Half a day later, the Stealth Class ship finally reached its destination. It was the city that had multiple names.
Some called it the City of Dreams, while others called it the city that never slept. But officially, the city had only one name.
"The Great City of Estefan."
As the eras changed and Earth opened up to other worlds, a lot of things had changed.
Boundaries of many previous nations had shifted. Some willingly merged with other, stronger nations, while others allied with foreign civilizations to protect their interests.
The Earth of today was beyond recognition for the people from the forgotten era. Even the names of many cities were changed as they were modernized. There were only a few cities that still carried their old legacy names.
Unfortunately, the City of Estefan wasn’t one of them. Unlike the legacy cities, Estefan was a city created from scratch.
What made it different from the rest was that it wasn’t a part of any nation. It didn’t come under the borders of any existing nation.
It was a city made from scratch in the middle of the ocean. Even though it was called a city, it was no different than a nation based on its sheer size.
This was also the place where the Hero Guild was established. With time, Estefan had become one of the three major hubs on Earth.
It was not only the most secure city, but it was also the most well-known city on Earth, even to foreign civilizations.
If Estefan wanted, it could easily be called a nation of its own. However, it was content with just the title of a city, maintaining its neutrality.
Estefan didn’t side with any of the three great nations on Earth. It had its own way, cooperating with all three nations and beyond.
If it were up to the citizens of other great nations, many would have willingly given up their old citizenship to enter Estefan. There was only one small problem.
Estefan didn’t accept just everyone. This was also why the city was given another name... the City of Heroes.
If one wanted to be a resident of Estefan, they had to be a Hero. Only those that awakened were embraced. If one wasn’t a Hero, then they had to be filthy rich or someone who contributed to society in a significant manner, but even then, the acceptance rate was low.
Normally, Leo could never have dreamt of entering Estefan, but that impossible dream was finally becoming a reality.
As the Hero Guild’s Stealth Class Ship was escorting him, there was no need for him to go through the port of entry or verify his identity.
He was swiftly brought inside the barrier of the city that was a city only in name. Based on sheer size, it was no smaller than the three great nations.
If they wanted to increase the size, they could also easily do that since they were only surrounded by the ocean on all sides and there was no one to stop them.
"What a beautiful city," Leo glanced out the window, his hands behind his back.
No matter how he tried to act mature, he was still a youngster who hadn’t seen the wider world. He was like a bird that had just taken its first flight.
"Mother, would you have been proud of me if you were here?" he said weakly. "I am back... Back to the home that I never got to experience... Back to the home that kicked you out..."
His gaze looked distant as his thoughts started to stray.
"Lord Leo?" A voice fell on his ears, bringing him out of his trance.
"Huh?" He came to his senses and responded.
"We have almost reached our destination. We will be landing soon."
"Oh, right." Leo nodded lightly. He had already steeled his heart. Since he was going to pretend, he might as well pretend to the best of his abilities.
....
The ship landed atop the largest building in Estefan, one that touched the clouds. It was so high that people couldn’t even see the peak while standing on the ground, making it look like it had simply disappeared within the clouds.
The doors of the ship slowly opened, revealing Leo.
"Would someone be here to welcome me?" he wondered as he raised his head while stepping down. His gaze soon landed on one person.
His pupils momentarily shrunk at the sight. Fortunately, he quickly recovered his cold look.
"You must be Blaze..." He confidently stopped before the person whose presence had shocked him the most.
The person that had come here to welcome him was none other than the greatest hero ever born on Earth, Blaze himself.
"Your elixirs saved my life. Wouldn’t it be disrespectful if I didn’t welcome you myself?"
Blaze didn’t mind the cold reaction. He simply smiled and reached out his hand.
"Has my lab been prepared?" Leo ignored Blaze and glanced back at Kayla.
Although he appeared extremely disrespectful to leave Blaze hanging, only he knew his current situation. No matter how calm he pretended to be, his hands behind his back were trembling.
It was too much of a shock for his body to see Blaze in person. The only reason he didn’t shake Blaze’s hand was because he was worried his trembling hands would be noticed.
"Ah, right. You have come after a long journey." Blaze awkwardly retracted his hand.
"It’s alright Kayla, I’ll take it from here," he told Kayla, taking on the responsibility of a guide.
’What? Why do you want to guide me? Do you think I’m not nervous enough already?’ Leo thought, but he still kept his wooden expression.
He simply followed Blaze, not saying anything. For a mad alchemist, why would it matter who guided him?
In his mind, he kept repeating that the person before him wasn’t Blaze. It was just a walking chicken. It was self-hypnosis that was as effective as a potato in treating dehydration.
"Was your journey comfortable?" Blaze asked after the two of them entered the lift, leaving everyone else behind.
"It was alright." Leo nodded, keeping his answer short.
On the long ride down, Blaze asked multiple questions, but Leo only answered vaguely, trying to end the conversation.
His throat had almost gone dry, even though he had barely spoken any words.
"It seems that you aren’t very fond of me," Blaze sighed.
"Not true at all." Leo shook his head, but he didn’t say anything else.
Blaze could only laugh. "In any case, I hope you find this place to your liking. If there’s anything you don’t like, you can always tell me."
"I’ll keep that in mind." Leo nodded again.
In his mind, he had already blurred the image of Blaze. To help with his anxiety, he distracted his thoughts with something more positive. He tried to think of an idea to burn his wealth and more.
"Can I ask you a question?" he suddenly asked Blaze out of nowhere.
"Please go ahead."
"If you were a businessman, what would you absolutely avoid if you were trying to make a profit?"
Although he had the entire world’s knowledge online, it paled in comparison to experience. How could it compare to the knowledge that Blaze possessed, after experiencing the galaxy and civilizations beyond?
"Hmm? Something that I would absolutely avoid if I wanted to make a profit? Isn’t that a simple answer? I would-"