Chapter 23: The vice precident has arrived Inside the Alliance Hall of Base City 5, tension was thick enough to slice with a flying sword. Charles was pacing back and forth in his office like an anxious father waiting outside a delivery room. Richard, now sipping his sixth cup of tea, muttered, "At this rate, we’ll need to replace the flooring again." Suddenly, a high-pitched alarm blared throughout the building. Ding! Alliance Headquarters aircraft arriving. High-priority clearance: Level 9 Emperor. Everyone froze. Even the janitor’s mop stopped mid-swish. Charles stood bolt upright. "He’s here..." Richard’s teacup shattered in his hand. "He’s here!? Who is here?" The Alliance’s Vice President, an Emperor Level 9, had landed. Outside the hall, an obsidian shuttle descended like a divine beast. Wind whipped through the plaza, and all nearby martial artists instinctively knelt from the pressure of the aura alone. The shuttle’s doors hissed open. Then walked out a middle-aged man in a simple black cloak—no fancy design—he stepped on air like he was walking down through a stair. Every step he took,the air rippled under his foot.His hand behind his back. His name? Leon Gravis, Vice President of the Alliance. Also known by another title: The Human Calamity. He had broken through to Emperor Level 9, tweenty years ago during the great battle. He was one of the pioneer martial artists of humanity who fought side by side with the strongest man "Dragon" himself. In the last tweenty years, he hadn’t moved from Super City 1 even once. Until today. Charles, Richard, and several trembling high officials greeted him with sweaty palms and shaky knees. Leon’s voice was calm. "Take me to the boy." No one dared delay. The group practically sprinted down the corridor. Inside, Ethan was casually sitting on a couch, reading cultivation theory like someone flipping through a weekend magazine. He felt a faint pulse in the air. The kind of pressure that makes one’s soul clench. He looked up and said to himself, "Hmm... Someone strong is here." He commanded the system to make his level at warrior level 9. BOOM—! The door burst open (well, it was gently pushed, but it felt explosive under the aura). Charles ran in first like a child dragging his dad to a parent-teacher meeting. "Sir! This is Ethan!" Leon Gravis entered the room. The aura was suffocating. Even the light bulbs dimmed. The air itself started humming. Ethan blinked. "Oh. Hi." Leon’s eyebrow twitched. That’s it? That’s his reaction? This kid just greeted the second strongest human in the Alliance with "Hi"? Leon stared at Ethan. Ethan stared back. A silent battle of auras began. Charles whispered, "Please don’t provoke him, Ethan. If he sneezes, this building will become a crater." Leon slowly walked over, eyes narrowed. "You’re the one who broke through to Level 9 Warrior within 5 days of awakening?" Ethan nodded. "Yeah. But to be fair, I got a treasure from a mysterious senior. I didn’t do it alone." Leon’s aura flickered. Humility? That’s even scarier. Modesty in a monster is like a tiger apologizing before it bites you. Leon said," A treasure, huh? And you got it from a senior? The same senior who said he was assigned by Charles to be your guardian? Even if you get a tresure,there is no record in the history to be able break though so fast.I have the list of all the top class resources in the planet. Nothing can do it. Moreover you were just a level 1 warrior,that means you broke through to level 9 within a single night." Leon then said again," Moreover I don’t remember assigning someone like him. Maybe your Hunt family did it?" Ethan blinked,"You know about my family?" Leon snorted," Of course I know. Your great grand father,Alexander Hunt, is a high level official in the alliance.Moreover you became a warrior within a day,of course the alliance would dig up your past and keep your record." Ethan was speechless. What could he say? Then Ethan and Leon sat down face to face. Ethan didn’t feel any nervousness, he didn’t know why?Maybe because he knew he would supass the entity infront him after some time or maybe he was just too brave. Leon leaned in. "Tell me... what do you want?" Ethan blinked. "What do I want?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺 Leon nodded slowly. "Power? Resources? Influence ?" Ethan laughed lightly. "I just want to get stronger." Leon’s eyes darkened. Of course. He’s not tempted by anything. The worst kind of genius. The one who’s obsessed with growth. He stood up and turned to Charles. "From today onward, Ethan Hunt is under top-level surveillance. No one is allowed to disturb or restrict his path. Anything he needs—give it. If someone disrespects him..." Leon paused. "...kill them." Charles swallowed. "Yes... Sir." Leon looked back at Ethan. "One more thing." Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" Leon smiled for the first time, a rare, tired grin. "Please!Don’t become humanity’s enemy." Then, with a flick of his sleeve, the pressure disappeared. As if the mountains lifted off everyone’s shoulders. As the Vice President’s shuttle lifted off, a silence hung over Base City 5. Charles sat on the floor, drenched in sweat. Richard slumped against the wall. "So... I guess we all now officially work for an eighteen-year-old boy." Charles muttered, "I feel like I just gave birth." Inside his room, Ethan looked at his status screen and sighed. > [Master: Ethan Hunt] Physique: 3472 Spirit: 3472 Talent: Infinite Comprehension "I really need to fight something strong again," he muttered. In super city 1, inside the alliance high quarter. Leon stepped out of his shuttle, removed his cloak, and sat down at his desk. The other top executives of the Alliance rushed to meet him. "Sir! Was the boy truly that exceptional?" Leon didn’t answer. He just sighed, pulled out a bottle of old spirit wine, and muttered: "We’re fucked if he turns evil.We would have to either eliminate him or bow to him in the future. But if he becomes the friend of humanity, then we might have a chance in 3-5 years to conquer earth again. Let’s hope for the best." The officials became silent. This type of evaluation from the second strongest person in the alliance, is entirely some they didn’t even dare to imagine. What kind of genius was that boy to make the vice precident to think so highly of him? In base city 5, inside Charles’s office. Ethan and Charles were on the chair opposite to each other. Ethan said," Now that I have become a level 9 warrior,can I go for hunting alone,supervisor?" Charles looked at him and breathed deeply," Now that all these happened,do you think I can stop you even if I wanted to? Go,go,do whatever you want. I just want to take a break,sigh." Before Ethan was immerged, Charles lived in the super city. He was a supervisor at the charge of 5 base cities. But now he had to live in the base city 5 just for Ethan. Charles thought something," Hey Ethan, do you remember the contract we made? Well the contract doen’t count anymore." Ethan was stunned," Supervisor what happened? Did I do anything? The alliance doesn’t want me anymore?" Charles rolled his eyes,"Doesn’t want you anymore you say? Who is dumbass enough to not want you?" Charles said," It’s not that. There is a new contract. The contract has just one sentence. You will get what ever you desire as long as you are on the side of humanity." Ethan blinked again," What do you mean by on the side of humanity? Do I look like a monster or something? I am a human,of course I am on humanity’s side." Charles snorted," Who knows if you are a monster or not. Can a human do something like this, that you did,huh?" Ethan was speechless again. He then shrugged and said," I am a genius after all." Charles wanted to reprimand him for his shamelessness. But what could he say? This boy really was a genius, a montrous genius. Then he said to Ethan again, " Do you want to migrate to the super city? There are many geniuses there. Maybe not as perverted as you,but there are many. Moreover the resources there are abundant there. Your Hunt family is also there. You will get a super villa in the centre of the city near the alliance hall and your family can also move back into the city with you. What do you think?" Ethan thought for a moment and said,"I need to talk to my parents about this. I’ll let you know once the decision is made."