Genetic Ascension

Chapter 1017  Honored Inspector

The Inspector was wreathed in white and gold, a pair of gold pauldrons embroidered with white marble hanging from his shoulders as thick, white leather robes fell in a stream down his body. There were a pair of wings of white at his back, looped with chains of gold and carrying thick golden ring piercings along their length.

It looked far more like an angel was descending from above than the guard of a mere merchant guild—especially when he had a golden tome in one hand and a heavy chain in the other.

Sylasʼ eyes, though seemingly having finally regained focus from what he was doing, were focused on the wings.

ʼ… Interesting.ʼ

The thought was fleeting before Sylas felt the gaze of the Inspector land on him. Then, the gaze of the man shifted to just above Sylasʼ head as though he were reading something.

The Inspector raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.

Until now, Sylas was still unable to see the true face of the man. He looked vaguely human, but the lights coming from him were so bright that it was honestly hard to tell if there was anything but the shape that they shared.

But focusing on the eyes, Sylas knew that what he was looking at was certainly not a human, not with the way the manʼs pupils were pill-shaped, laying out horizontally across his irises.

There was also another aura hanging in the air, one that Sylas felt like he was getting more sensitive toward as time went on. The aura of beasts.

A toad.

”You are the Czar of this guild branch, correct?” the Inspector asked as though he wasnʼt sure.

”Yes.”

”Mm…” The Inspector fell into another round of silence before his gaze turned a bit dull. Sylas felt something latch onto his Will and start to pull on it.

He frowned.

Crack.

The Inspector blinked awake as though he had just startled himself out of a nap because he tilted too far in his chair.

His head tilted to the other side, looking at Sylas from another angle. There was more confusion in his eyes.

Right now, he was facing the same suppressions as everyone else. Or, more accurately, anyone that came to this galaxy as an outsider.

Because they had a guild here, the Inspector had certain leeway to punish and deal with those under his factionʼs umbrella, but he couldnʼt act with impunity.

Just now, he had tried to use an Inspector Skill known as [Profound Recall]. Using the Will of a target as a proxy, it could reconstruct the lingering movements of the Will in the past few minutes up to several days or even weeks depending on the relative strength of the two parties involved.

Granted, the Will of the Inspector was heavily suppressed upon being here. But it should have been more than enough to deal with a little F-Grade from a remote corner.

However, his Skill had actually collapsed from a little push from Sylas.

The only way that would be possible would be if Sylas had Shaped Will. Was there an F-Grade with Shaped Will here?

”Iʼll have to ask you to stop resisting, otherwise this will be added to your list of offenses.”

All things considered, the Inspector was still quite polite.

”Thereʼs no need,” Sylas said. ”If youʼre here about the money Iʼve just spent, I did, indeed, spend it for my own purposes.”

The Inspector raised an eyebrow.

”Are you aware of what sort of offense that is?”

”Iʼm not.”

The Inspector wasnʼt even sure how to reply to this.

”… Youʼll be stripped of your position and brought back for trial. Once the trial proceedings are concluded, you will receive a range of punishments from probation, to imprisonment, all the way up to a potential death penalty.”

Sylas still didnʼt react much to this.

”Is the Golden Grove aware of the situation in Skay 11331 Galaxy right now?”

”The situation? If you mean the chaos, that has little to do with your actions. You will not receive leeway for this. What you could have done was file for an injunction. This would likely have been approved, and you would have received some grace in meeting your next few quotas. Now, it is doubtful that you will be given such a chance.”

”That is fine. Take me away, then.”

Sylas presented his wrists.

The Inspectorʼs lip twitched. What the hell was going on here, exactly? By now, he could tell that Sylas almost wanted this.

”Are you trying to find a path to the Golden Grove? This isnʼt the way, kid. Youʼre going there now as a criminal. There wonʼt be a chance for you to do anything you want.”

Sylas didnʼt reply and just continued to stand there.

The Inspector shook his head and the chain in his hand snaked forward, wrapping around Sylasʼ wrists. With a pull, Sylas was lifted off of his feet as though by an act of magic or levitation and brought forward.

Nosphaleen was pulled into his Hibernation Realm. As for Lorien, she was ignored… until she rushed forward of her own volition.

”A moment, honored Inspector!”

”Hm?” The man looked over and swept a gaze up from Lorienʼs feet to her face. ”You have the imprint of the Grove on you. Are you a part of this?”

”No, not at all. Honored Inspector is free to use my Will to check. I only mean to come forward to help this friend of mine. He will need representation, and I believe I have already met the Golden Groveʼs requirements, no?”

The Inspector just shrugged his shoulders. Another fool, really. Lorien was worse than the bottom rung of the Golden Grove. She wasnʼt even a true disciple yet, so there was no way her ”representation” would help at all.

With a turn of his wrist, they all vanished.

A blinding red light covered the bazaar and completely shut it down.

The timing couldnʼt have been more perfect, as certain eyes swept over the region… only to not find what they were looking for.