OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 271: Twenty-Two

Chapter 271: Twenty-Two

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"Wow, man, just wow... I never thought you'd be so good at speeches!"

"Yeah! I was surprised a million times over!"

"Same, same, same."

Ragnar, Aquila, and Morgiana praised Emir as he drove them back home with him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

Tsk!

"Just take a compliment, you fuck."

Emir shrugged off Ragnar as he swerved the cruiser harshly, causing his brother to crash into the window.

"Ugh... you bitch."

"Shut up, Akhi."

"Ha?"

Ragnar immediately looked to the back of the cruiser.

"You guys heard that, right? Right?!"

"???, ???..."

Morgiana smiled brightly.

"He finally acknowledged you."

"Is he like some Tsundere?"

Bang!

A cube-shaped Aether construct smashed into Aquila's face.

"Gah..."

His head snapped to the right as his shoulder crashed into the compartment's ground.

"Fuck! Stop hitting people, man!"

"Sure, sure, I'm doing you a favor so let's get along."

Eagle clicked his tongue while rubbing his face in hurt.

"So you seriously could kill us back then, huh?"

Emir chuckled.

"Yeah, though it's too bad that we won't be fighting like that again."

"True, I liked the tension."

Ragnar tapped Emir on the shoulder and telepathically asked:

[You sure about all this, though?]

[You mean?]

[Look... I know that shit is covered by the contract, but he could still be a threat.]

"Ah, it's fine..."

Emir's voice grew true and loud:

"Isn't that right, Aquila?"

"Hell yeah! We're gonna party today!"

...

"Welcome to our mansion, boys and girls."

Emir gestured for them to come in as he stood beside the gate.

[Lyra, send the three musketeers to entertain them.]

[Alright, they're almost there.]

"A nice welcome, brother!"

"Thanks."

"Thank you."

All three stepped in and followed him as he headed towards the dining room.

"The food isn't ready yet, but we've got a few snacks on the table."

A reinforced gate stood in their path.

One that opened with a click.

"Yall could chew on that while we cook."

Emir pointed at the fruits, nuts, cookies, dates, and whatever else that dotted their large oval table in baskets.

"I already sent you the seating positions, so just check the holoscreen."

"Roger boss."

"Alright."

"Okayyy!"

"Ask the maid androids if you want something."

After nodding at each of the three...

"See you in a bit."

He left and headed to the kitchen.

While on the way, he saw Jamal, Raymond, and Longshot.

"C'mon guys, don't leave our guests waiting."

"We're on it, bossman!"

Raymond nudged Jamal away as he rushed to hug Emir.

"Congrats boss."

Emir hugged him back while patting his back for a few.

"Thanks, old man..."

"Congrats bossman!"

"Congrats sir."

He acknowledged them with a nod and then returned his attention to Raymond while leaving

his embrace.

"ETA?"

"The kids are done; they'll be here in a minute or two..."

Raymond paused, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Continue."

Emir prompted.

And he complied:

"The rest will take a while longer."

Albeit still dreading his boss's discomfort.

"Hm, it's fine; our guests can wait. Good job."

His apprehension was alleviated by those two words, causing his smile to resurface.

"Thank you, bossman."

"No, thank you."

Emir shared a quick laugh with them as they parted ways.

After crossing a few doors, he arrived at the kitchen.

It was chaos.

The three Ls made a mess of the place.

Lily looked the most messy, as she had flour all over her.

He was certain that she had dropped it all over herself.

Next was Laura, his mother.

She was relatively clean compared to his sister, but she still had some seasoning that sneaked

its way past her apron and onto her clothes.

'Man, just how many do I have to tell her to always wear the augmented suit?'

An exasperated sigh escaped him, catching Lyra's attention.

She greeted his arrival with a beautiful smile adorning her face.

"Hey prince, you're finally here."

Just as her words reached the other two, they flinched and looked at the entrance, spotting

Emir.

"Ahem, ahem... you saw nothing."

One of the two appeared embarrassed, a blush forming on her cute face.

"I didn't."

While the other hid her head behind a cutting board.

Laura knew that she had done something wrong.

But she didn't want to receive what her daughter called 'The Great Nagging...'

So she hid.

"Mom."

It took a moment, but she eventually replied:

"...Yes?" "Why use a cutting board? The counters are already designed for that use."

His mother was confused about that question, expecting another, but she didn't give him the

chance to change his mind as she quickly answered:

"B-But I'm used to them."

Emir sighed while nearing Lyra.

"So, what should I do to help?"

This duo had no need for pleasantries.

"Smash up those biscuits; we'll use them on the cake as garnish."

They always got straight to the point.

"And?"

He cherished that aspect of their relationship the most and she knew that. So she, like always,

accommodated to fit the box that housed his desires.

"I'm almost done with frying the spring rolls, so prepare a tray of tissues to dry them of oil."

However, just because she accommodated him doesn't mean that she doesn't enjoy their straightforward relationship.

After all, she began to love him because of his honesty.

