Everyone at the table looked at Li expectantly, for at the end of the day, his word was what was going to start moving things along. One thing was for certain. He could not abandon the march west.

It seemed counter-intuitive, considering he had just been informed about a massive disaster to the north and especially considering his personal vendetta against the weaponry, but, all things considered, a massively powerful demon army about to release an eldritch entity that no doubt was Noctus was going to be a much, much, much more difficult thing to handle than a few missiles.

At the end of the day, missiles were just that: missiles. With his powers, he could intercept them. Send them away. Disable them. And so on and so forth. That was the beauty and power of magic. But an actual Old One?

That was a legitimate threat that had no easy workarounds. He could not banish it, because it by nature had resistance to the warping of space and time. He had to destroy it with raw, brute force, and that was not a battle he wanted to engage in if he could.

One of the reasons why Li could stomp his way through this entire world was because, in gaming terms, this whole world operated on a day 1 patch where content did not exceed vanilla level 100 standards. The introduction of the Old Ones was the first foray into level 100+ content, and Noctus's eldritch form was an established boss in the game that, though one of the easier Old Ones to handle, was something Li could not deal with unless it was strictly in a one versus one situation.

In an one on one situation, the fight would be evenly matched, even favored for the Old One, but Li was confident he could use his experience to clutch out a win, and he knew that sometime, he had to get rid of the entity.

He could not leave the west unattended as a result. He had to be there. He had to personally purge Noctus if the situation ever arose that the Old One was awakened. But preferably, he wanted the Old One to stay asleep until he could truly engage with it in a duel where the risk of collateral damage or interference was minimal.

It spoke many volumes that Li thought of actively avoiding a fight if possible. If any in this room understood the true nature, the sheer height of his power, it would certainly have shook all of them to their core that he would even worry.

"First of all," said Li. "Tell me, Meld, about the recording crystal in your pocket. That is what it is, no?"

He did not say this accusingly. He figured Meld had an explanation, and he was right.

Meld smiled lightly as she took out the crystal. She laid its pale white diadem shape on the table. "I had come here with the belief that you I would have to prove myself to much greater extent. So, I recorded an admission of my defection from the duchess. Insurance against me. Keep it if it will ease your mind."

Li held up a declining hand. "No need. I understand you helped me greatly with the entire Chevrette incident a few months back by not prompting the crown to seize the family's assets. Consider this a thanks for that favor."

"Much appreciated." Meld straightened out her hand like the blade of a knife and then drew it down onto the crystal, the speed and precision of her movement obscuring her hand not just in motion blur, but in tendrils of shadow as well.

Her hand cut right through the crystal, and its two halves fell apart before breaking into tiny little shards.

"And here I thought you could only hide in shadows," said Li.

"Oh, this is the result of training. We heroes have naturally higher potential for physical strength than regular humans, after all," said Meld. "And the principle is much the same as my normal power. My hand casts a shadow upon the gem before it lands, and then it is a matter of materializing my hand within the shadow, breaking apart whatever is within."

"See to it that your powers do not get you killed for what I am to request of you," said Li. "You and Cicero will head north. Continue your investigation. Inform me of any developments at all times when you deem them significant. If the missiles are ever launched, or if you believe that they will be, then notify me. Tell me where they will strike.

I will ensure that the area is defended."

"The issue arises that we have no means of communication," said Meld as she tilted her head in contemplation. "Message crystals are an exceptional rarity, not to mention that they are consumables. It will be difficult for me to smuggle away enough to open a sustainable branch of communication."

"I figured so," said Li.

He had suspected this ever since he had come to this world, but basic user interface abilities like messaging were almost completely absent. The lore of the game stated just for flavor's sake that players communicated each other through special messaging crystals forged by a music god, but it would appear that in this world, these crystals were extremely rare to the point that Li himself had never seen anyone use them directly, only ever hearing about them secondhand.

He himself did not have any message crystals. After all, in the game, all he had to do was open up the menu and select the messaging icon. There was not even a collectible item for it because it was assumed to be just a basic feature.

However, there were a few ways to circumvent this. In Elden World, there was a neat mechanic where a player could be forcibly silenced from their teammates, preventing their voice or messages from reaching their team mates temporarily. This was called True Silence, and it was one of the most devastating status effects in the game, especially at higher levels where communication was key.

But there were ways to counter this.

Li reached into his own pocket and withdrew a seed. It looked like a blue-tinted miniature brain that fit snugly in his palm, though its leathery texture would remind people of a seed coat. This was one of his precious seeds from his pouch.

The Synarch.

It was only Godgiven in rank (levels 80-100), but it was an one of a kind rarity nonetheless. Meaning that Li also only had one, for his seed pouch was more like a trophy collection where he kept one of every rare seed he had grown. The rest that he cultivated, he kept in a larger seed vault for combat or utility purposes, and that vault had not been transported with him.

Li peeled off the seed's coat, revealing the brain-shaped seed underneath as it glowed a much deeper blue now that the coat did not smother it. The brain stem frayed out into a tiny little white root that buzzed with magical energy. The seed appeared smoother, almost slimy in its slight shine, and quite positively macabre, though, as noted by Ven'thur gasping and immediately zooming in his monocle, there were some in the room that did not quite care about such things.

"Take this seed," said Li as he held out the tiny, pulsating brain to Meld.