The Path To Perfection

Chapter 27: Message

Al'ravee had always wanted to be considered to be one of the most knowledgeable people in the world. Imagine being asked a question and always having an answer.

A normal person obviously cannot try to learn everything because of their limited lifespan and other life goals.

Al'ravee could do it but he doubted if he had the time to finish it. Given the fact that new discoveries were happening every year, he decided to just indulge himself in soaking as much knowledge as possible until his parents intervened.

At that point, money held little value to him, no, it held no value at all. Now he runs an entire continent with the largest military force in the world. It would be hard for him to want anything and not get it, very hard. So it wasn't too difficult to do what he was about to do.

Of course, he lacked the right leadership skills to rule such a nation but with the help of some loyal but ambitious officials as well as the latest CCAI (Central Collective Artificial Intelligence), it wasn't so hard.

"Is the car ready?" The question left Al'ravee's mouth as he stood on the balcony of a futuristic-looking grey castle, staring at the acres of private greenery in front of him.

"Affirmative my lord." The guard behind him responded.

With that he left the balcony, ignoring all the guards accompanying him on the way. Al'ravee headed for the half-kilometer-wide car park filled with customized exotic electric cars of all kinds.

"Where are we going, my Lord?" One of the royal drivers nearby asked curiously. He was only told that his lord planned on going out but had no clue where, this was very unlikely.

"I'll tell you on the way, let's go," Al'ravee said in an authoritative tone that left no room for objections. After a decade of always getting what he wanted when he wanted it, this way of speaking to subordinates should be a natural thing for him.

However, the driver noticed that this sovereign had a bit of unsteadiness in his tone like he was not confident in something. But the driver did not test his luck, he knew his place.

The guards all quickly rushed to similar modeled black cars, following Al'ravee's royal transport. Before they left the castle grounds, a convoy with over a hundred armored, electric, armed cars with many drones above was formed.

After an hour or so, another black car zoomed out through the castle gates. Inside this particular car were four men dressed in black suits and donning a black mask each, none of them said a word to each other as they drove off.

The car branched off into a dirt road in the forest before later arriving at a clearing. On this clearing was a black-colored dual-wing rotorcraft with two men wearing the same mask standing behind it.

All the masked men in the car, excluding the driver, got out and walked briskly to the rotorcraft. Only nods of acknowledgment were exchanged between them before proceeding to enter the aircraft.

The driver drove away while the rotorcraft flew off into the distance.

It wasn't until later that night that the rotorcraft arrived above a hill with a small cave by the side. Rope ladders were released from the rotorcraft to allow the masked men to drop down safely.

After checking if the coast was clear, one of the men removed his mask to reveal his face.

Strangely, it was Al'ravee who had been with these men all this time but they weren't shocked at the revelation, they already knew that the person that left the castle back then was just a look-alike who would be discovered sooner or later.

This was all a pre-planned plot to covertly get away from the eyes of the people. Only they and the look-alike knew about this. After seeing someone to not raise suspicion, the convoy would go back to the castle to reveal that the king was dead. Al'ravee had already left a message for them, just in case.

He never truly cared for his current family members, but at least, he had to leave something behind for them.

Al'ravee walked into the cave, leaving the masked men to stand there but that too didn't last. They too soon climbed the rope ladder to leave along with the rotorcraft. They were only there to escort Al'ravee with their signal-jamming device, to avoid any form of tracking whatsoever.

Al'ravee wasn't worried that these men would betray him and the next thing to happen proved why.

*BOOM!*

Before the rotorcraft could get far, it exploded into a mass of flames with many metal parts flying everywhere.

Al'ravee reached the end of the dark cave to stand in front of a stony wall. Pressing his hand on a particular section, the stony wall parted into the sides to reveal another room inside.

This room looked like it had been dug out and there was only one thing in it. A three-meter tall silver pod stood vertically, giving off blue neon lights from its gaps to illuminate the stone room. Beneath the pod was a flat metal disk designed to keep the pod charged and activated through the time to come. Attached to the disk were also wires that led up to the ceiling, probably connected to the solar panels.