Though if she were honest herself, a bit of "I missed you" and "I love you," wouldn't hurt... It

definitely wouldn't.

"Sure, and should I prepare the Luqaimat?"

Lily and Laura watched how they interacted with awe.

"Yeah, the mixture is over there."

As his mother, Laura knew that Emir had never once used the kitchen in his life.

"Alright, how many minutes on the soup?"

But now...

"Let's see..."

Emir looked like a natural.

"Eight."

He multi-tasked, finishing one thing and then going to the next.

"I'll add the green onions then."

And it wasn't long till they got a hold of themselves and joined his flow.

"Leave that to me, sweetie."

"I'll get the plates!"

...

Emir sat on his seat, watching as all the food was distributed by the androids under Lyra's

command.

The smell of it was lovely.

The sight even more so.

The ungodly amount of time he spent in solitude.

A hundred millennia.

Even that didn't stutter or change the love he felt for his family.

The love he currently felt as he watched them enjoy themselves.

And it wasn't just them.

Everyone he considered an 'ally,' or at least a potential one was now there.

In the dining room.

Lyra, Ragnar, Elijah, Jake, Emma, Kiera, Jack, Sarah, Evan, Hiro, Leo, Nathan, Jamal,

Raymond, Logan, Faye, Morgiana, Aquila, Mariane, and even...

Evelyn.

Yes, she was there.

"Big bro." And she stared.

Her gaze fixed on Emir with an intensity dwarfing that of many protagonists looking at their

most cherished goal.

"Hey~."

Emir was the same, albeit much more relaxed in comparison.

This whole thing began with her arrival.

The two didn't look away from each other. "You hear me?"

If one didn't know their past...

They would think that those two loved each other to death.

"Hello~."

Yet, if Lyra's jovial demeanor was any indicator, such a thing wasn't the case at all.

"Hey, heeeey~."

Emir's gaze finally left her and fell upon Elijah, as he had been the one calling him for the last

minute or so.

"What's up?" "Finally-"

"Ask."

After being cut off, Elijah sighed and then excitedly asked:

"Can you tell me more about the test? You know, like the hidden specifics."

"...Sure."

Emir nodded, and many at the table turned their attention towards him.

Interested in the answer.

'Heh.'

He obliged to their silent request by raising his voice.

"So as you guys know, unlike our test, Elijah's was in the digital realm."

With a raised hand, Raymond asked a question that one would expect of someone his age:

"You mean the one those scammers use, right?"

"Yeah, NetWeavers."

"I see..."

"But it's slightly different."

Emir continued:

"While both their cores is the network, unlike the realm NetWeavers surf, this one is crafted in

one 'section.""

Some of those before him still showed confusion, so he simplified it even more:

"Think of it like this..."

Lyra, as always, assisted Emir by projecting a hologram of what exactly he was about to say.

[You're welcome.]

He nodded at her.

"The main network is the world itself." Planet Earth was projected.

It was covered by a light 'Fog.'

"Our eleven sectors are the sub-networks that work in tandem with the main."

The hologram zoomed in to show their A-11 sector from a bird's-eye view.

"Each district in our sector is a different private network in that sub-network."

It now projected the Academy.

"And each district has many buildings, all housing different 'sections.""

The hologram then dissipated into the air.

"The NetWeavers travel through the buildings in those districts..."

Emir then looked at Elijah.

"But what you experienced was a single floor in one of those buildings."

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The place was silent.

Only a subtle chewing sound was present.

Faye was the cause.

"On the other end of the spectrum, our main network is connected to our star system, the

Sol's domain, which is connected to the Local Group..."

This dump of information hit them like a mortal squaring off against a truck.

"It goes on and on until it reaches the Oracle itself."

They simply couldn't fathom the scale of it all.

"You get it?"

It took some time-tens of seconds at least-but Elijah eventually nodded.

"Yes... thanks, big bro."

"My pleasure."

Then a blonde woman raised her hand.

She sat at the end of the table with a light-skinned man.

At the bossman's gesture of acceptance, she asked:

"But what's that fog about?"

The man next to her frowned. And Emir smiled. "You've got a keen eye, Em."

"Of course I do!"

"I was about to ask that too-"

"Bleh! Shut up, I win!"

The family shared a laugh at Emma's and Jake's shenanigans, while Emir silently asked Lyra

to project the hologram again.

"What they experienced was a single floor..."

Seriousness returned to the dining room.

"But that floor wasn't a simulation of something fake."

A few gasps resounded...

Murmurs followed.

Everyone in the room, with a few exceptions, looked to be surprised. Their faces projected a single question.

One that Emir picked up on.

"Yes, planets like that do exist."

"And what they experienced was obviously an observable planet..."

Unlike what one might expect, their reactions were subdued.

"Contrary to the many fake ones that show themselves under our planet's fog." But, why?

"Don't ask me how this fog works; I don't know, nor does Lyra."

They simply realized that this was another case of the Order's deception. "Though what we know is that this fog has existed since or even much before the first

epoch..."

Their immortal enemy.

"The Age of Myths."