seemingly reserved but actually flirtatious guy, would have girls with you, two of them at that."

Unfortunately, you're still too ungentlemanly. Do you need me to teach you...?

"Don't give me that nonsense."