26 Diving for the First Time.

' Guess this is to be expected.' Dean thought as he gazed at the kneeling Blank with complicated emotions.

His feelings were chaotic as he witnessed what power levels were in front of his eyes.

From Blank being the leader of the group acting like a mighty person that her words cannot be taken lightly and even be feared. To someone who is kneeling on one knee on the ground asking for permission to enter the gates.

Dean did know that this is how things worked since it was the same on earth, with rich people being on different kinds of levels in terms of wealth and purchasing power.

However, truth to be told, it worked all differently when it came to real power and strength that could destroy buildings and kill people with a wave of a hand.

For the first time since he came to this world.

Dean started feeling fear.

Not just the meager fear that everyone feels when he is facing a threat.

No, this is a real fear when someone looks at an event he knew could destroy his goal.

' Damn it, I'm far too weak to think about the distant future and eternal life,' Dean bitterly smiled as he thought of his reality from a different angle.' I need to be extra careful, or else I'll lose my life without realizing it.'

He then shifted his gaze to Alex's direction, only to find the young man still unaffected by everything currently happening around him.

' Weird.' He found it abnormal but still pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he concentrated on his own life for now.

Alex on the side noticed his gaze but didn't say anything and only lightly smiled his way.

The smile somehow made its way to Dean's heart as it creeped the hell out of him.

If Dean hadn't known that Blank was the one who was trying to kill him and take away his cards, he would have surely thought Alex was the most dangerous member of this group.

After a brief moment of awkward silence awaiting guardian Ron's reply, the middle-aged man finally spoke in a voice that was as gentle as a breeze of wind in the autumn summer.

" You may enter without much trouble since I was already informed about Dean's arrival."

Ron went silent for a second before he continued, his tone changing from that of a nice, harmless man to someone whom his mere words alone sent shivers running down everyone's spine.

" If you make any fuss or trouble down there however, don't think about coming back."

Everyone knew what Ron meant with his words and none dared to brush them lightly.

To make matters even worse, the smile adorned on the middle-aged man's face made them feel countless times more terrified than his nonchalant threat.

Blank hurriedly reassured him that no trouble would be made inside the gates.

She even went as far as apologizing for her prior thoughts and vowing never to break his words.

The fear in Blank's eyes that was evident for all to see made Dean greatly relax,' Seems like the higher-ups are maintaining absolute peace and authority over the divers, but I wonder if she would break this vow of hers.'

Even though Dean knew that a vow was but mere words that could be broken easily, he still doubted that Blank would go against guardian Ron's words this soon.

Dean even had a feeling that Diver Blank might even apologize for the thoughts she harbored this whole time and tell him that she had no hand in this situation and it was in fact ordered by the people above her.

Not because Blank was a good person. No, it's just because guardian Ron threat came out of nowhere defending Dean who just arrived at the gates and didn't officially become a diver.

In another manner of speech.

It appeared like guardian Ron already had eyes on Dean the moment his cards were delivered to him.

Or at least this is how Blank and the others thought.

Dean wasn't sure about what was happening around him and didn't even care.

All he wanted to do for now was enter the gates and start his journey.

As for the potential threat awaiting him?

Dean already had a countermeasure for such an occurrence.

Time passed quickly.

After exchanging a few more words with Guardian Ron, Blank, Dean, and the others entered the gate at the edge of the city.

Surprisingly, the gate was always open and all they had to do was slightly push it, which astonished Dean since even a teenager could do that.

But then after giving it some thought, he quickly came to realize why no defensive measures were placed here.

' Just the existence of Guardian Ron alone could deter everyone from having any wild thoughts about jumping into the gates to try out their luck without permission. Power is really something, hehe.' He lightly laughed as he gazed from the edge of the city.

The gates on the other side were exactly as Dean expected.

It was literally the edge of the flying city and all someone had to do was jump into the deepest part of the ocean and enter the gate down below.

Without waiting for anyone to ask him to do so, Dean took a deep breath and jumped off the edge.

He wasn't worried about his ability to swim or anything of that sort.

A little while ago, guardian Ron explained to him that all he had to do was jump into the ocean and after reaching a certain depth that was automatically achievable with his fall, a harmless current would quickly envelop him, protecting him from the fall and taking him in front of the gate.

And as he expected, the events occurred the same as Ron described them to be.

Alas, Ron forgot to mention something very important.

The current was indeed harmless but it was also so fast that all of Dean's clothes were torn apart, leaving him naked all the way till he reached the illusory white glow at the bottom of the ocean.

' Glad I was born a man and had no reason to be ashamed of being seen this way.' Dean smiled with satisfaction and pride after noticing that Blank and the others were already standing beside him.