268 Lucent Force

Ace felt that he was having a headache after learning their purpose for coming here.

He wasn't exactly sure how the government became interested in what he was doing but he was impressed by their decisive actions of sneaking into his place to conduct their investigation. 

Since he was an apprentice of one of the three Grand Arcanists of the country and he was also the Traceless Hands with decent connection with the NMTI, he already thought that he was on the watch list of the government. 

However, it doesn't explain how they could easily come up with such a grand accusation. He doesn't have a suspicious background or connections to any underworld organization to point him with such an absurd plan...

'Ugh...'

Well, he may have a suspicious background considering that he was only a sixteen-year-old young man and was already capable of creating groundbreaking technologies. 

'Maybe, my creations were causing problems to the government? No, maybe only for a few. I may be affecting some of their business but if they have the capability to command the Lucent Force, then they were not so simple. Should I confirm this with the president?'

Ace was referring to the previous student council president, Aaron. He had seen him together with the other members of the Lucent Force when he left Yumi in a safe hotel after their escape in Araceli Island. During that time, he was curious about his identity and so, he made his own research and even double-checked it with Veda. 

That young man wasn't as simple as he seems to be. He bet that if he and the other members of the ethics committee, Garry and Humphrey, participated during the TMAC or the international competition, they would sweep through the tournament.

They were on a completely different level that these types of tournaments no longer excites them.

Ace believes that Aaron should know something about this. He instructed Avalon to remind him about it.

Anyway, Ace has now brought the group a bit deeper in the forest but it was still far from his villa and the hangar. They were still unable to have a glance at these structures due to the trees and the ground's elevation blocking their sight. 

However, they had a closer look at the tip of the Mass Driver as they were no longer affected by the mana formation's ability to deceive their vision... This mana formation was only effective to those outside the perimeter so they wouldn't see whatever he was building inside the mountain's territory.

He wasn't sure what they were thinking but Ace noticed that they were glancing at it as if to engrave the image in their minds. 

Ace brought the group in a cabin not too far from their original location. 

"Follow me..."

The cabin was large enough to house the 30 automatons who responded to Ace's call so having the thirteen people inside wasn't too crowded yet. 

Ace let the 30 automatons stay outside to guard the cabin while Ace talks to the group. Of course, this wasn't just the reason he brought them here. 

"Leader..."

"This place..."

"Don't worry. I don't think this is a trap... Isn't that right, Wallace?"

Falcon confidently asked the armored being.

Apparently, they just felt that this place just bounded them... They can't properly sense any mana inside. It probably dulled their sense or there was no mana within this room at all!

"Well, it depends..." 

Ace continued wearing his bio-armor and not showing his face at all.

He was confident that Falcon was still doubting whether he was truly Wallace inside the armor.

He felt that Falcon was just calling him with his name to ensure that he was really Wallace.

"Very well... I believe that you've confirmed our identity. As long as you're clean and wasn't truly planning to overthrow the government, then you should not worry... We are only here to investigate whatever projects you have in this mountain, dangerous or not..." 

Ace went silent for a moment as he was considering how to explain the situation or should he even bother to explain? 

Haaa~

Of course, it seems that the government has misunderstood his aim here. They weren't like his friends who would accept whatever plans he has in his mind. These people would surely question his work. 

Even Aeolia had trouble with them. 

"I'm not sure what you're talking about... Tell me, what leads you here..."

"We heard about the reports that massive dangerous materials and numbers of restricted resources were being sent to this place..."

'Oh, crap... So it was problems caused by importing those materials...'

The materials used for his Mech Frames and his spaceships were massive... Truly massive.

Most of them were even imported from different countries through Veda's help just to acquire the best possible materials. 

He didn't bother about it before since he thought that Veda can handle it. However, it seems to be asking for too much since it was almost impossible to transport those things stealthily without using a Spatial Bag that could perfectly hide them. 

'Err... Now what?'

He couldn't find a good explanation for bringing those materials aside from telling the truth. But he wasn't ready yet and he needed Yumi's superior's help with that. 

Veda should've handled the documents required to transport them so even if he kept silent about it, he wouldn't really be pinned from the crimes he didn't do. That was why the group entered here illegally to find out about the truth. 

After all, they were aware that if they investigated this openly, no one would confess that they were really planning to overthrow the government...

However, he couldn't do much about them as well since he didn't want to be enemies with the Lucent Force...

'Alright... I can only ask for help...' 

"No one here was guilty of planning to harm the government. You're mistaken. You will be staying here for now while I'm confirming things to your superiors. Any attempts to get outside of this room would be dealt with, so be careful about your actions..."

Ace warned the group as he left the cabin to talk with Yumi and ask for some advice. If she can't help either, he'll ask Aaron.

After all, he didn't really know their superiors and Aaron wasn't even truly a part of the Lucent Force itself. He only has a strong connection to them due to his father's identity. 

***

Falcon couldn't negotiate even if he wants to. The young man didn't even bother to look back after saying those words to them so they could only wait until the man returns. 

'But this place is really interesting... How come I couldn't sense any mana at all...' 

The man was impressed by this unfamiliar sensation.

He had experienced the dreadfulness of the magic jammer that made him constantly bring his magic jammer canceller, however, the kind of problem he was experiencing right now was scarier than the magic jammer feared by many magicians. 

***

"Yumi... I need a favor..."

Ace asked the young girl in front of him. She wasn't busy at all and was only talking to one of the automatons controlled by Avalon. 

"Oh? Where are your visitors?"

The girl remembers Ace's reason for leaving her here with Avalon. 

"I left them in one of the cabins in the mountain. Anyway, let me explain the situation..."

Ace told the story made by the Lucent Force's leader, Falcon.

Yumi seems to be even more dumbfounded at the situation after understanding what happened.

She was also not expecting that the Lucent Force would act like this. Ace even showed to her the token given by Falcon. 

Yumi frowned at this and decided to meet the group.

Ace also planned to briefly contact Aaron to clear some of his doubts about them.

But while he was doing that he didn't notice that as soon as Yumi left the room she was staying at, she already turned to a middle-aged woman.