I still wanted to go explore the City, but I think it would be kind of awkward to go do that now, so I just left. There will always be time to do it later, so it's fine.

From the City, we began making our way south.

This would be the last City that they had managed to uncover in their scouting mission before coming back. After we left this one, we would be doing some scouting on our own as we essentially traveled around the entire world.

Eventually, our travels continued until the desert environment finally began to give way to one of grass.

It wasn't the lush grassy plains that people have dreams about, but compared to the never-ending sand we just left, it was a paradise.

Patchy brown grass and a lot of uneven rock were the most dominant features of the area, but a few sparse trees littered the place as well. Something of note though was that the wildlife was not as apparent as it was in the desert.

There were way more animals in the desert than from what I've seen here, and they looked far more menacing too.

So far, I've only seen a couple small creatures here and there.

Pretty weird.

Anyway, we approached the City, and I was hoping for a much better reception than the one I just received.

Now this one looked pretty normal as far as System Cities went.

There were walls, ramparts, and a gate to enter in from.

It was pretty similar to my own City, and even the New Earth Union.

There were people coming in and out of the City as I approached, but the ones that were leaving were all pretty much heading to the south and only the south, so it took a while for them to spot my approach as I was coming in from the north.

People stopped and stared, and the guards manning the walls turned to face us.

We slowed down our approach slightly and continued running towards the City. No need to scare them.

Once I finally got close enough, I could hear more than a few murmurs regarding our appearance and arrival here.

Someone thought we looked odd, others were scared, and they were joined by a wide array of other thoughts and worries.

I ignored them all and simply walked up to the open gate.

It seems they employed a toll system as well, and by the looks of things, it was 1 copper coin to enter the City.

Interesting.

The line stopped moving once we walked up to the gate, and the person manning the toll station was a young man, clearly unsure of what to do. I'll make it a bit easier on him.

"Hi. My name is Raizen."

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His eyes widened slightly, and even the murmurs from all the gathered people died down to silence.

I continued speaking.

"Can you please bring me to your City Lord? Or at least bring them here? I don't mind waiting."

He nodded frantically for a few moments before running off deeper into the City. I observed him and also spread my senses into the City as well.

There were a lot more people than mine, and the layout was extremely different. They went for a circular layer approach, and the rings got smaller the deeper into the City you went.

But it was still pretty much the same thing as mine despite the differences.

There were plenty of residential areas, plenty of market space, spaces for bigger buildings, and then places for important buildings like where the City Lord was probably living or working.

Of course, I could've waltzed right in and just explored as I saw fit, but I really didn't mind waiting here.

So that's exactly what I did.

People were still staring at me, but a few of them that were in the process of walking away from the City eventually continued on their paths, but plenty of them remained to stare.

I know they all got the same Planetary Lord notification, but apart from the silence that ensued after I declared who I was, there weren't any real hostile or even friendly reactions to me saying my name.

I suppose there was a chance they didn't believe me, but I doubted that.

For now, I'll just take it as a good sign that they weren't openly hostile like the people of the desert City to the north were.

Anyway, it took about 30 or so minutes for the young man to come back, and he didn't return alone.

An entire entourage was trailing behind him. 20 people exactly were following him. 15 of them looked to be guards of some sort, while the other 5 looked somewhat important, just based on their positioning as they approached.

At the head of the important group was an older man. If someone forced me to guess where he was from, I would say Japan, but I could be wrong.

He was also in Qi Refinement, so perhaps he was even older than he looked.

Once the group finally neared my position, they stopped, and he came forward by himself and bowed slightly.

Okay, he has to be Japanese, right?

"Greetings, Lord Raizen. My name is Kodai Hitachi, and I am the City Lord of New Asia City. It is a pleasure to welcome you here."

Alright, I'm not sure why I was so fixated on the fact that he was Japanese, but this basically confirms it. I can move on with my life in peace now.

"I appreciate the welcome, City Lord Kodai. Is there someplace where we can go chat? I don't mind just staying right here if you'd prefer that though."

I could've just asked him for his answer right then and there, but he took the time to offer a proper greeting. I can at least ask for his submission in a proper meeting as return. I won't be giving him a bow in return though.

"A place has been prepared. Please follow me."

He turned, and so too did his entourage, who remained silent throughout the exchange.

I turned towards my own entourage.

"Vrusha will follow me. Everyone else spread out and scout the area. Do not disturb the people here."

"Yes, Patriarch."

The lot of them answered back before they dispersed quickly. To most of the people watching, it was like they simply disappeared. A few astonished gazes and remarks lingered on them and then on me for more than a few moments.

City Lord Kodai's gaze lingered on me the longest, but he didn't say anything, only offering a thin-lipped smile once I turned back towards him.

Vrusha fell in line behind me as we began walking into the City.

As the head of my personal guard, he would be privy to a lot of information and various meetings I will likely have to attend as not only a Patriarch of the Clan, but the soon-to-be Planetary Lord of Earth and everything that entails.

I technically haven't known him for that long, and there isn't a contract binding him to me like with the previous Ash Guard, but as an Infernal Patriarch, I simply can't expect anything less than loyalty and obedience from other Infernals.

Especially the ones in my own Clan.

The Eternal Flame won't allow anything less than that level of arrogance anyway.

Something Scalera experienced firsthand.

Though I do wonder how long it would take for him to loosen up a bit. He's like a robot around me.

In fact, they all are.

As I thought about random things, I was led through three different inner gates before being made to enter a decently large building, and eventually a circular conference room with a pretty large roundtable within.

They must really like their circles here.

"Please have a seat, Lord Raizen."

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