[2 hours before the harvest season]
At this time, the holographic sky was still operating normally as the emerging ray of sunset shone through a leaf of a sakura-blooming tree, and its leaf slowly fell onto the grass. This park was filled with blooming sakura and was privately owned by the elite Hono family.
Surrounding the park was an estate that stretched around 10 kilometers, built upon a floating island and guarded by a fortress with a wall around 20 meters high. Thousands of security guards and workers were employed to maintain the estate, which included a mall, mansion, apartment, vegetable farm, cloning lab, military base, and factory.
It could be considered a self-contained floating nation, where every Hono family member moved to this floating city once they became part of the main Hono family workforce.
Three people sat at a round table underneath a blooming Sakura tree, surrounded by a pale pink and white atmosphere. Glass covered the park, with artificial light and a moisture system to keep the garden flourishing. The Sakura trees and ecosystem operated naturally.
Despite their wealth, the breakfast of these three individuals was traditional and simple. They enjoyed Japanese curry rice, green tea, and coffee, with pudding as dessert. This had been their preferred breakfast for the past few years.
A middle-aged man in his 40s with blue eyes and dark slicked-back hair, wearing a black business suit, sat firmly as he delicately ate the curry rice in front of him. He glanced at his young and beautiful daughter, who had a stiff expression on her face as she quickly ate her breakfast. The man sighed, realizing that his daughter might not grow up to be like any other girl.
Even her sleeping attire consisted of a blue hoodie, and her hobbies mostly revolved around skateboarding, playing video games, practicing drums, and writing a novel. It was nothing like the typical interests of a wealthy lady.
Finally, Suzuki gathered his strength to calmly ask his daughter, "Do you have fun with your friends?"
For the past two days, he had been concerned about his daughter, but he knew she valued freedom above anything else. He believed that genius without real-world experience was like plain food without sauce, so he intentionally allowed Setsuna to do whatever she wanted. Besides, he knew he couldn't stop Setsuna from following her heart's desires; she was like a burning flame that couldn't be contained.
Setsuna swallowed the remaining food and replied, looking elsewhere and ignoring her father's gaze, "It has been fun."
Her words seemed to imply hidden details, such as her involvement in a fight against a tax collector and a performance in the vibrant city where one of the island's stages caught fire.
Setsuna continued her meal, while her younger brother, who was eating a pudding nearby, looked at her with admiration. By his side was a maid whose task was solely to clean up any mess he might make during breakfast, but the young boy was smart and ate elegantly.
Suzuki replied, "I saw the news about what happened in the vibrant city."
As soon as she heard her father's words, Setsuna almost spilled the food in her mouth, but she quickly swallowed it and drank the nearby cup of green tea.
Her father continued, sighing, "I think you shouldn't go to a public school or hang out too much with your friends. I will hire a private tutor so you can spend more time with your brother."
The young boy next to her smiled and said excitedly, "Really, father? I want to spend more time with Setsuna nee-san!"
Setsuna patted his head and forced a smile, as if saying -Shut up, brat,- despite her love for her brother. She valued her freedom more, and her brother immediately felt a chill down his spine as soon as he caught her piercing stare with her golden eyes.
"Aoi, I will always find time to be with you, but Nee-san is busy too. I have a dream and inspiration to chase after," Setsuna said wickedly.
Aoi simply nodded submissively.
Now she knew why her brother had woken her up so early today and insisted that she join him and their father for breakfast. Normally, she would miss breakfast with him, and her father wouldn't mind.
She looked at her father and said, "I won't inherit anything, it is best for me to follow my dream."
"You don't know how many people fail in life chasing after their dreams. Only 1 percent of truly talented and hardworking people achieve their dreams," her father responded.
She thought to herself, this was why she never wanted to talk to her father after the death of her mother.
"You never know the future. I will work as hard as them. I just want to have a normal life, doing what I love," she said with such intensity that the butler and maid around her flinched a bit.
"Reality is far crueler than you think. It is not a playground. It is a battlefield. That is why our family motto is the dragon," Suzuki said with a serious tone.
He came to the conclusion that he must be strict with her from now on, or else she would endure the pain of a failed dream like he once did.
"What do you understand about my dream?" Setsuna said angrily, yet calmly and intensely.
But Suzuki responded loudly, "Everything!"
Setsuna almost fell off her chair, and the butler and maids around him felt terrified and shivered in fear.
Setsuna stood up and walked away with a serious expression.
Suzuki stood up and commanded the nearby butler, "Keep an eye on her. Don't let her leave the mansion today. Soon, the war will break out."
The two butlers dressed in black suits bowed down and responded in unison, "Understood, my lord."
He then looked at the maid and signaled for them to take Aoi back to the mansion. Once everyone left the park, he clenched his fist as blue particles glowed around his hand.
"Can I still fight?" Suzuki murmured to himself.
The golden rays of light from the sunset shone upon his face as the sakura tree swayed in the wind, creating a gentle and soothing sound.
*
Walking past the maid guarding the entrance, they swiftly bowed down to greet her, but she shook her head to signal for them not to do it, and they immediately raised their heads. Setsuna climbed the elegant wooden stairs to her room, and the maid near the stairs bowed down to greet her as well.
