Well, the alarm bells in my head had not stopped ringing, but I suppose this was not a bad outcome, especially when the words of Lidaz drifted into my ears only a few moments later.

  "Patriarch, he is far beyond my reach."

  If Lidaz is already saying so much, then I had no doubt about how strong the being in front of me was. The fact that he was able to force the eternal flame back into all our bodies, essentially taking control of it, even though only Infernals should be able to have any sort of power over it, was troubling on its own, but not something to think about right now.

  I looked at the man, and he looked at the area around us. Of course, all of my people were still ready, with weapons drawn, even if they were a bit surprised about the flames being forced back into their bodies. No matter who showed up in front of us, they were still ready for war, but that was to be expected.

  The mermaid people, on the other hand, there was not a single one of them not on their knees. Even the black scaled pompous idiots from before, to include that young master of theirs, were all on their knees, heads lowered, and not a single one of them dared to look up.

  So the man before me was just that important. I see.

  Well, honestly, I did not really know what to say here, because on one hand I still wanted to stuff that little idiot’s face into the dirt. But on the other hand, I knew when I was out of my depth, and pushing any further would put my people at risk, which is not something I can allow to happen. So I did not push any further.

  That is only referring to that little idiot over there, at least in the sense of bringing him physical harm.

  I still needed to leave here with something.

  "Compensation."

  As if prepared for my request, a small ring, one containing a pristine pearl as its center stone, appeared right in front of me.

  "The ring contains something to help one reach the Immortal realm, among other things."

  Oh, I suppose I could not ask for better compensation. I nodded at the man and signaled for my people to lower their weapons, which they did. He nodded back, and then he simply disappeared.

  But it was not just him. All those other black scaled elites disappeared too. Even the princess disappeared, and I was a little confused by her disappearance as well, but I suppose that man had words for her. Thankfully, the rest of her people were still here, and me being able to leave this universe was still on track.

  Something that was successful quite literally the next day. There was no reason for me to linger, and although it would have been nice to have a final conversation with the princess, that also was not that important either. My people were not welcome here and staying any longer than necessary was not a good idea.

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  So we left, and while we were on the ship, I got briefed about the place we were going.

  Of course I was already given some preliminary information but seeing as we would be arriving there at some point in the future, a more detailed brief was given, or at least the information that they did know.

  For example, there would not be anyone to receive us upon entering the universe, and while I understood that the very first time it was mentioned, it appears there was a deeper meaning at play.

  If I were to enter the universe I was currently in, someone from the empire would have noticed and come out to meet us. Whether they came out with violence or with peaceful negotiations in mind, regardless, we would have been met by an official party.

  Meanwhile, here there was a chance that someone would come meet us, but not from any sort of official party. It could be their version of space pirates, if you will, or just someone looking for an opportunity.

  Which meant the ship bringing us there would not want to travel too far into that universe, as the chances of something going wrong only get higher and higher. So once we made it across, they would only be getting as close as they could to activate a long-distance teleportation for me and my people and send us down to the closest planet.

  Thankfully, this would not be some random teleportation to a random planet without knowing a single thing. We would be going to a pretty big planet where all faction types you could think of had a hand in the pie.

  Sects, merchant groups, kingdoms, empires, clans, etc. In fact, it was the biggest planet in the entire universe, and that was saying something since this particular one had over one hundred planets in it.

  What made it even more interesting was the fact that there were only three galaxies in it to handle over one hundred planets.

  Anyway, I did not know what I would be getting into when I got there, but I had a feeling we would be spending quite a lot of time there.

  There were a lot of different things and people here, and if this universe was so vast with so many different planets, that could only mean there were also plenty of opportunities for growth, to widen my horizons, for new fights, new resources to acquire for my people, and a good proving ground for me to get stronger.

  Especially if it was as volatile as it was described to me. Surely I would not have to worry about fighting a bunch of coddled teenagers.

  But before any of that begins, the first thing we are going to have to do is establish ourselves. We probably will not be gifted an estate, but I am hoping we can buy some land or one that already exists for all my people to stay in.

  If not, worst case scenario, I am sure there is some empty land somewhere where we can go and build our own goddamn property if something is not available in the city.

  And then I also need to do some more research with all the universes around us. That is very important, because I still do not know where the rat man came from.

  Either way, I think I am in for a good and exciting time.

  And so, only a month later, which is wild to me because it took us longer than that to get from where Earth is to where we currently were, I assumed it would take longer this time as well. But I do not really understand this universe travel stuff, and honestly, I do not think I mind.

  As long as I can get to where I need to get to and do the things I want to do and all is well, then all is well. I was not some guy addicted to learning everything there was to learn before the tutorial, and I do not think that is going to change.

  Anyway, we made it. After traveling for a little bit longer, we entered the range to be teleported to our destination.

  The planet Acuva.

  Specifically, a free state on that planet called Chabunla. It was not controlled by any one governing body, which made it somewhat of a decent place for me and my people to settle down in.

  I am sure it had rules of its own, but I am also sure we would be able to figure it all out in the end and blend in enough.

  For now, let us take it one step at a time.