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    The thick and tall iron walls of the Alive Alliance City No. 543 were normal for any medium size city. These walls were made with special ores to stop the dark beings from invading the city or from some random wild beast stampede.


    There was only one city gate to go inside or outside, and it was heavenly guarded and monitored all the time.


    However, Jacob didn''t move toward the city gates because he was still mulling over his options to enter it like everyone else or try to jump the wall sneakily.


    If he goes with the former, then he has to show his identity proof to enter the city, which would again expose him to the possibility of getting exposed to the Alliance Chairman, and then Ellie or Lucy would be on him in no time.


    He still clearly remembered how Gunnar sold him out to Ellie and then even exposed this to Lucy. He was still not too keen on using his star watch either after what happened in the Star Ocean.


    But the second option was also quite risky in other ways. Because these alive cities were protected by powerful figures, especially medium andrge size cities, there were countless other measures ced to expose someone who wanted to enter them sneakily.


    The biggest obstacle was SAAI itself because even Captain Free Sword had told him that SAAI has full authority to monitor everyone, and he had witnessed it himself when he got the title Ray of Hope.


    These cities were at least as advanced as the Dark Cities, and everyone knows the Dark Cities were nothing but terrifying when it came to upholding rules and protecting themselves from intruders.


    Speaking of the Dark Cities, like the other ins, its location was still unknown, and one had to either find it on their own or need someone to guide them to the hidden location.


    Jacob has neither the time for obvious reason nor the person who could lead him there, so he was on his own.


    So, he was pretty stumped about what to do as both options led to many dangerous possibilities.


    ''Well, if I use my Ray of Hope Badge, I might be able to enter the city without needing to expose my identity. Isn''t that Ogre wanted me to do the same thing to attract fame ad then earn the trust of the three hegemonies so I could be at the center of everyone once the trial started?'' Jacob thought gravely.


    His initial n was to simply do his own thing while keeping a low profile until the trial arrives since his body now only reacts against him when he either tries to sabotage Captain Free Sword''s n or when it would be time for him to enter the in Trial.


    Now his Ray of Hope Badge was the only thing that could help him move around the epic ins. His biggest advantage was no one had ever seen him, and this was what he was going to use.


    So, without further ado, he started to change his appearance, which was cutting his hair short and dyed them in ck, and then changing his facial features and ears. He was naturally going to impersonate an elf since he looked like them the most.


    Furthermore, in the epic ins, there were tons of species living together. Even the elves have more than 15 kinds. But the most famous ones were the ones capable of reaching the Epic ins.


    In this ce, the potential was measured by how much a race could grow by just relying on their bloodline, and only those who showed promise would be selected by the three hegemonies to nurture further.


    The city gates of the City No.543 were colossal, just like the city walls, and they were guarded by two guard posts, and many people seemed to be going in and out. Almost all of them were alliance members.


    Jacob walked within the crowd, wearing blue armor and mental, but his head was exposed, and he wore a half-white mask that covered half of his face and eye while the other half was exposed, and a deep scar was over his eye.


    This mask was specially made by him just in case he needed to appear different from his known self. Besides, he was going to y apletely different character and wanted to hide his true identity as long as he could, at least until he was strong enough not to care about their schemes.


    No one paid him much attention as he walked toward the gates. Once in a while, someone would throw him a curious nce before minding their own business.


    "Do you hear the announcement made by the Bank and the Guild?"


    At this moment, Jacob''s ear perked up when he heard a troll talking with his fellow teammate in full of ecstasy.


    "Are you talking about the bounty they just ced on the person who was responsible for the terrorist attack over two weeks ago? It''s all over the star news!" The other troll sneered.


    "Yes, that one. It appeared that guy was one of the top members of the Killer Skull Society, and whoever gave his whereabouts would be rewarded with tons of riches. I guess those guys were not kidding around when they said they would not sit still until they found the culprit."


    "Heh, I''m more interested in those rewards. Even the big wigs were drooling when they saw them. Whoever this Faceless Ancient is, he better pray that he will not get found out by any of those bounty hunters, or he will regret even being born in this world. They have even given his portrait, and he seemed to belong to the Golden Elf n, and now they are going to suffer big time!"


    While the trolls and some more people were energetically talking about this same topic, no one seemed to notice that the person wearing a half-mask and blue armor had vanished before he could reach the city gate.


    Jacob appeared again in the wildness, and his expression was extremely dark and filled with killing intent.


    This time, he didn''t care and took out his star watch, and the moment he did, his expression went even darker!