"My Lord, we have detected concerning movements from the leaders of the Harmonist Faction."

Within the crystal-laden cave that served as the abode of the Dragon Emperor, a troubled subordinate reported the concerning intelligence reports he had gotten to Lord Shenlong.

Lord Shenlong opened his yellow, reptilian eyes, gazing deep into the eyes of the man paralyzed with fear. "…Concerning movements?"

"They have adopted a defensive position in the parts of their territory that are closest to our territory; it appears that they are planning some kind of defensive operation of sorts!"

Lord Shenlong frowned with a hint of confusion emerging in his dragonic eyes. The actions of the Harmonist Faction over the past five days had been inexplicable. The intelligence reports that he had gotten a few hours had confirmed that they had been planning for some kind of military operation.

That didn't make sense to him, considering that they were anti-war and they were much, much weaker than the War Coalition. However, hearing that they were taking a defensive stance rather than an offensive stance was even more confusing to Lord Shenlong.

They were the ones who started mobilizing secretly for days without anybody noticing, and then they postured defensively?

Were they expecting an attack?

From whom?

It was true that the Dragon Emperor intended to deal with them eventually, but that was after he consumed the Dawnbringer, who was currently—

Lord Shenlong's yellow, reptilian eyes lit up with a hint of realization. "Ah… they must be terrified that I'll find out that he's here on this continent and will try to hunt him down."

That would explain why they were posturing defensively, as far as he was concerned. It made sense that Lord Vakratunda did not want the Dragon Emperor to get his hands on Rui, for the consequences would be disastrous.

RUMBLE!!!

The world shook violently as Lord Shenlong's heart beat hard with excitement.

"He is here," he declared. "The Dawnbringer is here on this continent. Find him and I shall devour him to elevate my Authority to a much higher level of power!"

And that was when it happened.

WHOOSH

Lord Shenlong's yellow, reptilian eyes widened with shock as something appeared behind him out of nowhere. For the time in a thousand years, someone had taken his back without him even realizing it.

Before he could even react, Rui's cold voice reached him as he felt a touch on his back.

"I have you now."

Before Lord Shenlong could even retaliate, the second Worm Step technique had already been activated.

WHOOSH

Just like that, they were gone.

The subordinate of the Dragon Emperor stared in horror as he found himself staring at an empty spot where Lord Shenlong had been just a moment ago.

And now he was gone.

For a moment, he was frozen in shock.

And then, he broke out of his reverie, pulling out a compad before issuing an emergency announcement to the internal system of the Ryu Clan. "LORD SHENLONG HAS DISAPPEARED! THE DRAGON EMPEROR IS GONE!"

All hell broke loose in the Ryu Clan as the emergency announcement gained the highest priority in the internal system of the Ryu Clan. Within moments, several dragons arrived at the abode of the Dragon Emperor as their therianthropes desperately dismounted from their dragons, running into the cave to find it empty, save for the subordinate who called it in.

"Where is the Dragon Emperor?!"

"I have no idea!" the subordinate shrieked. "He was resting in front of me one moment when I gave him my report, and then he just suddenly disappeared in front of my very eyes!"

"Teleportation…?! But that's impossible!" the therianthropes exclaimed with shock. "Lord Shenlong has powerful space anchor technology in his body that protects him from wormholes opening around him!"

"I'm telling that he just disappeared in front of my very eyes!" the man screeched, gesturing to the spot where the Dragon Emperor had been resting. "I don't know where he is!"

The therianthropes immediately relied on their satellite systems to look for the Dragon Emperor in the area where he had disappeared, finding clues as to what had happened.

"We have detected gravitational waves emerging from the cave at the very moment that the Dragon Emperor was alleged to have disappeared!"

"We are unable to detect him anywhere within the territory of the Ryu Clan!"

It sent the entirety of not just the Ryu Clan but also the War Coalition into a frenzy as these began pointing their satellites across the entire continent, searching for an energy signature that matched the Dragon Emperor's. They hadn't expected it to be difficult since the Dragon Emperor had a very powerful gamma radiation signature that resembled that of quasars, neutron stars, or a constant nuclear bomb at the inception of the detonation.

Their outer space biotechnological satellite systems resembled giant eyeballs that were nearly fifty meters in diameter. These eyeballs stared at Gaia, gathering an unfathomable amount of data at whatever region of Gaia they monitored. Their surveillance was at the very pinnacle of satellite surveillance technology.

They scanned the continent with incredible accuracy and precision, mapping every single little bump on the ground and pebble in the bushes, leaving not a single stone unturned.

The therianthropes had to momentarily get rid of their anti-surveillance technology to allow their own satellites to surveil their continent. It also meant that their enemies could do the same, but right now they had bigger things to worry about.

And yet, they couldn't find him anywhere within Kiriket.

They couldn't find a single source of gamma radiation that could be the Dragon Emperor.

"Damn it, expand the search beyond the continent! He must be somewhere out there! He couldn't have just disappeared out of reality!"

The Pasupati Clans of Kiriket all began searching the entire world for the Dragon Emperor, hoping to get their hands on the leader of their civilization, who had been somehow teleported despite his space anchor.

"Found him!" one official announced frantically as he pointed to his screen.

The screen featured a point that represented the Dragon Emperor.

It was in the middle of the ocean.

Of the largest ocean on the other side of the world.

"He's in the center of the Great Void Ocean!"

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