<h4>Chapter 457: The First Part of the Independence n</h4>


    Quickly four days passed...


    At this time, it was early morning in the ck in region, and the temperature was pleasant, typical of this period of the day.


    But while the local climate was stable, with a bluish sky extended for hundreds of kilometers, a group of carriages approached the Dry City from the south side of the wall.


    This group consisted of three carriages typically used for human transport, which were being pulled by spiritual beasts from the 2nd stage of cultivation, the mostmon to be found in groups like this one on the roads of the northern region of the Central Continent.


    At the same time that such a group approached the southern post of the local wall, a young woman pursued them from afar until she finally told her beast to stop running.


    Almost immediately after she gave hermand, the beast slowed down, and the green-haired young woman leaned forward, with her hair swaying in the breeze.


    ''What is this?'' Vi unconsciously wondered, looking up at the great wall in front of her that seemed to have arge dome above it, which extended across an extensive area.


    Vi had started chasing this family who had left the City of Waters a few days ago.


    That day, she had received the news that one more of her students was leaving the academy of that city because her student''s family had decided to leave that town.


    And given the frequency with which this was happening, she couldn''t help finding it all very strange!


    Vi would not mind if one of her students left her ss to live in another city, but this had be a regr urrence in the preceding six months...


    And because of this, Vi had lost almost half of her students, finally having lost her patience, and decided to investigate this matter.


    Such a thing was not normal, and she felt there was something very wrong with it. And in fact, when she tried to talk to the families of these students of hers, they had just avoided her, pretending not to know what the problem was.


    So, after not getting answers in this way, this woman had decided to secretly pursue thest family that had left that city, something that resulted in the situation she was in right now.


    Anyway, while Vi was standing at a distance from the Dry City wall, those carriages from before had finally entered the southern border post of the local army.


    Seeing this from afar, Vi frowned and began to ponder all that she was feeling and seeing. ''This is definitely a barrier produced by a medium-level grade-2 defensive array... But why would such a thing exist in this ce?''


    ''Considering the distance I''ve covered these past few days, this ce should be pretty much in the Dry City position, but...''


    ''But how could something like that be in such a city?''


    She took her left hand to her mouth for a moment, remaining silent and looking at the lifeless terrain of that ce she was until finally, her eyes widened. Vi pped both of her hands as if she had just understood something.


    "That''s it! My student''s families are alling here!" She muttered, realizing that a ce with such a defensive structure would have better opportunities than a town like the one her mother had been ruling.


    ''Something happened in the Dry City, and this ce is probably not the same anymore!''


    ''Probably some rich person has decided to make this ce his secret base and requires people to work here!'' She thought about it, leaving aside the many questions regarding how or why this ce received such investments.


    Those were questions she wanted to know the answers to, but at the moment, they were things that didn''t matter that much to her. The fact was, this ce ahead of her could only be the Dry City, and Vi knew she wasn''t dreaming or hallucinating the spiritual feeling generated by the barrier.


    In this case, she could forget what she knew about such a location and leave to ask questions at another time. What mattered even now was how this information could help this young woman!


    ''At first, I shouldmunicate this type of information directly with the family, but my mother always told me to analyze the situation carefully before...''


    She then frowned even more and muttered. "Perhaps the benefits we can have if we use this to our advantage are much greater if I justmunicate with the family!"


    After that, she ordered her beast to run again, this time towards the Cromwell Kingdom, away from the Dry City wall.


    ''I''ll talk about it with my mother. With her help, I''ll be able to make the best choice!''


    And finally, after a few moments, Vi had disappeared from that spot, leaving no clues for the ck in soldiers who were standing at that immigration post south of the wall.


    ...


    As Vi ran toward the City of Waters, at the headquarters of the ck in Army, arge conference was taking ce in one of thergest meeting rooms in the administrative section.


    In that meeting room, about 100 people were seated at different height levels on what looked like a staircase, typical of theaters.


    At the same time, there was a small stage facing this audience. There was a set of characters written on the wall, which made each person swallow their saliva.


    Even though these people were among the strongest in the local army, except for members of the Elite Squad, these men and women couldn''t help but feel worried.


    After all, the content on that wall indicated something severe, which could lead to grave consequences for all of them and the ck in.


    Finally, while those people between levels 44 and 45 mainly were silent, trying to understand this situation better, the side door of that ce opened, and Abby walked into that room.


    After seeing this, many of them tried to get up to her but were soon interrupted when she waved her hand, indicating no need for such an act. "Good morning, everyone."


    She then looked at the green wall on that side of the room and continued. "As you can see, we are here to discuss an issue that is crucial to the future actions of the army."


    She then looked at those symbols as she settled herself behind a small table on that stage. Abby then waved her hand back and said. "It''s time for us to start the invasion of the Maritime City!"


    Upon hearing this, many of them immediately became even more solemn than before. ''So is this serious? Isn''t it a joke?''


    ''But are we prepared? Does the young master truly want to start the Independence n?''


    But despite everyone being entirely serious, some had thoughts contrary to these most worried people.


    ''Finally! I can''t wait for us to start showing what we''re capable of...''


    ''This brings me one step closer to getting justice for my family!''


    ''After this, our city will grow stronger...''


    And finally, as each of those people had thoughts of all kinds in their minds, Abby began to speak.


    "As you know, the invasion of the Maritime City is just the first stage of the Independence n, which has as its purpose the promation of the ck in as an independent state."


    "And as our sovereign will reach level 50 in less than a year, he wishes the Maritime City to bepletely dominated by the army at that time!"


    "Hence, starting today, we will begin the preparations for the invasion of that town, starting with the formation of investigation groups, which will obtain the necessary data on the forces present in that city."


    "After that, we will make the list of the soldiers who will participate in the attacks and who will also be involved in the scheme nned by our sovereign..."