Sumatra's Greatest Fan

"What happened here?" The leading Wean Clansman asked. However, the moment he used some of his detection means to inspect the corpses, he figured out the situation. ’Those damn assassins wiped out our team.’

"Are you alright?" He approached Torq to ask.

"I am. But..." Torq sighed with a sombre tone, "Only I survived."

"I understand," The man didn’t say anything negative about Torq being the only survivor. All he did was nod to his people and conducted a detailed inspection of the place.

At the end, he approached Torq to ask, "Do you have a Millinger Tangible Nature?"

"Yes," Torq nodded.

"I’ll send a report to headquarters." The man then asked Torq, "Why don’t you get some rest here?"

"I’ll make the necessary arrangements."

"No, I better return home now." Torq shook his head.

"Alright," The men nodded at a couple men behind him and addressed Torq, "These two will accompany you till you reach Binkn Megacity."

"Thank you," Torq said and made way to the railway station alongside two men with decent statures. Both of them had a 3-Life Stage cultivation and seemed to possess a decent stock of Natures.

Eyeing the two, Torq felt a tad more relaxed, ’They can protect me from initial harm.’

However, anyone prepared to kill him would also be geared up enough to kill his protectors. The moment he entered the station, Torq eyed the Wean Clansmen passing by.

For a moment, he closed his eyes and perceived his surroundings, ’Where are they?’

Soon, he locked onto the familiar sense of hunger displayed by his stomach towards his uncles and aunts. However, the moment he locked onto them, he frowned, ’They are...weak.’

The fact that assassins had targeted him despite six Wean Clansmen constantly guarding him puzzled him. It meant that when he was struck in the warehouse, something happened that had kept his personal guards engaged. ’It seems they suffered massive damage.’

That was why Torq wasn’t overly reliant on his guards, for even though they were competent, the assassins targeting him were equally competent too. While his uncles and aunts had to constantly get his defenses right, the enemy only has to breach through once.

That was the nature of their mission. And no matter what, there were times where they were bound to slip up, which had happened at the warehouse.

Even though he appeared nonchalant, Torq determined the positions of his guards as he boarded his railway, ’Two of them are seated in the last row of my compartment. Two are seated on the front row. There’s one making rounds through the various compartments.’

He then eyed the child that took a seat right next to him and smiled, ’And here’s the last one.’

It was one of his uncles, who had disguised himself as a six-year-old boy. "Where are your parents?"

"Home," The boy spoke curtly.

"What a rude child." Torq appeared surprised and exchanged glances with the two men seated on his either side as protectors. "Is every kid here like this?"

"More or less," One of them shrugged, "Since we face constant skirmishes with the Varahan Empire, the people here are more rough in terms of temperament."

"We also cultivate in our kids a sense of independence, so that even while alone, they can manage themselves." The other spoke casually and eyed the boy nearby, "Many of us travelled all over the place even while mere brats."

’So, that’s why uncle took on such a disguise.’ Torq thought, knowing the efforts taken by his family members to live in realistic disguises according to the place while constantly keeping watch over his safety, ’It’s thanks to them that I hardly face any attacks.’

The railway was split into three columns. The column on either extreme consisted of two seats per each. The central column was turned into a cabin, with three seats in each cabin, including storage space, depending on the price of the ticket.

Torq purchased the most expensive ticket, which cost 650 Credits per seat, for in this cabin, there was enough space to store the cage containing the Roshmon Pet.

The doors to the cabin space were currently open, which was how Torq could interact with the boy seated on the extreme column.

There was a decent walking space between the cabin and the extreme columns, enough for three people to walk side by side.

The compartment Torq was seated in was sparsely occupied. As he casually waited, more and more people funnelled in, taking their seats. Gradually, the fuller the compartment got,

the paler Torq’s face became, ’Fuck!’

Other than the two burly men seated next to him, and the five of his family guards, every other passenger in the compartment was a Free Human disguised as a Wean Clansmen.

Seeing the seamlessness with which the passengers had boarded and mingled around, it was apparent they had been maintaining the identities for a long while, ’Not only have they killed the original Wean Clansmen, but they have remained in the identities for long enough to become completely natural with it.’

