"Elven Empire?" Leo mumbled, watching the lift close. He grew a little interested, wondering if it had something to do with Blaze's sudden departure.
The Elven Empire was an important player in Galactic Diplomacy after all.
Although it wasn't as advanced as Earth and other advanced civilizations across the galaxy, they were still a valuable part of the Galactic Union.
Their voice held such value in the Galactic Union because they were one of the wealthiest planets due to their natural resources.
If one were to compare the sheer size of their planet, it was more than five times that of Earth.
The Elven Planet was close to Earth's Hero Guild. In Galactic Union disputes, the Elves had supported Earth's interests many times. In return, Earth wasn't a bad friend either.
Earth had a very good business relationship with the Elven Empire. Earth had even sold quite a few advanced spaceships to the Elven Empire.
The two planets even had a pact that required the Hero Union to extend a helping hand in case the Elven Empire was ever in danger.
The Elven Empire was a great ally to Earth. And they treated the pure-blood royals like gods. Given that a noble from that Empire had gone missing, it was no wonder the Hero Union was in a mess.
It would have been fine if she had gone missing in any other place, but she disappeared when she was on her way to Earth.
"Then again, it's not as if she disappeared on Earth. There shouldn't be much harm that comes to Earth unless they want to be unreasonable."
Leo shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Whatever happened to the Princess of the Elven Empire had nothing to do with him.
It would be good if she was discovered to be safe in some solar system. However, even if she wasn't found, it was for the Elven Empire to worry about.
Leo pushed the entire topic to the back of his head and focused on the task at hand. He walked across the long corridor that was no different from the ones on his floor. The only difference was that this one wasn't as empty as the corridors on his floor were.
"I never knew the Hero Union had so many scientists working for them."
He had only seen the people in one corridor, and their numbers were already in the hundreds. It was impossible to guess just how many people were inside the rooms.
"There must be at least a few thousand people on this floor. If I had so many employees doing nothing under me, I could waste so much money."
He chuckled lightly while searching for his destination.
Along the way, he asked a few people for the room number he was looking for. Unfortunately, the white-robed men didn't care about anything and completely ignored him.
Some even glared at him, as if blaming him for wasting a few seconds of their lives.
"Should I have waited for a guide? I didn't think they would be this snobby."
Leo sighed and continued searching. He took a few turns, checking the numbers on the rooms, which weren't in any particular order.
"Are they bad at math? How can room number 765 come after 677 and be followed by 456?"
The order of rooms, or at least the numbers placed before each door, made no sense. There was no order. It was like each room was slapped with a random number.
"Ah, that's the one! Room number 290!"
As Leo was about to give up and ask Kayla for help, his gaze suddenly fell on the number he was looking for.
His eyes lit up at the sight. He reached out and knocked on the door.
"Anyone inside?" he called out, bringing his lips closer to the door.
After waiting for a few seconds, he knocked even louder, but he received no response.
Leo's frown deepened. He looked at the scanner next to the door, which would have scanned the key card for this room.
"The room must be soundproof. But it's not as if my key card will work on a completely unrelated floor."
He was certain that his key card wouldn't work here. Still, he thought about trying his last option before resorting to calling Kayla for help.
Leo placed his hand in his pocket, grabbing the card between his thumb and fingers.
"Are you looking for someone?"
Leo had just brought out the tip of his key card when a slender hand was placed on his shoulder.
He released the card back into his pocket and looked back. Was someone finally willing to spare some time to help him?
"Ah, yeah. I'm looking for Dr. Picollo. I have some personal business with him," Leo answered, turning around.
His gaze fell on the woman, dressed in white as well. However, there was no lab coat on her. She was wearing a tight, body-fitting dress that came down to her knees.
There were some dark circles under her eyes, but it didn't take away from her charm.
"Picollo?" the woman lazily asked before tapping her card on the wall.
In that brief moment, Leo saw her card, which was different from his. Not only was it a different color, but it also looked to be made from a different material.
'Is that a higher-tier card? Or are cards for each floor inherently different?'
Leo was quite curious about the woman, who clearly stood out from the other white-robed people on this floor. She looked like she held a high position here as well.
The woman noticed Leo's gaze and asked, "Hah, are you impressed by this?"
"Unfortunately, no matter how hard you work, you can never get something like this. There are only three such cards for each floor. They hold the highest authority in the Tower, right under the Floor Lords'."
It was only now that Leo noticed the woman appeared to be smug. Was she flexing on him? Then again, she wasn't wrong.
If only three people held such cards per floor, then it must be important. Just as he thought, her key card was a higher variant.
He didn't know what Floor Lords were, but they sounded impressive as well since they supposedly held even higher authority.
'I wonder which tier my key card is? If her card is in the second tier, then mine should be third-tier. It can't be worse than that, right?'
"You'll need to work really hard for decades in order to get a card like this. So don't think about it. It's better to live your life in ignorance."
She ruffled Leo's hair, her gaze looking down on him as the corners of her lips crept up.
The people on this floor already knew about her, so she couldn't flex anymore. It was rare that she saw someone new on whom she could flex her authority.
Soon, a beep followed as the card scan was completed. The metallic doors of the lab slid open.
...
"I know I'm late. Can you stop scolding me?" In another place, a middle-aged man said with frustration.
A ship was hovering a few meters above the Hero Guild's Tower. At the opened gate, a man was standing, his long black overcoat fluttering in the rushing winds.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm going to the 700th floor to find him. So stop annoying me!"
He brushed his fingers through his lush silver hair, clicking his tongue. He took a step forward and jumped out.