Simon, seeing the two of them straying further from the topic, interjected, "Could you two discuss your personal matters in private? It's getting late, and we have more important issues to address."
Uwa immediately shot him a piercing glance and coldly replied, "Are you suggesting our matters aren't important?"
De Silva, fearing that his personal affairs might cause an argument between the parties, quickly said, "Ms. Uwa, we can discuss this privately later."
"Fine, I'll find you afterward," Uwa responded. She showed little interest in the negotiations, which consisted entirely of Bayu and Simon engaging in verbal sparring. Neither would yield to the other, and they argued until their faces turned red. After two hours, the negotiations had made no progress.
"How are your actions any different from the original Illuminati?" Simon angrily demanded.
With a loud slam on the table, Ethan stood up. "Mr. Simon, how dare you say such a thing?"
The atmosphere instantly became ice-cold. De Silva hurriedly stood up to mediate, "Everyone, please calm down. Let's not ruin years of friendship between our groups over a gold mine."
Uwa finally spoke up, "Ethan, sit down. We will mine the gold ourselves and give the city-state twenty percent of what we extract. How does that proposal sound?" She slowly looked at each person as she finished speaking.
Simon was about to refuse when De Silva jumped in, "I agree."
The other three members of the city-state's Council of Elders also nodded in agreement, "We concur."
The meeting finally concluded. Later, Uwa and De Silva met privately. Both fell into an awkward silence, neither knowing how to begin. After a long while, Uwa spoke first, "Your name is De Silva?"
"Yes, Ms. Uwa."
"Don't call me Ms. Uwa, just Uwa will do." As she spoke, she pulled something from her pocket.
"This is the invisibility cloak. It originally belonged to my brother, and now I'm giving it to you—returning it to its rightful owner, in a way."
De Silva reached out to take it while thinking, "You call it an invisibility cloak, but why can I see it?" Only after Uwa explained how to use the cloak did everything become clear.
Having resolved this matter, Uwa felt unburdened. "My mission is now complete. It's time for me to leave."
"Where do you plan to go?"
"I want to revisit places I've been before, and I need to find my son." Beyondbear had grown deeply fond of the city-state, where he could develop intimate relationships with the pleasure-givers. Ares remained the same height as before, not having grown at all in several years, causing the people of Yin City to regard him as a freak. He usually lived in a luxury room at "Three Wolves House," returning home on weekends. The house was organized with children over three years old, with three children forming a group, four groups forming a class, and twelve children in each class. Every child had to leave Three Wolves House on the third day after their sixteenth birthday coming-of-age ceremony, after which they could apply for private accommodation.
Since receiving the cloak, De Silva had been practicing holding his breath, though only in secret. The three family members lived together, and Alena was timing him. "How long was that?" De Silva asked.
"Forty-seven seconds."
"Worse than last time?"
Alena laughed, "Brother, it seems this invisibility cloak isn't right for you."
De Silva felt discouraged. "What use is invisibility for such a short time?"
"I heard Ms. Uwa could hold her breath for half an hour," Alena said.
"Then she really shouldn't have given me the cloak. It would be most effective on her."
"She's truly selfless. Most people wouldn't give up something like that."
"Indeed," De Silva agreed. As they were chatting, Nicola walked in. "Two more people went missing today, another couple."
Since the "Courage Alliance" had settled in Zi City, more than sixty members had mysteriously disappeared over the years, but no clues could be found. Everyone was panicking, and many wanted to apply for residence in other city-states. These disappearances began after Amandine's death, and people said it was his ghost seeking revenge. "What have you heard?" De Silva asked.
Nicola hesitantly replied, "They're saying Amandine couldn't distinguish friend from foe and even harmed his own people, so he doesn't deserve to be called a hero of the city-state."
De Silva angrily retorted, "How can these people be so certain it's my father's ghost?"
"I'm not the one saying it. Why are you getting angry with me?" Nicola responded, displeased.
De Silva promptly walked out, took the elevator down to the North District, and headed straight to a statue. This was where his father, Amandine, had been executed. He looked up at the statue, which stood over thirty meters tall, depicting a knight holding a shield in his left hand with his other hand slightly raised.
Five meters away, two invisible robots were approaching him, but he was completely unaware. Just as he was about to turn back, he suddenly blacked out and collapsed. When he regained consciousness, a robot asked, "Are you a Watson family member?"
"Where is this place?" De Silva answered with another question.
"This is the Ark Castle beneath the statue," the robot replied.
"Why have you brought me here?"
"Descendant of Watson, do not be afraid. Since Dr. Norforth and Amandine passed away, we have needed a new master. Only Watson family blood can lead us. We've been searching in Zi City for over a decade without success, but we've finally found you today."
"So the missing people were all captured by you? What did you do to them?"
"To protect our secret, we had to send them where they belonged."
"Will you kill me too?" De Silva asked cautiously.
"We just extracted your blood and confirmed you're from the Watson family. How could we possibly kill you?"
"What do you need me to do?"
"You are now our new master. It should be you giving us orders." As he finished speaking, sixty robots gradually entered and formed two rows, creating an impressive sight. The robot who had been speaking introduced himself, "We are the 'Guardians,' born in Zi City. Mr. Ronnie is our father, and our mission is to protect Zi City."
De Silva laughed, "You haven't done a very good job, since Zi City was still taken by the Illuminati."
"That's because no one authorized us to use weapons."
"Very well, I'll take on this responsibility from now on. Also, you must stop killing people from the city-state."
With these invisible robots at his disposal, De Silva immediately became more confident. He assigned two robots to accompany him and announced to everyone that there would be no more disappearances. Everyone was skeptical, saying he was bluffing. Even Alena didn't quite believe him. "Brother, are you saying this because of what happened to Amandine?"
"You doubt me too?"
Alena didn't respond, but her expression said it all.
"Reveal yourselves, my guardians," De Silva suddenly commanded.
The next moment, two nearly two-meter-tall robots appeared behind him.