Southern Earth Kingdom
Haican ….
The earth rumbled, but not from Earthbending. Both within the stronghold and outside of it, the refugees were all frightened at the explosion that erupted from the place they regarded as their hope to salvation.
"By the spirits ….".
"What's happening".
"It's over. The Fire Nation is attacking. We're all doomed".
"Ahhhh!"
While the explosion effectively destroyed the tunnel, it also caused enough chaos to do the one thing Luca needed most.
Divert attention.
Seconds elapsed after the explosion. A black silhouette suddenly appeared at the edge of the forest area several hundred meters away.
'Turns out, I was right'.
He turned his back to look at Haican, numerous thoughts lingering on his mind. After learning of the plan to blow up the tunnel, Luca had thought of taking advantage of the explosion to escape unseen.
He was right.
The wall patrols were too preoccupied with Mingxia's blasting jelly bomb that no one noticed his departure.
Or even if they did, they wouldn't ...
His smug thoughts were interrupted at the sight of what happened next.
Under his gaze, some earth kingdom soldiers could be seen leaping down from the walls. Coming together, the earth kingdom soldiers immediately moved their arms around.
Rumble!
The earth under them protruded out, lifting the whole group upward before pushing them forward.
'… Looks like I decided too soon'. Luca thought with a frown.
They were giving chase.
"Alright. Time to go". His figure turned around before rushing into the darkness of the forest.
Several moments later, the chasing team rushed appeared where he last stood and dismounted from the rocks.
"Spread out. He couldn't have gone far".
The order was given, and the soldiers moved in different directions.
Time elapsed and after many minutes of searching, the soldiers regrouped again.
"Any luck?"
"None sir. There was no sign of the intruder".
"Nothing on our end either".
The leading soldier frowned.
"Nothing? No tracks? Clues?"
"Nothing sir. His tracks practically stop at the entrance of the forest. After that, he seemed to have disappeared into thin air".
The frown on his face deepened.
After a moment of silence ….
"Return to base". He ordered with an unsightly expression. "An unknown intruder escaped directly from the base. He's most likely responsible for the bombing as well. We must inform Captain Li as soon as possible".
It was impossible to take further action now that the enemy had seemingly vanished into thin air.
Only by reporting to his superior and receiving orders could he carry out the next course of action.
Unfortunately, the enemy might be long gone by then.
The group departed back to the stronghold.
Meanwhile …. High up in the tall trees,
Luca watched them leave while breathing a sigh of relief.
'I've spent enough time here. Time to leave'. The twist and turns made him feel like he had spent quite a long time here when in reality, it had barely been a few hours.
As for ambushing the soldiers below one by one while they were still looking for him …
Honestly, he was in no mood to go about on another killing spree.
Looking at the chaotic stronghold from afar, his mind couldn't help but wander to the Kyoshi Warrior and her friends. Curious about their fate.
'Good luck. I hope for your sakes that the sewer route is an actual passage'.
He truly hoped so. If not, then perhaps only the spirits could save them. As for pointing out the problem. Luca believed that the girl wasn't that dumb not to consider the issue. She just wanted to avoid thinking about it, so he would kindly not point it out.
As for taking them himself …. He wasn't going to burden himself with such a laborious task.
With these thoughts, he moved further away from the Haican Stronghold, disappearing into the night.
'The Avatar series was such a lovely show. How could reality contrast so sharply from all I remember?'
The frown on his face was quite apparent.
He had stopped at Haican thinking it was a quick, stress-free way to make it to the Omashu. Turns out, he had gotten himself into a live conspiracy.
It was so dark.
Well, perhaps if he had registered himself as a regular refugee, none of this would have happened. But it is what it is.
'That's enough. No more shortcuts or side detours. I'll head straight for Omashu by myself'.
The great city of Omashu was just one destination on his long journey. Getting to it meant more than just temporarily escaping the clutches of the Fire Nation.
General Onomu had been hiding from her country for a year now, and Ozai's information on her last location was quite insignificant to go on.
During his travels, he had pondered on how exactly he was going to find out her actual location.
The Si Wong desert was just too vast.
If he was ever going to find his hiding superior, Luca never thought he was capable of accomplishing it by himself.
'I need help'. He thought. 'And hopefully, I know just whom to get it from'.
But that was for later. His primary goal was now getting to Omashu.
Haican was truly an unfortunate encounter. Hence, Luca didn't want to get himself involved in any more of these events.
The basis for all these terrible things happening to him was the bad identity he had been served upon entry onto this world. If he were simply a regular Fire Nation soldier, Earth Kingdom soldier or even a damn refugee, his life wouldn't be this complicated.
