Chapter 1702 — It’s not illegal to make friends

The sudden shift in their location did not impress or amaze Jack, per se. Since Lex wielded incredible power over the Inn, and had since gained even more power over his surroundings since becoming an Immortal, Jack was fully capable of seeing how it would be easy for a Celestial Immortal to transport them all.

The thing that amazed Jack was how easily and effectively the Primal could display his strength in a foreign realm. Even the member of the Artica race was taken aback by the shift, though he hid it well.

Then again, if a Primal was one of the top ten races on the Cosmic Ascendance Spectrum, it only made sense that he or she would be unnaturally powerful. In comparison, Jack didn’t even know what position dragons were, or even Celestials. As far as Jack knew, they didn’t even qualify as an Elder race, meaning they weren’t in the top 100.

Considering that huge difference, the fact that Oroo could so easily confront not just one Sage, but two, brought Jack a new and deeper understanding about the power of the Celestials and the Humanoid Alliance. Having said that, if the Primal had such power, then it was likely that Grimshaw was no pushover either, despite his somewhat immature behavior.

From the moment the Celestial court and the Humanoid Alliance had been mentioned, Grimshaw had been acting more like a child who got caught causing trouble than what he might expect from someone trying to enslave everyone he found interesting.

Even so, despite any weaknesses of character, it went without saying that Grimshaw himself would be quite formidable. So...

"Excuse me, but I have a question," Jack said, not at all minding interrupting the flow the Primal was trying to create.

"What is it?" the Primal asked, showing no indication of being disgruntled.

"As I understand it, everyone else here will answer honestly just because you requested it, such being the breadth of your influence. However, I am concerned that as a member of a Sage race himself, that fellow over there is perfectly capable of ignoring your request."

Jack did not hesitate in pointing towards Grimshaw as he spoke. There was no point in being polite now, they’d already established a hostile relationship.

Or so Jack thought.

"Oh please, Jack, call me Grimshaw," the Sage said, waving his tail. The awkward location of the tail did not prevent Grimshaw from using it with ease. "Listen, no hard feelings about this misunderstanding. I’m sure we’ll be able to put all this behind us after a nice chat."

Jack raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"That will depend on how this all ends," Jack responded ambiguously.

Grimshaw only chuckled.

"To answer your question, Jack, I will, of course, answer honestly, even if I’m not forced to. But, to ease the minds of those who don’t trust in the strength of one’s character, the Primals possess special powers which allow them to serve as the arbiters of the universe. It is not without reason that they are considered the peacekeepers of the universe, as well as the notaries and mediators. They have quite the reputation."

Jack turned towards Oroo questioningly, and the Celestial reluctantly nodded.

"It’s true they do have such powers," she elaborated. "But who is to hold Primals up to standard? If you let your guard down, you may discover that the mediators and arbiters have agendas of their own."

"Miss Oroo, who in this universe exists without their own agenda?" asked the Primal, not at all offended by her statement. "Only the dead. But rest assured, my sole agenda today is to prevent any more chaos and upheaval. We are doing our best to make the transition between Eras as peaceful as possible."

"Regardless, today’s process must start somewhere," Oroo said. "As the person at the core of everything, why don’t we allow Grimshaw to elaborate on events from his own point of view first."

Grimshaw smiled, and did not hesitate to retell the same story he told Bob, which answered some questions but...

"Why do you have a Jagger Stallion serving at your beck and call?" the Artica asked, looking at Grimshaw with great hostility.

The reason why the laws were so strict in their realm was because not all races felt the way about things as the Artica did. It was okay for everyone to have differences, as long as they stayed within the limits as prescribed by their laws. Crossing them, however...

"You also didn’t mention why that region of the realm was cut off from supervision."

Grimshaw gave the Artica a smile as if he had been caught doing something naughty.

"Oh, alright, you caught me. I’m here on vacation, and who wants to be snooped on in their private time? I didn’t break any rules or anything - no one told me that it was illegal to request a suspension of supervision from the relevant departments. When I made the requests, no one rejected me, so I didn’t think it was a big deal. The stallion was much the same. I simply introduced myself in the hopes of developing a friendship, and it seems to me that we became fast friends. That shouldn’t be illegal."

Though Grimshaw smiled politely at the Artica, the Artica was practically fuming, glaring at Grimshaw and then the stallion time and time again, almost as if it wished it could eat them up.

"The story is far from finished," Oroo said, stepping in again. "How about we hear the events from the mouth of the victim."

Everyone turned towards the alligator who was cuddled up right next to Jack, feeling uncomfortable in the foreign environment. His arm had naturally been healed. It hadn’t even been any effort at all for the Primal to restore him to the peak of his health.

"Go ahead," said Jack. "Tell everyone what happened. Don’t worry about anything, I’m right here."

The alligator looked deeply at Jack, and then began to tell the story.

"Well, Goldilocks wandered off again, and since no one else was around, I had to go make sure he didn’t do anything bad," began the alligator. "He’d been acting weird ever since he got that trench coat, so I was worried."