She sighed and thought to herself that this maid was like a robot, putting her on a pedestal even though she just wanted to connect with them on a deeper level, while most people in the outside world were always trying to gain something from her. She felt like she didn't belong to either of these two worlds.
She had realized a long time ago that she didn't belong to either of these worlds. The only real world where she could be herself was in this room, writing novels, watching animations, playing video games, and reading novels. That was what she did.
As for her dream, she wanted to become a writer and a voice actor for her favorite characters in novels.
The moment she sat on her chair and opened her tablet, she saw a message from yesterday. It was from Bridget, within the second group chat.
[Cool_Head: Your father sent around 20 rankers to help me with my plan to build another small guild underneath your family brand. I am so grateful for the opportunity, Setsuna.]
"Father listened to my request?"
Yesterday, she had spent her time practicing her rapping skills and singing, as well as exercising, so she didn't have time to check the message or contact anyone. The last person she had talked to was Shan, and that was when she left him in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a jungle within the dome.
She thought about actually staying within the house today, as her father had advised, but then she opened a social media platform. All the news was filled with reports of spaceships being spotted at the Freedom Sanctuary continent. Perhaps this was the reason her father advised her not to leave the house today.
"Is there a war somewhere on this planet?"
At that moment, something didn't sit right with her. She stood up and walked back and forth. She wanted to meet up with her friends, but her father didn't allow her to leave the island today.
With this idea in mind, she tried to message both Einsamer and Shan, but none of them responded to her message as she waited for five minutes. Unexpectedly, when she looked at the holographic sky, the once colorful sky now turned blank. The source of light now came from each floating island and skyscraper, still making the city look bright despite the blank sky shrouding the entire Sector 1 and 2 dome.
She became very frustrated, but knowing the risks, she still chose to escape. She opened her window and leaned forward, seeing four security guards and a few maids discussing something in the backyard.
At that moment, she thought of requesting help from one of her personal maids, but she didn't want the blame to fall on her since Setsuna thought of her as a friend.
"I can't let Oto-san blame Lily for my rebellion," Setsuna murmured to herself.
Then she smiled nervously as an idea came to her mind, one that suited her personality more than anything else. She didn't know why she had to leave this island, but she wasn't a person who questioned her own motives either. She did what she loved and disliked what she hated, and that was all that mattered to her.
She closed her eyes and thought to herself, "Bio-Data-Chip activate."
Once she opened her eyes again, she saw a holographic display before her eyes.
[System: You have activated your bio-data-chip.
Your rank: Diamond ranker.
Your agility, strength, and endurance are greatly increased within the duration of 5 minutes.]
In that instance, her golden eyes glowed even more brightly as she leaped from the window of the first floor onto the grassy ground and then sprinted with all her might toward the other side of the fence leading to her personal garages.
"Shit! Lady Setsuna is escaping," one of the security guards also activated his bio-data chip.
Since he had modified his body, his muscles grew with blue streaks, but he still couldn't catch up to Setsuna. She had been genetically modified since birth, a privilege that only an elite family like hers could obtain.
"Is that girl even human?" the security guard murmured to himself.
As their distance increased, he almost reached his limits. Even though he had trained his entire life, he was still just a gold ranker, and catching up to a diamond ranker who was also genetically modified was out of the question for him.
Several other security guards kept chasing after her, but they soon stopped as they saw her effortlessly leap over a 5-meter fence. They knew this was the limit between those who were truly blessed from the day they were born, and Setsuna was one of them.
The man in the black suit spoke into his earbud, "Don't allow any vehicles to leave."
Another man responded, "Sir, we are under attack at the front gate. Most of our cruisers and rankers are engaged in a fight right now. Please secure the southern gate with your remaining force."
The man in the black suit couldn't believe what he just heard. A peaceful utopia had turned into a war!
"Which force is attacking our guild? Are they asking for a death sentence, breaking the galactic law of the world government?" he asked.
The response came, "They all wear masks, and they even have their own cruiser and general spaceship!"
"Shit, how many of our troops are on the frontline now?" the black-suited man said urgently.
"Five brands of our troops, around 3000 rankers, and 10 cruisers are engaged in battle right now. I will leave the back gate to you," the response said.
The black-suited man sighed, and then he heard a loud explosion from outside the barrier of the floating island. He knew what he had to do, so he turned to command the three other security guards behind him.
"Gather at least 3 soldier brands from the south gate. We need 1000 rankers, 5 cruisers, and at least 10 laser tanks," he ordered.
The three men saluted and responded, "Roger, Commander Takahashi."
Despite his daily job as a security guard defending the mansion, his true profession was the commander of the southern gate of the estate. He was one of the trusted commanders serving under the Hono family since he was a child.
At that moment, he also connected to another brand known as Magician.
"Sir, Takahashi. I heard we are under attack right now," a female voice came from his earbuds.
"Akihiko, send your men to track down Lady Setsuna. She has escaped, and she's most likely heading to her school," Takahashi replied.
Akihiko replied, "That little girl..." but stopped when she realized Takahashi could hear her.
She continued, "Leave everything to me. I will personally go and find her. Please tell your men to let me exit."
"I understand. Now I just need to inform Lord Suzuki," Takahashi said.
Akihiko replied, "May the blue dragon watch over you."
"You too, Akihiko."
At that moment, the signal was cut off, but Takahashi knew Akihiko wouldn't fail her mission.