Way of the Knights

Chapter 868: Finished Projects

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"Oh, you've returned." 

This was what Anne said upon seeing Raven. It's been a few days since he returned. Most of those times were spent resting with Luna.

Because Raven didn't do anything strenuous, he didn't need a long rest. Only a few days sufficed for him and he's as good as new. 

"Yeah, I just returned a few days ago." He replied, walking with her towards the meeting hall along with Luna. 

"Did you find him?" 

"Master? Yes. I left him at the Grand Ancestral Plane. The old man has been through a lot, he needs a break." 

"I see." Anne nodded. 

Shortly after, the three of them entered the meeting hall and saw the rest of the council members already waiting there. The others saw Raven and their eyes revealed a surprise. Just like Anne, it seems that they too wasn't aware that Raven already returned. 

"Hey everyone, I'm back." Raven greeted them as he walked towards his seat. "Luna told me that you all have been very busy these past few days."

"Oh, you have no idea." Ellen snorted. 

"Well, I certainly would love to hear more about it. But before we go to that, I want to hear about the statistics of the Divine Realm. Laughing Dragon, if you will please?" 

"It'd be my pleasure, Young Lord." Laughing Dragon replied, walking towards the podium.

He then began his reports. Raven listened to them intently since he needed to see if Divine Realm was ready for what's about to happen next. 

According to Laughing Dragon's reports, the rate of mission completion rose up by at least 10% since the last time he listened to it. This was a significant progress since it proves that the quality of Divine Realm's forces were getting stronger. Add the fact that only a handful of years passed since they've been in authority, this further proves that they are indeed heading in the right direction. 

With the increased rate of mission completion, the dangers that remained within the Divine Realm dwindled even more. Don't forget that those who claimed missions were given badges that could record sceneries. These recordings could be complied and used for intelligence gathering. Gather enough evidence and it wouldn't be too hard to solve any kind of mysteries surrounding a foreign location. 

On another note, Laughing Dragon also reported that the Elite Students – the finalists of the Grand Youth Meet led by none other than Kyle himself, also began undertaking missions. 

They didn't go as a whole team, instead they chose to spread out and challenge themselves by going into smaller groups. The missions were tempering them and giving them experience. Kyle didn't team-up with Nina and Tori all the time, they used a rotation in order to culminate their connection so that the team will be more united. 

Aside from those things, Laughing Dragon also reported that there are some people who expressed their desire to enter their Academy. He said that they've been receiving gifts and offerings from many people with messages attached to them. 

Most of those messages were highlighting their wishes to have their youth enter the Academy. So far, Laughing Dragon just kept the gifts aside, he didn't touch any of them since he's waiting for Raven's return. 

"My, I didn't know the allure of our Academy is already growing this much." Raven chuckled upon hearing the last part of Laughing Dragon's report.

"Young Lord, what should we do?" Laughing Dragon asked. 

"You've read the letters right?" Raven asked him, to which Laughing Dragon nodded, "Then you should have an idea who the kids they're referring to, have you had your men do a background check on them?"

"That…" Laughing Dragon was stunned, seconds later he bowed solemnly and said: "I apologize, Young Lord. The thought completely missed me. I've been muddle-headed. I'm willing to accept your punishment." 

"Ey, no need to go that far." Raven waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine. It happens from time to time. Just do well on the background check. If their records looked clean and met all the aspects we're looking for, you can go ahead and send them an invitation. If they're lacking in requirements, you can give them examinations. Ask Mark for ideas."

"If their records looked bad, don't hesitate to return the gift they sent to us along with the compiled report. At least, rejecting them in that way won't offend them too much." 

"I understand, Young Lord. Thank you for your instructions." 

"Alright, you may return to your seat." Raven nodded. His gaze then landed on his team, asking: "Well then, let's hear. What kept you guys busy these past few days?"

"We've been running some errands for you, for the most part at least." Paul answered, "We knocked out some of them projects you have on your list." 

"Oh? Tell me more about it?" 

"The first project we completed while you were gone was 'Web of Life'. That was a pain in the ass to finish by the way." 

"You guys completed the Web of Life? Well, I'll be damned." Raven's expression looked extremely impressed and surprised. 

Well, he wasn't expecting that at all. Also, the fact that they completed such large project in such a short time was even impressive. 

The Web of Life Project was in truth, metaphorical. It is a project that will improve the inter-connectivity of the entire Divine Realm. 

By establishing official routes from one place to another by virtue of safe and secured spatial tunnels, they can eliminate all sorts of danger when it comes to travelling. This also makes it easier and safer for people to go to their destinations. It's a project that will improve the citizens' quality of life but it also have some military benefits as well. 

That being said, this project is time consuming because of the sheer amount of worlds under Divine Realm and Dawn Council's jurisdiction. They have to establish a new spatial tunnel and connect every single world there is for the whole network to start. 

The sheer amount of effort needed to complete that is immense, Raven actually planned on having his Avatars help him with that but it's no longer necessary since the project's already completed. 

Raven was currently holding a folder that contained the routes established and he got to say, it was good. The tunnels are working just as intended and there were compiled reports that proved its stability.

"Alright, color me impressed. What else have you guys completed?"

"We completed the devices needed for the 'Emergency Shuffle Protocol' and the 'Buster Call'. The hardest project was the 'Resonance of Dawn' but it's completed now." Luna replied. 

Raven was completely blown away by her words. He couldn't help it. After all, the projects she said they completed were the most troublesome ones. 

The 'Emergency Shuffle Protocol' is something that the Dawn Council could use to save lives. Say, if an accident happens and there is an event where countless of lives were in danger, they can activate this protocol to send the people away to a safe place and place the danger away so that it won't cause a chain of reaction.

The 'Buster Call' is an offensive project. It's a trap for their enemies where they'll be caged in a prison and will be forced to defend against the full retaliation of not only the council but the Divine Real, as a whole. 

As for the 'Resonance of Dawn', this is indeed the most difficult project. This project is listed in order to increase the quality of Divine Realm's forces. By creating a device that will propagate the influence of Heavenly Law Order, the depth of understanding the Knights will have about Laws will surely increase. This in turn, will make them obviously stronger. 

Even with the reports pile up on his table, Raven still found it hard to believe. He was gone for a short time yet his team managed to complete this many time consuming projects. It seems that he was indeed underestimating them. 

"Well done, everyone." Raven chuckled, "This is good. Very good. I'm pleased to hear that we've come this far. And it happened in such a fortunate timing too."

"Hmm? Why is that?" Anne asked. 

Raven sighed and placed the documents down. He clasped his hand on top of his table and looked solemnly at his team. 

"Well, I've made contact with the Abyssals." 

"Say what now!?" Paul was so surprised that he stood up from shock. 

"Relax." Raven waved his hand. "I haven't provoked their main force just yet. I also made sure that they didn't find out about what I did."

"What did you anyway?" Mark asked. 

Raven then recounted his trip with them. He told them about his encounter with Lenna, him coming to the Broken Badlands, his meeting with Yelena, him restoring their world and hiding them. The Space Beast parade, the trail of the abyssals…all the way to him saving Geezer and the intel he got from them. 

"…I left master at out home so that he could rest and hopefully heal from everything that happened to him. That about sums up my whole trip."

"Now, you see why I said that these upgrades came at an opportune time?" 

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