’Dammit!’ Torq knew what was happening here, ’Every spy who has been living with their identities hidden has been mobilised to target me.’

Considering the fact he was the only Spectral Boar who had managed to get an audience with the Celestial Boar, there was a solid chance the spies had already figured out the information about his Tertiary Nature.

Hence, among all the Spectral Boars in the Varahan Empire’s kill list, GaraBuntara was placed at the very top, granted the highest priority for elimination. After all, if he were allowed to mature, he could singlehandedly turn around the tide of the civil war.

The civil war had originally erupted because of the absence of the Celestial Boar. However, even after the Celestial Boar returned, the civil war never stopped.

After all, whether it be the Wean Clan or the Varahan Empire, both descended from the Celestial Boar. Hence, the Celestial Boar didn’t stop the civil war. On the contrary, he encouraged it, for the two sides developed rampantly.

The Celestial Boar alternated between the two sides, granting the wishes of the capable people to further encourage their development.

Just like Torq was given a reward for creating his Tertiary Nature, Free Human geniuses from the Varahan Empire similarly received rewards from the Celestial Boar.

Therefore, with nothing to stop their civil war, both the Wean Clan and the Varahan Empire tried to eliminate key personnel from the opposite side.

[Uncle!]

In the sleeve of the child seated nearby was a piece of Vara serving as an Information Slip. This Vara could be accessed by everyone who intended to communicate with him. Of course, it had been restricted to only be discoverable to those who activated a certain Skill using Mystic Sumatra Art.

Only the family members guarding Torq knew about this Skill. At every moment, each of them was accessing the Information Slips in the pockets of others, placing their thoughts.

In the Vara held by the boy, a string of messages were appearing one after another.

[The coast seems clear for now!]

[There are some suspicious individuals in the carriage.]

[I can’t determine if they are regular spies or those targeting GaraBuntara.]

As the messages appeared one after another, a new message popped up suddenly, stunning them all.

[Uncle!]

It was from Torq, stunning them for he wasn’t supposed to know about the Skill needed to detect and access this Information Slip.

The boy shot a glance in the cabin’s direction, relaxing upon seeing Torq perform a subtle nod of confirmation.

[Uncle, other than our family and the two people seated beside me, everyone else in this compartment is a Free Human.]

There was silence for a few seconds before the boy sent a message into the Information Slip, which Torq could access by making a string of Prana come into contact with the piece of Vara.

[How sure are you?]

[As sure as the breakfast I ate in the morning.]

The boy made a deep frown in response, his eyes slowly darting across the compartment. Then, he made a mild groan.

[Everyone, be ready to attack our enemies at a moment’s notice. I will prioritise shielding GaraBuntara.]

A few more seconds later, Torq nodded towards the boy.

[I am prepared to erect an Inhibition Dome at a moment’s notice. I’ve already made preparations to ensure you all can freely use your abilities within it.]

An expression of surprise flashed through the eyes of the boy, wondering when GaraBuntara had become so skilled. However, he refrained from making any unnecessary displays and instead quietly made preparations to take action.

With an Inhibition Dome on their side, they could be a bit more relaxed, as that would render most of the attacks of their enemies useless.

Thump! Thump!

Torq felt his heartbeat accelerate upon feeling a pang in his stomach. His sense of hunger was steadily increasing, in response to the power being accumulated by the surrounding Free Humans, ’They’re about to attack.’

Even though the Free Humans were charging up their attack, they had already used a combination of Nature effects to fully mask their climbing presence. That’s why nothing seemed amiss in the carriage.

Only Torq could sense their actions, for his sense of hunger towards the target increased in proportion to the climbing presence of the target.

Prana circulated through his body at a faster pace as Torq got ready, feeling extremely tensed upon seeing one of the Free Humans casually get up, acting as if he were heading towards the bathroom.

Thud! Thud!

His footsteps were slow but controlled, appearing completely casual. And then, right as he appeared beside the cabin, he paused, "Oof!"

"It’s hot!" He took out a kerchief and wiped his face. And spontaneously in response, his figure ballooned to become an Empyrean Boar, expanding in the direction of the cabin to send Torq flying away.

The assassination attempt had begun.