"What's going on here? Where is everyone?" Lothur's voice popped into the head of the Koch patriarch in the underground of a forest near Peters City, where the headquarters of the Ritter family was located.
Immediately upon hearing the voice, the middle-aged man rose from his chair in surprise. He looked back to where Lothur's voice had come from.
As he did so, he saw his boss crossing the wall behind him.
"Lothur!" He exclaimed in surprise, a smile forming on his lips.
But seeing the worried expression on his leader's face, it did not take long for this member of the Koch family to open his mouth, remembering the complicated situation the whole empire was in.
"Lothur, something terrible has happened. High-level powers from Ashen, Lenz, and Utrary declared war on Leopoldine and the Ritter family a few days ago. They say that the Ritter Motor Company is a creation of a hybrid, and they will destroy our family and all of its supporters.
Currently, the troops of these three states are very close to our borders. So all the state experts are already at the borders preparing for war."
"Are my women doing the same? Where are they?" Lothur asked, worried about their safety.
"Yes, Elke and Annaliese are at the province's southern border, while Viktoria and Rebecca are in the north."
Upon hearing this, Lothur did not stay to talk and immediately manipulated space, opening a portal to the north, where he intended to help his weakest women.
Lothur needed no one to inform him of the strength of his women. As someone who knew the most significant opportunities they might have had during his absence, it was rather obvious for him to say that Elke and Annaliese were the two strongest in his family at the moment.
With that in mind, he made his way to those most in danger, reaching the northern border of Linn Province in no time.
Upon arriving there, Lothur immediately used his One With Nature skill and his special vision, quickly finding several camps in the area.
'I found you!' He realized where they were and immediately flew to a tent where only his darkness-controlled men stood guard.
Even as they prepared for war, Lothur's women maintained their seclusion, and their cultivation was still a secret to the empire's forces.
But Lothur soon saw the current state of his women.
[Name: Victoria Frost]
[Soul Cultivation: Level 19]
[Body Cultivation: Level 19]
[STR: 1,060] [CON: 1,210] [DEX: 1,070] [AGI: 1,090]
[INT: 384] [PER: 268] [WIL: 950] [SOU: 880]
...
[Name: Rebecca Boettger]
[Sould Cultivation: Level 19]
[Body Cultivation: Level 19]
[STR: 1,010] [CON: 1,240] [DEX: 1,010] [AGI: 1,020]
[INT: 286.8] [PER: 232] [WIL: 670] [SOU: 830]
'Hmm, Viktoria was pretty busy while the others were cultivating in seclusion.' He immediately realized what had happened, the only possible explanation for the most talented of them all 'falling behind' in cultivation.
But that no longer mattered. With the 14 Soul Bones available for his family to absorb, 5 from Emperor demons, Lothur knew Viktoria's delay would be reversed.
Upon entering the tent where she and Rebecca were meditating, Lothur immediately did something to bring them back to reality without completely disrupting their cultivation.
Sensing something was wrong, Viktoria and Rebecca felt goosebumps on their bodies and opened their eyes.
Coming out of the meditation state was not something you could do anyway. But when one's senses told them to end their meditation, they could quickly escape such a state without any danger.
Viktoria and Rebecca opened their eyes, looking for the problem that had made them feel strange. Still, instead of finding a crisis, they saw the man they loved in their tent.
"Lothur!" The two shouted as they rose from their positions, smiles on their faces.
Seeing them smiling at him, Lothur did not hesitate to show them 5 Soul Bones, rushing to hand over the bones of Elke and Annaliese.
"Viktoria, Becca, we don't have time now. So start absorbing the bones. Viktoria, I can only give you two bones at the moment. So to compensate for the smaller number I will give you, you will be left with 2 bones of Emperor demons." Lothur said, not interested in talking to his women about the difficulties they had faced in his absence.
The two were shocked to hear and see what was in Lothur's hands, especially the quality of those bones.
"Lothur... This... How?" Rebecca asked.
"We will talk about that in the future. For now, take these bones." He said and gave Viktoria the two bones that came from Emperor demons.
On the other hand, Rebecca received 1 bone from an Emperor demon and 2 from Monarch demons.
He looked at the beautiful green-haired woman and said. "Start your absorption with the Emperor demon Soul Bone. It will take you a little more work, but your strength will increase more significantly."
Theoretically, the order of absorbing the Soul Bone was irrelevant, as the order of the factors did not change the result. However, whichever produced the most significant results could make a big difference in helping these women become stronger faster.
Concerned that a battle might occur there in his absence and endanger the two, Lothur advised Rebecca.
The two knew of the danger around them and that Lothur would probably have to go to Elke and Annaliese. So they did not make it difficult for him and returned to their meditative states, this time both with Platinum-grade bones in their hands!
Seeing this, Lothur did not hesitate to leave the tent and look at the 30 people around it, all kneeling in his presence.
Lothur was an alchemist, a poison master, a formations master, and a doctor. Not only that, but he had already increased his knowledge and skills in all his professions to the 5-star level.
So when Lothur saw these many Transcendents, he did not hesitate to throw a bunch of pills, potions, and poisons at them.
"Use these to strengthen yourselves, my soldiers." He commented as he watched these individuals take the cultivation resources he had developed during his travels in the north.
Pills and the like were not as good at increasing a cultivator's strength as Soul Bones. However, for those who could not absorb bones, these resources were what could best help them.
Knowing this, Lothur had been producing these items for weeks, knowing that one day he would return to Leopoldine to complete his mission and see his women again before allying himself with that Tyrannosaurus Rex to fight the demons.
As someone who cared about the safety of his women, Lothur would not leave them without good supporters in his absence.
After handing over those resources that could increase his men's strength faster than Soul Bones could, Lothur didn't hang around any longer and opened a space rift, heading for the southern border of Linn Province!