The stone door behind Al'ravee closed on its own after he went in. The blue light of the silver pod shone on his face which showed nothing but determination.

Whatever was left of his conscience had asked him, 'Was it worth it? Is it really necessary? What about all those people?"

He had ruthlessly silenced that voice, nothing would stop him. To some, this was just a stupid wish fulfillment. Indeed, it was. But he'll do it anyway.

With a deep breath, he walked to the pod which automatically opened up as he neared it. The instructions were already set by the top-notch team of engineers who had secretly made it. As for the engineers themselves, all dead. Al'ravee couldn't keep loose ends.

He leaned back into the now-closing pod, to be embraced in darkness thereafter. Only a circular section with a thick glass frame allowed him to see outside his pod. He felt the customized fully immersive virtual reality helmet get attached to his head.

Then everything went blank.

###############

*In the royal throne room.*

By now, all the known members of the royal family as well as the ministers and court officials had been called by the look-alike Al'ravee for an emergency meeting.

Many of them were shocked when he told them that he was just a look-alike. Before any of them could confirm, he also claimed that he was here on behalf of the real Al'ravee.

'So that's why he was reluctant to sit on the throne,' many of them, especially the wives, had this thought running through their minds.

Eager to know what the message was, they watched as the look-alike took out a holographic projector and placed it on the ground.

Activating it, the projector lit up with a life-sized holographic projection of the real Al'ravee. He kept his hands behind him with a straight and dignified pose, completely different from when he was a martial arts expert, the crime boss, or the first family man Al'ravee.

The Al'ravee in the projection started talking.

[... If you are watching this, then that means that this message was handed to you on my instructions and that I am probably dead... ]

The words that came out of his mouth immediately caused an uproar in the throne room. All of them had different reactions. Most children were in disbelief with eyes that seemed to be getting sadder by the second, the same thing with some wives.

The others also were in disbelief but also had hints of greed flash in their eyes. But their flames of ambitions were put out by Al'ravee's next words.

[... No need to worry about the cause of my death, let's just say it's none of your business. If you don't find my body then don't worry, all is well.

You are all to broadcast a fake burial a week from now to prevent mass panic, unnecessary civil war, and foreign invasions from the other four continents. But I believe you can all think of this on your own.

My eldest son, the crown prince whom I have been grooming for this moment would take my mantle.

The service of the royal guards has been ordered beforehand to now take orders from him. He now has the authority to either redistribute or leave resources and land as they are. I believe he will make a wise decision.

All secret operations, ongoing and complete shall be overseen by him from now on. The CCIA is now under a new administration.

This is my last command. I wish you all a fruitful era.]

Silence.

Deafening silence.

Everyone could not help but look at the stunned crown prince.

All their ambitions were fiercely ripped to shreds at the mention of that name, royal guards.

They were all aware that Al'ravee had been successful in turning the royal guards into one of the most deadly forces in the world. Every member trained from childhood to be a martial arts expert and completely loyal to the sovereign.

The royal guards were the main reason why other countries were reluctant to start any war. They were afraid they wouldn't be able to escape one of the assassins from the Divera royal guard.

Only the sovereign and their members would know the whereabouts of their headquarters. Each headquarters has access to some of the best technology of the era to deal with any situation from any corner of the world.

It was clear that Al'ravee had purposely wanted all of them to be present when the message was delivered so that the royal guards would deter them from making unnecessary trouble for the new Ruler.

What they did not know was that the royal guard's organization originated from the Hidden Gem Temple of the past.

Now, the new ruler would get to know all this as it should be.

The look-alike Al'ravee was regretting to have not watched the message before giving it out. All this power and wealth could have been his, 'but then again' he thought, 'If the royal guard already knew about this and I tried anything, the message would have been delivered, just from my lifeless hands.'

Everyone replayed the message in their mind over and over again. This was especially true for the mid-twenties crown prince. He had a lot going through his mind right now.

Of course, Al'ravee was oblivious to the turmoil he had caused in the hearts of those in the throne room.