Chapter 65: Involvement

Several hours later...

Earth, Neolan’s Room.

Neolan suddenly sat up in bed as the alarm beside him began ringing, its holographic display floating toward him automatically. He glanced around the room and found everything exactly as he remembered, but his attention soon shifted toward the people gathered outside his door.

His personal maid, Cassy, stood among several members of the Ashburn Family, and before he could understand why they had assembled there, the door suddenly burst open. Neolan stared at them in confusion, wondering why everyone looked as though they had just witnessed a ghost.

’Huh? What happened?’

He tried to organize his thoughts as he recalled what had happened before returning to Earth. He had spoken with his Master in the prison realm, returned to his residence, and gone to sleep after instructing Cassy not to disturb him for the entire day.

Since twenty-four hours must have passed in the cultivation world, the automatic transfer should have brought him back to Earth as usual, so he couldn’t understand why his family was behaving so strangely.

He knew that an entire day had passed on Earth while he was away, but that alone shouldn’t have caused such a reaction. Before he could ask anyone for an explanation, the man standing behind Cassy stepped into the room.

A long, slender sword hung at the man’s waist, and his footsteps echoed through the room as he approached Neolan. Once he was close enough, he stopped and looked directly at him, his expression carrying a mixture of concern and seriousness, "Young Master, where have you been? We have been searching for you since yesterday."

Neolan frowned slightly and turned toward Cassy, who lowered her head while looking at him with visible worry. He then looked back at the man and asked, "I had already informed Cassy not to disturb me for an entire day, didn’t she tell anyone?"

The man smiled calmly and shook his head. "No, she did tell us about your instructions. The problem is that your mother came to visit you yesterday." Neolan’s expression changed immediately, and he raised his head in surprise, "Mother came to see me? Then where is she now?"

He had already planned to meet her once she returned, but he hadn’t expected her to visit so soon, especially when he had only recently returned to Earth.

"She saw that you weren’t present and said she would come back later," the man explained, making Neolan pause briefly before nodding, accepting the explanation without asking further questions about his mother’s visit.

However, the man wasn’t finished, and his expression became more serious as he continued speaking quietly after crouching down a bit, "Young Master, our intelligence indicates that the Nox Organization has assigned one of its highest-level Elites to target you.

The Patriarch wanted to discuss the matter with you, and when Cassy discovered that you weren’t in your room, he sent the Special G-force to search for you." Neolan’s eyes widened as he finally understood why so many people had gathered outside his room.

’I see. Someone from one of the Ten Noble Families must be targeting me.’ Neolan nodded slightly, acknowledging the information before getting out of bed. "I understand the situation, but there’s no need to worry. As you can see, I’m perfectly safe and sound. I was away somewhere private for a while."

He gave the gathered people a small smile, hoping to reassure them without revealing anything about his other life. "Now that we’ve cleared that up, I think it’s time for me to freshen up." His calm response seemed to ease some of the tension in the room, although a few people still looked at him with lingering concern.

"All of you can leave for now. Harison, inform my father about the situation and tell him that I’ll greet him in a few minutes." The man with the sword, Harison, nodded before turning toward the others and signaling them to leave. Cassy followed the group out after giving Neolan one last worried glance, and the door closed behind them, finally restoring some privacy to his room.

Neolan exhaled slowly as he watched the door, realizing that his first morning back on Earth had already become more troublesome than he expected. ’Sigh, how am I supposed to explain this to Father now?’

He stood there for a moment, trying to decide how much he could reveal without exposing the truth about the two worlds.

After considering the matter briefly, Neolan shook his head and walked toward the bathroom. He quickly freshened up before returning to his room and changing into the custom-made clothes he had worn the other day.

Once he was dressed, he adjusted the gloves on his hands, ensuring that they sat properly before checking his appearance. His thoughts soon returned to the information Harison had delivered, particularly the involvement of the Nox Organization and the possibility that someone from one of the Ten Noble Families was behind the attack.

’The Nox Organization...’

Neolan tightened his gloves and reviewed the tasks he had planned for the day. ’Today, I have two important things to take care of. First, training with Father, and then meeting K to obtain the material.’

He had other matters to deal with as well, including the growing uncertainty surrounding the Empire, but he decided not to let those concerns interfere with his immediate plans.

With his priorities settled, Neolan left his room and headed toward the Ashburn Patriarch’s quarters.

...

A few minutes later...

The Ashburn Patriarch’s room remained quiet as Ranson Ashburn sat in his usual seat, his expression composed as he waited for his son. Neolan stood at the center of the room and gave his father a slight bow before speaking.

"You wanted to talk to me, Patriarch? Is it about the Nox Organization?" Ranson remained silent for another moment before slowly nodding, his heavy voice breaking the silence.

"Yes, that is correct." He paused briefly, as though deciding how much of the situation needed to be explained immediately, before continuing with a more serious expression, "You might think that another Noble Family is secretly hiring them to kill you, but that isn’t the whole story. This time... the Empire seems to be involved in the matter."

The moment Ranson spoke those words, Neolan’s eyes widened, and he stared at his father in surprise.

’Huh? The Empire?’ He had expected the Nox Organization to be connected to one of the Ten Noble Families, given the influence and resources required to hire such dangerous assassins, but he hadn’t anticipated the Empire’s involvement.

Before he could ask how Ranson had reached that conclusion, his father continued speaking.

"You need to understand the situation you’re in, Neolan. The Empire is doing things that even the Goddess of Niflheim is unable to track, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they decided to target you because of the absurd talent you displayed during your Awakening."

Ranson’s words made Neolan fall silent as he considered the implications.

He knew that his return to Earth had changed several events, but he hadn’t expected the consequences to reach this far so quickly, ’Sigh, what the fuck are those bastards doing? This must be another butterfly effect. There’s always a price to pay when someone tries to gain something.’

Neolan shook his head inwardly, setting the thought aside for the time being as he still lacked enough information to understand what the Empire was planning. He lifted his and saw his father was just about to ask him about his disappearance, "Father."

Before Rnason could ask him, Neolan interjected him and spoke with the term ’father’, not ’Patriarch’, Ranson narrowed his eyes as he could clearly see Neolan trying to avoid that topic, "I know you sent the special G ─Force to search for me and even they couldn’t find me. I know that I need to answer where I was, but..." A brief pause before Neolan finished,

"Before I answer that, how about we start the training session you promised me?" Ranson expression immediately shifted after hearing that, a small smile appeared in his face as he thought, ’He has changed...a lot. He now knows how to shift the subject of a conversation with me, the Patriarch.’

Neolan grinned seeing that smile on his father’s face while thinking, ’I knew he will take the bait even If I interject him, after all his personality, the core of his being since my previous life remains the same: A battle Hungry Monster.’

He thought back to the past life and remembered how much he loved fighting people with completely new abilities regardless of the opponent’s strength or rank, ’Well, he always puts conditions in himself of many different things such as not moving from where he stands, not lifting a finger and only endure the attacks...only when it is training of course.’

He still couldn’t understand why he loved facing new abilities that much, but nevertheless he was going to use it to his advantage for now, ’It’s best for me as well, If I train under father then I will be facing a death battle which will push my foundation as a cultivator to perfection and make me stronger.’

Ranson finally spoke up as he stood up from his seat and the coat he wore flared slightly. His words cold and firm, "Then let’s begin your training right now.’