Lancang County City.
Headquarters of the Overlord Whale Alliance, the Council Hall.
The grand hall was dim.
Tears and snot streaming down his face, Zhao Jianji ran in with one bare foot. He hastily adjusted his attire and was about to pay his respects.
"Your subordinate greets the Alliance Leader... May the Alliance Leader live for a thousand generations, unify the... urk."
But his eyes fell upon the far end of the shadowy hall.
Upon the Overlord Whale Throne sat a magnificent figure, poised and steady, at once familiar and yet utterly alien.
All his words.
Died in his throat.
Impossibly ancient, weathered by countless ages.
He seemed like a traveler who had strode forth from the dawn of time.
A traveler who had crossed to the very end of time before returning, step by step, to the present.
His eyes were deeper than darkness itself.
The moment his placid gaze landed on you...