Escape from Hei Bai, escape from the Fire Nation at Senlin Village Forest, Escape from Zuko's ship, Escape from the Prison Rig, and now escape from this.
If he got himself into another terrible scenario that needed escaping from, he swore by the forces that brought him here that he was going to go nuts.
To the point where he began to speculate whether such things like the Will of the world from those novels really existed.
Or did his lack of luck from the past life actually follow him to this one?
No, with such bad events, even he wasn't that unlucky. Yep, it's official. This body was the problem.
'Please, Please, Please let there be no more unexpected circumstances'.
'My life is hard enough as it is'.
.....
Northeastern Earth Kingdom
Ba Sing Se
Dai Li secret base
Lake Laogai.
Thud, Thud, Thud, Thud
The sound of footsteps resounded in the hidden layer underneath Lake Laogai.
Within the agrarian zone of Ba Sing Se, no one could have imagined that underneath the famous vacation spot was a high security prison.
"I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se".
"There is no War within the walls".
"Here, we are safe".
"We sure are lucky to have our walls to create order".
Walking past, the regular brainwashing session could be heard ongoing from the room by his left.
If he remembered correctly, Agent Yuhan should be the one leading the Mind correction class for the new batch of Jo Dee's.
Or was it …. Agent Yun?
Honestly, Long Feng couldn't remember, nor did he care enough to put in the extra effort to mobilize his brain cells to do so.
As the Grand Secretariat, jobs such as dealing with the common rabble were best left to the lower Dai Li to take care of.
They were more than capable of handling these matters without his supervision. It was not in his place to bother himself with such tasks.
After all, he had much more important things to deal with above ground.
Like what might you ask?
One, actually. Ruling a king .... Ahem! That meant … Carrying out his very important duties as Grand Secretariat and loyal advisor to the 52nd Earth King Kuei.
In order not to 'Bother' his majesty and 'trouble' him with the burdens of being a ruler, Long Feng had made it his personal goal to oversee everything that happened within Ba Sing Se.
From daily reports of the Agricultural sector, the rise in number of refugees within the lower ring, all the way to the movements of the nobles and the situation of the great war. These were all the issues that were known to everyone far and wide. And almost everyone in the world but the innocent and ignorant children of the high-end families knew of it.
All save for one person.
The so-called ruler of the Earth Kingdom itself. Earth Monarch, King Kuei.
That's right. The dignified leader of the Earth kingdom had no idea that the world he existed in was currently at war and had been at such for almost a hundred years now.
All this was thanks to Long Feng's hard work and influence, and it was best for him that the situation remained as such.
In order for his control over the city to remain, the news of the hundred-year war must never reach the ears of the earth king.
After all, he was doing a better job managing the city than the past royal bloodlines anyway. At least, he certainly thought so.
Hence, the vast number of refugees were destined to remain in the lower ring. As for those who could make their way into the middle and upper reaches of the city ... That was what the brainwashing sessions were for.
Not only did he need to keep an eye on the daily happenings of the city, he also needed to keep strict watch over the small moves of the Council of Five.
Those old men constantly trying to undermine his power were seriously getting on his nerves.
But that wasn't the point.
All this effectively meant that he was very busy. So here comes the question.
What exactly would make such a busy man take time off from his hectic schedule to come down to the underground prison at Lake Laogai?
A group of patrolling Dai Li agents bowed upon his arrival.
Long Feng walked past without even so much as a nod. This was normal protocol.
The calm and quiet accompanied by the bright-green lights hung on the walls gave the atmosphere a rather gloomy feeling.
Thud, Thud, Thud,
Eventually, the footsteps came to a halt. Wearing a long green and black Chinese master's robe, the man with black hair, pale skin and jade green eyes stood before a closed stone door.
The base under Lake Laogai had many chambers, some used as training facilities.
But this wasn't the entrance to one of those training facilities but the entrance to a containment facility.
Rumble!
With a slight touch, the stone door slid open, revealing what was inside.
The chamber was quite large with walls of smooth texture and green lanterns illuminating the area.
But the most eye-catching sight was a human body that laid at the far end of the room.
The noise created by the stone door seemed to awaken the figure whose back was resting against the wall. Her eyelids opened slowly, revealing a pair of amber colored pupils.
Seeing the person at the door, those eyes narrowed greatly to form a menacing glare of epic proportions.
"It's been some time since my last visit. A month or so, if I'm correct".
He uttered in a deep voice full of indifference.
Thud, Thud, Thud.
"Aren't I, prestigious General?"
As within the Dai Li secret headquarters, was the imprisoned Fire Army Ex General Onomu
.....
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