How Axel Storm learnt of the website and how he knew he had seen it before it was deleted was a mystery that made his head ache from trying to understand it.

He had to let go.

From what he had witnessed for himself so far, the man in front of him was beyond what he could comprehend.

But a question still lingered.

The question he had asked him.

"I think the post holds some truth," he replied.

"You think so?" Axel replied nonchalantly, and Marlon nodded.

"What if I were to tell you that every part of it is true?"

"Coming from the strongest hero and one of the pioneers, I would believe."

"Not bad," Axel nodded, dropped the book and continued, "Then that means you understand the reason for the exploration mission you've been selected to partake in?"

"Not entirely, but from everything, I can tell you're trying to move everyone away from a pending danger," Marlon responded.

His selected response gave Axel the motivation he needed to continue the conversation for another five or so minutes as he explained the surface details of the main reasons for the exploration missions.

And it all stemmed from the cataclysm fifty years ago, the same one that turned the world from an ordinary one to a danger-zone planet overrun with monsters and superhumans.

Just as the post had depicted, the pioneers had struck somewhat of a peace treaty with a powerful race that would have torn Arden apart on that fateful day.

That treaty was meant to last fifty years, thus the reason for the exploration mission and other hidden developments that the hunter association in the world were partaking in to ensure the safety of their world.

Of course, only a handful of current high-ranking hunters and guardians knew about this story, and each of them were under some sort of NDA, hence the story was kept away from the world.

The developments done at the hunter association were all Axel Storm's initiative.

As the overall president of the hunter association and the strongest hunter on earth, no one dared to go against his orders.

Hearing all these, the story became clearer, but what Marlon did not understand was why they had waited this long before implementing all these strategies.

"You'll learn the reason when that day comes," Axel responded casually.

Marlon sighed, accepting the unavailability of an answer to cure his curiosity.

And with the history of Arden and the mystery of his system revealed, Marlon now wondered the exact reason why he was brought here and why Axel had taken his time to tell him all these.

"The exploration mission that would take place in a few weeks would be headed by you."

Axel began, and continued. His voice was rather nonchalant for the complexity of his words.

But Marlon had grown somewhat used to the boredom Axel was trying to hide.

"Only youngsters below the age of twenty and those who had newly awakened their abilities can partake in this mission, and you checked all of that."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"Because those beings we signed a treaty with would not accept it," Axel revealed.

Marlon opened his mouth in an O-shape but no words came out.

"I'll need you to return to the academy. Your first task is to evaluate your fellow schoolmates and select the best eighteen to accompany you."

Axel instructed, and Marlon nodded.

"I heard from Lady Crimson that the mission needed twenty participants."

"You're correct. The twentieth participant is my son, Stormis."

"Oh…"

Marlon was seriously surprised.

"I'm sure you've already inspected his powers and saw for yourself that he is not weak."

Marlon nodded. He had indeed done that, but still, "He is very young. This mission is very unsafe even for someone with his powers."

"That is what you think," Axel responded. "But Stormis is a lot different than you thought. He can handle his own, and it's not like I would be foolish enough to send my own son on a dangerous mission without being sure of his survival myself."

"Also, he would not only be an addition to the team, but his powers would prove beneficial to the survival of each of you and also improve the exploration rate of the discovered planet."

"Alright, I understand it now."

Marlon nodded even though he was still a little confused as to why Axel would not share complete information with him. Even speaking about Stormis, he could tell he was withholding a lot of important information.

Nevertheless, he could still understand why such information was withdrawn from him.

Based on how those BEINGS were described, they could definitely have agents amongst the human world, and those agents might try to harm him to retrieve important information since Axel was too powerful for them to engage with.

While he digested all this information, Axel Storm calmly observed his features with interest.

"You should stop consuming EXP orbs and stat crystals," he suddenly said, startling Marlon a little as he turned towards him and asked "Why?" with a confused expression.

And thankfully, he got an explanation he was not expecting.

"The gains from those crystals should not be trusted, especially for someone like you. Although no one has actually experienced any form of decline so far from consuming them, sooner or later you would be surprised at the influx of people losing their levels and stats," he explained.

"It is unfortunate you're still not strong enough to comprehend most of the truth of the system. But when you do, I am sure you would see the entire universe a lot different from mortals."

"Speaking of seeing the universe." He turned to look at Marlon.

"Your nemesis has already risen from the shadow, and very soon, you shall experience your greatest battle against a fellow human."

"A fellow human?"

"Yes."

Marlon was confused. Why would his nemesis be a human instead of monsters or the BEINGS Axel talked about?

But before he could ask, Axel continued his narration, ending it with a revelation that made Marlon speechless for a short while before recovering.

Even after their discussion ended and Axel left, the words still lingered in his mind, echoing every second.

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