Wallace stiffened after hearing the A.I.'s report.

Their task was to stealthily gain access to the information that Veda holds, but hearing this now, he realized that it was impossible.

"What are your impressions about Veda?"

Wallace asked Avalon who made its investigation. It didn't take long before it answered.

[ A superior Artificial Intelligence. ]

Wallace heard the reply as he gulped unconsciously.

'To think that this world has something like that...'

This can only be explained by one thing, it must be a remnant of the previously technologically advanced people who arrived on this planet first.

'It most likely survived by itself... But what could be its goal all these years? Now, was it mad at me for trying to bypass their security?'

Haa~

There was no point in worrying about this now so Wallace can only answer.

"Alright... Connect to Veda." Avalon then quickly complied with his instruction.

[ Connecting... ]

After a couple of seconds, Veda appeared on the screen of his mobile device.

No, what appeared was only a graphic of sound waves moving up and down...

[ Why did you try to establish a direct connection to Veda? ]

These words didn't just appear on his mobile device. There was also a voice different from Avalon.

Apparently, it doesn't have a gender-neutral voice but a voice leaning to the feminine side. Anyway, he had to answer.

"Curiosity..."

It was the truth. Wallace was hoping that Veda would accept it.

[ Where did you acquire a high-level artificial intelligence network? ]

'Mhmm...'

He felt lucky that it didn't acquire any of his information. It was a good thing that they created a stand-alone Avalon that was assigned to handle this job.

Even if it managed to take over this Avalon, it wouldn't make any significant damage by leaking all his information. They could just destroy it completely if necessary.

But thinking about it, he wanted to gain the trust of this Veda or maybe create a relationship that can benefit both of them. He wanted to avoid mutual destruction as it won't be a fruitful endeavor.

Wallace was considering the benefit of having Veda, it must have acquired a lot of information about several countries as it was controlling the information flow of all aristocrats, nobles, royalty, or any people that have an established status, people that were trusted by higher-ups to gain access to a Terminal of Veda.

He took a deep breath before answering...

"It was the A.I. of my previous spaceship... You can say that I'm from the Galactic Federation."

It was an answer that would also test the Superior Artificial Intelligence.

'What would be its reaction? You should be the Prince's remnant, programmed to support him... A person who hated the Empire...'

Wallace noticed that it didn't reply quickly this time as it was probably processing or considering whether his words were true.

[ Prove it. ]

'Eh? So it was really aware of the Federation... But how can I prove it?'

He tried thinking of how to do it as he considers letting Veda connect to the mainframe of Avalon. But it was still too dangerous at this point. In this case, it was better to ask.

"Tell me. How can I prove it?"

[ To ensure that your blood was really used to activate the Terminal, do it again. This time, I will be watching you. ]

'Oh...'

Wallace remembers that a small amount of his blood was indeed taken during the apprenticeship examination. Lacus even explained that it was also used to activate the Terminal.

"Very well... If that's all I needed to do..."

He quickly complied as he felt that there was no harm in it since he had already done this before. He also didn't believe that there would be some kind of magic that could curse him just by having a drop of his blood.

He cut his finger using a blade given by an Elysium that also brought the Terminal. Wallace dropped a couple of blood and waited for Veda.

'At most, it might get some information about his current body... No, wait...'

[ Beep... Your blood doesn't show any semblance from a person coming from the Galactic Federation. The test shows that you were born on this planet. ]

'Just like what I thought... What a blunder...'

[ Loading Subject Termination Sequence... ]

"W-wait! Wait! I can explain!"

[ You have 10 seconds to explain. ]

"I switched bodies! Do you know the Cube? The Ancient Relic? The Cube of Paradox... It was that thing's fault! I mean... It was to save me from completely dying due to Mana Suffocation... Y-you can have a look at my previous body... It looks very similar to mine! You can test that blood as well..."

His body was preserved by the mysterious power of the Cube.

Luckily, Veda listened to his explanation and agreed to take a quick check on his body. Wallace wasn't sure what was the Subject Termination Sequence but it sounded very dangerous to him.

It doesn't surprise him if Veda has controls to powerful automatons or such. Not just that, it can just post his image at the internal network and place a bounty on his head. Then, Veda wouldn't have to move and many influential and powerful people will be willing to work for it.

[ Identity Confirmed. Trace of blood doesn't show any semblance to the people from the Empire. ]

'I heard that the Empire had strict requirements for their people.'

One of that was they have to agree to the Empire's sacred body modifications to achieve the Peak of Human Evolution. Everyone will have to receive a syringe containing a unique drug. Aside from that, all newborn babies in the Empire were also receiving the same treatment.

'It seems that Veda had found a way to distinguish them, huh. Even Avalon doesn't have those capabilities. Is it due to its integration to mana?'

"Now that I've proven myself. Can we cooperate? I want to know your goals... Of course, I'll be willing to tell you mine in exchange."

***

The northern continent truly has an unpredictable environment. The mana was unstable and very difficult to control. More than that, there were even some extreme places that the mana they trusted so much was not present at all.

That was probably the most dangerous thing in this land. Even if they encounter a Flying Dragon, Phoenix, or other mythical beasts, as long as they have Mana, they could struggle and have a chance to survive. But without it, they would be just like a normal person with a better body due to some body enhancements they have.

There was also the problem with the stealthy and strong mutated beast that would lurk around especially at night... These powerful beasts can only be found in this land and are extremely dangerous even for a group of an Adept.

In short, this land isn't a place for human settlement.

"Are we almost there?" An injured Adept asked their leader. His eyes were still filled with hope even though most of the members of the expedition team had already perished and only a few had survived.

After all, Slaine has revealed his true purpose in coming here to uplift their morale, if not, most of them would probably just let themselves be killed just to escape this torturous land.

"Mhmm... I can feel that we are getting closer..." Slaine said blankly as he looked at his subordinate.

They already achieved one of their objectives with the cost of sacrificing several Adept Mages. They just needed one more thing before they can think of escaping from this place.

'Just beyond this mountain... I just need to meet him... or even just one of them...'

Behind Slaine, the previous lively bunch of powerful Adepts with other vehicles and Iron Knights were now a measly group of 12 people.

All the Iron Knights have already met their ends and were left behind to avoid it from being an additional burden to their group.

Being the leader of this expedition, Slaine was pained in his heart that his previous friends and subordinates breathe they're last in this forsaken land.

Most of their corpses couldn't even be brought home as they were either eaten whole by the beasts or they have to detonate themselves just to give the remaining members a precious time to get into safety.

If this is the case, not even their ash would remain.

Now, with all these struggles in the northern continent, he has to remain firm and move forward.

His expedition is for the sake of the future. He was aware that a tragedy is about to befall in this world... Maybe a year or two... Or if they are lucky, it might take 5 more years...

He was feeling it, the protective Mana covering the planet was slowly thinning out. As a Grand Arcanist and one of the 24 Survivors of the first expedition... He can recognize it.

He didn't know for sure what would happen once it disappeared completely but it wasn't hard to guess with all the old clues left behind...

'Aeolia didn't die, that much was proven... For someone who had grasp knowledge beyond his era and even continuously improves them... Someone who left behind blueprints that could only be used fifty or a hundred years later... Why... Why would someone who can make great changes in this world left some clues for future generations to visit this place?'