After laughing for several seconds, Makoto took a deep breath and then looked Leon in the eyes again. The atmosphere in the hall suddenly got heavy.
"There is one more topic we have to discuss, Leon," Makoto said.
"Which is?" Leon asked.
"You are from Phoenix, Arizona, right?" Makoto asked.
"Yes," Leon said.
"Well… how can I say this." Makoto showed a complicated expression. "Your hometown was one of the places…"
"… That got nuked." Leon looked downward with a cold expression. "Is that so…"
"I'm sorry for telling you that kind of thing at this moment." Makoto closed his eyes.
"No, I must thank you for giving me that information before seeing with my own eyes," Leon said. "The shock of seeing without knowing would be bigger… Anyway, there is the chance that they escaped before it exploded, but I will discover that myself. About the spies who killed your son, they stole water dragon's scales, right? Do you have any clue where those are being used?"
"I would recommend you to start looking in Las Vegas," Makoto answered. "My spies saw some survivors using armor made of those scales there. Coincidentally, Las Vegas isn't that far away from your hometown, right? There is a chance that you find your family there or at least some old acquaintances."
"Yeah, thank you for answering my questions." Leon slightly bowed his head. "I will return with the criminals who killed your son as soon as possible."
"I'm counting on you." Makoto tapped Leon's shoulders. " Appear, guide Leon to the place in question."
Out of nowhere, a person wearing dark clothes appeared. It looked to be a man, and his clothes made him look like a ninja. Considering that he appeared out of nowhere, it was safe to assume he was a ninja and one of those who spied him.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The ninja kneeled and nodded.
"I guess this is a goodbye, huh," Ren said.
"You wish, I will return to get my spoils of the dungeons." Leon frowned while offering a handshake. "Don't spend my coins on anything, and don't die before you pay me back."
"Got it." Ren accepted the handshake with a big smile on his face.
Leon thought he and the ninja guy would walk to somewhere, but much to his surprise, the ninja just touched his shoulder, and they left the palace at a fearsome speed. It wasn't teleportation, nor was it a skill that increased the ninja's speed. It was like… a method to travel between specific points. Leon noticed that because he and the ninja weren't moving their bodies.
Suddenly, Leon and the ninja guy appeared in a port. It was already night, and Leon couldn't see any lights nearby, but he recognized that he was in a bridge near the ocean. Speaking of which, being on a bridge during the night so close to the sea was pretty scary… Leon felt shivers.
Also, suddenly, a monster appeared from the sea, even in the darkness, Leon recognized that figure. It was a megalodon… he had been betrayed! Or so Leon thought, the beast and the ninja didn't move an inch. Rather, the ninja guy wasn't with him anymore. The creature opened its mouth, and then Leon saw the light of a flashlight. A human figure left the mouth of the beast as if it was nothing.
"I'm the transporter…" A hairy man who stinks of fish said. " Let's go; we have to arrive at your destination before dawn."
"… Is that a submarine?" Leon asked.
"No, it is exactly what you see." The transporter answered. "Now, let's go."
"Is it alive?" Leon frowned.
"Have you seen a dead fish moving?" The transporter frowned. "Of course it is alive… now stop your questions, I don't know who you are or why you are here. All that I know is that because of you, or operations got delayed. If we don't arrive before dawn, we will have to retreat, and our operations will be delayed even more… "
It looked like Leon would be transported inside the mouth of a megalodon, he really didn't want to enter that, but he also didn't want to cause problems to Makoto and his spy network. So, he ended up entering. He didn't know how, but it looked like people could learn how to tame a monster. It would be great if Leon could learn such skill, but he had no idea how to use his mana to influence beasts. Regardless, as if they were connected, the megalodon obeyed the transporter's thoughts without a hint of hesitation.
Despite the fact that the monster could swim at one hundred meters per second, the trip had been quite comfortable. With the exception of the smell… everything was pretty good. It was spacious, and the transporter had flashlights. Unfortunately, he wasn't that friendly. So, for the most part, Leon spent the trip in silence imagining his hometown destroyed and inhabited due to the radiation.
However, much to his surprise, now that mana was in the world, the land could recover pretty quickly. According to the transporter, all the cities that got nuked became free of radiation after a few weeks.
Before down, Leon disembarked in San Diego, despite the fact that the city didn't get nuked, the place was abandoned. The transporter said those who survived the first day of attacks, left the city due to numerous raids of megalodons and dragons.
"I'm here every day at 04:00 AM, if you approach the sea, I will notice your presence, and I will come to pick you up," The transporter explained. "Don't come unless you plan to return to Japan."
After giving that warning, he returned to the sea. Leon breathed deeply and started to fly, he had never been in San Diego before, but he was sure that nothing from the actual city remained. He only could see destroyed bridges and buildings; the grass was covering everything… the view of an abandoned city was depressing… Leon could only hope that his hometown was in a better shape… even if it was a waste of time.