Ace wasn't wrong when he said that people are worried about him... After all, his live broadcast is being aired everywhere that their technology can reach. Everyone who is watching is definitely aware of his identity or at least heard his name...

His death would also create a huge setback to the current forces he has and the magicians here would be in a precarious situation...

[ The announcement of your current status has been completed. ]

"Good... Connect me to the Moon Base's Command Center." Wallace said to the floating metal ball.

[ Affirmative... Connected. ]

"Wallace... Is that you? Can you hear me?" Escanor's familiar voice can be heard. They only have an audio connection so he couldn't see the person behind the connection.

"Yes..."

"Whoa! You're safe... The live broadcast just ended after the massive explosion. Everyone is worried about you... Right, what can I do? Just let me know..."

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine... How was your study about the Lost Technology?"

"It was impossible if it's only me, however, since it's three of us working together, we managed to learn it quickly..."

"That's impressive... I'm thinking of hurrying to return and complete the Arcane Tech... But I guess you guys can trigger it there instead..."

"W-we will do our best... But we haven't tried this yet..." Escanor replied a bit worried that Ace is trusting him too much...

He's confident about his skills but it doesn't mean that they can do it on the first try... Making mistakes is surely possible.

"Don't worry, Avalon will guide you. As long as you know the basics, you should be able to operate or trigger the device..."

"I understand... We will not disappoint you."

"Good... Avalon will give you the full details about the time you'll trigger it... We have to make sure that the Empire will not detect our base..."

After hearing this, Escanor finally understood what Ace is worrying about at this moment...

"Do you think that you guys are being followed?" He asked. This is a very serious situation.

"I'm not sure but we can't eliminate the chance… Well, they should be doing that if I'm in their position... That's why I don't want to return there instantly..."

It is not that hard to imagine that the Empire would want to know the base or perhaps any dockyard of their spaceships in outer space.

Although he trusts Avalon, his A.I. is not omnipotent... There might be a chance that they are still being followed at this time without them noticing...

If he returned to the Moon Base without activating the Arcane Technology to hide it, the Empire might easily discover their last Space Stronghold.

One could just imagine what the Empire could do to a stationary target… They would certainly receive a bombardment from the Empire and there would be no way to escape at that moment.

"Very well… We will go according to your plan. Be careful."

They ended the conversation as Escanor relayed the information to the others. They are the ones to maintain the Optical Phenomena Manipulator they have and this is a very important task if they want to stay alive…

***

Elaine and Chase watching the live broadcast were extremely worried about their son…

The previous broadcast when they made an ambush ended really well although the young man was a bit reckless at the latter part…

However, this time, the broadcast didn't even last half an hour before it ended with an extremely scary sight. The Omen was shattered into pieces while the Excellence suffered the same fate from the bunch of large-sized spaceships.

The beam of light that was shot over to the Excellence was unimaginably powerful that not even the ship's mana shield manage to last five seconds.

That is definitely a power above Grade 5 Mana Spell and something that not even their Capital could stop at all.

"Mom! What happened?"

Clarice quickly looked for her parents after noticing that the broadcast already ended… She wasn't paying attention during the battle and when she looked again, the broadcast already ended.

She has no idea about what happened.

"Sshh… Your little sister is sleeping… Be quiet."

Elaine reminded her daughter and explained the situation… However, as Clarice was about to contact Wallace or Avalon, an announcement was made everywhere about the safety of the leader of the Traceless Hands Company… Wallace Ravencroft didn't suffer any injuries and was now headed to the Moon Base to rally all the magicians in outer space…

[ …The next action of the Imperial Army is to conquer the planet. Expect the descent of the Empire 3 to 5 days from now depending on their plans. Again, do not panic. Your government will also assist you on what to do next… We wish for everyone's safety… ]

The announcement ended with a long beeping sound before becoming completely…

"This… What should we do?" Clarice asked…

"I'm sure that Wallace already mentioned it to you, he has plans for our family… Don't worry, let's just trust him for now."

"Is that so? I think I forgot… Anyway, the army is asking for my assistance… They're lacking some people with experience to Steel Knights right now…"

"What? You don't have that much experience as well, right?" Elaine asked in surprise… She knows that her daughter handles the army's spies network that is focused on infiltrating their neighboring country…

She wasn't even the one doing the fieldwork and only working on the desk… She heard this incidentally when her daughter was on her phone…

"Well, I can ask for Avalon's assistance… I should be fine… I already requested to use my custom-made Mech Knights. I'm sure that they'll approve it."

Clarice proudly said as she knows that her Transforming Mech Knights would surely blow the minds of those pilots in the army… In truth, she can't wait to see their reactions when they see this.

"Well, as long as you get Wallace's A.I. to help you… Then it shouldn't be a problem."

Clarice nodded as she left the room…

Because of the abundant supply of Steel Knights recently, the army has decided to create a new Division for these pilots and not many of them wanted to be the pilots of these machines…

Some were uncomfortable as they think that they couldn't fully utilize the magic they've learned and some of them think that Steel Knights are for the weak.

After all, they are considering it as an oversized armor of a magician.

Nevertheless, there are still people who are open-minded and could accept these changes… They were the ones who applied to become a Mech Pilot and Clarice is one of them… Luckily for her, there's not many who wanted to become a pilot so she received the slot quite easily… With her position, it would be a miracle if she was prioritized to be a pilot instead.

'Alright… I just have to practice with this…'

Clarice thought as she headed outside to practice with her Mech Frame…

"Right… I should think of a name for this…"

She recalled that Avalon hasn't given a name for her Transforming Mech Knight yet...

***

After Escanor ended his conversation with Ace, he immediately moved his feet and went to his colleagues…

"We need to activate the Arcane Technology now…"

"Eh? Can we do that now?"

"Isn't that a bit too early?"

The two immediately shared their thoughts. They didn't know that the young man already received instructions from Ace himself.

"No… I mean, we should try activating it first… However, the real deal will happen a couple of days from now…"

"A couple of days?"

"Yes, the Optical thing should be activated before Sir Wallace can arrive… He's worried that he's being followed. We just have to ensure that our base would not be discovered by them… We have to do this perfectly, so even though they think that we really have a base on the moon, they'll spend a lot of time looking for it…"

"Haha… I like it! Let's do this!"

"Yes… This is just a Lost Arcane Technology… We should be able to execute this without a problem…"

Escanor and the others started working to activate the devices that Ace has left behind. This is a very crucial part of their life as they could die if they didn't do this flawlessly…

Even with their escape route, once they are discovered, it would be extremely difficult for them to run away unless they could outspeed the Empire when they decided to escape to their planet.

***

A couple of days had passed and Wallace's corvette-class spaceship has been detected by their system… They couldn't find any other spaceships following them so Escanor thought that Wallace may just be a bit paranoid.

Nevertheless, it is a good thing to be as cautious as possible when dealing with the Empire.

"Escanor, can you hear me?"

"Yes… The Optical Manipulator Device is already activated…"

"I thought as much… I won't be heading there for now… Just observe my trail and see if someone is following…"

"I understand. Be careful!"